‘Why I loved joining the Start Team’ – Callum from our YPF

Saturday 26th February 2022

Young People’s Forum meets for the first time

Our Young People’s Forum, set-up recently, has a number of goals and one of those may well be to help create a pathway into other roles in the sport.

This could certainly be through becoming an Official; taking coaching qualifications; serving on club committees; or indeed becoming a representative for one of our Commissions.

Callum Ballantyne, a sprinter with Red Star AC and Cumbernauld AAC, is one of the 15-strong cohort who form our Young People’s Forum.

And Callum got the ball rolling on different roles when he helped out at the 4J Age Groups as part of the Start Team.

‘I was offered the opportunity to shadow Officials at events through the Young People’s Forum and I wanted to help the Start Team because I really find the Start Team really interesting, especially being a sprinter,’ said Callum.

‘I wanted to learn about all the different protocols to start the race.

‘It was fun learning about the card system in athletics and how important the start is in a race for athletes. I also learned that you need to be fair on DQ decisions. I loved learning about the blue card protocol in the hurdles race.

‘I really enjoyed working with the Start Team as they made feel welcome and I am now considering doing the Level 1 Starter/Starter’s Assistant when I finish my athletics career.

I would love to work as an Official when my career is over as I would love to give back to the athletics community.

‘If we didn’t have Officials at these events, we couldn’t make events happen!

‘I would really encourage other young people to shadow the Officials because it will help you look what’s happening the behind the scenes of the event you take part in.

‘I would like to thank all the Scottishathletics staff and Officials who made me feel welcome at the event as well – you all made me feel a part of the team; thanks again.’

Fantastic to see @scotathletics YPF member @callum6701 volunteering with the start team today ? So good to see young athletes learning about different areas of the sport#YoungOfficials #Volunteering @LindsayMcMaho15 @ErinGillen3 @nataliemsharp @pjbr11 @CumbernauldA @RedStarAC pic.twitter.com/PEqHn8wNI3

— SALinclusion (@SALinclusion) February 19, 2022