WMTFOA

NEW DESIGN

2011-07-28T06:28:00.001-04:00

This is another test message to see how I can send an e-mail and post to the site.

Michael "Coach" Budd
Life Safety Consultant
Antil Alarm Systems: Your Personal Choice
(413) 364-1168

JAVELIN INJURY

2008-05-20T08:27:00.001-04:00

Credit for this goes to John Moran.

http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/24714800/from/ET/

STARTING

2008-05-07T09:41:00.005-04:00

I have been made aware that some starters need to be more consistent in how they are handling this function. Whistles and flags are key in communicating with Starters. Starters must look and listen before starting the next heat or event (Rule 3 Section 6 Article 2).

Here is a mistake I have made that needs to be told: You only need a gun lap on races of three laps or more. No gun lap or bell required in the 800. I made this mistake and was corrected, so I am not perfect either. It is clearly spelled out in the rule book (Article 1). I will say this in my defense, it can be a crowd pleaser and draw attention to the event, but it is not required.

"On your marks" and "set". There may be some confusion, but my rule of thumb is that for events lower than the 800 outdoors and 600 indoors, "set" should be used regardless of whether blocks are utilized or not.

Leaving a meet before the completion of the 4 x 400 is another no-no. Typically the starter is the referee, if something happens and you are driving out of the parking lot, you might have a lot of explaining to do later.

One more tip: After you have fired the gun, take a turn to look if there were any violations. Especially in the high hurdles and the 100 meter dash. There is sometimes contact or other things going on that you might be asked about by an observant Coach later.

Ammunition is getting harder and harder to come by. Please share with the organization places that you can secure shells. E-mail me at darthbuddster@aol.com

TIMING & MEASUREMENTS

2008-05-07T09:08:00.002-04:00

I was reading an interesting article today on MassLive where a student/athlete with a famous name had set a new school record in the 100 meter dash at 10.85 seconds. I applaud the athlete, but question the performance for at that location I was unaware that Fully Automatic Timing had ever been used.

We have to be careful and also remind the coaches that what their stopwatch reads and what actually is accepted more often than not is not going to be the same. Please remind them as well as yourselves to ROUND UP. My guess is that this student ran a 10.9...STILL IMPRESSIVE!

I have seen some articles in the local newspaper along with some of my OWN score sheets after competitions. I must remind everyone to review RULE 6. Specifically Section 4 Article 11 and Section 6 Article 13 in regard to measurements. Discus and Javelin are measured to the lesser INCH for high school. We generally do not measure to lesser even centimeters in Massachusetts unless the games committee has determined to do so.

What we do not want are performances reported to the newspaper that are inaccurate by our own officiating standards. One might ask, what's the difference? The answer is because it is the right thing to do and we're all professionals.

It's getting close to the Championship season we should all be on our "A" game. Tighten up on jewelry and inspect those implements. I found an illegal one yesterday, so they're out there!

MIAA RULE FOR JAVELIN: MUST READ!

2008-04-08T17:59:00.002-04:00

The MIAA has stated the Javelin area must be corded off. The other throwing areas are strongly recommended and to avoid litigation should be. If you arrive at a school and the Javelin area is not corded off as mentioned above the venue will be ruled unacceptable and the points for that event will go to the visiting team(s). If the host school tries to run the Javelin event anyway without the area being corded off you are to leave the meet immediately. If you have any questions please contact me by email or at 508-886-6015. Charlie ButterfieldSec./Treas CMT&FOAPO Box 204Rutland, MA 01543

For those of you that do not know, Mr. Butterfield is the advisor to the MIAA in regard to rules, procedures, and changes. If you are ever uncertain about something, I would first suggest that you contact either Bill Kane (our Rules Interpreter) or me. If it is something that either of us need clarification on, we would seek Mr. Butterfield's counsel. We also have a procedure in place with our Grievance Committee if there is ever a problem with something in a meet (i.e. a protest). You simply contact those members and they determine the next step or if the protest is invalid. Those people are: Bill Kane, Gina Potorski, and Kevin Ferriter.

SPRING TRACK PRE-MEET

2008-03-26T11:28:00.003-04:00

In your "Pre-Meet" meeting with all of the representing Head Coaches, here are the items you must cover: Unsportsmanlike conduct, taunting (trash talking), JEWELRY, agreed upon changes in the order of events, and uniform rule. You are not limited to those items in your discussion, but please cover these items.

All schools have forms available if there is a student or Coach expelled from the meet for fighting or assaulting an official. Let's NEVER let it get to that point, but the MIAA shall support us if there is that sort of escalation. The pre-meet will clearly alleviate these problems.

LET'S DO IT!

I have also suggested that you find out the number of competitors in the sprinting and hurdling events so that you can determine how you may set up heats (if necessary). If you have more than one heat, the first heat is usually the only one you can score points in.

Remember to round up (unless you are using FAT) and lesser inch in the discus and javelin. We do not want to read illegal results in the paper.

GOOD LUCK ALL!

WESTERN MASS. TRACK AND FIELD OFFICIALS

2007-10-04T13:45:00.000-04:00

This is the first blog for the WMTFOA, tell me what you think.