Peter Lee Bursary 2024

Peter was an inspiring official and chair of the SEAOA.  To mark his immense contribution to athletics and officiating, the SEAOA committee has established the Peter Lee bursaries to help up and coming officials to overcome some of the barriers they face in progressing to higher levels.

Peter’s wife Jan and their daughters Karen and Hazel have told us that they are honoured for Peter to have these awards in his name. Jan would have liked to have been here if the date had worked and has asked me to give her best wishes to the award winners: she hopes they have as much enjoyment and pleasure from athletics as her Pete did.

Awards were offered in the 6 officiating disciplines.  Following an open nomination process the final selections were made by the SEAOA discipline specific sub committees and we are delighted to have a number of those nominees with us today.  The winners in each category will receive a grant towards buying the equipment that they need and the opportunity to shadow a senior official at a higher level competition.  Both the winners and runners up will be given free SEAOA membership for 2 years

So to the awards:

Track

Runner up: Sarah Regan

Sarah is a very competent Track Judge who is now experienced in all the regular judging and umpiring duties, including Chief Judge, and can be trusted to mentor new officials and show them what to do.  She is keen to progress to at least Level 3 and is currently looking for opportunities to get the necessary reports. She became involved with officiating when her daughter started competing on the track. She is a thoughtful and sensible official, happy to do a range of duties including showing new officials the ropes.

Winner: Rhiannon Rowe

Rhiannon is aiming high.  She wants to qualify as a level four both to officiate at major sporting events and so alleviate the shortage of senior track officials in her home county.  If she gets to a more senior level she will be able to use her experience and confidence to mentor trainees.

Field

Runner up: Ashley Pearson

Ashley is keen to progress to Level 3 and beyond. She is highly motivated and conscientious in her duties, keen to learn, and has been very active as Club President of Blackheath and Bromley in recruiting new officials for the club. She wants to officiate at a Diamond League meeting.  Ashley started her journey as an official post-Covid pandemic and has made very rapid progress.

Winner: Ismail Islam

Ismail is  actively involved in supporting local up and coming athletes. He has a determination to succeed and a willingness to learn. He endeavours to be a good role model for the community and hopes to be a positive influence and encourage young people to balance sport and education.  He wants to become a level 4 field judge and be able to officiate at international level.

Photofinish

Winner: Sean Galpin

Sean is a level 2 photofinish judge living in Guernsey.  He is part of the photofinish team for all local events but has to travel to the mainland to gain higher level experiences.  The cost of travel creates a significant barrier to his progression and he hopes that this award will help him gain the necessary experience to progress to level 3

Starter/ starters assistant

Runner up: Alfie Wells

Alfie is one of, if not the youngest starter/starters assistant in the region. He officiates for his club and for 3or 4 others that have requested him to do so after seeing him at competitions.

Alfie is highly regarded by many clubs and by his fellow officials. Alfie also wants to inspire and encourage other people his age, to become officials. He is leading a project within his club to recruit more officials from local collages and from around the local areas.  He wants to break down the barriers that can exist for younger officials.

Winner:  Alima Diabate

Alima is a member of Highgate Harriers for whom she has competed as an athlete.  Shevolunteers in a broad range of roles for Highgate. As well as being an official she is a sprints coach, committee member and ex-President. Her near-term ambitions are to develop across a couple of officiating areas, for both field and in starting. This flexibility makes her an incredibly valued member of the Highgate team. Alima has demonstrated her dedication to the club and the sport in so many different ways over many years. We are keen to support her to achieve her officiating goals.

 

Congratulations to everyone that was nominated and to our successful officials.  We really hope that they benefit from their awards and I would ask everyone here to see how they might be able to help them in their future development.  We will be offering these awards again next year so please start thinking about individuals who will benefit from the opportunity, we would particularly like to see some nominations in endurance and timekeeping as we were missing these this year