The local athletics community has been brought up to speed on the latest changes to the rules in the sport.

On Saturday, the National Association of Athletics Administrations hosted the first in a series of education webinars which focussed on the newly introduced changes to World Athletics’ competition rules.

Some of the changes directly impact the popular events – sprints, middle-distance, hurdles, jumps and throws – in which Trinidad and Tobago is often represented at major international meets.

The two-hour session was facilitated by John “Slim” Andalcio, one of the more experienced local coaches, technical officials and a World Athletics lecturer and member of the International Technical Officials Panel. Attendees included coaches and technical officials with external participation by Patrick Mathurin (St Lucia), Edwin Roberts and Wayne Davis Snr both of whom are based in USA.

In his opening remarks, newly elected NAAATT president, George Commissiong, reminded participants that his slate of candidates for the recently held NAAATT Elections had campaigned on five strategic pillars among which were: “A focus on the overall development of the athletes” and “The enhancement of Support Systems”.

Saturday’s session provided coaches with the information relating to the new rules that they, in turn, were expected to share with the athletes under their care. Commissiong cautioned that if an athlete was prepared both mentally and physically but was disqualified for a rule infringement through ignorance, then the coach would not have done his/her job. He also stressed that technical officials also needed to update their knowledge as they played an important role in ensuring that athletes competed under the right conditions and that rules were fairly and objectively administered.

The Webinar was orgainsed jointly by Michelle Soute Lopez and Dexter Voisin, convenors of NAAATT’s Education, Publications and Research (records) and Technical Development sub-committees respectively.

The NAAATT is preparing for the resumption of competitive events with a series of development/preparation meets planned for the Hasely Crawford and Dwight Yorke Stadiums.