Kevin WIGMORE
Kevin joined Collingwood Harriers in October 1972 at age twelve. Another of the Olympic Village Primary School tribe, Kevin was almost lost to us……………….
“I had originally been approached by Ivanhoe Harriers, but at school was approached by teacher Steve Griffiths to join Collingwood Harriers. After speaking to Mum, it was a done deal!”
Wiggy showed promise as sprinter and hurdler as a junior, progressing through the ranks, rounding off his competitive days as a more than competent participant hurdler over the high sticks in our A Grade team. As Kevin ‘grew’, he also participated in the hammer throw and gained many points for the Club.
In 1983 Wiggy realised he probably wasn’t going to make the Olympics as a competitor, so he thought of another way! Kevin began a career as an official with the Victorian Athletic Association (now known as Athletics Victoria) and as they say in the classics, “the rest is history!”
Kevin has worked hard over the years and has progressed to be one of the most qualified officials in the country. Apart from his many appointments all over Australia, Kevin has also travelled overseas to officiate in New Zealand and some of the Pacific Islands.
Among the highlights were Kevin’s appointments to the Sydney Olympics as Track Umpire and the Melbourne Commonwealth Games as Assistant Track Referee. Kevin has also been appointed to attend the Gold Coast for the 2018 Commonwealth Games.
Other notable appointments have been:
2000 Paralympic Games (Track Umpire)
2002 World Masters Games (Assistant Chief Umpire)
2004 Oceania Championships (Assistant Track Referee)
2004 Commonwealth Youth Games (Competition manager)
2005 Pacific School Games (Competition Manager)
2005 Deaflympics Games (Track Referee)
2005 INAS-FID World Championships (Assistant Track Ref)
2009 IAAF Technical Officials level 11 course
2011 IPC World Championship (Start Referee)
2011 Oceania Championships (Samoa Track Referee)
Despite Kevin’s heavy involvement with the Association, he has never neglected the Club. He has filled a multitude of positions, including:
1979-1981 General Committee
1981-1991 Track Team Manager
1991-1996 Vice President
1993-2000 Cross-Country Manager
1996-2001 Treasurer
2002-2005 Summer Competition Committee (A.V.)
2006-2008 Club Delegate to AV
2012- Club Delegate to A.V.
Kevin also had a couple of years on the AV Winter Committee.
Along the way Kevin has managed to gain some very well deserved recognition from both the Club and the Athletics Victoria. In 1993 he was made a Life Member of Collingwood Harriers. Wiggy received the Merit Award from AV in 2008 and in 2015, the Club further acknowledged his continued service with the presentation of the prestigious Norm Francisco Medal.
At the 2017 Athletics Victoria AGM, Kevin was awarded Life Membership of the Association, only the sixth Collingwood Harrier to be so honoured.
Through all this, Kevin has remained fiercely loyal to the Club in particular and the sport in general. He rarely misses a competition, summer or winter, doing a stack of work behind the scenes as well as his more obvious contributions. Kevin is very supportive of our juniors and quite often the first to offer some quiet advice when deemed necessary. His knowledge of the rules under which or sport is conducted is vast, something that has been very valuable on a number of occasions.
And it’s not over yet!
August 2017
Update!
At the 2018 Australian Championships held at the Gold Coast stadium, Kevin was presented with the “Athletics Australia Official of the Year – 2017” award.
March 2018