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 This website has been created as part of a university assignment for the course 'Organising and Staging the 2018 Commonwealth Games’. This course is undertaken as a second year subject for numerous Bachelor of Business degrees offered by Griffith University. The business concept that is the focus of this website is purely fictional and does in no way, shape, or form constitute a real business or sport organisation connected with the 2018 Commonwealth Games. All commerce, trading, and monetisation functions associated with this website have been created to show that the administrator (tertiary-level student) has sufficient understanding of the manner in which websites and online marketing can increase a business’s overall market share and ultimately generate increased financial return. You cannot purchase products, procure services, or conduct any business transactions from this website.


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Officiating

Following the completion of the games, the governing bodies will again openly communicate in regards to results, doping and ensuring that athletics events were concluded in line with the code of conduct and are determined to be a success. Athletics Australia will measure the success of the games based on medals and top 8 finishes, participation rates in athletes, coaches and officials which usually spikes after a particularly inspiring performance and financial capability.

Officiating is a crucial aspect of the commonwealth games by helping presiding over the sports and making sure the rules are followed. Officiating can make or break the successfulness of the games for example in deli 2010 where Sally Pearson was disqualified from her gold medal after winning the gold medal race.

A devastated Pearson broke down upon hearing the news on a farcical night at the Nehru Stadium on which she was almost awarded the 100m gold medal. Pearson crossed the line first ahead of Nigeria's Osayemi Oludamola and Natasha Mayers of St Vincent and the Grenadines , with England's Katherine Endacott fourth. England protested after Pearson avoided disqualification for a false start on the second of three attempts to run the final. She and England's Laura Turner jumped the gun but referees awarded a red card only to Turner on the grounds that her reaction time was the quicker. After a long argument with Turner, the referees relented and allowed her to race under protest. Pearson finished first. But England claimed that Pearson should also be disqualified as she appeared to move off the blocks before Turner. Pearson was in the stadium hall waiting to walk out to the medal ceremony – the Australian flag was already laid out waiting to be raised - when she heard that a protest had been lodged against her and had been disqualified. Pearson admitted in a post-race interview that she had "twitched first".

To avoid issues like these Australia will have to train officials as well as the selection process due to the mass amounts of officials needed for the games to avoid issues like this repeating.  For the Glascow 2014 approximately 1200 technical officials will be required to officiate at the Games, ensuring that all sport specific rules and technical regulations are implemented. Scotland has created a specialist programme, the first of its kind in Scotland, has been launched which could give up to 600 Scots the unique opportunity to train as world-class technical officials for the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games. The development programme aims to identify and support Scottish technical officials to ensure that the maximum number is qualified, experienced and available to be considered for selection. The programme will also contribute to the legacy of the Games. Not only will it provide each Scottish Governing Body with skilled technical officials capable of overseeing Scottish national competitions, but it will provide Scotland with a pool of skilled technical officials, capable of officiating in top internationals competitions around the world.

Athletics Australia has already started attempting to recruit officials for athletic events stating as the standard of competition rises, more highly trained Technical Officials will be required. It is Athletics Australia’s responsibility to make sure that Technical Officials are recruited, trained and given the necessary structure and support to perform their duties. Getting to the commonwealth games stage will be a long and time consuming process due to the multiple levels for officials to make sure they are qualified at every level. There are 3 levels of officiating in Australia:

C Level

To achieve this level of qualification, you will need to have a few days experience, then sit for a series paper. This is a multiple choice, open book exam which is based on the IAAF Handbook. Officials can also be tested for this exam verbally.

C Level qualifications are the minimum required to officiate at a state championships or Athletics Australia event.

B Level

To achieve a B Level qualification, you will need to have held your C Level qualification for at least 12 months before sitting for the B Level exam. The B Level test is similar to the C Level in that it is a written test. The knowledge required to achieve B Level is significantly greater.

A Level

This is the top qualification level in Australia. To achieve an A Level, you will need to have held your B Level qualification for at least 2 years before sitting for the A Level exam. The exam is an in-depth written exam that tests not only knowledge of the rules, but a person's ability to interpret the rules and make decisions about certain incidents based on them. This ability to interpret the rules is tested because this is the key part of being an event referee or chief. The highest level of official qualification in the world is an International Technical Official (ITO

International Technical Official

The on-line learning programme provides an accessible way of educating and training potential Technical Officials and is a mandatory part of the IPC Athletics International Technical Officiating Pathway (see Figure - Stage 1 of the pathway).

Successful completion of the on-line learning programme, together with a recognized National Technical Official (NTO) qualification by an IAAF National Federation member organization, is a prerequisite for entry to the international pathway to become an IPC Athletics International Technical Official (ITO) (Stage 1). Adequate Knowledge of English is also required.

Individuals are then eligible to attend an on-site IPC Athletics ITO Programme. Upon successful completion of the ITO Programme individuals shall be awarded an IPC Athletics Trainee ITO status (Stage 2). These competencies based Programmes are run by certified IPC Athletics Educators.

The final stage (Stage 3) is for an IPC Athletics Trainee ITO to undertake the Practicum component of the pathway where they are required to assist in officiating in IPC Athletics Competitions whilst being mentored and observed by the IPC Athletics Educators

 officiating will be an important aspect of the commonwealth games and due to the fact that there will be  a lot of officials that are needed for the games so Australia will have to train officials due to the huge amount of officials needed.

Reference lists

Athletics Australia: Partners & Sponsors, viewed 21 April 2013,
< http://www.athletics.com.au/inside/sponsors>.

Masterman, G 2009, Strategic Sport Event Management (2nd ed), Oxford: Elsevier

Telegraph 2010, ‘Commonwealth Games 2010: Osayemi Oludamola stripped of 100m gold medal’, 12 Oct, viewed 20 April 2013, via Factiva database <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/othersports/commonwealthgames/8059623/Commonwealth-Games-2010-Osayemi-Oludamola-stripped-of-100m-gold-medal.html >.

‘Triple Bottom Line Assessment of the XVII Commonwealth Game’, 2006, Insight Economics Pty Ltd, viewed 24 April 2013.

Nigel Chamier OAM, 'Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games Major Projects Conference 2012', 22 Nov 2012, viewed 02 May 2013.

Weston, P. 'Commonwealth Games Cost to Hit $2.4b'.10 Feb 2013, viewed 05 Mat 2013.

Gold Coast Hambantota, '2018 Commonwealth Games Candidature: Report of the CGF evaluation commission', 10 Sep 2011, viewed 28 April 2013.

Department of Planning and community development, 'Commonwealth Games: Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games Delivers Lasting Legacies', n. d, viewed 01 May 2013.

Opportunities and Challenges for Athletics

Opportunities & Challenges

-      Pre-game stage

Opportunities

l  Expand of sponsorship and interesting groups through Media in Australia.

IAAF can expand their sponsorship with Australian companies such as Quantas Airline and Flight Centre Group Travel. They are the sponsor of Australian athletics federation so the commonwealth game will be a good opportunity to expand the connections between two federations.

Challenges

l  Attendance of key athletes.

The attendance of famous athletes will bring more interest from people and media. Throughout this interest, it will finally create more capital and investment. The key athletes’ decision to attend the game will make the game more valuable and important.

l   Selection of games

Total 35 different lengths of games and each commonwealth games were held differently.

-      During-game stage

Opportunities

l   Introduce of rookies.

2018 game can be used as the introduction of new rookie athletes. The rising stars will create an issue and interest that makes the athletics as well as commonwealth game more valuable.

Challenges

l  Weather

Weather can affect the condition of athletes. In addition, the weather of Gold Coast can be too much warm to the foreign athletes.

l  High-Expectation

Generally the result of host country’s athletes is above their averages scores. The pressure from the local people, media and federation can affect the condition of the athletes.

-      Post-game stage

Opportunities

l  The use of stadiums after the game

According to the great success of the commonwealth game in Melbourne 2006, the decision of re-developing the stadium of cricket was successful. The stadium was used for opening and closing ceremony and also after the game, it is now the symbol of the region and the cricket game (good facilities). The stadiums can also be used for public to increase the interest and their health or used as privately for professional athletes.

Challenges

l  Drug test.

The most important Challenge of Athletics. In 2010 commonwealth game, women’s 100m champion –the blood sample of Oludamola Osayomi (Nigeria) was confirmed a positive finding for Methylhexaneamine so she lost the gold medal after the game. This kind issue that is related with drugs will decrease people’s interest. Furthermore, Athletics can lose their value of core game. 

Opportunies and Challenges for Australia

it is clear that hosting a mega event, Olympic and Commonwealth games, will create a huge positive impacts with variety ways. throughout the 2018 Commonwealth Game, Gold Coast will gain Political, Economic and Socio-economic benefits.

1. Political impacts.

according to Shoval, he pointed out that "Hosting the games mark rehabilitation process in a symbolic way and emphasize new sets of values they had successfully adopted as a nation". Gold Coast, the host city, can gain positive national image through the Commonwealth game. it will be the great opportunity to show other countries how well-organised, clean and developed the city is.

2. Economic impacts.

there will be a huge exchange of spending and earning as well. firstly, direct benefits which is brought by ticket selling, sponsorship and media will be created. secondly, indirect benefits, created by tourism, hotel, food and beverages will be a huge amount.
according to Akison, he noted that 2000 Sydney olympic made Australian GDP growth by 18.2%.

3. Socio-economy impacts.

the enemployment rate of the region will be decreased through the Commonwealth game.
to host this kind of mega event, many of people will be needed to satisfy people's demands. however it will the short-term strategy to reduce the unemployment   

the new infrastructure will increase the value of the city as well as the quality of life. the new infrastructure can be the boost for sport and well-being life which will increase people's health. 

  

Equipment legacy, New products opportunity

one of the most important part of the sport is the equipment.
it has been always important but especially these days because of the
high and rapid development of technology.
these days, winning and losing sometimes depends on the equipment of athletes.
especially, the game such as Athletics and swimming that fighting to break and reduce
the time lab. in these kind of games, the weigh of equipment which could be achieved by  technology is so important.

Due to the reason and great success of the marketing through athletes' equipment,  more and more major sport brands are starting to have a sponsorship contracts. the most famous athlete Usain Bolt also has a sponsorship with Puma. his shoes and uniforms are created by Puma with their latest technology to support him. in 2008 Beijing Olympic, he could break his record with the support of Puma's equipment. after the game, the sales of his shoes was extremely increased and it gives the positive image and guarantee of the quality for Puma. it will be expected that major sport brands such as Puma, Adidas and Nike will be develop their technology and try to be the number one with their athletes  in addition, they will pay attention of the Commonwealth game. it will bring bright future of athletics and can be good chance for rookies to fine their sponsor through the game.

According to the Melbourne game 2006, we realised that the re-developing of the infrastructure is so important and it will bring much better result. the Melbourne cricket stadium that was re-developed for the game, now it became the greatest and biggest legacy of the game. it set new benchmarks in the environment planning.

Community engagement

having a good connection and communication among local communities is really important and essential to develop its level and increase the people's interest. as athletics is the core game, it has good connection with local people. in the Athletics Australia Federation, there are 5 different local communications and each of them have a unique history and characters. 

Adelaide Harriers Athletics Club, Alice Springs Athletics, Armidale Athletic Club Inc., Ashgrove Rangers Athletic Club, Athletics Chilwell

most of them are well-organised with different ranges of ages and professional leaders with careers. Especially, Ashgrove Rangers Athletic Club is located in Brisbane which is close to Gold Coast the place that the Commonwealth game will be held. 

Moreover, Active After-school Communities (AASC), they provide athletics program with qualified coaches that is sponsored by Australian government and federation. it will definitely develop the quality of Australian athletics in the future. in addition, the 2018 Commonwealth game will be a good opportunity to expand this program in the school and class.

Raising sport profile

one of the strength of Athletics is the position of core game which mean is that compare to other games, the interest of people and media is much higher. to maintain the position of core game, marketers should try to make more people aware of the variety of games.
there are basically many different lengths and styles of the games.

Australia is one of the country that has many talented athletic athletes.
according to the result of Athletics in 2010 Delhi Commonwealth games, Australia was
ranked 2nd best country. the total numbers of medals were 20 - 11 Gold, 6 Silver and 3 Bronze. the 2018 Commonwealth game will be the great chance to break the old score and gain more medals with support of local people.

it will be easy to get people's interest because Australia has many famous athletics athletes such as Sally Pearson. there are a lot of personal fans of her so it will be good to using Facebook or Twitter to attract them to come to the game or at least watch the game via internet or TV. it is noted that social media and internet changed the way of marketing. it is win-win strategy to use social media with fans because it can act as both a delivery man for personal interactions and a source for information. however, according to Natalie, sport journalist, athletes should use the social media carefully. it also can bring bad result.

the 2018 Commonwealth game is still 5 years far from now and the potential of the impacts of the Game is unpredictable. the use of social media to attract the people is highly recommended in this stage.

Program development pre- and post-Games

as i mentioned before, one of the biggest strength of Athletics is the awareness. It is the symbol of the most of mega-sport events , core game,. moreover, Australia is one of the best country that has great athletic results in the past and athletes so before the 2018 Commonwealth game is started they need to concentrate to keep their condition and develop their skills.

Having different and several athletics competitions will create many opportunities to get interest from people and develop the level of country's class and themselves.
according to the Athletics Australia Federation, there are many big athletic event in 2013 which is before going to the Commonwealth game.

Australian Racewalking Series 24. 02. 2013 – 08. 12. 2013 Australia wide	Australian Race walking Championships 01.09. 2013 Launceston
Australian Cross Country Championships 31. 08. 2013 (TAS) Launceston	Australian All Schools 06. 12. 2013 – 08. 12. 2013 (QLD) Townsville

this is the schedule of Athletic events in 2013 Australia.

The 2018 Commonwealth game can be used as an approach to expand the sponsors of Australian athletics federation. after the game, the interest of Athletic and healthy life will be extremely increased. using this interest to attract young people which will increase the value of the Australian athletics as well as local communities of Athletics. with the latest facilities of the stadium and sponsors, the value and quality will be developed.

Location of Stadiums and Villages

For Gold Coast 80% of the planned venues to host the sports already existed. Carrara Stadium is one of the already existing venues and will be the main home for the athletics events with marathons and distances events held at Southport Broadwater Parkland. The stadium already has a number of great facilities and capacity of 25 000 although temporary seating to increase capacity to 40 000 while the games are on will be put in. An extension of the existing renewable energy investment at Carrara Stadium and the surrounding area will be done. A new training venue will also be build across from the main stadium which will be the Carrara Sport and Leisure Centre where the athletes can warm up. This will remain a permanent infrastructure used as the City’s main athletics centre in legacy to the 2018 games.

Main venues for the games are also located close to the athlete’s village with the Carrara Stadium approximately a 20 minuet drive from the athlete’s village in Parkwood. It is in central Gold Coast and is already accessible by public transport; however in games mode several more services will be implemented to handle the extra flow of people. 





A new rail system “Gold Coast light rail” will directly service a number of key venues for the games and will connect with the major accommodation centres of Surfers Paradise and Broadbeach along with the athletes’ village in Parklands. Plans to extends the line to connect with a park and ride facility and heavy rail station at Parkwood are also in the Gold Coast City Council’s sights as this is allow rail and freeway access from Brisbane. Athletes will also travel in fleets dedicated to each constituent group on routes that are segregated from public access ensure safety and reliability.

Brief explanation of the game

The Commonwealth Games is third largest and biggest international mega event that involving athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930 and has taken place every four years ever since.

the first name of the game was the British Empire Games and had been changed several times and finally, its current title, the Commonwealth Games, for the 1978 edition. The Games are overseen by the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF), which also controls the sporting program and selects the host cities. A host city is selected for each edition and eighteen cities in seven countries have hosted the event.

similar to Olympic sports, the Games also include some sports that are played mainly in Commonwealth countries, such as lawn bowls, rugby sevens and netball. out of seven countries, Australia has been the highest achieving team for eleven games.

The 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games will be held in Gold Coast City, Queensland, Australia. The winning bid was announced in Basseterre, Saint Kitts on 11 November 2011.

Background of Athletics

Since the beginning of the Commonwealth Games in 1930 Athletics has been one of the core sports to the program. Athletics can be broken into four groups,

Track events: sprits, middle and long distance running, hurdling and relays. Field events: javelin, discus, hammer throw, pole vault, long and triple jump. Road events and combined events: triathlon, heptathlon (women) and decathlon (men).  The programme for athletics has reminded much the same throughout the years with only some minor adjustments. In 1970 metric units were introduced to measure distances, this lead to a number of events that were measured in imperial units being discounted and replaced with similar events that were measured in metric units. Although there are separate programs for men and women, since 2006 the women’s program has been almost identical to the men’s with the exception of the men’s 50km walk being discontinued in 2010 and replaced with the women’s 3000m Steeplechase.  The men’s athletics programme has remained much the same for the past 4 games with the last events added in 1998 being the 20km and 50km race walks. A total 35 different events have been held in the men’s athletic competition a total of 34 different events in the women’s competition. One significant change to athletics was the introduction of Para-sports in 2002, although the inclusion of events in this category has been inconsistent over the three games where they have been included.