FAL trains officials

Leemisa Thuseho

THE Federation of Athletics Lesotho (FAL) is hosting a five-day International Electronic Timing Level 1 course for local officials and operators.

The course, which is being held at Scripture Union, in Maseru, started on Monday and is ending on 19 November 2022. The practicals are being held at Setsoto Stadium.

Fifteen participants are taking part in the course funded by World Athletics through its growth grant programme for national federations.

The course is being facilitated by John Chizu from Zambia.

FAL secretary general, Makara Thibinyane, said the debut course will see Lesotho having its own qualified officials to operate athletics timing systems.

“This is the first electronic timing course in Lesotho and it is important to have our own qualified trained qualified electronic timing system operators in the country,” Thibinyane said.

“Usually, these kinds of courses are hosted by World Athletics, but we made a special request for them to give us money to host the course ourselves.”

In the past, Lesotho has had to rely on neighbouring countries to provide qualified operators when hosting international events, but that will soon be a thing of the past, he said.

The course was preceded by the International Level 1 Officiating Course held last week. It was attended by 26 participants who were trained by World Athletics instructor, Thusi Daniel Macite, from eSwatini.