Why Competition Entry Management Gets Complicated

An athletics club entering athletes into competitions is managing a fundamentally different process from a swimming club or football team. In swimming, you enter a gala and list your swimmers. In football, you have a fixed squad. In athletics, every athlete might enter different events, each event has different qualifying standards, relay teams need assembling from available athletes, and competition organisers have different entry systems, deadlines, and requirements.

A mid-sized club might handle 30 to 50 competition entries per year across county championships, area championships, league fixtures, open meetings, cross-country events, and road races. Each entry requires checking athlete eligibility, collecting consent, verifying first-claim status, and submitting before the deadline. When this process relies on a single volunteer checking emails and updating spreadsheets, entries get missed, deadlines pass, and athletes are left out of competitions they trained all season for.

Building a structured entry management process is one of the highest-value operational improvements an athletics club can make.

Understanding the Competition Landscape

Athletics competitions in England operate through several overlapping structures, and understanding these is essential for managing entries correctly.

England Athletics Registered Competitions

Any competition that produces results eligible for Power of 10 rankings must be licensed by England Athletics. These include county championships, area championships (North, Midlands, South), the England Athletics National Championships, and licensed open meetings. Entry for these competitions is typically managed through the England Athletics competition portal or directly through the county athletics association.

League Fixtures

The Youth Development League (YDL), the National Athletics League (NAL), and various county and area leagues operate on a fixture-card basis. Your club commits to a set of fixtures at the start of the season, and you then need to declare teams for each match. League entries work differently from championship entries because you are filling event slots for a team rather than entering individuals. The team manager needs to know which athletes are available, which events they can cover, and how to optimise points scoring across the card.

Cross-Country and Road

Cross-country leagues, county championships, and the National Cross-Country Championships at Parliament Hill or equivalent venues have their own entry processes. Road races typically use individual online entry through platforms like Entry Central or SiEntries, but club relay teams and championship entries still require coordination.

Open Meetings

Open meetings are the bread and butter of athlete development. They provide competition opportunities outside the championship structure, often with lower or no qualifying standards. Entry is usually direct via the meeting organiser's website, but clubs should still track which athletes are entering so coaches can plan preparation and the club can manage any group travel or supervision requirements for junior athletes.

Building Your Entry Management Process

An effective competition entry process has four stages: identification, eligibility checking, collection, and submission.

Competition Calendar and Deadlines

At the start of each season (track and field typically January to March for summer, and September to October for cross-country/indoor), compile a comprehensive competition calendar. Include every competition your club is likely to enter, the entry deadline, the entry method (online portal, email, postal), any qualifying standards, and the entry fee. Publish this calendar to all members and set internal deadlines that are at least one week before the actual closing date. This buffer is essential because collecting information from athletes and parents always takes longer than expected.

Qualifying Standards and Eligibility

Championship competitions set qualifying standards that athletes must have achieved within a specified period. These standards are published by England Athletics for national championships and by county associations for county championships. Your entry coordinator needs access to current performance data for every athlete in the club, cross-referenced against the relevant standards.

Power of 10 is the definitive source for verified performances. If an athlete's performance appears on Power of 10, it is accepted as a qualifying performance by virtually all competition organisers. However, performances from unlicensed events may not appear on Power of 10, so you may also need to maintain records of club-verified times and distances from internal competitions.

First-Claim and Second-Claim Status

Athletes in England can be first-claim members of one club and second-claim members of another. For championship competitions, only first-claim members are eligible to represent the club. Your membership records must clearly distinguish first-claim and second-claim status, and your entry process must check this before submitting any championship entry. Getting this wrong results in disqualification after the fact, which is far worse than catching it beforehand.

Consent, Fees, and Relay Selection

Parental Consent for Junior Athletes

Every junior athlete (under 18) entered into a competition on behalf of the club requires parental or guardian consent. This consent should cover participation in the specific competition, travel arrangements, medical information and emergency contacts, and photography permissions (many competitions have their own photography policies). Collecting this for every competition individually is unsustainable. The practical approach is to collect blanket season consent at the point of membership renewal, covering all competitions the club may enter during that season, with a mechanism for parents to opt out of specific events.

Entry Fees and Payment

Competition entry fees vary widely. A county championship might cost five to ten pounds per event per athlete, while a national championship can be 15 to 25 pounds per event. League fixture entry is typically a flat team fee. Decide whether the club absorbs entry fees, passes them directly to athletes, or operates a hybrid model where the club covers championship entries but athletes pay for open meetings. Whatever your policy, communicate it clearly and collect fees before submitting entries. Chasing payments after the fact is a reliable source of volunteer frustration.

Relay Team Selection

Relay selection is one of the most politically sensitive tasks in an athletics club. Build a transparent selection policy that considers current form (recent 100-metre or 400-metre times from training or competition), availability for the specific competition, experience of relay changeovers, and athlete preferences. Publish selection criteria at the start of the season so athletes and parents know what to expect. For league fixtures where points scoring is the priority, the team manager may need to make tactical decisions about relay composition that differ from pure speed selection.

Missed deadlines and incorrect entries are among the most common complaints in athletics clubs. A structured entry process with internal deadlines, clear eligibility checks, and advance consent collection prevents the vast majority of these issues.

Submission and Record Keeping

England Athletics Competition Portal

Many competitions now accept entries through the England Athletics online system, which links to athlete registration numbers. Ensure every competing member has a current England Athletics registration (included with club membership for affiliated clubs). The portal requires the athlete's registration number, event entries, and qualifying performances. Having this data organised before you start the submission saves significant time compared to looking it up athlete by athlete.

Confirmation and Communication

After submitting entries, confirm receipt with the competition organiser if the system does not provide automatic confirmation. Then communicate to athletes and parents which entries have been submitted, the competition date and venue, reporting times, and any specific requirements such as club vest or hip numbers. For junior athletes, include supervision and transport arrangements.

Post-Competition Record Updates

After every competition, update your club's performance database with results. Check Power of 10 within a few days to verify that results have been uploaded correctly. If performances are missing or incorrect, contact the meeting organiser promptly. Accurate records feed back into the eligibility checking process for future competitions, creating a virtuous cycle.

Key Takeaways

Compile a season competition calendar with internal deadlines set at least one week before actual closing dates.
Maintain current performance data cross-referenced against qualifying standards, using Power of 10 as the primary verification source.
Collect blanket season consent for junior athletes at membership renewal to avoid per-competition consent chasing.
Publish transparent relay selection criteria at the start of each season to manage expectations.
Update performance records after every competition so eligibility data stays current for the next entry cycle.