OFFICIAL OF THE YEAR 2022 – Tony Okulicz

25 November 2022

OFFICIAL OF THE YEAR 2022 – Tony Okulicz

At an Athletics NSW Officials function on Saturday night of the NSW Relays, Tony Okulicz was presented with his Official of the Year trophy for last season - 2022. It was the first in a series of opportunities this summer where Athletics NSW will be presenting trophies for the 2021/2022 season award winners. The winners were announced in the annual report.

A popular Official who puts the athletes first, Tony Okulicz would be familiar to many in the athletics community. His journey in athletics started in 1990 with the Smithfield Club. Late in the ‘90s he became a regular Athletics NSW Official and appointments at Nationals and International meets followed. In 2009 he was one of two NSW Officials selected to complete an Area Technical Official (ATO) course with Oceania. His highest appointment was as a Chief Field Judge at the 2018 Commonwealth Games. It was the second Commonwealth Games he had officiated at. Outside of the hours we see Tony working at the track, he spends a lot of time preparing field team schedules and review and reporting outcomes of timetabling etc from our competitions – with the aim of improving the next event and better allocation and use of our officials.

Over the now 25 years of service, Tony would have contributed thousands and thousands of volunteer hours to our sport.

Thank you Tony for your significant contribution to our sport.

David Tarbotton for Athletics NSW

Images: Tony receiving his award and officiating. (courtesy of David Tarbotton)