On Monday 23 September 2019, I looked at my calendar and realised we had a complete weekend off coming up. WOOHOO! This was short lived when I turned on my computer to see that VFT  needed helpers for the VMCI State Round at Philip Island - due to the Grand Final and it being a long weekend, they were short on flag marshals. A quick chat to Graeme and we decided that we will put our hands up and help.

Thursday night we went to the VMCI (Victorian Mini Club Inc) members meeting and they also mentioned that they were desperately short of officials for the weekend. Out came my phone and I sent approximately 50 messages out to our members and officials asking for help, at very short notice.

Before the meeting had finished, I managed to get 6 accept and by Friday morning I had close to 20 of our wonderful members giving up their long weekend to help. I am very proud of them all for their hard work and dedication on the day and this made life so much easier for the senior officials, to run this brilliant race meeting.

To become a CAMS/Motorsport Australia official, all you need to do is go onto the CAMS/Motorsport Australia web page and complete the General Official's application, which will take you approximately 20 minutes to complete. Then go to the Working with Children’s Check web page and fill that in and Bob's your uncle, you are ready to start helping out at any race meeting. These applications do not cost you anything but time - as we are a Not-for-Profit organisation, it all comes free.

There are a lot of people out there that love motorsport and it is as simple as the above to get up close and personal to all the action. I currently hold a Bronze CAMS official licence in pretty much all areas except scrutineering, and am waiting to be assessed for my Silver Upgrade, which will possibly take close to 12 months to complete.

I started volunteering because of our involvement in motorsport and wanted to give back to the officials who stand out in all conditions, so that my extended family can do the thing they love, RACE. I get so much enjoyment out of knowing that I am a small cog in the large wheel that make these events happen.

Even if you are a competitor, it is also important for you guys to step on the other side to just see what it is we do; learn the fundamentals of officiating and you never know you might just have as much fun as we do out there. Without officials, you guys cannot compete. There are days when you are not racing - check what race meetings are on and see if you can help out too.

One of the big bonuses of being a CAMS/Motorsport Australia official is you can also volunteer at the Supercars and the F1 and you can’t get any closer than we are to all the action.

If you love motorsport or have a loved one who competes in motorsport, think about becoming an CAMS/Motorsport Australia official and helping your club, other clubs and all the members who enjoy getting out on the track to continue to do so.

If I can help anyone to become a CAMS/Motorsport Australia General Official, please do not hesitate to give me a call on 0412 661 900 and I will be only too happy to assist.

Jo Mawson
Vice President/Events Co-Ordinator, BMW Drivers Club Melbourne & Member of the VFT