Cycling South Africa’s Road and Track Cycling Commissaire, Craig Hawtrey, has been appointed as one of the UCI Commissaires at the 2016 UCI Road Championships, which takes place in Doha, Qatar, from 9-16 October.
Although being his third World Championship event in his career as a Commissaire, Hawtrey attests that this will be one of the biggest events in stature that he has ever officiated. His previous events include the UCI Junior Track World Championships in Australia as a starter and he was appointed as Race Secretary at B Worlds in Cape Town, and he has officiated at four Commonwealth Games.
Hawtrey’s officiating career has spanned 24 years, and he has been a UCI Commissaire for 17 of those years.
“My father, Trevor Hawtrey, used to race and he became an official when I was still young,” said Hawtrey. “In 1978, he was approached to start schools cycling in the Western Province. He started it together with Hansie Gerber and Harry Parsons. That’s when I started racing.
“In my matric year, I took a sabbatical from racing and became a Judge and Time Keeper. After school, I completed my military service first, then raced for the South African Defence Force, and at the age of 21 became a National Commissaire.”
At the age of 28, Hawtrey was offered to travel to China at his own expense and attend the UCI International Commissaires Course, where he passed Road, Track and Cyclo Cross all with an A-grade pass. He is currently Cycling South Africa’s only International Commissaire for Road and Track. He is also one of only two International Commissaires for Road Cycling in Africa and the only International Commissaire for Track Cycling on the continent. When he is not officiating, Hawtrey helps with the training of new Commissaires and Team Managers.
“For me, going to Worlds is a big learning opportunity and I look forward to seeing how my fellow International Commissaires operate, and to learn from them. On my return, I always enjoy imparting what I have learnt to the South African Commissaires,” he said.
