Both the SAAA which dealt with Track and Field athletics   and the SCCU which dealt with cross-country and road running in Scotland  had their own organisational structures and procedures for the running of the sports.   They ran parallel to each other but had different ways of electing committees, the committees were also differently structured, the club input to each body was also different.   Financial procedures were also peculiar to each body.   We also have the professional circuit’s equivalent publication – the SGA Handbook and the comparison between the two codes is interesting.

And there were the rules and regulations to be adhered to and which had to be communicated to the clubs and other organisations (schools, County Associations, Youth Organisations, etc).    These were contained in their respective annual handbooks.     That of the SAAA was necessarily larger since it had all the track and field events to cover, and the various regulations relating to the Highland Games, Border Games, Local and Works Sport meetings, and in short everything for every sort of competition.   The SCCU handbook was 5″  x  4″ while the SAAA was 8″  x  5″.     

Their importance in the running of the sport across the entire country cannot be over-estimated and it is appropriate that we look at the contents of these publications.    We have taken the cross-country handbook for 1980 and the SAAA publication for 1979 simply because they are representative and because we have them to hand. 

See them at the links below.

SAAA Handbook        SCCU Handbook   SGA Handbook