This blog is a collection of my thoughts and experiences from ten years as a skate dad. For those of you sitting with your jackets in the bleachers, first I salute you, but second I want to give you an honest sense of what you are in for and what to expect. Ice skating is both a trying and a glorious sport, but it doesn't happen without the special group of folks who cheer, support, and console the participants. This is dedicated to you.


Tuesday, April 16, 2013

- judging questions


In an earlier post I spouted a bit over the dilemma I face about skating judges: bless them but for me personally, no thanks. My daughter stopped competing a decade ago, so I no longer have skin in the game. I do still though have a couple handfuls of questions I wish some figure skating judges would answer. Anonymous answers are just fine too.

My daughter felt assured that the judges paid attention to the warm up, and grant some slack to a skater if she muffed a jump in the program yet landed it in practice. True? How much traveling do judges do? How many competitions do they judge a month? What does it pay? How do you reconcile your aesthetic feelings against the rigid scoring methodology? Does USFSA have seminars where judges get to vent their concerns? Do they pay attention and make changes? Do judges have any influence over general rink conditions? Should they? Do clubs request certain judges (or related: how do judges get chosen for an event)? Can a judge refuse to work with another judge?

There, that should keep you going for a while (smile).

2 comments:

  1. muffed a jump in the program yet landed it in practice. True? NOPE, FALSE. JUDGES ONLY JUDGE WHAT THEY SEE IN THE PROGRAM.

    How much traveling do judges do? TOTALLY DEPENDS ON THE JUDGE

    How many competitions do they judge a month?

    What does it pay? USFS JUDGES ARE NOT PAID, THEY ARE VOLUNTEERS

    How do you reconcile your aesthetic feelings against the rigid scoring methodology? I DON'T FEEL THE METHODOLOGY IS RIGID. MY OPINION ON THE PROGRAM IS WELL REFLECTED IN MY MARKS

    Does USFSA have seminars where judges get to vent their concerns? YES, THEY ARE CALLED JUDGES' SCHOOLS. JUDGES LEARN, DISCUSS, and YES, VENT.

    Do they pay attention and make changes? JUDGES ARE HUMAN. MOST DO, SOME DON'T.

    Do judges have any influence over general rink conditions? GENERALLY NOT. THE REFEREE, HOWEVER, DOES.

    Should they? YES, FOR SKATER SAFETY, THE REFEREE MUST BE CONCERNED WITH RINK CONDITIONS DURING A COMPETITION

    Do clubs request certain judges (or related: how do judges get chosen for an event)? DEPENDS ON THE EVENT. FOR QUALIFYING EVENTS, JUDGES MAY BE ASSIGNED BY US FIGURE SKATING

    Can a judge refuse to work with another judge YES, AND A JUDGE CAN REFUSE TO JUDGE A CERTAIN SKATER. A JUDGE CAN REFUSE TO DO ANYTHING - THEY ARE VOLUNTEERS, NOT PAID EMPLOYEES.

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  2. Great answers, my dad was a judge, I remember every spring he had to write an annual exam. Even now there are regular seminars that judges must attend, also there are written assignments if you want to advance a level. I had to do some trial judging as part of my coach certification, it was almost as stressful as actually skating the test!

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