Referee Rights, Duties & Case Studies 2015-2016 Prepared by: Andrew Wolff November 2015 1
REFEREE EVENT QUALITY - 2012 Not to be a pain in the ass, and I know you have all seen this before, but just a short reminder. On any given day there are maybe three assholes in ski racing. Today is just not my day to shine. Someone else has to step up. - Andy Wolff
ROLE OF TD 1. Supervises Event 2. Represents FIS 3. Advisor to ROC 4. Chairman of Jury 5. Appoints the Referee 6. Recommends Race to Score 7. Ensures that 1 st gate is always blue in OSZ races and red in NCD races.
ROLE OF REFEREE Part 1 1. Member of Jury 2. Supervises the draw 3. Jury Inspection (with Jury or alone) 1. (If alone, has the right to change course.) 4. Fully responsible for their section during the race 5. Confirms with Start and Finish Referee any DNS s and DNF s 6. Reviews and adjudicates any DSQ s 7. Participates in all Jury meetings 8. Minutes The Jury approves the security, the course as set, the medical plan and confirms the Program for the Day
ROLE OF REFEREE Part 2 1. Member of Jury 2. Supervises the draw 3. Jury Inspection (with Jury or alone) 1. (If alone, has the right to change course.) 4. Fully responsible for their section during the race 5. Confirms with Start and Finish Referee any DNS s and DNF s 6. Reviews and adjudicates any DSQ s 7. Participates in all Jury meetings 8. Minutes The Jury approves the security, the course as set, the medical plan and confirms the Program for the Day
Referee Rights and Duties 601.4.10 Duties and rights of the Referee - The Referee supervises the draw. - Inspects the course immediately after it is set, alone or accompanied by members of the Jury. - The Referee has the right to change the course, by removing, changing the course by taking out or adding gates. If the Referee inspects the course alone his decision is final. The course setter must be informed of such changes if he was not present at this inspection. - At the end of the first run, and again at the end of the race, the Referee will receive the Start and Finish Referees reports, and any other official reports regarding breach of rules and disqualifications. - Checks, signs and posts the Referee s Report on the official notice board at the end of each run, and at the end of the race, including a list of disqualified competitors, the gate numbers where the faults occurred, the name of the relevant gate judge or judges, and the exact time of the posting. - Sends a report to the FIS should unusual circumstances arise or in the event of a difference of opinion among the Jury members or in the case of severe injury to a competitor. 601.4.10.1 Collaboration with the TD 6 The Referee and the Assistant Referee work very closely with the TD.
ROLE OF JURY 1. Monitors adherence to Rules 2. Responsible for Technical matters 3. Unbiased and fair to all 4. Decisions on all issues not in ICR
ROLE OF JURY 1. Monitors adherence to Rules 2. Responsible for Technical matters 3. Unbiased and fair to all 4. Decisions on all issues not in ICR
ROLES WITHIN A JURY 1. All Jury members have equal responsibilities as set out in 601.4.6 2. Each has additional specific duties and responsibilities 3. Know what they are!!!
Jury & Course Setters Race Planning Race Management Race Timing & Scoring Race Course Setting Race Communication
Essential Equipment Altimeter Measuring tape Rangefinder Dye Pack GS and SG Stop watches Radios Shovels and rakes Camera Apology sheet
Chief of Race Pre Race Ski area Calendar & Points Listing Meetings / Volunteers / Assignments Equipment Start List Pre Race Jury Meetings Secretariat Program of the Day / Entry list Safety Plan & medical Radios Grooming Weather forecast Medals Schedule of the day Secure Forerunners
Chief of Race Race Eve Volunteer Meetings Duties and program Safety Set-up Bibs Tickets and other admin Communications Area & Ski Patrol Equipment testing Back-up plan and equipment Weather forecast Forms package Review rules Course setter instructions Radio plan
Chief of Race - Instructions Chief of Course Lunch is during 2nd run inspection Chief of Gates If the GJ s are not in position we are starting anyway Chief of Timing & Calculation We start on time Secretary & Registration Coaches No one has a note from their doctor for a shovel allergy Forerunners FINISH. And no, I don t care for a report Jury Stay off the radio, please
Chief of Race Race Day 7:00 - Control the start 7:00 Instruct Chief of Course 7:15 Collect Jury and inspect 7:45 Review course with COC and make sure the start area is secure 8:10 Relax go for pee / grab a snack 8:25 Coaches meeting 8:30 Jury positioning assignments 8:35 Check on status of timing & communications 8:40 Review final start list 8:45 Cycle around 9:00 Sync timers and watch start list loaded / open close wand 9:10 Go to position 9:24 Clear from bottom 9:25 First Fore-runner
Chief of Race Post Race Tear down Hang out and watch tear down Ensure results get posted Thank you
Technical Delegate Pre Race Communicate with COR Check the Codex and Calendar Read the rules ICR, National, Local Review your job duties Review the safety set-up Look at last year s results Review program Find out where to get your lift ticket and radio Find equipment to bring Review the start list and compare to National Points list Print off a forms package
Technical Delegate Pre Race Communicate with COR Check the Codex and Calendar Read the rules ICR, National, Local Review your job duties Review the safety set-up Look at last year s results Review program Find out where to get your lift ticket and radio Find equipment to bring Review the start list and compare to National Points list Print off a forms package
Technical Delegate Race Morning Meet the COR Talk with the course setter Meet the Jury Follow the set Review safety and set Meet with the Jury to Approve program. Approve Safety. Open the Course for inspection. Coaches meeting Meet with Timer and confirm timing and scoring is working Open and close the wand Determine when Sync will take place Review volunteer numbers with COR Confirm course maintenance strategy Confirm radio protocol clear and start stop Meet with finish referee and start referee Cycle Take position Clear the course
Referee s Report Results Scoring Upload Reports Technical Delegate Post-Race
Referee Pre Race Communicate with COR and TD Read the rules ICR, National, Local Review your job duties Confirm the correct list is used Enquire from home hill coach condition of piste Review program for the day Find out where to get your lift ticket and radio Find equipment to bring (drill, key, pencil) Print off a Referee s report
Referee Race Morning Talk with the course setter Meet the Jury Follow the set Review safety and set Check snow density and depth Meet with the Jury to Approve program. Approve Safety. Open the Course for inspection. Coaches meeting Review volunteer numbers with COR (particularly gate judges and course workers Confirm course maintenance strategy Confirm radio protocol clear and start stop Cycle Take jury position Give and ask for clear slipping instructions in your section Track athletes through your section and confirm Abandoned and will not finish. Review and prepare Referee s Report Confirm any possibly contentious DSQ s with athlete s coach Time stamp and post report.
Race Quality TD s Know your duties Know your rules Don t make up any rules unless you have to You are not the COR Be fast but not furious Stay off the radio Get your reports done and submitted
Race Quality - CORs Know your duties Plan your race Stick to it All those people work for you and you better know what they are doing because they are better at it than you are Stay off the radio (The Fred Goodwin Rule)
Race Quality - Referee Know your duties Know your rights Know your rules Ensure the course setter is competent then let them work If the Jury starts to yap at the course set that is not about safety put an end to it. It is not your set, so unless there is a real problem wait your turn to set. Pay attention to your section and to your radio. Be professional or the TD will not select you ever again.
Race Quality Coaches Coaches meeting Hi, I m the Chief of Race. Any questions? Schedule for the day Inspections Rules Volunteers Athlete management Tear down Results
Race Quality - Referees Know your rights, duties and rules Talk to TD and COR during the week Be there early and get a radio Bring your drill, screw tool and ICR Communicate with Jury and other coaches Communicate with the Chief of Gates Use time effectively. Be mobile and use your radio. Do your report correctly follow the audit trail Always stand equal in jury meetings Be professional you are the only paid Jury member
Race Quality Course Setters Know the job Know the rules Communicate with Jury Come prepared Know the day schedule Set for the athlete Set to the safety Bring friends Set fast Be decisive
Jury Positions Referee gets 1 st pick to go to coaches corner. If big team then they are treated like any other jury member. COR two spots near the start or big trouble spot. TD Four spots - put him in a harmless spot to limit damage, trouble spot, coaches corner, in the sun and out of the wind. Jury Advisors must be available to step in.
Race Quality Course Setters 603.7 Duties of the Course Setter 603.7.1 In order to set the course appropriately, respecting the terrain, the snow cover and the ability of the participating competitors, the course setter conducts a pre-inspection of the race terrain in the presence of the TD, the Referee, the Chief of Race, and the chief of course. 42 603.7.2 The course setter sets the race course respecting the existing safety measures and course preparation. The course setter must take speed control into consideration. 603.7.3 All courses must be set according to the ICR 603.7.4 The courses must be set and ready in time, so that the competitors are not disturbed during course inspection. 603.7.5 The course setters should take care that the difference between the winning times of each run of Slalom and Giant Slalom will not be too great. 603.7.6 The course setting is a task of the course setter alone. He is responsible for adhering to the rules of the ICR and may be advised by members of the Jury, and by the technical advisor in Downhill and Super-G, if present. 603.7.7 The course setters must participate in all team captains' meetings at which a report is to be made about his course.
Referee - Case Studies Have Fun!!! 31
Start List You are the Race Administrator for Saturday s J1 Provincial National Points List. You downloaded the Points list from www.acapoints.ca on Thursday, but to be safe you download another list at 5:00 before you leave for the 7:00 coaches meeting. At the coaches meeting roll call is taken, you print off a points list and the draw is done electronically. Coaches go wild. (Video available at www.coachesgonewild.com ) There was an uncertified error in the points upload this week. Half the athletes have last week s race included, half do not. What options does the Jury have? What can you do to help? 32
Gate Judges, What Gate Judges? On a very cold day only 10 gate judges are available out of the 25 that had originally signed up, but the course contains 59 gates. a) What should the Jury do? b) Is there any change in the Jury s approach to handling protests against DSQ s? c) What might the TD include in his report? d) Referee s consideration in preparing Referee Report 33
Conflict You are the Referee and one of your club s athletes has been DSQ d. A colleague coach has filed a protest and a Jury meeting has been called to hear the protest. The TD and COR inform you that you cannot participate in the Jury meeting due to your conflict of interest. What are your considerations and what actions might you take? 34
Who s the Referee here anyway? The Finish Referee, Finish Controller and Chief Timer saw a racer miss a gate and ski through two poles of a GS gate, however the Gate Judge missed the fault. The TD refused to allow the Finish Referee to DSQ the racer as the Gate Judge marked clear passage. What would you do as a member of the Jury? 35
Fault or No-Fault? After the second run of a men s slalom, there is a protest of DSQ for a hooked tip. The coach protested the DSQ claiming that the competitor should not be DSQ d in that he had crossed the plane defined by the verticals above the points where the gate poles entered the snow with both feet and both ski tips. The coach argued that although the video clearly showed one tip passing outside of one gate pole, the video tape did not prove that the gate pole was vertical. Therefore, there was reasonable doubt involved and the racer should be favoured. What does the Jury decide? 36
Referee Different Time Zone It was your birthday Saturday night and when you wake up late on race day you wish you had been wearing your helmet the night before and you notice that your eyes are bleeding severely. Arriving late at the hill, you catch up to the COR and TD as they have halfway inspected the course. They have words on your late arrival. They offer you bandages for your eyes. As you are conducting your high speed inspection to catch the Jury, you notice several course set issues. The slalom course has too many combinations and is not particularly set to the skill level of the full field. What are you considerations with respect to your rights and responsibilities? 37
Snow Seedless Sour Grapes As referee, you are ½ way through the second run of a 100 racer GS. It starts to snow heavily and snow starts to accumulate increasing the risk elements on the course. There are no capable course crew and when you approach coaches to help slip you are met with icy stares. You call for a Jury meeting to discuss the situation with a 1 st time COR and a poorly equipped TD. What are your choices at a jury meeting to discuss the situation? Are your considerations the same the first race of the season and the last? 38
Referee # 5 & 6 You show up to do the Referee report and there are missing gate cards and no Referee Report form. What do you do? The results are not going to be posted until 4:00 and you have home work / date / nothing waiting at home? You decide to leave without results posted. What happens now? 39
Course Setter Blues Parts 1 and 2 Last night you watched Get Shorty and Be Cool. Your testosterone level is at an all-time high. You are setting a wonderful GS and the Jury decides that your legal set is out of sync with existing safety. What can happen? You are setting a fine GS with two well-respected course setters as assistants. The Referee decides to make major changes because he can. What are your considerations and possible actions? 40
A Coach s Dilemma You are standing beside the Referee during the race and your racer DSQs in view of both of you. Your athlete s parents insist you protest. The mother is President of your race club. You approach the Referee (who along with you witnessed the DSQ) and advise that you are going to protest. You file a protest. What can you expect at the Jury meeting? 41
Double Finish A racer completes a SL but after crossing the finish line realizes she missed the last gate. Back she goes, corrects her gate passage and finishes one more time. 1 st Electronic Time and 2 nd Hand Time Which one do you use? 42
Chief of Course In a spring series ladies FIS giant slalom, the first 3 racers negotiated the course without incident. Racer #4 fell, knocking out a gate in the soft snow, and the gate was replaced by a course crew worker. Five more competitors raced the course before the Referee realized that the gate had been replaced nearly 1 meter from the original dye mark in a dye mark from the previous day's racing. He at once radioed the TD to hold the next racer. 43
Course Inspection During the course inspection, the TD notes that the course setter has taken the skiers on a traverse, over a knoll towards the tree line at the edge of the course. The line then calls for a sharp turn back to centre. It is the TD's opinion that this radical change will have a severe impact on the field. Although both the referee and assistant referee agree with this, they feel that it is the course setter's prerogative to set this way. What ensues? 44
Race Termination A race with 90 starters has to be cancelled because of bad visibility after #72. What do you do as Referee in regard to the race points? What is the exact number of racers to have a result? 45
Save what you can! During the Junior Provincial Championship, at the end of the 1st run, a volunteer tears off the wire at the finish line. System A and B are not functional any more. After a downtime, it is noon. There are 80 women and 100 men. The 2nd run of the women is completed. The 2nd run of the men is begun but, after 2 racers, the chief timer informs you that it has only an electronic time for the first racer. He confirms that he has manual times for the 2nd racer. What does the Jury do? 46
Quiet in the Balcony! During a K2 Provincial Championship, as Referee, you are at Coaches Corner where there are approximately 15 people. A course crew worker is 2 gates higher and seems to you both conscientious and arduous. You ask him, several times, to not rake the snow which is becoming overwhelmed with each blow of the rake. With the 3rd request, he shouts extremely loud and with clear advice that includes sex and travel. What do you do? 47
Without a Hope! You are the Referee. It s a K1 SL at the zone level. At the time of the inspection, you notice a combination that reflects an unusual gate placement that brings back a clouded memory of the dashing Patrick Russell of France. Several coaches inquire and indeed raised objection to the set and ask that the combination be reset. What do you do? 48
Referee - Racers not at start GS Race is to start at 9:30. At the call by the COR 5 Minutes to 1 st Forerunner the Jury is advised by the Start Referee that very few racers have arrived. Numbers 1, 3, 4, 7, 11 are there plus a few more. (Any idea what the next number in the sequence is?) You are advised that high winds is causing the Gondola to run slower than parliament. What do you do? 49
Rerun confirmation During the 1st Run of the Slalom the TD receives information through the radio from the Referee that competitor # 5 was disturbed in front of him and he requests a rerun. You agree. After the 1 st Run the Referee posted the results with no DSQ. During the protest time the Jury receives a protest against the rerun of # 5. You know that there is also a video. #5 belongs to the Referee. What does the jury do? 50
Pedal to the Medal On Thursday morning you are at Tim s picking up a large double double, reflecting in the your success as Referee for a Provincial Championship qualifier that ended on Sunday. Mrs. Slowburn is in line behind you. Her daughter Heidi placed 3 rd in the GS did not qualify for the Provincials, but her team mate Cheater Girl placed 2 nd and did qualify. Unfortunately, Cheater Girl was DSQ d on the second run. You missed the DSQ on the Referee report and no one noticed and she took the medal anyway while her Coach watched. As luck would have it their Coach, Cro Magnon, is the a cook at Tim s (I know two dream jobs for any young man) and admits to you that he knew all of this to be true on Sunday but thought that Cheater Girl had a better chance at the Provincials. 51
Coach Crash Dummy Test At the time of the inspection of the course of GS it morning of the race, you have a serious doubt about the difficulty of one pitch which seems too difficult to you for the category of athlete. You ask one coach, Ben Dover, who is passing on the chairlift to test the course. The test run is carried out but Ben takes a malicious yard sale and finishes in the soft snow near the fence by breaking one of his poles. Why does he have poles? 52
Video proof After the 2nd run of a National Points GS, a coach brings you a video showing clearly showing that a racer has well straddled gate number 31. On the other hand the number of the racer is not very clear. What can you do? Checking for crotch burn on skin suits is not an option. 53