The Gory Details How to actually DO the judging
You will probably get a schedule a few days in advance from the Referee or the competition organizers. It may look something like this. You will find your name at the top of a column, and usually a number or X below it next to events that you are expected to judge.
Go to the Rink. Plan to arrive about an hour before the competition starts, or an hour before you are scheduled to start judging if you start later in the day. At the rink they will likely have a room called the Judge s room or Hospitality room. You ll get food, and a quiet environment where you can share concerns or questions with other judges. Wear warm clothes. You ll probably spend at least part of the day in the hockey boxes. Take a pencil. Actually, take several pencils. The rink will probably provide clipboards, but if you have a favorite one you could bring it.
Have a cup of coffee. And a donut. Or two. Introduce yourself to the referee and to the other judges. Find your papers. They will probably be on a table, in a stack with your name on them. Maybe in a box. Check your papers. You should have one for each event you are scheduled to judge. Check to ensure that that is true, and that there have been no additions or changes to the schedule.
Look at the names of the kids on each paper. You should not judge anyone who you are related to, or anyone you have individually coached within the past year, or anyone for whom someone else might perceive that you would show either favoritism or negativism. If this is the case for any of your events, suggest to the referee that you should not judge that event. The referee will likely agree and will arrange a swap of papers or some other satisfactory adjustment. Notice that each paper has a list of judges at its upper right corner. Your name should be included, and it should be highlighted. If you have swapped papers with someone, or your name is otherwise not highlighted, make appropriate corrections, then sign the paper in the location indicated.
Stay in or close to the hospitality room until the competition starts, and be available in case the referee or organizing committee has special instructions for you. Find out from the referee WHERE you will be sitting to judge. In all likelihood, you will do some of the events from the hockey boxes, and may do some of the others from a location in the bleachers or a pressbox or other similar location. Find out which events fall into which category. Wait for your events. Pay attention to what s going on rinkside, because the actual events may run ahead of, or behind schedule.
When your event starts you should go to the judging location appropriate to that event. There will be a referee for that event (who may or may not be the same person as the competition referee). There will likely be either 2 or 4 judges other than yourself (panels of 3 or 5 judges) There will be a warmup for the event. During this time you may wish to review the competition announcment or the top of your judging paper to familiarize yourself with the elements expected or allowed for that event. Ask the referee to clarify anything that confuses you.
When the event starts, watch attentively. Take notes as necessary on your paper, but do so in a way that ensures you pay proper attention to what is happening on the ice. When each skater is done, mark your score(s) in the appropriate area on the paper (more on that later ) When ALL skaters are done, check your sheet to ensure that every skater has a mark, and that they are all legible, and that each mark is appropriate, and is what you intended to write. The referee will collect the papers from all judges at the end of the event and perform a final check of each sheet before giving them to the runner to take to accounting.
When in the judging area, you may have questions about rules or interpretation. Ask the referee or another judge if necessary, but remember that your judgments should be your own, and that if parents see a lot of chatter going on in the judge s box they may have concerns about what s happening. When NOT in the judging area, remember that you will still be viewed as an official at that competition. The things you say or do may carry more weight than you are used to, or may be viewed differently than you would otherwise expect. If you say things like I m your judge, you ll never have a chance, or I m your judge, don t worry you ll do great, or they re from MY club, of course they ll do well. YOU might know you re just kidding, but not everybody listening will know that
Even in the more private judging area, or in the hospitality room, remember that runners or announcers or competition hosts might be listening to what you say. Comments to other judges like Wow! Nobody in that flight could even skate! or Gosh I m glad SOMEBODY finally managed to stand up in this event! might be true, but remember that the runner might be a sibling of a skater in the event, or the mom serving you dinner might be the mother of one of them. Be considerate.
If you are asked to comment on the performance of a skater, you should probably refer the question to the event referee. If the questioner is the skater or the coach of the skater and the question is phrased something like what did you like about my performance? or what would you like to see improved?, and if you are comfortable with answering it, its probably ok to do so. But BE SURE TO INDICATE that the comments are your own, and might differ from those of others on the panel. Do not EVER compare the skater to other skaters in the event, or evaluate the performance of a different skater. Do not EVER speak about the performance or marks of another judge. Do not EVER comment on the quality or performance of a coach.
You will have a sheet for every event. They may look a little bit different than this, depending on the nature of the event. There are always 3 key areas though: list of skater names area for your notes area for your marks Skaters Notes Marks
The left side of the sheet lists all skaters in the event. On occasion someone will scratch (withdraw) from the event. If this is so scratch out the name and the marks box on the sheet so you don t accidentally put marks for a different skater in their box. Sometimes groups will get added skaters. Just write in their names at the bottom of the list Skaters
The Notes area is solely for your use. You can write anything you want here, to help you remember your impressions of the skater s performance. Nobody needs this part other than you though, so you can write as much or as little as you need or want. Notes For events with required elements this area will probably have a column for each element; for freeskating-type events this may be organized in a different way. No matter how it looks, its just for your notes, so use it as suits you best
For some events there will be 2 marks columns, for some events there will only be 1 column for marks. Fill in whatever is there. Your marks are always a number from 0.0 to 6.0, with 0.0 representing (poor) and 6.0 representing (outstanding) Tidbit: some accountants prefer that you use numbers greater than 1.0. This is partly because the program they used many years ago wouldn t accept numbers lower than 1.0. Nowadays little numbers are ok with the computer, but they are still a little bit harder for the accountants to type if they don t have a numeric keypad on their computer. Your numbers should be clear and legible. You should make sure that you actually put a mark in every appropriate box before you turn in your papers. Marks
There are 2 broad types of events, and you will probably look at these 2 types a little bit differently when you judge. Examples Basic Elements Basic Program with Music Spins Jumps Compulsory Moves General Characteristics These have a very specific list of elements to be performed. Skaters are evaluated only on those elements. In some cases deductions are recommended if additional elements are present. Examples Well Balanced Freeskate Test Track Freeskate Artistic Showcase Interpretive General Characteristics Typically, these have a general list of things that are acceptable but the skater is free to compose a program within those limitations. Limitations may be on difficulty or on quantity of elements. Deductions are recommended for violations
Basic Elements Has a specific list of elements. Often, the referee will line up all the skaters at the beginning of the event, then prompt them to do their elements in roundrobin fashion until complete. At some competitions, the kids are allowed to do all of their elements in sequence like a little program. At some competitions, the skaters are allowed to raise their hand after an element and then reskate it upon acknowledgement by the referee. If this is the case, you must judge the 2 nd attempt, even if it is weaker than the original. Basic Program with Music, Jumps, Spins, Compulsory Program All have a specific list of elements. For these events, the skaters perform the elements in program form Often for Jumps events, the skaters are asked to perform each jump TWICE and the judges should judge the best of the 2 attempts. Other than the do-a-jump-twice thing, these types of events generally do not have a reskate opportunity.
Basic 1-8 Elements and Program with Music
Freeskate 1-6 Compulsory and Program with Music
Adult events
Additional common events There may be other creative forms of compulsory events at a competion you are judging. The published Announcement for a competition will list the requirements for any unusual events. By the way, the published Announcement RULES at any competition. If the requirements listed in the Announcement differ from those listed here, the Announcement over-rides
How to Generate your Marks All of the compulsory events are judged similarly. Watch for the listed elements and evaluate them when performed. Use the notes area on your sheet to record your observations. You may choose to write (+) or (-) marks for each element; you might choose to write A / B/ C kinds of marks indicating ( above average, average, or less than expected ). You might might wish to make a numeric assessment for each element. You might choose to write a whole bunch of words indicating what you liked or disliked. Your choice. When the skater is done, assign a mark to that skater s performance. The marks should be between 0.0 and 6.0. It is desirable that the RANGE of marks (highest to lowest) for an event should be about 1.0 to 1.5 points (this makes deductions more consistently meaningful) Marks should have ONE decimal place ie 2.7 or 1.8, but not 2 or not 3.1415
How to Generate your Marks (continued) The first skater can be assigned any value in the allowed range (0.0 to 6.0). After the 2 nd skater finishes, decide if you feel that that skater skated MORE STRONGLY, or LESS STRONGLY than the first skater. If you think MORE STRONGLY, write a larger number. If you think LESS STRONGLY, write a smaller number. Repeat this process until all competitors have skated. You may find late in the event that you need to change some of your earlier marks to space them out and make room for a later skater. That s ok. Don s Tip: since every skater does exactly the same elements, most judges find that the easiest way to judge these events is to give every element a 1-10 score as it happens (10 = love it, 1 = hate it). At the end of the program, add up all 5 columns to get a number between 5 and 50. Write it in the marks box with a decimal point in the middle and it looks like its between 0.5 and 5.0.
Dealing with Repeated Elements Some simple required elements (stroking, turns, stops, bunny hops, etc) are likely to be repeated in a program environment (there s only so many things a skater can do to fill a whole minute ). For these elements, I d recommend just looking at all of them and forming a consolidated impression of how well they perform that element. More difficult elements (jumps, spins, spirals, etc) might also be repeated and these are more problematic. Ask your referee (before the event) how these should be handled. At higher levels they require that each element should only be performed once and require a deduction for any repeat performances. Basic 1-8 and FS 1-6 programs typically allow repeats. When a deduction is appropriate, you should assign your desired mark first, based on your evaluation of the performance without consideration of the violation. THEN subtract 0.2 points from your score for each violation.
Dealing with Added Elements The skaters might perform elements which are not on the list at all. Most times they will be elements of lesser difficulty than the elements that are required. For example stroking or stopping are elements at the very low levels, but would not be considered an added element for a Basic 7 skater. Spirals are an element at Basic 6 but might appropriately be considered a connecting element at Basic 8 or PrePreliminary level. More difficult elements (ie from higher levels) might be performed. When this occurs, the skater should receive a deduction. When a deduction is appropriate, you should assign your desired mark first, based on your evaluation of the performance without consideration of the violation. THEN subtract 0.2 points from your score for each violation. Don s thoughts: for Basic level events the from a higher level statement can be difficult to implement. For instance Basic 5 wants a Beginning 1-foot spin, up to 3 revs, optional entry and free foot position. Basic 8 wants a One foot upright spin, optional entry and free foot position. If at Basic 5 accidentally does 4 revolutions are you going to penalize them?? Use good judgment, CONSISTENTLY, in interpreting this rule
There are 2 broad types of events, and you will probably look at these 2 types a little bit differently when you judge. Examples Basic Elements Basic Program with Music Spins Jumps Compulsory Moves General Characteristics These have a very specific list of elements to be performed. Skaters are evaluated only on those elements. In some cases deductions are recommended if additional elements are present. Examples Well Balanced Freeskate Test Track Freeskate Artistic Showcase Interpretive General Characteristics Typically, these have a general list of things that are acceptable but the skater is free to compose a program within those limitations. Limitations may be on difficulty or on quantity of elements. Deductions are recommended for violations
Well-Balanced vs Test Track Freeskate The Well-Balanced (WB) freeskate and the Test Track (TT) freeskate events are similar in the sense that they both allow the skater more freedom to choose their own program elements than the Compulsory Program family of events. Both the WB and the TT freeskate define the program in terms of ranges of elements that may be chosen. They each place limits on the NUMBER of elements that may be performed, and on the level of DIFFICULTY of the elements that may be performed. The difference between the 2 is that the Test Track event descriptions are much more restrictive than the Well-Balanced descriptions. The Test Track events have difficulty limits very closely aligned with the Test levels for skaters (ie Preliminary, PreJuvenile, etc). The Well-Balanced programs allow much more difficult elements to be attempted.
Well-Balanced, Test Track Freeskate Common Limits Each level of WB or TT has specific element limitations as spelled out on the definition cards (next slides). General limits common to all levels that you will see at Basic Skills competitions: Always limited to a maximum of 5 jump elements (a jump combo is a single jump element; so is a jump sequence, regardless of the number of jumps included in the combo or sequence) Always limited to a max of 2 jump combos or sequences (these are included in the 5 jump elements) Jump Combos are limited to 2 jumps each (jump Sequences can be of unlimited length) No more than 2 spins are allowed For Test Track only, a maximum of 2 of any jump type is allowed (for instance a program with 3 loops would incur a deduction)
Test Track Elements
Well Balanced FS
How to Generate your Marks (Technical) Marking of Freeskating events is more challenging than marking of Compulsory events. Because the skaters have options for selecting elements you as a judge do not have the easy ability to compare programs apples-to-apples You must watch each program and mentally form an assessment of overall strength of the program, considering all aspects including basic skating skills, level of difficulty, mix of elements, and the technical quality of the elements themselves. You must balance all these things and come up with a single number representing Technical strength. The rub on these, of course is deciding how to balance all those different aspects. Is a simple performed very well worth a better placement than a difficult program with weak technical quality?? You must decide, and must apply your strategy consistently. Go back to the IJS slides and review the methodology and weighting that that system employs to give you some guidance as to how to apply your own personal evaluations.
How to Generate your Marks (Technical) As with Compulsory programs, the first skater can be assigned any value in the allowed range (0.0 to 6.0) in the Technical Mark column. After the 2 nd skater finishes, decide if you feel that that skater skated MORE STRONGLY, or LESS STRONGLY than the first skater. If you think MORE STRONGLY, write a larger number. If you think LESS STRONGLY, write a smaller number. Repeat this process until all competitors have skated. You may find late in the event that you need to change some of your earlier marks to space them out and make room for a later skater. That s ok.
How to Generate your Marks (Presentation) Freeskating events (both WB and TT) usually have a column for Presentation mark in addition to the Technical mark. This mark represents your assessment of the skater s ability to present a program This should consider all aspects as shown in the last 3 Program Components listed for IJS (Performance/Execution, Choreography, Interpretation) Included are interpretation of music, connection with audience, use of ice, balanced choreography, etc Like the Technical mark, this mark is a 0.0 to 6.0 mark. Don s tip: at this level of competition most skaters are still struggling with just DOING the elements. Most of them will not show much in the way of Presentation. I often expect to give ALL skaters a mark of 1.5 for Presentation. When I DO see a skater that is paying attention to Presentation aspects I bump the mark up to 1.8 or 2.0. When I see a skater that spends most of their time looking at the ice I move it down to 1.3 or 1.0.
Dealing with Violations When a deduction is appropriate for an element issue, you should assign your desired mark(s) first, based on your evaluation of the performance without consideration of the violation. THEN subtract 0.2 points from your score for each violation. You will find conflicting information on whether or not you should take 0.2 from the Technical score, or take 0.1 from EACH of the scores. The truth is, it doesn t matter, because the accountant just adds up your total anyhow. I usually just take 0.2 off the Technical because its easier for me to keep track that way. In RARE occasions, the referee will tell you to take a time deduction, or multiple time deductions. If this is the case, you deduct 0.1 points for each time violation required.
Showcase events In judging these, the skater s PRESENTATION skills and interpretation of the music are much more important than the technical correctness or difficulty of the skating elements. Props are allowed, but must be placed by the competitor without assistance
Interpretive events For these events, the skater synthesizes an original program to music heard for the first time during the warmup. In judging these, the skater s PRESENTATION skills and interpretation of the music are much more important than the technical correctness or difficulty of the skating elements. Appropriate use of the music should be recognized and rewarded
Theater on Ice events