Skating Fridays

Trial Judging

One of the new opportunities that US Figure Skating coaches can take advantage of this year is the ability to become a test judge. These are the folks that sit in the frigid rinks and judge skaters on tests for their respective disciplines. These can be the same individuals that judge competitions, but at the moment, coaches are not allowed to become competition judges.

I decided to take advantage of this opportunity because it would give me greater knowledge of the sport and the elements, and it would also be a way to give back to the sport that I so dearly love.

The first step to becoming a judge is to complete an application and wait for an approval. Once that is done, the individual is considered a trial judge and is eligible to sit in on judging panels. Trial judges have their own evaluation forms and are on what I will call a “probationary period” where their evaluation papers will be compared to the “regular” judges. Trial judges must agree with the “regular” judges for a certain minimum percentage before they are considered for their appointment. Of course, there are requirements on how many tests of a certain level one must trial judge.

I received the approval to move forward as a trial judge and have been able to judge several virtual tests so far. It’s been very informative, and I am definitely learning a lot along the way. I’m not sure when my trial judge period will be over so that I can apply for an appointment. It will depend upon how many test sessions I can participate in and how long it will take me to fulfill all of the minimum requirements. I am guessing it will be a year or so?

But, it is exciting nonetheless! Selfishly, I hope that this newfound knowledge can help my private students gain a better understanding of what their future judging panels will be looking for when they are ready to take their tests.

I’ll keep you posted on my progress.

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