Junior Olypmics -- CommentsCriticism

[Catlady]

I wasn't there, but I want to make a few general comments. I have to agree on the bleachers suggestion. While it's nice not to have people running all over the place and getting in the way, since there are multiple strips going at once, it's hard to see the action on a strip clear across the room from the bleachers. Then if you're watching multiple people, you can't just pick a stip and stay with it all the time. If people would just be more considerate ( unfortunately a taller order than it ought to be), the crowding and obstacles of the current system would be less of a problem.

On directing, yes I agree that directing can be inconsistent. I've heard about the same amount and variety of horror stories as everyone else and have a few of my own. However, the truth is it's hard to find enough quality referees. I realize all this comes down partially to the volunteer status of virtually everything USFA, but at least in my division it's hard to meet the requirements to get a rating. I'm not even entirely sure who our representative is-- I think I know and if it's who I think, I understand that they're quite busy lately, but still . . . . I am thinking of suggesting that we hold an informal directing clinic in conjunction with the other club in our immediate area just to get everyone clear on the basics in order to improve directing in our division, but we wouldn't actually be able to certify anyone. Granted, it wouldn't necessarily mean better officials just because we had more, but there may be someone out there who has good directing skills, or the potential to develop them who isn't able to get certified or doesn't know how for that matter. Again, I know everyone's busy and they do the best they can, so please no one take offense, this is just my take on a large part of the problem.

One more thing, and I don't mean any offense, there is no rule that says fencing parents and SO's can't be directors. Naturally you probably wouldn't be allowed to direct your loved one's bouts, but if you direct another bout you're freeing up someone else who could. Since you're always at competitions anyway, why not direct while you're there. As with many other problems, if you don't like what's going on, do something about it.

[sallearmourer]

I as a person who had a 4 rated in sabre back before electric can tell you how many times touch was scored that wasn't touch but being overruled by to two judges that half the time wasn't paying attention to fencing was in the least very fausting. I know for a fact that the FOC for Reno is having problems getting sabre referee. I have retested in sabre and scored a 97% on the rules. I want to take the partical at Reno but the FOC doesn't know if she going to have enough sabre referee to test me. My wife and daughter both are waiting to take theirs too. They both ace their writing in sabre as well.

Bad calls are going to happen in sabre its part of the game. At least you are not depending upon the fencers in your pool to decide if you got a touch or not.

Tim

[Fencing Mom]

Catlady said:
One more thing, and I don't mean any offense, there is no rule that says fencing parents and SO's can't be directors.

Not on your life! As a parent of a foilist, I can hold my own in a conversation concerning ROW and I can nod sympatheticly when I hear how the director didn't see the action, etc. , but having never fenced (which I regret), I would never put myself in[b]that[B position of authority. There's plenty of other things to do at competitions.
One answer to the shortage of good directors is to train the good fencers. My kid has outgrown and out-qualified a number of tournaments in our division, so now , with an entry-level referee's rating, he's directing at them. His goalis to eventually get a high enough rating so the USFA can start paying for the hotel room and transportation to the NAC's.
Besides, the politics of foil directing in our division runs deep. There's a continuous conflict - the under-35 or learned to fence from someone under-35 and ventures outside the division group - vs - the that's not the way I learned to fence, that's not an attack, in a duel you'd be dead group. Only a crazy, intensely competitive person (read fencer) would want to get into that fray.

[Peach]

Fencers don't necessarily make good referees. Some do. Many don't. I've known some world-class competitors who are lousy referees. Several parents I know are, or are becoming, referees. Some of them are pretty good.

Not all young fencers benefit from having their parents on strip or even near the strip when they're fencing, but the parents have to be there to chaperone and provide food and occasional support. If you don't want to do what I did and learn to fence, or what others have done and get involved with the Bout Committee, learn to referee. Some of the skills of parenting translate well to refereeing. I won't say which ones <grin>.

My coach encourages parents and fencers to take the class and take the test even if they don't want to become referees. He has several reasons for that--for one thing, fencers who know how to referee know what they have to do in order to impress a referee. Parents who know how to referee are less likely to be combative and obstructive, and more likely to be helpful to their children when real problems arise.

The USFA is trying to encourage people to become referees. They've made the method clearer and imposed some system on it. I don't discount the problems: it's high-risk, it's low-paying, and it's exhausting. Everybody thinks they know better than you, and quite often they're wrong at the tops of their voices. However, refereeing's interesting, challenging, helpful, and very enlightening. I enjoy it.

I don't referee much at the national level because I can afford to pay my own way to NACs, I don't have to accompany my daughter any more, and last time I refereed the day before a competition I tore my calf. However, I really like college refereeing and divisional events, and I like to referee at Summer Nationals if there's a couple of days between my events. I usually volunteer because that way I can quit when I'm cross-eyed.

Yes, there are politics and factions in divisions. It's worth being part of the solution instead of ignoring the problem, though. Someone who should know better said to me at a tournament the other week, "You're not going to call it that way just because that's how it gets called at NACs, are you?" "Well, yes," I said firmly, and quoted the relevant section of the rule book.

A week later he commented that I had really improved as a director, that he still disagreed with me on occasion but now I had something to back it up with. In other words, he wasn't going to say he was going to change the way he called things, but he was willing to accept the way I called them.

[sallearmourer]

[quote]Originally posted by Mo:
[QB] Maybe the coaches can approve the directors, they could have names on the list and pick 4 or five.

They did this in Dallas the coaches approve of three referees to direct. They had to do all the DE and finials. The coaches should have no say in who the FOC assigned to referee. This is one of the reason they are having problems getting referee.
The fencers need to learned to fence the referee. Most referee are consisited in there calling. Me you bend you arm to make a flank cut after fient to the head you lose the attacked.


Tim

[Moonitic]

Not that I have ANYthing to do with JO's yet (give us a few years!), I do need to comment on non-fencers as directors.

My husband watched me fence for an entire year before he started himself. When it came to touch judging the dry pools (before our club had boxes), he was always called upon. He's also turning out to be a pretty good director, if only he could take the time to participate in the classes & testing.

It CAN work for a non fencer to direct. Especially if you know what's going on anyway.

[peircer]

I would like to say that I think the JO's suck, but only because I'm too old to fence in them... <img src="graemlins/freak2.gif" border="0" alt="[Freak]" />