Bill Clayton
USAPL Referee Chairman
IPF Referee
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Notice to Referee's:
I am requesting that all referees having access to e-mail please forward their e- mail addresses to me at: clayton@blast.net
Having referees e-mail addresses will aide in improved communication. This information will allow me to more easily forward new rules, interpretations and NGB/EC minutes, changes, etc. and when necessary contact you as issues come up.
I also encourage all referees to be responsibility for keeping current with rules interpretations, etc. via checking the USAPL and IPF web sites.
Many referees will find the IPF technical interpretations and Robert Keller's articles in the recent "Powerlines" particularly helpful. These interpretations are generally logical, support the spirit of our sport and are lifter friendly. By following these interpretations and not making to many of our own, exercising good common sense and some flexibility, when appropriate, we can see that our organization is more consistently officiated and one lifters will be proud to members of.
Bill Clayton
Referees Committee Chair
Referees Testing:
One of my primary jobs as Referees Committee chairman is to score the referees tests done throughout the country. This brief article will focus on some things I think will get us on the same page about the testing system for state referee as it is now set up. The testing system is not one of my creation but is what the Referees Committee, National Governing Body and the Executive Committee has established and voted on.
I want to acknowledge the many rewards associated with the highly esteemed position of referee.
Some of the more obvious rewards are:
-giving up one to seven days of your weekend or vacation time etc. is always a big plus of the position;
-travel expenses including gas, ticket costs if you need fly, hotels, food, not to mention being away from your family are also other common perks;
-telling (via red lights) often very big, strong and many times emotional people that their lift did not meet the requirements of the specified rules will make you very popular with them. Please don't forget some of these people are your friends or training partners, etc.
On a more serious note, I suspect most of our referees are volunteering their time to give back to the sport they love or feel some personal responsibility to help the growth of our organization USAPL.
None of the NGB or EC members wish to discourage qualified members who are willing to volunteer their time and are knowledgeable about the rules from becoming referees. The NGB and EC are committed to the growth of the organization. At ever level we need to see that we have an adequate numbers of good referees to meet the need. We also know each geographic area has its own issues and needs for referees. Traveling from one end of NJ to the other end of NJ to be tested is probably a lot different then traveling across some of the mid western states to be tested.
We are working on updating the rulebook but until that project is complete we know people especially at the local levels are somewhat confused by the many different rulebooks out there. For this reason, when I score state tests I tend to give the test taker the benefit of doubt when possible. Most of the test questions are worth 2 or more points, I often only deduct partial credit if the answer is partially incorrect. Clearly, I tend to give the benefit of the doubt whenever possible.
Let's discuss a couple more things about the state test. The state test has two components. There is a 100 lift practical and an open book written test. To pass the test, one must have at least a 90% score on each part of the test.
An open book written test allows the person taking the test to use the rulebook there with them and find the answers in the book as they go through the test. This is reasonable enough especially at the local level, if you get stuck look it up and find your answer. When the state referees test was made an open book test, I asked does that mean mail out, take home test, group, etc. and the answer from the EC and Referees Committee was "no." Their feelings were that it being an open book test made it fair enough of a test that we really shouldn't need to send it out. My experience with the current test is most people are able to complete the test in an hour or so in a proctored situation if a person has studied the rulebook in advance. I do suggest people taking the state test study the book some before taking the test. It is not always easy find the answers to any given question. More often then not I think most written state tests are taken the night before the meet during set up or the morning of the meet while weigh ins are taking place with an official nearby.
The state referee candidate needs to pass a practical test. The test candidate is scored by another official while refereeing 100 lifts (34 Squats, 33 Benches & 33 Dead Lifts). In many cases, the test taker is sitting near another official talking about their decisions on each lift as they go. Ideally, the state test practical should be given by a National or higher rank official. I would ask that these officials take their task of educating new officials seriously so the rules are maintained and would encourage them to use the practical to better educate, train and mentor the individual being tested.
Let me mention several other points.
State referees, while not qualifed to referee American or World records etc., do have an important job and must maintain the rules. If one gets easy or loose referees at a local level, going to Nationals and getting stricter refs can have a devastating effect on the lifter and his/her performance. We should prepare the lifter at the local level for the next level of competition. We don't give little leaguers a fourth strike to hit the ball as it's not the major leagues, we follow the rules which only allow for three strikes. State referees can ref state records and need to assure the new records are set in compliance with the rules not by changing the referees standards which is not fair to the current record holder.
To those giving the tests, they can be sent to National Office or directly to me at the address shown on the USAPL web page. I recommend sending them directly to me, it is one less opportunity for the tests to get lost in the mail. If you send them directly to me, please be sure the person is a current member of the USAPL as National Office will not send out referee credentials to non-members. It is not a bad idea to keep a photocopy of the tests before sending them but very few tests seem to get lost. I usually score most tests within a week of receipt. So if you took or gave a test and don't hear in a reasonable time frame ask what's going on-it is much harder to find a missing score from 2 years ago then it is one from last month.
Finally, if you're interested in becoming a referee contact your state chairman and discuss it with them. If you have other questions, etc., please feel free to contact me.
I hope the information included is helpful.
Bill Clayton
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