RefereeRights, Duties & Case Studies

2015 - 2016

Prepared by: Andrew Wolff

November 2015

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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 1st gate is always blue in OSZ races and

red in NCD races.

ROLE OF REFEREEPart 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 REFEREEPart 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

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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

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

Technical Delegate Post-Race

Referee’s Report

Results

Scoring

Upload

Reports

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 GatesUse 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 1st 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.

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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

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Have Fun!!!

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?

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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

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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?

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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?

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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?

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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?

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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 1st

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?

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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?

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Course Setter Blues

Parts 1 and 2Last 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?

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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?

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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.

1st Electronic Time and 2nd Hand Time

Which one do you use?

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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.

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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?

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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?

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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?

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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 1st 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?

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Rerun confirmation

During the 1st Run of the Slalom the TD receives informationthrough the radio from the Referee that competitor # 5 wasdisturbed in front of him and he requests a rerun. You agree.

After the 1st 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?

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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 3rd in the GS did not qualify for the Provincials, but her team mate Cheater Girl placed 2nd 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.

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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?

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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.

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