Trial judging a
‘stringent’ process By Colette House
At the U.S. Championships, 12 aspiring tri- al judges mock judged senior and junior events, hoping to receive recommendations for national judging appointments. “It’s a really stringent process and we do that
because it’s only fair to the skaters,” said Karen Terry Perreault, vice president of JETS, U.S. Fig- ure Skating’s Judges Education and Training Sub- committee. “Tat’s our job, just to make sure they judge them fairly.”
U.S. Championships week keeps volunteer
trial judges busy. Tey attend pre- and post-event meetings, trial singles, pairs or ice dance, and take an element identification exam. “We evaluate their knowledge of the skating
elements,” Perreault, who oversaw trial judging in Saint Paul, said. “We evaluate their knowledge of how to assess the quality of all of the elements, the Grades of Execution [GOEs] and also their knowledge of the components and how they ar- rive at the components.”
John Coughlin, Ryan Bradley, Brian Boitano and Tanith White provide expert analysis of the U.S. Championships on the Ice Desk.
Trial judges have significant experience prior to the U.S. Championships, having first judged on the regional and sectional levels. It’s recom- mended they become national judges if their skill levels prove adequate during the U.S. Champion- ships.
Once recommended, trial judges submit
records of their judging history and letters of rec- ommendation to their respective sectional vice chair for judges. Te chair of the judges commit- tee then vets applications before the Board of Di- rectors vote on whom to appoint. “You can start trial judging at 16,” Perreault
said. “We definitely encourage young skaters who are interested to start trial judging and see if they like it. “Te more young judges that we get, the better for the sport.”
U.S. silver medalist Polina Edmunds signs a fan’s T-shirt during the senior ladies autograph session.
Members of the 1976 Olympic Figure Skating Team were the guests of honor at the Friends of Figure Skating (FOFS) Breakfast on the final morning of competition. Celebrating their 40th anniversary, team members of the 1976 Games were in Saint Paul for a re- union anniversary held the night before. Jim Millns, a bronze-medal-winning ice dancer from those Games, served as the keynote speaker, recounting many of the team’s adventures in Innsbruck, Austria. FOFS members were introduced to Olympians Linda Fratianne, William Fauver, Judy Genovesi-Whaling, David Santee, and Susan Kelley and Andrew Stroukoff. A record number of Team USA members also attended the breakfast, including 2016 champions Maia Shibutani and Alex Shibutani, Gracie Gold, and Tarah Kayne and Danny O’Shea.
32 MARCH 2016
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