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USA Archery Judge Certification

Judge Certification

Is that arrow In or Out?

When I show up to an event, will my equipment pass inspection?

Are the things that I’m wearing going to be a problem at the big event?

Any club that wants to host smooth-running events needs a handful of volunteers who are certified judges to help out.  It’s also important for preparing your shooters for competition in new tournament formats, and educating your members about rule changes.

It’s each archer’s responsibility to show up with legal equipment, and having some judge’s advice beforehand is an important tool in the development of high performing archery.  The judging information also helps archers know which tournament organizers will be providing which services and information.

I took my own advice and walked through the judge certification process.  I took the independent study steps outlined here on the USA Archery site.

The steps for Independent Study are:

  1. Review World Archery Rules (Books 2 and 3)
  2. Review USA Archery Dress Code.
  3. Review World Archery Judges Guidebook.
  4. Complete the online USA Archery Judge Certification Exam (Open book exam, minimum 92% passing grade)
  5. Login to your USA Archery membership services account and select “Certified Judges” to apply to become a Certified Judge.   (There is a $30 fee)

The reading is extensive, as there are around 200 pages of rules, guides, and interpretations that you should have at least passing familiarity with.  It’s critical to know how to recognize an unsafe shooting situation, but less important (for us) to know the duties of a Chairperson of Judges during a tie-breaker in a World Championship 3-D team match.

 

If there are enough interested people, we can also see about setting up a judge workshop day, which is a guided study with the certification test at the end.

We have around 15-20 judges in the state.  I think it would be wise for each club to have 2-3 judges.  We can have our judges stay in touch with each other, and help each other stay up to date on changes to rules, event formats, or procedures.  That takes another load away from our coaches and team managers, who can then focus even more on high performance and organized groups.