NEW JUDGES TRAINING PLAN
This brief has been put together to assist in the training of new judges.
Before taking on the practical side to judging, it is imperative that once you have chosen your preferred judging position, you familiarise yourself with all judging criteria pertaining to that position. Along with this, your Association Chief Judge should have given you all “General Requirements for Judging” information. Within this information you will find everything you need to know to get you on your way to becoming a successful judge of marching.
To be a successful judge you need to have a ‘picture of correctness’ before you can ascertain what is correct. To assist you with this Marching New Zealand has available a DVD of the technical drills and requirements, which is available through your Chief Judge or through Marching New Zealand. To compliment this DVD, the 2015 National Championships were recorded from each Judging Position in each grade. These DVD’s are only available from your Chief Judge and will assist you in obtaining your ‘picture of correctness.’ These recordings should be viewed only as they relate to your Judging position. Once you have a good “picture’’ of the drill as ascertained from the drill details and the video, you can then proceed to applying your knowledge to the judges sheet, either by using the Championship DVD related to your position or by utilising a “shadow judging” situation at a competition.
Currently Marching New Zealand has in place a Judging Advisory System. An Advisor for each of the judging positions has been appointed and these people are more than willing to assist you with any queries big or small. Each Advisor has put together a training plan and it should be followed accordingly, with guidance from your local Chief Judge. This step by step plan has been compiled to assist you as much as possible. Obviously some people will move through the plan faster than others but ensure you don’t move on until you are confident that your knowledge of each step will enable you to distinguish what is correct and what is incorrect.
Once you have started using the judge’s sheets it is important to “shadow” another judge in the same position as much as possible and you can also use the DVD of your position for extra training practise as well. Ensure you make use of anyone that may be available or is imported to your area for a competition. It is through this method you will gain more knowledge and confidence. Another source of guidance would be to post some of your sheets to your Group Advisor and they will ensure you are on the right track and provide constructive feedback. If you have shadowed on a particular day it would be beneficial to the Advisor for you to state who you have shadowed with and the Advisor will then have some comparison. You may contact your Advisor directly and as often as you need to but in doing so you must copy your Chief Judge in on any correspondence you have with your Group Advisor. This will assist your Chief Judge in furthering your training.
Your Chief Judge has the contact details for Group Advisors.
Listed below is a checklist of the information you should have been given by your Chief Judge.
1. General Requirements for Judging
2. Drill requirements of your judging section
3. Training Plan
4. Judging criteria for your judging section
5. DVD of Technical Drills and Requirements
6. DVD of Championship March related to your position
7. Technical routines and drill detail for each grade (or you may want to start with U12 grade only)
8. Display Criteria (display judges only)
You should also receive regularly from your Chief Judge, copies of all communications/memos/clarifications etc sent out by the Director of Judging to ensure you are kept informed and up to date with what is happening in the adjudication side of our sport.
The following training plan is a practical plan to assist you to eventually complete a judges sheet. Remember to move through this training plan at your own pace. Do not feel pressured to move on to the next stage until you are ready. It is more important that you feel confident at each stage of the plan.
Best wishes for your training. Remember that although your Chief Judge should be your first port of call for any queries you may have, there is always someone available to assist you and it will only be through asking questions that you will gain more knowledge and confidence.