International Judge in Shooting Sport

How can I become an International Judge?

Last week I published an article about "I am an International Judge in Shooting Sport" and how my friends react when I tell them I’m Judge in shooting sport. Today we will explain which would be the desirable profile for a Judge and what kind of knowledge is necessary to become a good Judge in shooting sport.

Purpose of ISSF

To serve its purposes the International Shooting Sport Federation maintains an updated register of license holders, which are, qualified to supervise shooting competitions and to ensure fair and equal treatment to all the shooters in all competitions. Judges must be experienced and fully conversant with the current version of the ISSF rules and regulations in order to advise, supervise and provide appropriate assistance when necessary, mainly to the range officers.

Acquisition of a License

To be an International Judge in Shooting Sports, licensed by the International Shooting Sport Federation, you must have skills, experience as an officer, knowing the rules and regulations of the shooting sport and passing a course approved by the ISSF.  Judge license is not granted to active shooters which are still participating in tournaments where World Records may be established. If a judge’s license holder wishes to return to the athlete condition and participate as a shooter, he must return his license to the ISSF Headquarters for cancellation.

The license is issued for a period of four years. After this period the license must be renewed and it must be submitted at least three months before it expiry. The license expired and not renewed within two years after the period of validity will be removed from the list of license holders of the ISSF.


Profile

Many shooters that have already achieved their goals as athletes, start to act in other activities within the sport of their preference, some dedicating themselves to pass on their expertise to new athletes, others assuming administrative and organizational positions of the sport, as well as those who prefer to continue into the competition routine, dedicated to the arbitration, initially as range officers and then seek to specialize in this activity as Judge and Jury member serving the ISSF. This does not exclude the possibility that people that never or seldom practice the shooting sport, to become range officers and reach the possibility to ascend to an ISSF Judge position. To achieve the Judges license from ISSF, you must have the highest level of license as a Range Officer or judge from your Federation, or have equivalent experience and be approved on a regular course for International Judges authorized by ISSF.

Qualifications

Let us turn for a moment to the Qualifications required. They are the same as required for all good officials, but are particularly important for Judges:

- Tournament Experience – to appreciate the totality of a major event;

- Competitor Experience – to appreciate the competitor’s situation;

- Organizational Experience – to appreciate the organizer’s situation;

- Knowing the Rules & Regulations – to be able to supervise impartially;

- Being a Diplomat – in order to carry out your duties without upsetting competitors or officials – it is essential to have their respect and trust;

- Having the personal qualities of Energy, Ability and Integrity – Competitions are very hard work for conscientious Jury Members, and the same standards must be maintained throughout the competitions

Remember, Jury Members must be:

- Independent of the Organizing Committee
- Independent of any Individual or Team
- Independent of any Country
- Independent of any Region or Continent

The Judge’s licenses are divided in two categories:

Category "B" - authorizes the holder to act as an official Jury Member in all the championships for the disciplines that the license is valid, except for the Olympics and World Championships.

Category "A" allows the holder to act as an official Jury Member in all competitions in disciplines validated by the license, including the Olympic Games and World Championships. Judges for this category is granted permission to teach courses for judges, duly approved by the ISSF Secretary General together with the Chairman of the Judges.

"Upgrading "B "to" A"

To achieve the upgrading of a "B" Judges license to an "A" Judges license, the applicant need to have a minimum of four (5) years of activity as "B". The applicant must have officiated in at least five (5) international championships with the minimum of five (5) participating nations. On at least  two occasions, as a Jury Member and in three other occasions, exceptionally, as Chief Range Officer, Chief of the Classification Office or the Chief of  Equipment Control

The ISSF issues Judges Licenses for the following disciplines:

Rifle shooting   (1)                                                       Pistol shooting (2)

Shotgun shooting (3)                                                 Running Target shooting (4)
Target Control (5)                                                       Electronic Scoring Target Control (6)

Application Form

The students passed the course must complete an application form for a license for Judge "B" to be signed by the applicant and the National Federation of the student, confirming its contents and support the application.

T.E.S.  06/2012