County Judges.

Who are our judges?

D.N.A.A. Judges Registrar - Dave Harrison.
D.N.A.A. Judges.
National - Dave Harrison - Newcastle upon Tyne.
Regional - Jim Rodgers - Charlie Hall - Ken Thornton.
County - Steve Richardson.
Candidate - C Graham. and Sharon Robinson.

Judges Web-site: http://www.gnasjudges.co.uk

What do our judges do?

Ideally , if your club begin to use a new venue you should consult with the county judges to confirm the venue suitability for the type of archery you wish to pursue. For example, a field may be have a perfectly safe 'overshoot' and edge protection while shooting up to 80 yards but may not be satisfactory for shooting greater distances or where your club has 'compound' archers who will require a longer overshoot. If you run a totally recreational club, this may not matter as you may never wish to shoot beyond the 'safe' limits of your venue, but if you wished to arrange a tournament at this venue the ground may not be recommended for that level of shooting.

Although a club may allocate a 'field captain' for non-record status competition to control the shooting, once the competition level is 'Record Status' or above then the event will require officially trained judges.

This arrangement then allows the judges to control the field employing the 'Rules of Shooting' and their training to check that the venue meets the criteria for a shoot of that standard.

The judges also act amongst other activities as final arbitrators when the scoring of an arrow is not agreed by the archers on the target boss. The judges should be interpreting the rules of shooting in an 'even handed' manner to allow the event to be fair and equitable to all the competitors. For 'record' status shoots the judges provide documentary evidence of the suitability of the venue and management of the shoot by the organising club. Although, at times, they may appear to do little while shooting is in progress they have the safety of the event, including the target equipment suitability to consider along with the comfort of the participants. It is better to have one judge per ten targets in a competition as this number allows the judge activity to permit the shoot to continue in a timely manner. Also remember that judges, like archers, also have to observe the 'call of nature' and can do so when another judge is available to 'take-over' for the short time required. Also your judge cannot 'retire' and go home if the weather does not suit. The judge is there for the duration as long as the shoot continues.

So the next time you see a judge measure a distance, OR check your bosses for security, OR, in the worst cases approach an archer who exhibits a style which may be 'risky' in the sense of safety then these are the tasks which they have elected to accept as part of the administration of our sport. It should not be mis-understood as a personal affront to the organiser or archer.

What is the judges registrar?

In any organisation we need a 'single point of contact' and in this case the 'registrar' or 'judges liaison' is the position to note. If the region or GNAS wish to pass information down to the judges then it is possible by doing so through each regional and county judge liaison officer or registrar. For clubs who do not know their own county judges then the registrar can act as a source of information in these cases. If you wish to train as a judge, starting as 'candidate' first, then it is the registrar you should at first approach to provided the details for you to begin.

Do judges cover all types of event?

No! We have two disciplines for our judges. One stream is 'target' and the other 'field'. Although a judge may progress down both disciplines each is measured individually. For example a 'regional' standard target judge may only be a 'county' standard field judge. Many 'target' judges remain in this stream alone and have no 'field' qualification, and vice-versa. You must have the correctly authorised judge for a given event. Target judges for target shoots and field judges for field shoots. Under 'target' the judge is expected to cover the less frequented, but equally demanding, 'clout' and 'flight' shooting. We have no separate streams for these two disciplines.

How can I become a judge?

There is no doubt we need new judges. If you think that you may be well suited to this aspect of the sport then the first step is to approach the 'Judge Liaison' or 'registrar' for the county. The region (N.C.A.S.) will be informed that you have chosen to become a 'candidate' judge and you will then be invited to competitions to accompany other county judges in their work. As a personal exercise you will need to begin the process of study on the rules of shooting, both GNAS and FITA, for the discipline you wish to follow, field or target. Following 'field' will be more difficult in this county as we have no recognised 'field' judges and you would most likely be encouraged to enlist the help of a county where 'field' was more popular. At each event you attend and assist as 'candidate' you will receive a judge assessment form (J5) indicating your progress. These are retained by you and included in a 'folio' ready for your assessment. As your confidence and experience increases, plus your knowledge of the current rules and changes you will become ready for assessment. The 'Application of appointment' will be made to the Northern Counties judges registrar who will organise your assessment, normally at a regular tournament venue. The J5's and your ability on the day will determine your success. The whole process from start to finish should take up to two years but could be a little quicker.