Referee Days

[Kakashi Hatake_Yamato]

I guess I might as well share some stories of my fun referee days.

2011. Back when I was a Senior in High School, we had to do Senior Projects. I chose this as my topic. And at the same time, there was the Referee Seminar coming up. I decided I might as well try it out. And in order to advance to the next black belt, I had to be a certain level referee.

So all of this came at the right time.

I attended the Seminar with my cousin and a few friends. We were all new, fresh, and young referees. One of our TKD masters was the USAT Western Region Coordinator, and she was our instructor for the Seminar. So the whole process didn't feel that foreign to us.

Then I believe the week after, was the actual TKD competition. The other referees commented on how I did pretty well for the first time. It gave me some inspiration, hearing those kind words.
All the other veteran referees were so nice and funny. As a competitor, we didn't know that referees had a nice side. We just see them as scary judges. Hahah.
But after becoming a referee myslef, my whole perspectives about being a referee changed.
An important thing that I learned from being a ref, was that it heavily involves teamwork. If one of us screws up, then there are the other refs to back you up in your decisions.
Giving out points and judging if the kicks landed are pretty hard still to all. That's why we all come together to have a little meeting during matches to see if everyone agrees on something.
The rules are really important, but there are some gray areas. Rules are still being changed around a bit from time to time.

For Poomsae, there are usually 5 judges giving out scores. The hightest and lowest scores are discarded, so only the middle scores are recorded.
For Kyroogi(sparring), there are three corner judges and a center referee. The corner judges have to click these remotes that look like a vid console controller or, a Wii nunchuck. The buttons are confusing at times. These are how we give out points. And the points are awarded according to where the competitor strike or their techniques, such as a jumping kick and turning kick. The maximum amount of points is 4. Head kicks are worth the most, and if you change the kick to a jumping and turning kick, that will allow yo to earn more points.
Those who train in TKD would understand what I mean. Hahah.


I think my second refereeing competition was at the San Diego National Qualifier. It was a huge tournament. As a new referee, I felt a bit intimidated.
But at the end it turned out pretty good for me.
Heh. I remember for that competition. I was almost squashed by the heavy weight competitiors. I was a corner judge and the competitors were like a few feet in front of me. The match stopped for a while because they were moved or was given a warning. Forgot which.

So as the second the match started again, they came crashing down to my corner! I quickly jumped out of the way, escaping me from being trampeled over. Was a close call.

At another place, I had to deal with an angry parent. Or was it coach. It was scary. Of course referees deal with lots of crud from the coaches and parents. What can we do? We only judge matches to our best skills. We have gone through training in order to be out in the rings and help.
That incident really shook me up.


The younger kids' matches are so fun to watch. With their tiny bodies wearing those huge and bulky protective gear, they fight on like raging little kids. Some kids just keep kicking the other guy, and the one being kicked usually start to cower and cry. But, they still have to finish their matches nonetheless. They only have 2 one minute rounds, whereas the older athletes have 3 1.5mns rounds, I believe. (I need to brush up on the rules again...)

One time, after a match, the kid who lost, just ran off the ring, crying to his coach. Was kinda funny. Usually the competitors have to shake hands at the end of a match, signaling that they respect the other opponent.

Another funny experience at the San Diego qualifier, we had candy at the corner of each table. Whenever another table's candy would run out, the refs would filch other table's candy. Was funny seeing adults stealing other adults candies.


Ah yes, we start working from 8 am to 2am. It really is hell. Well, those competitions that run that long are usually unorganized. The fastest a day tournament would be probably until....6pm. Only if we are lucky. 10pm is still ok.
And we get paid~~~~~~ That time we worked till 2am, we received $100 and a complementary bag.
Lunch and dinner are during the competitions. We rotate shifts because the matches continue while we eat. We only get about 20 mns for lunch, and 40 mns for dinner. Though we all try to extend it somehow. Hahahah


Though all of this, it really is a rewarding experience to help your community, especially for your love of Taekwondo as well. I have been training for about 9 years now. Almost 10. Currently am a 3rd Degree Black belt and a certified level D-1 USAT referee. I am aiming to become a master one day, and continuing my referee experience as well! Taekwondo~! WOOOO~!

[Azal]

And what have we learned from this experience?

[Kakashi Hatake_Yamato]

You or me.


Anyways. Starting up refereeing again~ wooo!!

[Cloukora]

huh, you changed your name.

[Kakashi Hatake_Yamato]

Yes. Yes I did.

~~~~~~~~~

Kakashi~~~~~~
Yamato~~~~~~~
Iruka~~~~

Wanted to add him too... But people would start complaining on how long it is
O well screw that!

[Cloukora]

At least now you have 2 out of 3 in your name. Congrats on it lol

[Kakashi Hatake_Yamato]

Hehe. Yes. Just gotta add him in there somehow, someday.