Additional reffing reform

[Wadidiz]

We've got to get these judging problems behind us. I have heard a lot of stories from the first two Millenniums about biased judging, and not just biased judging concerning French teams. I've also heard stories about incompetent judging. I guess if enough people say that there has been biased judging, exta love so to speak, I suppose it has really happened in at least some of the cases.

So far I have not managed to see any incident of any biased judging (including X Ball) but I have seen a few incidents of incompetence or failure to perform duties.

The incompetencies I have witnessed fall into a few categories:

1. Not understanding what a valid hit is (must be larger than a US quarter dollar which is the size of a €2 coin or a Danish, Norwegian or Swedish crown coin. I don't know which sterling coin is the right size). A competent ref also can see the difference between kneeled-on paint, bunker smear and valid hits.

2. Not working with the other refs in positioning. Refs aren't working together to be sure the right sides of players are being observed to determine which player gets hit first.

3. Not knowing what to do in certain situations, such as when a player hangs a flag with a hit.

4. Not bothering to get a closer look when a player has been shot at, either because of laziness or fear of getting hit.

5. Allowing a player to talk him/herself out of being eliminated.

6. Not wiping non-valid paint marks off a player.

7. (Hearsay) Judges drinking alcoholic beer or smoking cannabis while performing duties. (The team who drank beer explained that they did not have enough to have any real effect, but it looks very bad.) Smoking cannabis or taking any other kind of intoxicant is totally unexcusable. Any judges who do that should be banned from the series for at least one season in my opinion.

8. Interfering with players while checking them. Judges are NOT supposed to move the players around or interfere at all with their playing unless they call them neutral. Sometimes neutral calls are the only way a fair call can be made, and a competent judge will handle it the right way.

9. Incorrect or non-existent on-field chronographing.

So, in my opinion, most of the problem lies in lack of knowledge, training and/or motivation. I think the patriotic bias thing is MUCH more myth, paranoia and excuses than anything else( I am NOT saying that what people on this thread have witnessed is not true.)

For the main problem of incompetence:

1. We must pursue a diligent training program.
2. Test the judges on knowledge of the rules and proper judging at pre-game meetings, etc.
3. Put independent, professional head-judges on every field to closely supervise the judging performance.
4. Split any reffing team into two or more units and mix the refs up to further reduce the chance of team favors.
5. Fire imcompetent refs and reduce reffing points as necessary to command the proper respect for the job.
6. Set up a system for rotation of the refs during the tournament so that all the judges get breaks at reasonable intervals.

Additionally, for the bias thing: start getting some unbiased witnesses together and get people video recording more games where the judging has been questioned.

We must get a clear-cut program going now so that we can break this cycle of payment and repayment before it spreads even more.

PRO judges would solve many of these problems but the money's not there yet. Maybe in the near future, I hope.

Steve

 

[Wadidiz]

Forgot to add: there should be a small award of some kind at every event for the best reffing team ot the tournament. The team captains could vote. It only needs to be symbolic but meaningful, like a plaque or trophy and perhaps a bottle or two of champagne.

 

[raehl]

Reward for refs is bad.

Providing a reward for getting team captains to vote for your reffing crew is NOT condusive to having fair, unbiased reffing, or the appearance of fair, unbiased reffing.


As for hits, I really think the rules should be rewritten to state that any paint left by direct impact of a paintball on a player or his equipment is a hit, and anything that looks like that is a hit. If someone's hopper is tagged and it only leaves a small mark, that's still a hit. Qualified refs know what is and is not a hit. Line up a bunch of splat marks and I doubt you'll be able to get a bunch of qualified refs to agree on which ones are and are not the size of a Danish crown.

Referees should also be provided with squeegees and rags and encouraged to remove unbroken paint from near the bunkers to minimize non-hits that are mistaken for hits. along those lines, referees should also be provided with large, transparent shields. We shouldn't be expecting officials to do good jobs if we're not providing them with appropriate equipment.

- Chris

 

[shamu]

Hey Steve, long time no talk. Has it stopped snowing there yet?

From my experience with NPPL reffing, I'd agree with many of your points. Biased reffing is one area we haven't had a problem with thanks to the use of independant judges. The issues I've seen firsthand and which I think cause the most problems are:

1) Proper use of zoning and coverage. This is particularly important when you have 'throw together' or mixed crews.

2) Proactive judging, such as wiping spray, rub or non-valid hits off a live player. This also includes getting into the field to check or watch players in hot bunkers. Shields definitely help with this as does cleaning the bunkers between games.

3) Know the rules, particularly for flag hangs and penalties. These are the areas that most often get confused or have disagreements - what constitutes playing on, 1 for 1s, etc.

You can probably cover 1 and 3 in a good pre-event training session. The ref meetings need to be structured and more than just field assignments. This could happen while teams are walking fields.

 

[Wadidiz]

A couple og things

Originally posted by Nick Brockdorff
First of all - there is no definition in the Millennium rules as to what constitutes a valid hit - in terms of size (quarter dollar or otherwise).

This is what the rules say:

25.1
Obvious hits are those which impact and break on for the player easily observable places on his/her body or equipment being carried or those that have been felt by the player.

I think that is fine as it is !

Nick

Read a little further, my fine feathered friend (my bold):

_________________________
27. DEFINITIONS
27.1 A player is eliminated (inactive) if a paintball shot by an active player strikes that player or anything he is wearing or carrying and such paintball breaks upon the object struck. If the paintball strikes the player or anything he is wearing or carrying but does not break and leave a mark, such player is still active.
If a paintball strikes another object first and breaks upon that object before marking a player or anything he is wearing or carrying, such player is not eliminated.
If a judge does not see the impact, but that player has paint on himself or anything he is wearing or carrying that resembles a hit, such player will be eliminated by the judge. Generally, if the paint marking is reasonably solid and at least the size of a quarter , it will be considered a valid hit. If two opposing players are hit and marked simultaneously, or if the judges cannot determine which player was hit and marked first, both players will be eliminated.
__________________________

This wording has been in the NPPL rules for years and in the Millennium rules from the beginning.

Concerning refs wiping bunkers: Yes, that job really needs to get done but the organizers should provide a crew for that. The judges at Millennium and many other tournaments have a far too hard job to do with far too long hours as it is. They should be able to concentrate on judging issues or take a short break between games.

Shamu, Yo whaddup, dawg! I was thinking about you when I wrote my long thread. You are the ref positioning meister.

Steve

Steve

 

[raehl]

Ya know...

I think before you start talking about what changes should be made (which has been done for years) you should first talk about getting in a position to be able to MAKE those changes. Who is responsible for the rules? How are you going to become the responsible party, or put yourself in a position to coax the responsible party into doing the right thing?

- Chris

 

[LARSEN]

To Wadidiz

3. Put independent, professional head-judges on every field to closely supervise the judging performance.


Good idea, easy to start up. Get one experienced head judgeat every field to coach the marshall's and help out with the rules.

He should be looking on passivly and corect any errors.

Maybe he could be the one to "rate" the effort of marshalling.

 

[Wadidiz]

To Wadidiz

Originally posted by LARSEN
3. Put independent, professional head-judges on every field to closely supervise the judging performance.


Good idea, easy to start up. Get one experienced head judgeat every field to coach the marshall's and help out with the rules.

He should be looking on passivly and corect any errors.

Maybe he could be the one to "rate" the effort of marshalling.

I think you're right too, Larsen. Maybe the head-judge should keep an evaluation form with the names of all the field-judges.

The head-judge should be active, as well as supervise, and show how the job should be done by words AND action.

Steve

 

[woz]

I think the underlying problem is and will always be that paintball PLAYERS dont want to marshall, we just wanna play.

If you dont want to do something how the hell are you gonna do a good job?


woz

 

[LARSEN]

I'd do it.

I just won't do it just for the Hotel cost.

I would want travel cost covered and food expences.

Then i would seriusly consider it.