REPORT OF TOURNAMENT REFEREE
Venues:
Since eight different venues were being used, the organized refereeing activities were confined to the main venue, the Seattle Athletic Club Downtown.
Organization:
The assignment of referees was conducted by the Tournament Referee, assisted by the U.S.S.R.A. National Director of Officials, Ben Harris.
Referees:
There was a small corps of full-time referees on hand: Ben Harris (National), Rob Thomson (National), Sam Jernigan (National), Kathy Owen (Regional), Chris Owen (Regional), Joseph Ryan (State), Steve Cathcart (State), John Cushing (Canada, B).
In addition, a number of players who were certified referees offered their services from time to time, when available: Wayne Hodges (National), Meherji Madan (National), Hunt Richardson (National), Paul Brogna (National), Brenda Grossnickle (Club), Andy Strassvogel (Club)).
With this group of referees it was possible to assign referees to all matches in the S.L. Green Event and the Women's Open, plus to a limited number of important matches in other events (such as Men's 25+, 35+, 4o+, and 45+).
Standard of Refereeing:
The standard of refereeing in the U.S.A. continues to develop and improve. The referees present all had an excellent grasp of the Rules of Squash, and are at a stage where they do not make egregiously bad decisions. U.S. referees, in order to become more familiar with the abilities of top players, need more frequent exposure to those players.
Assessments:
Assessments were conducted by Rod Symington, Ben Harris, and John Cushing. A total of 20 assessments was carried out during the weekend. The small cadre of referees was very busy during the tournament refereeing matches and this made it difficult to conduct a higher number of assessments - which would have been desirable.
Upgradings:
The following upgradings were achieved during the weekend:
Hunt Richardson Confirmed as National
Paul Brogna Confirmed as National
Joseph Ryan Confirmed as State
Steve Cathcart Confirmed as State
Kathy Owen Two signatures towards National
Brenda Grossnickle Two signatures towards State
It is highly unusual for two National Referees to be certified at one tournament. The achievement of two new National Referees is a major step forward for the U.S.S.R.A. Officiating Program.
Informational Resource:
Throughout the weekend, on many, many occasions I was approached by players and spectators with questions about the Rules of Squash. Having a resource person available to answer such questions is a valuable tool for spreading information about the Rules. The nature of many of the questions revealed that there is still a lot of work to be done in informing the squash-playing public about the Rules of Squash!
Behavior:
In general, the behavior of players was very good. I witnessed only one episode of poor behavior after a match that a player had lost; and at another venue a player was disqualified for untoward remarks to the match referee (a rather harsh decision). Otherwise, players accepted decisions for the most part and played on in the best spirit of the game.
Referees' School:
On Sunday, 18 March an Advanced Referees' Seminar was held at the SACD from 8.30 to 11.30 a.m. There were 15 attendees. The subjects presented were:
1. The New Rules
2. The Meaning of "Clear".
3. How to "see" what the top referees see.
Conclusions:
The U.S.S.R.A. Officiating Program is making good and steady progress. The presence of full-time referees and the ability to assign non-playing referees to significant and challenging matches is a major step on the road to a mature program. For the future it would be desirable to continue the present development in the hope that, year by year, an ever larger number of full-time referees might attend the National Championships.
Rod Symington
Tournament Referee