Please forward this to others that may be interested. Any CBTF Technical Member can subscribe to receive these newsletters automatically on the Technical Update Newsletter page.

Inside this Update:

• Growing New Officials
• Skills Development Program
• Pre-Competitive Program
• CBTF Event News
• WBTF News
• Judge Selection Process

The CBTF Statistics for the 2009-10 season, presented in part at the 2010 Technical Committee Meeting, have also been posted in the Document Library for reference (only Type C members can access that page, so you must log in with your CBTF.CA username/password).

GROWING & SUPPORTING OUR OFFICIALS

Judges Development

At the 2010 Fall Technical Meeting, Ron Kopas distributed a hand-out on the subject of encouraging and developing new judges. His suggestion is to hold informative seminars in a “non-threatening” environment where judges, coaches and even senior athletes interested in judging could attend to share ideas and information. Such a seminar could achieve the following goals:

• Encourage senior athletes to take judging modules
• Encourage coaches to attend for valuable information about the judging system
• Encourage judges to update their material and participate by sharing their expertise & experience
• Would help to let new people know who they can go to for help, mentoring, information, etc

These would not be exam courses but would offer the mechanics of judging within the different events. This type of seminar could also assist in improving communication between athletes, coaches and judges. For more information about this proposal, please contact Ron (judgesrepcbtf [dot] ca) and refer to the full Judging Seminars proposal which has been posted on the CBTF website in the Document Library and also on the Judges Tools page.

Judge Certification Updates

It was generally agreed by all attending the 2010 Fall Technical meeting, that after a certain period of time (e.g., 5 yrs), if a judge has been inactive (ie: hasn’t been judging), they should required to attend another course to maintain their certification. The updating could be obtained by a variety of different means including:

• Evaluation/assessment videos could be posted on-line and judges could re-certify by “playing the game” and submitting their scores and assessment to the National Judges Rep/or assigned examiner
• Clerking events the judge needs feedback/more experience on
• Re-testing by attending coaches courses

Ron Kopas will pilot test a variety of approaches over the course of this season to gain feedback from judges as to what worked and what did not. Be certain to share your thoughts and impressions with him (judgesrepcbtf [dot] ca).

Judges Post-Competition Review Process

There were no formal reviews conducted in 2010. A copy of results from the Canadian Championships was sent to each judge on CD. The consensus at the Fall Technical Meeting, however, was that a formal post-competition review needs to occur whether or not there are obvious discrepancies in scoring or perceived need by the judges. Conducting the reviews is challenging for the Canadian Winner/Championship events where there are multiple athletes competing at the same time. It was also suggested that perhaps the CBTF is at a place where the National Judges Rep should serve as the overseer he/she does not actually judge but rather gets paid to monitor the entire competition looking for divisions that require discussion or follow-up (similar to the World Championships format).

For 2011, a formal post competition review process will be implemented at the International Cup Qualifier and the Canadian Winner/Championship event.

Course Conductors- Tracking Course Requirements

Course Conductors are reminded to list the pre-requisites for each course (eg: clerking hours, practice judging, attendance at L1 course) when teaching courses. Several people have not fulfilled all their course requirements for several years since taking the judging and/or coaching course. For the judges programs, these people must get this done prior to Sept 30, 2011 so that they may receive certification. Ron is sending a letter to all judging course participants (since Jan/08) who are missing pre-requisites.

Coaching Program Enhancements

National Coaches Rep, Kim Genton has set up a committee of Course Conductors, SDP adjudicators and experienced coaches to review the coaches’ program and the 3 courses currently available. The aim of this review is to enhance and improve the delivery of the courses (through the development of course addendums), map out a seamless flow from one course to the next, and finally, investigate ways to run all three courses in a user-friendly way (e.g., on line delivery).

Clerks & Starters

Being a clerk and/or starter is often a springboard for individuals who wish to become judges. Judges are being asked to assist their provinces in hosting a “Clerks and Starters” training workshop. Training materials are available on the CBTF website. The workshop is ideally run by a certified judge and aims to alleviate the anxiety that new volunteers experience as they take on their first assignment of “starter” or “clerk”.  For more information about running a course in your province, contact Elan Paluck (technicalchaircbtf [dot] ca). General Information sheets for Clerks and Starters have been posted on the CBTF website in the Document Library.

SKILLS DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM

Submitting Results

Please remember that the following process is in place for submitting SDP results:

1. Each SDP Event Coordinator is required to send their SDP results to both their Provincial SDP Rep and our National SDP Rep (Denise Johnston: sdprepcbtf [dot] ca)
2. The National SDP Rep forwards the results to the CBTF Data Entry Coordinator, Candy Tedford

Thank you for helping us to track the utilitization and progress of the Skills Development Program.

Manual and Video News

Revisions to the SDP Manual are now complete and work is in progress to prepare a new SDP training video. The launch of both the revised manual and new video will occur at Canadians 2011. Please note that the OLD (current) Manual is still in effect for this year. DO NOT use the DVD dated Mar 2009.  If you have purchased a copy of the DVD dated March 2009, please contact Denise (sdprepcbtf [dot] ca). The intent is to replace these DVDs with the corrected versions when they are released in July 2011.

PRE COMPETITIVE PROGRAM

Revisions to the Score Sheets

Revisions to the Pre Event Score sheets were approved at the 2010 Fall Board Meeting. These Pre-Event Score Sheets are just a portion of the entire Competition Score Sheet CD article published in our website in the Document Library. The most significant changes in the score sheets pertain to wording – with an attempt to make the wording more appropriate to this level of athlete. Please take time to review the new score sheets.

i) General Mechanics

A caption for “General Mechanics” was included as the Technical Committee felt that it was important that athletes were attempting to perform the routine as prescribed.

Some judges have been reporting that their approach to evaluating Pre-Event routines is that they are evaluating “how” the event was performed, as opposed to “what” was being performed. This is only partly true. Please remember that intentional variations from the written event (e.g., adding a one-spin at end of Pre-Solo, or performing elements of their choice in Pre-Medley) are not acceptable and an athlete’s final score/rating should reflect this. Unintended variations (such as being too slow to finish the routine with the music) are not considered to be “intentional variations.” The impact of unintentional variations should also be considered in the appropriate caption.

There are to be no intentional deviations from the standard written routines. Refer to the L2/M1 participants’ manual for more information. Therefore this means that it is even more important for judges to have a very strong knowledge on the content of each event (most notable would be the Pre-Solo and Pre-Two-Baton routines that are much more complex than the other Pre-Events). At this point in time, a “grade” for the “general mechanics” section will not be provided. Over the course of the 2010/11 season, Ron Kopas will be developing range descriptions for the general mechanics of each Pre-Event. This will help judges reliably evaluate the "General Mechanics" for each of the Pre-Events.

ii) Satisfactory vs Needs Improvement

The role model for a rating of “Satisfactory” isn’t really satisfactory at all. Telling an athlete that it is satisfactory gives them a mixed message. While we want the experience to be positive, it also has to be reflective. Effective immediately the term “Satisfactory” has been changed on the score sheets to “Needs Improvement”.

iii) Use of check marks and circles

Currently the score sheets describe a check mark as “Exceeding Expectations”. Unfortunately we have nothing in writing as to what the expectation is in each event so difficult for judge assess whether a performance exceeds expectation. It was discussed and agreed upon at the FTM that a “B” (Very Good) is the expectation – anything above that exceeds our expectation, and anything below that can be improved upon:

• Needs Improvement = circle;
• Very Good (B) is the expectation.
• Excellent (A) is exceeding expectation = check mark

The “Expectation” for Pre-Competitive Athletes

Pre-events are intended to be a positive experience that encourages athletes to pursue a competitive stream. The rating of these athletes however, has not been consistent. Some judges are strict while others are lenient. A question has been raised whether the standard for the Pre-Competitive Program should be lower/recreational (ie: similar to SDP) or should we be encouraging a higher standard where “A” means something?  Is the “scoring grid” part of the problem? For example, in Basic March an athlete can be out of time with the music the entire time and still (according to the grid) receive a rating of “A”.

Judges are reminded that technical correctness is the goal – with, of course, consideration given to the age of the athlete and the focus of the event. The focus of each event MUST be the primary driver of the score. Using the Basic March example again, timing and coordination are pivotal to the event and must be demonstrated correctly before an “A” can be awarded – regardless of the score in the other captions.

Our Pre Competitive Athletes are our most precious resource – if they do not get good basic training and appropriate feedback at this level, the likelihood of them developing into strong competitive athletes is low. Judges are often rushed through the pre-events which prevents them from providing appropriate feedback on the score sheets. To remedy this, communication will be sent out to each provincial Chairperson and technical rep requesting that all competition directors allot more time for the Pre-Competitive Events so that judges can provide quality feedback to these athletes.

CBTF EVENT NEWS

Revised Medley Score Sheet

Revisions to the Medley score sheet have been approved. The revisions were considered necessary as the number of illegal moves and out-of-concept routines has increased. Most notably there is now a penalty box at the bottom of the score sheet to indicate that an illegal move has been performed. Please take a few moments to download the revised score sheet to familiarize yourself with the new form. The Medley score sheet changes, along with the other score sheet changes approved in the Fall 2010, are all contained in the Competition Score Sheet CD article published in our website in the Document Library.

Use of Single Age Groups for Level BN

Effective at the 2011 Canadian Winner/Championship Event, athletes competing in the BN division will compete in 'single age divisions' (7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18+). This change was implemented to provide for more age-appropriate competition for our beginner/novice athletes. The use of single-age divisions at the Provincial level has been left to each province to decide. Each province has the authority to decide whether or not they would like their athletes to compete in divisionals or as single age events.

Primary Age Division for Groups

Effective immediately, provinces now have the authority to offer a Primary age division (average age of 7.000-8.999) for all CBTF Group Events at the Local and Provincial level. Groups with an average age of less than 7.000 are required to compete in the Pre-Event division.

At Canadians, the Primary Division will be offered at the Canadian Open. At the Winner/Championship competition, the Primary and Juvenile division are merged into a single age division, with average age between 7.000-11.999.

Good bye to Cassette Tape Critiques?

Providing critiques on cassette tapes could soon be a thing of the past! The recent Fall Board Meeting approved the Technical Committee's proposal that alternate methods could be used by judges to provide critique/feedback for Group Events at Open and Provincial competitions. Alternate methods may include blank sheets for comments or score sheets.

Judges - Be certain to clarify the method being used at the time you sign your contract – you may not need to bring your tape recorder!

Revisions to Theme Production Score Sheet

Caption scoring will now be:

• Twirl: 30 points
• Props: 30 points
• Production: 40 points

Penalties have been revised: 0.5 is now issued for either a baton and/or a prop drop.

“Non synchronic” and “Feature twirling” have been added to the “Twirl” caption under “Exposure to Error.”

A reminder is issued (and has been added to the penalty sheet) that both twirl and prop captions must be demonstrated for maximum credit.

These Theme Production score sheet and penalty sheet changes, along with the other score sheet changes approved in the Fall 2010, are all contained in the Competition Score Sheet CD article published in our website in the Document Library.

WBTF NEWS

New WBTF Solo Role Models

The new WBTF Solo Role models are quite different from our CBTF role model. The videos are completed for the new DVD and scores have been assigned. All that remains is for the written scripts to be completed. New WBTF Role Models for 2-Baton and 3-Baton are also in-progress.

The new WBTF Role Model DVD will be for sale in Canada once it is completed. Please note, however, that it was decided that the CBTF Role Model DVD (including performances, scripts and scores) will not automatically change when the WBTF video is published.

Twirling Judging System

The implementation of the new WBTF Judging System for Freestyle has been delayed. It is likely that the WBTF will not be using this system until the 2014 World Championships.

In the meantime, several countries have been tasked with preparing sample fiches using performances from previous World Championships:

• Aerials: Italy & France
• Rolls: Japan
• Contact: Canada

New Events for International Cup

The new events, Artistic Twirl and Artistic Pair are fairly similar to Freestyle and Pairs, with the exceptions that you only have ¼ of the floor to work on, and everyone competes to a standard selection of music. Anyone interested in these International Cup events should check out the CBTF Document Library for WBTF Artistic Twirl & Pairs Event Information (only Type C members can access, so you must log in with your CBTF.CA username/password).

CBTF will NOT be offering these events at the 2011 Canadian Championships. Each province should decide whether or not they would like to offer the events at the provincial level.

2011 International Cup Qualification Update

The WBTF has requested that athletes compete in the division (B, A, Elite) that they would compete in their own country. To support the WBTF’s Equitable Competition policy, a guidance document  was distributed to athletes and coaches submitting an Intent to Compete form. Because the CBTF does not have an elite division, the guidance document clarifies that the score of 7.5 (which would designate a CBTF athlete as a WBTF Elite athlete) was chosen based on our CBTF role models and WBTF content restriction chart.

The cut off date for I-Cup Declarations was October 15th and response to the event was extremely good. A total of 66 athletes representing 7 provinces have submitted an Intent to Compete declaration! This will undoubtedly be the largest contingent Canada has sent to an International Cup Event.

The I-Cup Qualifier will be held in Calgary on the May long weekend. Not all divisions will require a qualifier. Divisions with exactly six declared athletes (which is the number of athletes we are allowed to send in each division) are now considered “closed”. Divisions with greater than six applicants will compete at the Qualifier. Divisions with fewer than six applicants will be open on January 1st with a first come first serve approach to filling the empty berths.

Complete details on the divisions that do and do not require a Qualifier have been posted: Results of the 2011 International Cup Declaration Process.

Complete details on the Late Declaration process are also available on the website: 2011 International Cup Late Declaration Process.

JUDGE SELECTION PROCESS

Revisions to Judges’ Selection Process

After the 2010 Summer Board Meeting, a committee was created to review the Judge Selection Processes for Canadian Team Trials, International Cup Qualifier, Canadian Winner/ Championships, World Championships and International Cup. A comprehensive survey was distributed by Karen Gratton to the Committee Members which included Tracy Dunsford, Loranne Meek, Loren Dermody, Gail Ashcroft, Sandra Watt, Jean Thibeault, Louise Lemyre. Their report and recommendations were presented at the 2010 Fall Board Meeting.

The Board considered that proposal and approved a new process for 2011 and beyond. A brief, publicy-accessible overview of the process has been posted on the CBTF website along with the Call for Applications. Any Technnical Association members that are interested in a more information can refer to the Judging Application Package - in addition the Judge Application Form, it also contains a more detailed description of the selection process (only Type C members can access that page, so you must log in with your CBTF.CA username/password).

Call for 2011 Judging Applications

The deadline for Judges’ applications for the International Cup Qualifier, Canadian Winner/Championship event, and International Cup is December 31st. 

All registered and current judges who have any of the following CBTF/WBTF certifications are invited to apply:

• Module 2
• Module 3 & 4 (old course) or Module 3 (new course-effective Jan/10)
• Module 5 and/or Masters Judges

One of the changes with the new selection process is that opportunities are created for both Novice and Experienced judges, so all judges with any of the required CBTF/WBTF certifications are encourage to apply. Interested judges are invited to log in to the CBTF.CA website using their username/password to review the Judging Application Package and prepare their application.