Thursday, December 20, 2012

First French WSSA Freestyle Judge Training

This weekend, on the 15-16 dec. 2012, I ran a Judge Training.
Yeah... Alright.

That judge training included
a couple of FIRSTS.
  1. First skatecross judge training
  2. First battle judge training in France
  3. First French training based on the WSSA model
Ever.
How awesome is that?
Socially and politically, it is a big step in the world of French Freestyle!



Recovery definitions for curious lay-people!
  • WSSA: World Slalom Skaters Association 
  • Classic: A slalom competition for which you show a 1m30 free choreography on three lines of cones of different spacings (50, 80 and 120cm) on the music of your choice.
  • Battle: A slalom competition per comparison in groups of 4 skaters who have 3 runs of 30sec each to seduce the judges. The two best go through to the next round and so on until the final.
  • Speed: Slalom as fast as possible through 20 cones spaced by 80cm with a 12m run-up. The final phase is organized in one on one fights. You need two winning runs to go through to the next round.
  • Skatecross: A race on skatepark courses organized in groups of 4, the two first skaters going through to the next round.

I completed my graduation as an official WSSA international judge in March 2011. No, we are not talking about stacking but skating, here! Beforehand, I had already validated the battle part and had judged a good bunch of battle competitions both national and international. Since 2011, I am invited to be part of the judging team on the World Championships where I judge the battle, classic and speed slalom competitions.

Thus, as a judge trainer and national head judge, I had been contacted to co-run the training with Pierre Célat and we shared the tasks as following: he would be in charge of the freeskate and speed slalom parts on Saturday, and I would take the responsibility for explaining the working of classic and battle judging on Sunday.

The schedule had been planned as such in order for me to have the time to finish my morning training at my rehab center and take the train to Bordeaux on Saturday afternoon. Yes I am back for 3 weeks of intensive training.On Saturday evening we had a meeting, and on Sunday from 9AM to 16PM I explained the subtleties of WSSA judging to the present national judges who were updating to the new rules. Just on time for me to jump back into the car that would drive me back to my rehab!

These rules have been settled since 2007 but the whole rule set is becoming official in France only now.
There was a small dozen of updaters and the training was quite stimulating for them who could break down the philosophy of the new system, and for us who had to adapt to the French situation and write the French rule set.


A small plunge into WSSA's Classic and Battle philosophies...

  • For the moment, you can find the full WSSA rules in English here. The French rule set will be available soon, once we will have all agreed on the final version (there are still a couple changes and specifications to make).
  • As for Battle, you can check that lovely battle guide in its French and English (SOON) versions I wrote back in 2008.

The next French Judge Training will take place on March 25-26 in Saint Médard en Jalles (33) and will be run by Pierre Célat and Igor Cheremetieff. Full information here


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