Welcome to the BSB officials

This is the B&SB Technical Officials' page. Our contact for all things related to officiating is Chris Hirst - chrishirst.swim.ref@btinternet.com

There are always opportunities to officiate at County events - if you're working through the qualifications to become an official, Chris is also the Officials' development contact for the county and can offer help and advice.

NOTICES

FINA RULE UPDATES 2017

From time to time FINA, the international governing body for swimming, update the rules.

The latest update is dated September 2017.

See the clubs' courses being run.

FINA RULE UPDATES 2014

From time to time FINA, the international governing body for swimming, update the rules.

The 2014 update is dated December 2014.

OFFICIAL'S TRAINING COURSES

Judge Level 1:

Judge Level 1 courses are usually organised by your club, and the County will provide the trainer/course leader. If you are able to assemble 6-12 people for a course, Contact me to arrange for a Course Leader and agree dates for the course. Sometimes neighbouring clubs run a joint course.

You will need to complete the ASA/IoS course on safeguarding (which used to be called "Contemporary issues"). This is a free online course that you can do at home.

Under 18 Swim England foundation safeguarding young people.
18 and over Swim England foundation safeguarding course for adults.
If you have completed it for another role (eg Coaching, teaching, team management...) then the full SWIM ENGLAND Safeguarding training will also be accepted for this purpose.

Judge Level 2:

If you are Judge 1 qualified, and ready to progress, make sure that I know that you are looking for an available course.

Judge Level 2S (Starter):

If you have any J2 officials looking for a starter please contact me as soon as possible.

Referee:

If you're interested in training to be a referee, please contact me to discuss.

OPPORTUNITIES TO OFFICIATE / OFFICIALS WANTED

If you're registered as an official in Berks & South Bucks county, you'll receive e-mails inviting you to these and other county events. If you're new ... please contact me to be added.

There is a pressing need for Technical Officials at swim meets. As a parent it's a way in which you can help the sport and be there for your children! Don't make the mistake of waiting until they are off to University before getting involved though! If you can drive a car, you can do this, and we'll help you to be confident in doing so.

Take the lead in your own club - Judge Level 1 is the main introduction to officiating. We encourage clubs to run course at their own venues - usually while the children are swimming! The course is usually 2 sessions of about an hour duration. given by a qualified swimming Referee. There will be ample opportunity for questions and answers.

There is then a set of practical sessions on poolside - when you are attending meets which your child(ren) are swimming at. You'll have the rules explained, and what to look at, until you are comfortable with the rules, and are ready for a poolside assessment.

Key tips for new officials ....go for it! always have your book, contact the ref before hand - they will give priority to pre-booked mentoring over walk-ins, If you're waiting for a course, or assessment, keep in touch regularly with your course leader.

Once you have gained the Judge Level 1 qualification, Judge Level 2 is very straightforward, adding the skills of Finish Judge (which you'll have practised whilst learning Judge Level 1) and Judge of Stroke. So as soon as you are qualified, get your name down for progressing to Judge Level 2!

With the tendency to require times from licensed meets to enter Championships and the like, the minimum qualification for running (ie refereeing) a meet is that of Starter.

The person in charge of meets is the Referee (and the only person who can actually disqualify swimmers). As the requirement to be an authority on the rules and regulations, alone in the Officials' qualifications there is a written examination as well as a thorough mentoring and preparation process. However, when you're qualified, it's a lot of fun.

We'll bring the projector, and all the equipment we need. We'll need to plan ahead so that we can get the workbooks from the ASA - printing them off the Internet is not a valid record any more. You'll need ensure that the people on the course have applied for ASA membership (usually at a minimum, ASA Category 3 membership) to ensure that they are covered by the Sport's governing body insurance when working on poolside.