If you’ve spent even one afternoon watching a sporting event you’ve no doubt gotten frustrated with a referee or umpire or judge, depending on which sport you were watching of course. That’s one of those roles where the spectator never truly appreciates the how difficult the job is for that person. It’s often a thankless job and one that will almost always end with one fanbase or team pissed off at you for ruining their day. Well, I recently had the experience of being a volunteer/judge at a local Crossfit competition and it was an eye opening day. I’d never judged or officiated any kind of game/match/competition before so I had no idea what to expect going into the day. It didn’t take very long though to realize that it wasn’t going to be an easy or relaxing day. I won’t give you play by play of the whole day, but here are some things that I took from my day:
The day felt like it lasted forever!
It started at six in the morning with set up and organization and by the time the dust settled with it was five in the afternoon before competitors were standing on our makeshift podiums. In between I had maybe thirty minutes of downtime, once a 15 minute break in between the second and third events and once because my athlete was a no show for her heat. Between standing on concrete, constantly moving barbells, plates and kettlebells and generally having to think and concentrate all day, I was physically and mentally exhausted. Other than having to count reps for others at the gym during Open workouts, I’d never had to “judge” anyone before so I had no idea just how mentally taxing it can be to do that for five to six hours straight. When you’re competing, you do your WOD, then you go relax/recover for an hour before the next event, but as a judge it was literally hand one score card in, receive the next and find your athlete. At times it felt like one big blur with periods of really intense focus in between. When I WODing myself I have a really hard time keeping track of reps or rounds because I perform so much better when I “zone out” and just go into a trance, but as a judge you have to do just the opposite. You’re focused on hip creases, hand placement, full lockout and so on and so on.
No repping someone is not enjoyable!
We’ve all read articles, seen videos or heard someone complain about getting “no repped” or how amateur or “buddy buddy” judging is one of the biggest flaws in the Open. Dan Bailey (aka Danny Broflex) and the Games site even put out a video mocking or warning against “bro reps,” which is basically giving your buddy reps even when they don’t meet the standards. From my experience though (which remember is all of this one day), it was harder for me to ‘no rep’ someone I didn’t know as opposed to no repping a buddy (since my home gym was part of the competition, it was a mixed bag of people I knew and didn’t know). You see I assume that people who know me, know that I would want them to no rep me if I didn’t meet the standard. They know that, for the most part, I’m a stand-up guy and I’m not out to screw them or tank their performance. For someone who’s never met me though, they might think that with every no rep I’m just trying to help out someone else and completely ruin their day. I know, I shouldn’t be concerned with their petty feelings and focus on being 100% impartial for the sake of the sport, but we’re all human. We care what others think and how they feel, at least I do and that’s why it was harder for me to ‘no rep’ someone who I didn’t know.
Crossfit really does have a great community!
I’ll be honest, I get burnt out at times on all the PSA’s about how Crossfit changed my life, gave me new way to live, and now I have friends that I love more than family. Especially during the Games season, it seems like there’s a new video or article every other day about someone touting how CF changed their life and about how the community is the best thing they’ve ever experienced. I get it and for this one day I really appreciated it. With three events and 9 heats in the each event, this day was a marathon for me, but almost every heat was finished with a “thanks” or “really appreciate it.” Even when whatever athlete I was judging couldn’t stand up or sit up, they said “thank you.” Even they didn’t agree with the count or got ‘no repped’ they were respectful and didn’t argue. The Crossfit community does have a great vibe and days like this one are proof of that.
Overall my experience was a good one, one that while I’d stop short of calling it enjoyable, I’d certainly do it again. You can’t pull of competitions like this without the hard work and dedication of volunteers willing to give of their time. Look for volunteer opportunities out there if you can’t compete, you are needed and appreciated.
17 min AMRAP (ode to 13.1)