Referee Training Success

There is nothing better than a good, blind referee...

I announced that pickleball referee training was scheduled in July's post Referee Training in Hendersonville. Since then, both sessions have been completed. I am in awe of the response and interest of local players. The first session had 18 attendees and the second had 24 attendees. The total of 42 attendees was awesome.

The attendees with Inga Carr

The sessions were led by Inga Carr, who was charged by the USAPA to boost the referee program in western NC and surrounding areas. The sessions consisted of a small amount of rules discussion but were primarily focused on referee management of the official scoresheet.

Inga used the first 2 hours to work through a hypothetical game's markings on the scoresheet. Concepts like setting up the scoresheet, the meaning of slashes, dots, and triangles, and the clothespin marker were all discussed.

Inga Carr

The session ended with 4 volunteers playing a game with Inga showing the appropriate referee actions and scoresheet applications.

The volunteer players: Sue Gapen, Jim Wilkie, Paul Coletta, and Rusty Carr

While no video was made of Inga's presentation, there are some good training videos that will serve as good refreshers. The first is from Jeff Shank's PB ref clinic scoresheet and explains how to use the scoresheet. It is slightly different from Inga's techniques, but is a good reminder of the concepts.

The second is from pballvids called Palm Creek Pickleball Referee Training Video and shows the scoresheet progression during a game.

It was a very successful 2-day effort to grow referee competence in Western NC. A huge thanks to Inga Carr for her great work and the other volunteers who helped. Great job.