Officiating

The WSWC National Officials Program provides resources, training and certification for officials at all levels from club tournaments to international competition. Your participation as an official ensures our athletes have an opportunity to compete fairly and equitably with other athletes at water ski tournaments.

The program for classic, three event competition, has several roles for officials, including judges, boat drivers, calculators (scorers) , technical controllers (homologators), and Chief of Competition.

• Judges ensure the competition on the field of play, is run according to the rules of the event and sanctioning body (WSWC or IWSF), and is scored fairly.
• Boat Drivers are required to operate the towboats, with a high degree of skill and consistency.
• Calculators track and document the scores achieved by the athletes.
• Technical Controllers ensure the technical specifications of the site and of all associated equipment meet the Rules.
• Finally, the Chief of Competition has the responsibility to oversee and run the entire event or tournament.

Each official's position has specific criteria to achieve and maintain to ensure you are qualified and capable of officiating at any particular level of competition from club to international. The complete criteria are here for you. Here is where you will see what is needed to enter the program and to progress to higher levels as may be required by the classification of the event (such as Canadian or World Record Capability).

As you gain experience, you should also document that experience on the Record of Experience or ROE form, available in Adobe Acrobat PDF format. This ensures you can advance to a higher level you may aspire to and to formalize your credentials, particularly for more advanced events such as National, International, or Professional competition.

WSWC Officiating Rules Exam
For those interested in writing the WSWC Rules Exam to work towards their level 3 certification, please contact Mike Hewitson at the national office for a copy and to answer any questions you may have.

If you become involved and earn an appointment to a major event in Canada, officials are also expected to meet certain obligations of performance. These are designed to ensure events are properly managed and will meet the expectaions of the athletes.
Review these obligations here.