Judging Pathway
Judging is one of the best ways to volunteer with the OCF because you are part of the action, and always get a great view of some exciting climbing. It only takes 3 steps to start judging, but you can follow this pathway even further to become an OCF Official, a National Judge, or even an International Judge at World Cups and the Olympics.
Step 1: Take the CEC Judge Training class online.
The CEC’s Judging in Competition Climbing course is free, or you can make a donation to express your support. It takes about 1 hour to complete.
CEC Judging in Competition Climbing eLearning Module
Step 2: Review our Rules.
The OCF Rulebook is 23 pages, but good news: judges only need to review a couple of sections! All judges should briefly review Sections 3 and 10. Boulder judges should closely read Section 11, and Difficulty/Lead/Rope judges should closely review Section 12 and/or Section 13 depending on the categories at the competition you will be judging. This step should take less than 30 minutes.
Step 3: Judge a competition partnered with an experienced Judge.
Once the new judge completes the first two steps, they are ready to get some practical experience at an OCF competition.
At this step, the new judge is paired with a more experienced judge for one or more competitions. The new judge will get to watch the experienced judge do the work, and then they will get to do the work themselves, with the support of the experienced judge.
The amount of time a new judge spends at this step depends on how quickly the new judge learns to consistently apply the rules and how quickly they become comfortable working without a mentor. Our goal is to help every new judge progress as rapidly as possible, but we never rush anyone beyond their own comfort level.
After completing this step, a newer judge would become what we call an Intermediate Judge.
Step 4: Judge with other intermediate Judges.
At this step, the two Intermediate Judges would work together as a team.
The amount of time someone spends at this stage depends on how quickly each person learns to judge without support, feels comfortable judging without support, and also feels comfortable managing those odd situations that don’t happen very often. Many volunteers are content to stay at this level and always work with a partner. Others want to progress as quickly as they can.
After completing this step, an Intermediate Judge would become what we call an Experienced Judge.
Step 5: Be an experienced Judge at a competition.
At this step, the judge works on their own, gaining experience, and being exposed to those odd situations that don’t happen very often like appeals and technical incidents.
Step 6: Train to become a certified OCF Official.
Experienced judges may be interested in becoming certified as an OCF Official (Technical Delegate, Head Judge or Jury President). Each competition requires one of each type of Official.
Anyone with questions about Judging should contact the OCF at headjudge@climbontario.ca.