becoming a judge

Question
Hi!  I am looking for information on how to become a judge.  I dove as a kid during the summer, and have coached and judged for summer leagues.  It's something I enjoy, and would like to do regularly.  Can you point me in the right direction?  I'm in Northern New Jersey.

Answer
Regina -

The unusual thing about diving, is that it is probably the only sport where the coaches judge their own divers. All USA/AAU Diving Club meets are judged by the coaches who have divers in the meet. If you do not have team with one of these organizations, you will probably not be selected to judge at a meet. It is possible to judge at a club meet without being the coach, but you would have to be a member of each national organization as well as being attached to a club in some capacity like being a board member, team manager etc.

Your best chance is probably going to be judging high school meets in the upcoming school year. Go to www.njsiaa.org. This is the governing body for high school sports in New Jersey. Navigate your way around to find out info about what it takes to be a high school judge at dual meets, invitationals and championship meets.You should also go to local high schools that have diving teams and ask the coaches if they need judges. I am sure they are always looking for someone to judge because most of the time (at least where I live), judges are comprised of swimmers, parents or swimming officials who do not know much about diving at all. If you live close to New York, you could go to their high school website (www.nysphsaa.org)and see about judging in that state.

The person who knows the most about diving in your state is Coach Candace of the Jersey Rebel Dive Club and Blue Dolphin Diving. Go to www.usadiving.org, click on clubs and then Find A Club. Enter NJ and a list of teams will come up. Her contact info is there. Ask her how you could become judge at NJ club meets. While at this website, you can also find an online version of the diving rule book that has judging guidelines.

Other diving websites you should try:

www.divemeets.com. Click on Upcoming meets and look for meets close to you. You should try and attend some so you get to know the coaches/teams.This is the end of the season, so you won't find many until the fall.

www.diving.about.com. Site that explains the sport and also has judging info.

www.aaudiving.org - Click on Diving Sport Contacts. When the map comes up, click on District numbers closest to you. Contact those people and ask about how to judge at their meets.

www.flipnrip.com

www.usadiver.com

Good luck.