Referee Tips for Rowers: Volunteers and Regatta Organization and Head Racing

As the fall racing season is in full bloom, it is a good time to talk about one of the keys to a successful event, the volunteers. Once the Local Organizing Committee (LOC) is set, one of their most important tasks is to get help and lots of it. A strong corps of happy volunteers makes everyone’s life easier.

What They Can Do

Referees are often asked about which positions can be staffed by volunteers and which require a licensed referee. When in doubt, use the USRowing Rules of Rowing as a guide. Work with your chief referee to review key positions to decide what level of person is needed. Course layouts vary greatly and that affects the decision as to whether a position can be staffed by a knowledgeable volunteer a “warm body” or whether you should have a referee handling that position.

Here is a short list of positions typically found at head races:

• General help. This includes parking, docks and site work. This is an area that needs a lot of people, but the skill level is fairly low. Make sure people know their assignment and also make sure they have a way to call for help if a problem occurs.

• Registration. This is another one of the areas that is staffed completely by the LOC and usually with volunteers. The role is critical and it helps to have someone supervise the position that knows the regatta organization and has radio or cell phone contact with the regatta director. Staff may need minimal training, but having this run smoothly is one of the keys to having a good regatta.  

• Control Commission (includes athlete and cox weigh-ins, boat inspection). This is an area that also relies heavily on volunteers. A referee can supervise all the positions, answer questions and deal with the occasional crisis. What helps here is to have a written list of duties and responsibilities and a short training session for the volunteers. Have a copy of the regatta registration packet at each position for people to refer to if there is a question. Someone should be listed as the head of the control commission, and he or she should have communication with the chief referee and the head of the LOC.

• Timers. Head race timing tends to be the near exclusive domain of volunteers or a timing service. This is due to the special nature of head races, where there is a need for more spotters and recorders and less need to worry about a photo finish. There should be a referee at the finish line supervising the operation, but he or she is usually the only referee at that position.

• Course Marshals. For safety reasons, it is important to have line-of-sight coverage over the entire length of the course as well as warm-up and cool-down areas. In some cases, that function can be done by a trained volunteer (for example in the warm-up area and after the finish line). If a referee is not available to act as a course marshal in the body of the race, the chief referee should be consulted and decisions about assigning penalties by a non-referee course marshal must be made prior to the start of racing.

• Safety Marshals. In head races, there may be on-the-water safety personnel who have no other official function than being available to help people in distress. These can be either volunteers or first responders. Be aware that most fire and police personnel are unfamiliar with rowing and need to be advised about wakes and how to approach a shell in trouble.

Care and Feeding

The final point is to make sure that you take good care of your volunteers. Having food, fluids and relief personnel are absolutely essential to their happiness and your success. If volunteers are assigned a specific shift, they expect that shift time to be honored (referees and coaches are accustomed to working the whole day). Please respect their sacrifice and commitment by having sufficient staff to rotate them out as planned.

Head races are a lot of fun. Having a good team to support the event is one of the keys to your success.