The sport needs officials to ensure that practices and competitions are run safely and fairly. Like all other sports, a team of officials is required to make sure the result at the end of the day is correct and to help the competitors have a good day out! Archery is a friendly sport, and officiating is a way of participating. Archery officials include range safety officers who ensure safe practices at the range in your club – to the Director of Shooting (DOS) who oversees the shooting from the time the athletes appear on the field, until shooting has been completed for the day.
Responsible for applying the Archery Canada & World Archery rules, fair play and conduct of competition on the field of play, judges – archery’s technical officials – are appointed to help make archery competition happen- from an informal club shoot to a national tournament.
As an official of the sport, judges are an integral part of archery and their role extends far beyond implementing the rule book. It is about enabling archers to train and compete in the sport safely, fairly and within the rules of the sport.
Once you make the decision to become a judge, you will find you can take the next step almost immediately. Learn about the judging pathway in the section below.
Fair Play
The rules provide the framework for a sport that is enjoyable and safe to participate in. There is an overriding obligation on the archers to observe the rules and to respect the principles of fair play.
Officials can help achieve this by displaying fairness, consistency, sensitivity and, at the highest levels, management. In return, it is the responsibility of archers, coaches and spectators to respect the authority of the officials. Officials are also there to protect the archers score and ensure they are not unfairly penalized. At the same time, officials are not looking to punish archers for rule infractions, but can where appropriate, find teaching moments. If an archer accidentally breaks a rule, a judge can ensure they know about the rule and understand it completely
“Don’t just open the book to see if you can find a penalty to take away an archer’s score, look in the book to find a rule, if possible, to save the archer’s score.”
– Morten B Wilmann, Sergio Font, Dion Buhagiar, from the WA Judge Guidebook
The Judging Pathway
In Canada, judge development is administered at the provincial level, with the exception of the range Safety Officer training which is set out and administered by Archery Canada, and the National Level . The process in general across Canada on becoming a judge follows a general pathway:
- Local/Club Judge
- Provincial Judge Candidate
- Provincial Judge
- National Judge Candidate
- National Judge
- World Archery Judge Candidate (Continental or International)
- World Archery Judge (Continental or International)
To become a judge at any level, an individual must be registered with the Archery Canada Member organization corresponding with the Province/Territory in which they live.
To learn more about judging programs in your Province/Territory please contact the appropriate office. You can visit the website for your Federation from one of the links at the bottom of this page, or email information@archerycanada.ca, indicate the Province/Territory in which you live, and we will try to route your request for information to the appropriate individual.
The National Judging program is overseen by the Judging Sub Committee
Range Safety Officer
In accordance with the Archery Canada Operational Plan, all clubs must include the name of at least two qualified Range Safety Officers or club-level judges in order to receive liability insurance .
How to become a Range Safety Officer:
- Ensure your Archery Canada membership is up to date.
- Read the enclosed safety officer guidebook
- Answer the online exam questions : Range Safety Officer Online Exam
- Candidates need 90% to pass. You can edit your answers online until you have successfully reached 90%. Archery Canada will email you a letter confirming you have passed the exam and that you are officially a certified Range Safety Officer.
If you have any questions, please send an email to information@archerycanada.ca
Local/Club
This is the entry level of judge who will officiate at an internal club tournament or inter-club tournament that is not registered with Archery Canada (see Tournaments for more information). This level of judge may need only to take an online course or a short clinic depending on the Province/Territory. They will then be able to officiate at tournaments within their club and will be able to help the members of their club to have a good understanding of the rules before participating in tournaments of greater scope.
Provincial Judge Candidate
Judges who have obtained their local/club judge certification can apply to be a Provincial Judge Candidate. This level will provide the foundation for the candidate to work towards full certification as a Provincial Judge.
Please visit your provincial archery website for details on how to become a judge in your province.
Provincial Judge
Provincial Judge certification is the minimum level of certification allowed to officiate a tournament registered with Archery Canada. See rule 4.8.3.4 in [Book 2] of the Rule Book.
In order to be certified as a Provincial Judge, the individual will need to have been accepted as a Provincial Judge Candidate and obtained experience officiating in the various disciplines (typically for one year), and may require mentoring under a certified judge, which would be determined by your Provincial/Territorial Archery organization. The process to become certified may also require completing an exam and passing with a minimum score. Peer recommendation may also be a component of receiving certification.
A Provincial Judge may mentor a Judge Candidate. The mentoring Judge will need to remain alongside the Candidate throughout a tournament.
A Judge officiating a tournament may not also compete, unless there is an opportunity for a second session (ie. 2 separate events held on the same day where the Judge officiates one session and another Judge officiates the other session).
Please visit your provincial archery website for details on how to become a judge in your province.
National Judge Candidate
This level of judge is the responsibility of Archery Canada. In order to be considered for this level, a judge must first have received their Provincial Judge Certification and be recommended by the provincial judges’ committee. They must be a member of Archery Canada through the Archery Canada Member organization corresponding with the Province/Territory in which they live.
A judge must have at least two years of experience as a provincial judge before applying to be a National Judge Candidate. Upon acceptance into this level, they must attend the national Judge clinic held annually in conjunction with the Canadian Outdoor Championships or at other designated Regional or national events.
The requirements to attend the clinic will be outlined in the clinic registration package and may include: Complete pre-clinic questionnaire; Prepare a 5-10 minutes presentation to give at the clinic (topic assigned by the Archery Canada Judge Chair).
Successful completion of the clinic and achieving a score on the exam of minimum 80% will permit the judge to officiate as a National Judge Candidate for up to 4 years.
Information on upcoming National Judge Clinic
Please check back. Information will be updated when available.
National Judge
National Judges are qualified to officiate at National events. To be certified as a National Judge, a judge must have completed the National Judge Candidate requirements and have been an active National Judge Candidate for at least 2 years. They must have officiated at least 2 Canadian Outdoor Championships (one of which can be designated Regional or National Event) and completed a practical Judging assessment that has been submitted to the National Judge Chair along with completion of case study questions.
After becoming a National Judge, you may wish to become certified as a Continental Judge (Americas) or an International Judge (World Archery).
Judge Selection for National Events
Judges are selected for each National Championship, through an application process, with final selection overseen by the Archery Canada Judges Committee.
It is the objective of this selection process to outline a clear, fair, and transparent process for selecting judges and/or officials at all Archery Canada National Competitions. Archery Canada recognizes the importance of having a clear judge selection process and communicating this criteria to all judges/officials. We are committed to a fair and appropriate implementation of this process.
National Competition event dates are to be determined through the Host Organizing Committee, the appointed technical delegates, and then approved by the Archery Canada Board of Directors. Once an event is awarded to a host club, and the competition dates approved, Archery Canada will publish a Call for Applications, for the specific event. The call will be communicated on the Archery Canada website, through appropriate social media channels, distributed to each Provincial and Territorial Member, as well as directly with National Judges, and each Provincial Judge Chair. Please see below, for a full overview of the selection process.
Resources for Judges
Club Judge Tests: