The Sharks are coming! The Sharks....

[P_A]

I'm a little concerned about the upcoming series of tournaments (Gym and Stadium Challenges) that have as top prizes a trip to Worlds. The reason I worry, is that I wonder if they will be judged either correctly, or have enough staff due to the overwealming amount of people that will want to play to get those travel awards. I know that up here, chances are I will be the only judge for however many show up, due to one reason or another. Normally my son and I judge together, and my co-gym leader at the events run by our premier tournament organizer's tournaments. As a loving parent, I requested my son to play, and I know the other professor in our gym will want to do so as well. I'm not posting this to get sympathy, or to get greedy either, but I do wonder if POP could offer a bit more to entice professors to judge instead of playing. Personally I believe a few booster packs won't be sufficient to get the judging staff I'm sure we'll need. What do you think?

 

[BJJ763]

Yes judging at Stadiums could be a problem. Unless of course the judging staff have no plans on going to Nationals/Worlds, then it really isn't a problem (or you can get a TCer to judge for you).
But the reason why many of us became Professors was to be able to judge these premiere events because we know we want the event to be run as smoothe as possible. We're not in it for whatever POP gives us. These events will seperate the true Profs from those that joined to get to play at the WotC Prof exclusive events.

 

[PokePop]

Well, on the other hand, one has to deal with the reality that in this game, the difference between a player and a Judge can be just a matter of how one feels that morning.
It's not like little league or even professional sports where you can look at a group of people and see who the players are and who the coaches/judges/refs are.

 

[meganium45]

Frankly, this falls on the shoulders of the PTOs involved with each event.

I know for the South Stadium, my head judges are set for all 3 age divisions, with MP Birch and myself not even included.

As for gym challenges, all of my people want to play, and not judge in those, so I am serving as HJ, and going to have parent vols assisting me with reporting and other duties, the same way I did at states.

The nightmare would be being a PTO who did not know the rules enough to HJ.

Just my 2 cents.

Meganium45

 

[P_A]

Frankly, this falls on the shoulders of the PTOs involved with each event.

..... The nightmare would be being a PTO who did not know the rules enough to HJ.
Meganium45

I'm hoping I'm wrong, but I believe this is exactly the situation. I guess only time will tell. I know a lot of professors in our area either go to gencon or worlds, and are hoping to get a trip, or are currently absent from pokemon due to obligations of some sort. Believe me, I didn't become a professor to become a paid employee, I did it to help others. I just think some might be overwhealmed at these tournaments by the sheer volume of people that may show up. Anything to help gain a few judges will be a good idea in my books.

 

[IvesRountree]

Well, I do know that most of the guys who know a lot about rules will be playing ay challenges, what should have been seen with a lot of anticipation, as mentioned by meganium (2 straight posts where I repeat the same thing, OMG) is part of the TO job, you have to be able to identify key elements, for example, mudkip, very well known by many around here, is a rule expert, he could easily be a prof, and probably will apply for it once the program is up, but he is a born player, if you take that away from him, instead of being good to him and the game, may instead poisom him, you can rely on him to help around, but he is not judge material, instead, try hitting on the middle level player who is tired of being beaten because he only uses his rogue decks (like certain blastoise loving dude who even played darl blastoise when base was rotated out) they have enough passion to be a leader, and are anxious to have an excuse not to play every time.

In case you do not have the time, simply get volunteers, and get a couple pda's, upload the compendium, and it will be at least a good aid.

 

[Sensei]

Frankly, this falls on the shoulders of the PTOs involved with each event.

I know for the South Stadium, my head judges are set for all 3 age divisions, with MP Birch and myself not even included.

As for gym challenges, all of my people want to play, and not judge in those, so I am serving as HJ, and going to have parent vols assisting me with reporting and other duties, the same way I did at states.

The nightmare would be being a PTO who did not know the rules enough to HJ.

Just my 2 cents.

Meganium45

I did exactly the same for the East Stadium and currently contemplating to add more if the situation deems I need it.

But to get to the "sharks",it falls threefold in my opinion.

1) The PTO/TO: The PTO needs to make sure he addresses good sportsmanship in his announcements stating that cheating,stalling,etc. will NOT be tolerated at all. Also,The PTO needs to make sure he has enough staff/judges to be able to keep as much an eye on people and the games as much as possible.

2) The judges/HJ: The judges need to be constantly aware and keeping an eye on the players and games going on.We all know that there are never enough judges and you can`t catch everything,especially with the big events,but being aware and also knowledgeable along with a decent size staff,will go a long way.

3) The players: Players need to be good sports and not let greed of a trip or some other big prize overtake their personal emotions and make them a "shark".Unfortunately,there are unscrupulous players that care for nothing but themselves even if it means cheating,lying,or other methods to just win the big prize.It takes a real Trainer to make a good sportsman and admit when you can`t win.

`Sensei

 

[Rainbowgym]

The nightmare would be being a PTO who did not know the rules enough to HJ.

Join my Nightmare overhere.
But how to act if you know in advance that your Nationals will not have any experienced Modified judge?

 

[IvesRountree]

Then invite some! ok... shameless way trying to get somewhere to crash at on the netherlands... there may be some judge willing to go just for the thrill of it, though I believe the main problem so far is making the organizers accept judges, so I dont have an advice on that.

 

[ScythKing]

Frankly, this falls on the shoulders of the PTOs involved with each event.
As for gym challenges, all of my people want to play, and not judge in those, so I am serving as HJ, and going to have parent vols assisting me with reporting and other duties, the same way I did at states.
The nightmare would be being a PTO who did not know the rules enough to HJ.

Heheh - we're in the same boat Vince. I've managed to round up some volunteer help from a couple of knowledgable parents (one of whom I'd not hesitate a moment to award professor status to) - but my regular guys all wanna play - so do I! But.... maybe I can slink over to Memphis for yours the following weekend! I think it's much more important to empower and release the younger fellers to pursue the glory!

 

[bulbasnore]

Yah, having plenty of judging talent nearby so you can cover each other is a luxury. I enjoy it but I know it is a luxury. This is one importance of the professor program to spread that luxury.