What is a judge? A judge is a person who cares about the winter guard activity because they have been a part of it in the past as either a performer, an instructor or an observer. He or She is a person that cares about improving a guard’s program and performance so that they can maximize their potential for success and achieve their goals. He or She is a person that is paid to make decisions about which programs are constructed and performed well. Lastly, a judge is a friend and is always doing the best job possible.

What background is required? Judges come from a variety of backgrounds, such as audience members, past or current color guard instructors, and other various music backgrounds (dancers, stage directors, etc). Some may also come from outside the activity such as dancers, artists and designers.

What type of commitment does it take to become a judge? Judges put in many hours training both before they are approved to judge and after becoming a judge. They have to complete a Home Study Course in their caption (which takes many hours to complete), attend various clinics before and throughout the season, and must trial for many months (make tape commentary and assign scores to various units). They put in many hours preparing to give competing guards their best adjudication.

What training did our judges participated in for 1997? The following training has occurred for the 1997 season:

• Jan 11 All day clinic during the field day, taped commentary and scores were given to the Education Director for evaluation.
• Jan 18 All day clinic during the field day with a focus on potential judges, taped commentary and scores were given to the Education Director for evaluation.
• Feb 9 Caption meetings were held and tapes of past WGASC guards were evaluated and discussed in-depth by caption. Outside Facilitators were brought in to focus on Ensemble analysis and Movement.
• Feb 15 All day clinic during the Southern California Regional, caption discussions will occur and taped commentary and scores will be given and evaluated by the Education Director.
• On-going Judges continue to make double tapes and send them to the caption facilitator or the Director of Education throughout the season. Recaps are evaluated critically by both he Director of Education and the Facilitators in reference to the block scores for WGI.

Are there different levels of judges? Yes, we have judges who are novice, intermediate and national levels, just like our guards. We all have to start somewhere and be nurtured and developed to our full potential. The educational sessions judges attend help to provide our units with the best adjudication possible. If a judge does a good job, please tell them and if they need to improve some areas please advise them. The educational process is a two way street.

What are the captions and what do they judge? Below is a brief description of the captions judged. For more information concerning the scoring process see the WGI Audience’s Guide to understanding the Scoring Process.

• Timing and Penalties- This judge times the length of the show, watches for boundary violations, legal equipment and makes sure the show moves along at an appropriate pace.
• Movement- This judge evaluates the vocabulary and training of the individual performers relative to movement throughout the program.
• Equipment- This judge evaluates the vocabulary and training of the individual performers relative to equipment throughout the program.
• Ensemble Analysis- This judge evaluates the written design and the group excellence throughout the program.
• General Effect- This judges evaluates the program effectiveness and the performance/communication skills of the performers throughout the program.