This came in an email today from USEF.
Hmm. It looks like maybe the link does not want to work. Basically it covered the rule changes they had already made to tweak the amateur rules regarding what is and is not allowed these days.
It also said they are clarifying the language regarding family members of professionals who show as amateurs. And it said they decided that they did not need to change the current rule that allows amateurs to be licensed officials.
Well, thank heaven for that, IMO, qualified, licensed officials are hard enough to find without restricting those willing and available to work.
This is the section regarding amateurs serving as licensed officials.
It might be painting with sort of a broad brush, but in my mind, any rule change that would take Betty Oare out of the judge’s box would be a bad rule change. I learner judged with her a million years ago, and she could not have been more kind or helpful or positive regarding the exhibitors in the classes.
Here it is:
Amateurs as Licensed Officials
Currently, amateurs are allowed to serve as judges, stewards, and other licensed officials without compromising their amateur status. This was flagged as a potential area of concern within the Task Force, and its members looked at several data points to determine whether to re-evaluate that part of the rule.
The data showed that there had been no formal complaints made to the USEF within the last 10 years regarding the policy of allowing amateurs to serve as judges, and no rule changes proposed to bar amateurs from serving as licensed officials. Furthermore, over the past 10 years, an average of 25% of USEF-licensed judges across all breeds and disciplines have been amateurs. In that same time period, competition evaluations showed only 17% of the negative feedback regarding judges pertained to amateur judges.
Based on this data, the Task Force determined there was not significant concern among the membership regarding amateurs serving as licensed officials, nor was there any indication that amateurs were not performing well as judges. For that reason, the Task Force opted not to propose any changes to that segment of the amateur rule.
Same goes for Susie Baker and countless others.
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