[waialua359]

The point made that just because its week 1, doesnt mean that the rules understanding by everyone, including referees and its consistency is a "learning process" is an excellent point! Its not fair for any team who competes during week 1.
Thus, the original point by Madison for a more complete training and understanding of rules prior to competition, I believe, is a way to improve the "issues" at regionals, especially during week 1.

The other suggestion on demonstrating how penalties can occur is a great way to validate what the rule book says. Sometimes, teams read the rules over and over again, only to misunderstand/misinterpret "how" the penalty can occur. I've seen this done from time to time at certain regionals, year to year. Maybe it should be done every year, especially for rookie teams.
As a rookie or even for us, so much is happening so fast that sometimes you miss things here and there.

Example
In NJ last year, ringers placed did not count on the bottom portion of the rack if it touched another ringer laying flat on the ground. I asked what the rationale was? One referee said that the ringer placed was "aided" by the ringer on the floor. We ended up spending time during future matches to move the opposing teams ringer laying there in order to ensure ours hanging counted.
Later, they changed the rule. I then asked why the rule change from a different referee. That person didn't even know what I was talking about and said it was fine.
The moral of the story here is that (I cant quote the exact rule from last year so I am not sure) is that the ringer could not be aided by something else to be counted as a score. The referee, another referee, and myself all had different interpretations of the rule/situation.
Visual examples makes it clear for the audience, the participants, and even the referees.