Lessons learned 2005: The negative

[Mr. Lim]

Consistancy in refereeing between regionals.

Maybe next year FIRST can consider having a consistant group of Head Refs deployed to each regional, much in the same way MCs and announcers are distributed.

Having a core set of individuals head-refereeing should make calls more consistant from regional to regional. In addition, it is much easier to garner feedback, and to enact changes when you only have a few individuals to inform. Weekly Head Referee meetings to share experiences from all the regionals become a possibility. Lastly, you don't risk losing all the valuable knowledge from week to week, when you have the same people head-refereeing.

I've heard a lot of "the refs are all volunteers, and they're doing the best they can," which I completely agree with. Refs should be volunteers, but help these volunteers by providing them with the best possible Head Referees to teach and guide them.

Of course there would be significant added expense in carting around Head Refs to 30 regionals, however if FIRST keeps growing and improving the way it has been, I think this is a sore point that needs to be addressed.

-SlimBoJones...