Position certification without event volunteering

[CalTran]

I was wondering if anyone has ever (or tried to) gotten certification for a position, in this case referee, without actually being assigned the position at an event. I attempted to volunteer as a referee at Greater Kansas City, but the event was full on referees. However, I would still like to potentially volunteer as a referee at off-season events, so I was wondering who to contact if I was interested in taking the exam and getting the certification anyways.
Thank you.

(Also somewhat interested in getting RI certification, though I suspect that could be accomplished by just PMing Al.)

[BenDSterling]

I have the same question

[kingbrandon14]

I’m pretty sure that in order to get the official referee or robot inspector certifications you have to be assigned those roles at some event in VIMS.
Source: I have both certifications, and I’m not sure if you can get them without going through VIMS…

[CalTran]

I’m pretty sure that in order to get the official referee or robot inspector certifications you have to be assigned those roles at some event in VIMS.
Source: I have both certifications, and I’m not sure if you can get them without going through VIMS…

Yeah I figured. I went through the training to be a ref last year, but this year I couldn’t sign up until after January since I had to figure out my exam schedule.

[CalTran]

Unless you are wanting to volunteer at an extremely competitive off-season event (IRI, etc…), experience or certification is probably not needed. I have head refereed a medium size off-season event for a couple years and there have been multiple referee volunteers who hadn’t even seen a match let alone read the rules. If you have seen the game, have some understanding of the rules, and come will to learn, you would do just fine at a majority of the off-season events.

Well, true, and I referee’d (officially) last year, so I have a decent grasp on the official side, but being actually certified per season probably helps.

[engunneer]

Honestly I don’t think the RI test is very good. If you are the mentor involved in making sure your robot is legal while it’s being built, then you are 80% certified. The last 20% is knowing some of the more fiddly details that you get when you read the robot rules section 3 extra times.

[Jon_Stratis]

To get access to the certification, you just have to convince your VC to assign you to the role. Even if there isn’t room for another ref at your event, you may be able to convince them to double assign you so you can take the test and be ready as a backup in case someone has to drop out, while still being signed up for a different role.

[Lil_Lavery]

Most years, taking the ref test is less important than getting exposure to the ref consoles. This year the refs aren’t doing any scoring after autonomous, so it’s not a huge issue. But other years it’s quite intimidating to get a grasp of the console UI while simultaneously officiating matches.

[Jpatterson1710]

It’s quite intimidating to get a grasp of the console UI while simultaneously officiating matches.

Sidenote-It’s perfectly acceptable for Refs to show up to the field on practice day and interact with the panels in a no-pressure situation.

[jds2001]

Sidenote-It’s [STRIKE]perfectly acceptable[/STRIKE] advisable for Refs to show up to the field on practice day and interact with the panels in a no-pressure situation.

FTFY.

Please accept your head ref’s invitation to come during practice matches