NWHA Judges News
On January 22 , we held the first Judge ’ s clinic since January of 2020 due to the pandemic and wanting to keep our judges and members safe .
In the eleventh hour , we made this year ’ s clinic presentation available online for those who had been exposed to or were already suffering from Covid to make certain that all of our judges received the same information and could participate in and be aligned in our mission to uphold the values of NWHA , and to meet the criteria needed to renew annual Judge ’ s licenses . categories , as well as reviewed the judging criteria on several classes most subject to misalignment with other organizations .
The judge ’ s committee selection will be complete very soon and the new team will get busy working on tasks and communications for 2022 . We will commit to providing at least two articles from the judge ’ s perspective for the newsletters , review and select the Judging Team for submission to the Board of Directors for approval for the 2022 Nationals , review evaluations received from exhibitors and look to provide future training sessions via Zoom or other technology throughout the year on judging procedures as needed .
This clinic was well attended with twenty in-person attendees including auditors , as well as six judges participating online via Zoom .
We currently have twenty judges active in our program and are welcoming back two returning NWHA judges as well as two new judge applicants and two current apprentices going through the program to join our judge ’ s team .
The day was filled with good conversation and debate that everyone in the room and online was able to participate in … including hearing from our auditors and getting an exhibitor ’ s perspective .
We reviewed the most often questioned areas from evaluations sent in from exhibitors to make certain that we are aligned with our rule book and understanding of the judging procedures for those
This team and committee are here to provide fair and knowledgeable judging per the NWHA current rulebook . We appreciate and value your feedback through evaluations that are filled out at shows ; both positive and those needing attention to performance . Please feel free to provide us with feedback .
As for me , I am honored to be back as your Director of Judges . It is a privilege to be a part of this judging team and the NWHA organization . Please reach out to me if I can assist or provide any information relative to the Judge ’ s committee or team .
Respectfully ,
Ruth Ann Spinelli
Director of Judges
March 2022 | NWHA National News 7