RULES
GURU
Q. Hey Guru,
I know that a player can only take one medical timeout
in a match. If a player takes a medical time-out and
later in the match he or she is scratched or cut such that
blood drips on the court, should the player take a regular
time-out—and if there are none left, does the player
forfeit the match?
A. Blood on clothing or a court is a special case and
according to rule 10.B.4.a, cleanup will be considered
a referee time-out. There is no limit to the number of
referee time-outs in a match.
Q. Hey Guru,
At a recent tournament, a referee asked for a medical
person to check a player who had fallen. The player
was taking several minutes to recover and asked the
referee to grant a medical time-out. How serious does an
injury have to be before a player can request a medical
time-out?
A. There is no provision for how serious an injury
must be for a player to ask for a medical time-out. If a
player asks for one, the referee must summon medical
personnel or the Tournament Director so an assessment
of the seriousness can be made. If the medical personnel
or the Tournament Director determines that a valid
medical condition exists, the medical time-out is
granted. If not granted, then the team is charged a
standard time-out and a technical warning will be
issued, unless they have no standard time-outs available.
In that case, they would be issued a Technical Foul, in
accordance with Rule 10.B.3.a.
Q. Hey Guru,
I was watching a gold medal match with line judges in
place. During a rally, the line judge nearest the sideline
indicated he could not make a call on a ball that bounced
very close to the line. The line judge made the indication
by covering his eyes with his hands. Almost immediately,
the referee stopped play and called the ball “out.” I
thought the referee could only make a line call if a player
made an appeal. No such appeal was made in this case.
Did the referee take the correct action?
A. Yes. This is the only time a referee can make a line call
without an appeal from a player. Rule 13.E.2.c applies in
this case.
We’d Like to Hear From You!
Send your questions to [email protected].
The USA Pickleball Tiered
Referee Rating System
By Bob Unetich
USAPA-CERTIFIED REFEREE
In 2019, a new system for rating referees was adopted
by the USAPA (USA Pickleball). Prior to the introduction
of this system, except for Certification, no credentials
were available to pickleball referees.
The Tiered Referee Rating System changed that.
There are now two new “tiers” of trained referees with
USA Pickleball credentials and the tiers are termed
Level 1 and Level 2. Each tier requires a demonstration
of specific referee skills. Referees who achieve Level
1 will have the skills needed to referee skill and age
bracket tournament matches, and Level 2 referees have
the knowledge needed to handle medal matches and
to officiate professional matches when no Certified
Referees are available.
Getting rated, which is known as being “assessed,” is
a fairly simple process involving a Registered Trainer
or a Certified Referee as the assessor. Referees simply
ask a Referee Trainer or Certified Referee to observe
them refereeing a match and judge how they perform.
The assessor also asks a series of questions about the
referee’s knowledge of “best practices,” and the proper
form is then completed with a rating awarded.
A referee being assessed should have formal referee
training and take the three (Player, Line Judge and
Referee) tests available to USA Pickleball members
online. Once a Level 1 or Level 2 rating is achieved, a
set of credentials with an identification card and wallet
are supplied to the referee, and the referee’s name
and contact information will be added to databases
that Referee Coordinators and Tournament Directors
can access.
An added benefit of being rated is that this process
is good preparation for becoming a Certified
Referee. There are other requirements that have
been established to ensure that those applying for
certification are well-prepared for evaluation. That
process will be the topic of another Rules Guru sidebar.
For more information on how to become a referee,
visit www.usapa.org/referee-training-tools. If you’d
like to become a USA Pickleball rated referee, contact a
Registered Referee Trainer near you. •
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