Officiating AAU Pennsylvania

Master Balon prepping the AAU officials before the tournament.

A new challenge for us Taekwondo practitioners who get to higher ranks are not always in our physical training. Yes as our ranks get higher we want to learn new forms, new self-defense, new drills, new physical challenges, but you also get to a point in your higher rank where you may want to challenge your knowledge and understanding in other ways. One way of doing that for us was becoming certified AAU officials for tournaments.

My student of forever, Samantha Volk, and myself got certified as officials back in January under my mentor, Master Kevin Balon, Region 1 Director and New Jersey District Director. The following month, my other student, Andrew Kranich, got certified. The three of us have competed and we have even coached. But none of us have officiated that much before.

Sam Volk got a head start by officiating at the AAU Adirondack tournament in January. She also got great hands on experience and guidance officiating in the same ring as Master Balon himself! I was even a little jealous of the education she was getting with him while I coached! But this officiating certification was meant for Sam. She is excellent, she studied the rules and knows them so well (better than me I think). I have to ask HER questions!

Master Balon prepping the officials.

The first time I officiated was at the New Jersey State AAU tournament and it was a great experience. Andrew has never officiated before until the three of us traveled to Pennsylvania with Lisa to officiate the Mid-Atlantic Qualifier, directed by Master Aaron Morris. This was Sam's third time officiating AAU tournaments already and acts like she is a professional. But the thing is, she IS a professional. She offers so much to the competitors who compete. Parents of competitors and the competitors themselves were thanking her for her help and fairness in running the ring she was in. Sam has a great knack for this.

Andrew was having the time of his life officiating, never doing this before. He not only had fun, but he learned a great deal. As the day went on, you could see her comfort and confidence grow, and was given pointers from my own mentor walking around giving advice and tips on things to look for and how to improve. Master Balon even entrusted him to run a ring for Olympic sparring, which Andrew was honored to do. And he did very well.

Samantha Volk (2nd Dan) doing a superb job officiating in Pennsylvania.

Andrew Kranich (2nd Dan) getting advice from Master Kevin Balon (7th Dan).

And of course I always have an experience everywhere I go. I was the second most experienced official in my ring but also the highest ranking official in my ring. I got to center for forms which is easy work, but when it came to knowing what forms were acceptable to compete with for what level, I was right in there, teaching the other officials. When higher ranking divisions were called, Master Balon expected me to be in the chairs for judging, being a higher rank myself.

And Master Balon made me step out of my comfort zone and centered for Point Sparring. I was nervous and uncomfortable, but successful people make the uncomfortable comfortable! So did as my mentor requested and center refereed all the Point Sparring matches. That alone was a huge challenge for me, and I made a few mistakes, but learned a great deal. Then I ran an entire ring for Olympic sparring which I am very comfortable with doing. All in all, I had a fantastic experience as well, and we were more than happy to help with Master Morris's tournament, and Master Balon did a great deal to help Master Morris as well, being it was only his second year. And it ran great!

Me as the center official for Olympic sparring.

Mr. Kranich ran the ring for Olympic sparring.

When our rings were done with competition, they became to break down the equipment and there may have been one or two rings still open finishing their divisions. One ring, I saw Master Balon was actually centering for Olympic sparring. I saw there were no other judges sitting in the chairs. So I immediately walked up to Master Balon, bowed, and said "Master Balon, can I help with officiating in your ring if needed?" He appreciatively accepted and Andrew and I got to corner referee while Master Balon centered the final Olympic matches.

Besides being more than happy to help in any way we can, we selfishly couldn't wait to have the opportunity to watch Master Balon center judge as well. And it was a fantastic experience. Everything he taught us about officiating we were able to see him do first hand, and there was even a situation where the coach was arguing about scoring. Master Balon gave a half point deduction warning (Kyong-go) to her competitor. She continued to argue and he gave another warning. He assumed position, with his finger pointing up ready to do it again and turned to her and said "Say it again," with a slight smirk. His intentions were of course not malicious in any way, but it was a stand to say "Don't tell me how to do my job." According to the rules anyway, the coach cannot tell the judges how they are supposed to be scoring. Even after calling the judges together, we all agreed no points were scored based on the coaches's challenges. It was great to see Master Balon handle the situation with dignity and control.

Master Balon centering at the Pennsylvania AAU tournament.

The three of us were tired, but really enjoyed the experience. It's a new role we get to share in our training, and it's another way to be more involved with the AAU, which is a fantastic program for Taekwondo. Master Morris did a wonderful job directing it, Master Balon did a great job helping us out and offering advice, and the day went very well. We would do it again in a heart beat. (BOWS)

She can never take a nice picture with me!!! FRESH!

Yours in service,
MASTER TRENTO