Badgermille – The Referee Crowdsourced learning platform
In many other sports there are sample videos and online learning portals for referees so that the national organizations can educate the mass of referees at the local level to proper calls and various points of emphasis for the seasons. In the US for fencing, this communication is done mainly at the North American Cup tournaments. (if you are lucky enough to work local events in the same area as an FIE level referee then you may have a local mentor.)
This new site hopes to enhance the learning process by creating a crowd-sourced method for referee training. When you log into the site and create an account you are provided with a list of video clips you can watch – across weapon disciplines and at different levels (local, national, FIE). After watching the action you fill out a form voting for the call you would make.
Once you vote, you can see how your vote matches up with the votes of other referees and FIE-level referees.
While still in its infancy, I love the idea behind the site and think that it’s a great step forward. There is good discussion on the platform as well as early feedback (and bug fixes!) on the forums in this thread: https://fencing.net/forums/thread77689.html
Check out the video tour here:
If you have feedback, you can contact the Badgermille admin directly, or share your thoughts on the forum thread.
