UKC Performance Pack Judges Licensing Procedure Changes, Other Beagle News

Full Circle

March 15, 2017

Source: Allen Gingerich

This months column pertains solely to the UKC Performance Pack format.

UKC Performance Pack Judges Licensing Procedure Changes
Announcement
UKC recently implemented a Judges Advocate Committee to serve as ambassadors for the Performance Pack format. This committee seeks to focus their special interests towards Performance Pack judges to assure that qualification requirements meet the standards for the format. Their mission is to recruit, foster, educate, mentor, assist, advise, inspire, assure consistency and responsibilities, monitor, offer continuing education, as well as recognize outstanding judging.
The committee recently met with UKC to discuss ideas and implement any changes necessary to allow this effort to succeed. The current Judges Apprenticeship Program works well for most of UKCs various hunt programs, but the Performance Pack format has some unique differences that suggest separate criteria is needed. In most of UKCs other hunting programs, officials and judges are generally made up of individuals who have an in-depth knowledge and experience in that related field. However, their assignments generally dont require the physical capabilities of keeping non-stop pace with a hard-charging pack of Beagles for an hour.
The fact is, most of our licensed judges and official, in other formats, would find themselves too aged and out-of-shape to even think about applying for a license that requires such physical capabilities. Its evident that the job of Performance Pack Judge does, in fact, require more than just experience and knowledge of the rules in play. It requires someone who can keep up with a pack of Beagles, within reason, to get the most score possible. This requires leaning on younger individuals for this assignment. With it comes the need for education and training to get them to the point the assignment requires.
UKCs current/past apprenticeship program can have an individual serving their apprenticeship under three licensed judges, and then we put a license in their pocket and turn them loose on their own the following weekend. Such an apprenticeship requirement can easily be achieved at one trial. Regardless, our expectations of them are no less than that of experienced judge regardless of any situation that arises. Quite frankly, its not a fair position to put them in.
Enter the Judges Advocates Committee. They have been assigned to be the voice and guidance for recruits and judges in their respective regions. They wont be working on this effort on their own. They will be communicating and delegating their efforts with those experienced licensed judges in their areas to allow the individual to gain the education and confidence they need before we expect too much out of them. The last thing we are interested in is to put them in a position they are not confident in or ready for and discourage them. The following changes will allow the individual to decide on their own when they feel confident enough to start judging on their own. We want to make them a priority and help them along throughout a process that will better fit them with the training they need. Its a win, win for everyone.
The following changes are effective immediately.

Phase I. Apprenticeship Program
The individual must request a Performance Pack Judges Application from UKC. This can be done by phone or email. UKC will mail the applicant all the information they need to get started. They will be assigned to the Judges Committee Member (JCM) in their region who will work with and guide the applicant throughout the apprenticeship. One of the items required is to complete the Judges Test and mail it back to UKC. However, they can start their apprenticeship at any time with the provision that they must send their completed test to UKC before they are eligible for Phase II of the apprenticeship program.
The applicant will serve Phase I of their apprenticeship in no less than five casts and under no less than three different licensed judges. The apprentice does not choose the licensed judge they serve under. The JCM will assign the licensed judges the apprentice will serve under. Serving under a judge that was not assigned or approved by the JCM will not meet the requirement as one of the three judges or one of the five casts required to complete the apprenticeship.
After completing Phase I, providing they have returned and passed their Judges Test, the applicant will graduate to Phase II. But before they go any further, the apprentice must have received and be in possession of a Limited Privilege Judges License (Approved Apprentice Judge).

Phase II. Apprentice Judge
Congratulations, you have completed Phase I and are ready to start judging casts! However, we are not going to hand you a license just yet and put you in the field on your own. In this phase, you are an Apprentice Judge where you will judge alongside a licensed judge. Yes, you will be scoring dogs that will count towards the official scoring of the cast. During this phase, you may refer to the licensed judge for any questions that you may have during the hunt.
At the end of the hunt, the licensed judge will go over your scoring to make sure there are no questions or concerns on your scoring before you both meet with the cast to tally the combined scores. The licensed judge will not be comparing his scorecard to the apprentices scores. This is simply a procedure to make sure that the apprentices scoring is in accordance with the Performance Pack Running Rules. And to further clarify or correct the proper scoring for a scenario that the apprentice may have questioned or scored incorrectly due to misinterpretation of the rules. If the licensed judge does find any scoring of the apprentice to have been done in error, he or she has the right to correct that scoring on the apprentices scorecard. After approval by the licensed judge, the scores will be tallied in front of the cast, and the winning dog will be announced at that time.
You will be required to serve as an Apprentice Judge for no less than 10 casts. This will require the apprentice judge to serve in this phase for a minimum of at least three separate trials.
Again, during this phase your JCM will be monitoring your process, provided by the feedback of his delegates. After having judged 10 casts, and the Apprentice Judge feels he or she has gained the confidence to start judging on their own, they may request consideration for a Performance Pack Judges License. If approved, the JCM will submit the apprentices resume to UKC and request a license be issued. Otherwise, the Apprentice Judge may continue serving in this capacity until they gain the confidence they need before requesting a license.

Phase III. UKC Licensed Performance Pack Judge
After receiving their license from UKC, the individual is now a licensed Performance Pack Judge and may start judging casts on their own. Although licensed, they must be reminded that they have a responsibility to judge dogs to the best of their ability, and not be persuaded otherwise by political nonsense, big names or what is at stake for the winning dog. They should bear in mind that good judging will ultimately bring the right dogs to the forefront who become those hounds that are used for breeding purposes and better Beagles for generations to come. They should desire to continue learning and let their experience be their guide to become the best they can be. And ultimately be that judge in the clubhouse in the morning that participants hope to draw that day, win or lose, to judge their hound.

Approving Judges for New Clubs
Given the changes made for apprenticeship and licensing procedures, it may require a little more preparation for new clubs before they will be ready to schedule licensed events, unless they already have enough members who are licensed judges. Not to worry, though. Part of the Judges Committees responsibilities include helping new clubs through their start-up process and assuring they are sufficiently prepared before any trials are scheduled for them. Being sufficiently prepared and organized is key for any new club, as it should be.
Judging seminars will be made available to them. A Judges Committee Member will chair those seminars and will work with club members as it relates to judges. Procedures for members already licensed through another registry will be determined and approved by the JCM on a case-by-case basis. Again, this procedure will benefit the clubs and the success of their events even though it may take a little more time in certain cases. Most of which will depend largely on their geographical location and the number of licensed judges that might be available to them from surrounding clubs.

Youth Apprenticeship Judges Program
The age requirement to apply for a Performance Pack Judges license is 16. Those who attend Performance Pack trials will know that its not uncommon to see under-age boys and girls out in the field with the judge. Not only is this a great way for youth to learn, but it is strongly encouraged. In moving forward, this is something that we want to put a lot more effort into and recognize these youngsters who are interested in field trials and judging. Theres not a better time to start teaching and working with them then to give them that opportunity while they are still young.
UKC has implemented a Youth Apprenticeship Program specifically for Performance Pack. To enter the program, the youth will need to start by requesting an application. For now, this can be done by contacting UKC Field Operations. A packet will be mailed out to the youth that includes educational literature as well as a form to complete with some of their personal information. The packet will also include a simple questionnaire so that UKC can learn more about them. It may even include a fun test related to dogs, judging and the educational literature that was sent to them.
After receiving the youths application, UKC will create a profile and mail the youth a Youth Apprenticeship Card and the forms they need to keep record of all the casts they participate in as an apprentice. After each cast they apprentice, their licensed judge will sign off on their Apprenticeship Form. After they have participated in a certain number of casts, as allotted on the form, they will mail it to UKC. That goes for each completed level.
Heres the fun part. There will be three levels of achievement. After each designated number of casts they participate in, based on the different numbers of casts required to reach the next level, the youth will receive an Achievement Certificate from UKC denoting their level of achievement. The levels of achievement will start with: 1) Bronze; followed by 2) Silver; and finally, the honorable and ultimate UKC Gold Award. By the time the youth is of age to be eligible for the real thing, they should have a very solid resume and can be well on their way to becoming great Performance Pack Judges.
While UKC encourages participation and continuing education for all ages, we must bear in mind that the Youth Apprenticeship Program is directly linked to a licensed trial. The licensed judge the youth is apprenticing under has a responsibility to judge dogs, first and foremost. The judge cannot be responsible for youth that may still be too young and not capable of keeping up, within reason. The youth must also be capable of navigating themselves efficiently through the terrain they might encounter. In other words, we must be considerate of the judges responsibility and not require them to abandon the pack to help the youth through every little briar thicket that might present itself. The last thing we want to have happen is the youth getting lost. Therefore, this program targets those youth ages of 12 and up. Until they reach this age, there are other things they can get involved in, such as showing dogs or handling dogs in the hunt until they reach the required age to enter the Youth Apprenticeship Program.

Summary
Its no secret that the success of the Performance Pack format relies a heavily on the knowledge and quality of those individuals in the field we are calling upon to judge hounds. Its also no secret that too often our expectations are higher than what is reasonable. Thats not always fair to the judges, especially when it comes to newer inexperienced judges. We cant rush them through a qualification process and expect a Michael Jordan to magically emerge on the court. It simply doesnt work that way. It takes time and experience. Some will take longer than others, and thats okay. I also dont think theres a licensed judge in the country that doesnt want to do the best job they possibly can. Unfortunately, we cant always instill the standard of integrity required upon every individual. Integrity depends on the character of every individual. However, lack of integrity will eventually become obvious and must be weeded out.
High expectations require us to also do our part to help our judges be the best they can be. It also requires participants to be considerate of those who sacrifice a lot to judge their hounds. Its not a job that just anyone can do, and its not always easy. It requires a lot of physical capabilities and understanding that no matter who the judge, they are not always able to see or get every possible scoring that may have been earned during the course of a hunt. If they did, they would also catch every negative thing our hound did that we hoped they didnt see!
The sole reason for implementing a Performance Pack Judges Advocates Committee is to put more emphasis on the judging aspect of the format. This is an effort on our part to assure we are doing everything we can for all our judges as well as those who support the format. This starts with an unbiased and experienced panel of committee members and their commitment to this effort.
We started with a review of our apprenticeship and licensing procedures. It doesnt take a rocket scientist to see that some changes were necessary to create a process that will hopefully better serve this effort, and most importantly, one that will allow applicants the best teachers we can give them. Thus, the changes as noted above, which includes the Youth Apprenticeship Program. The committee felt confident that these changes, in the long run, will benefit everyone. Again, that doesnt mean that the committee members will be those doing all the teaching. Theyll be relying on and delegating a lot of those efforts to the experienced senior judges within their region.

Honor to Whom Honor is Due. Not only is this committee committed to be there for the applicant and help them along during their apprenticeship program, they will also be there to offer advice and assistance to all licensed judges in their region. To validate this effort even further, the committee is also interested in paying recognition to those outstanding judges in their regions. They want their judges to take pride in good judging and they want to see them being recognized. UKC agrees 100 percent.
Coming up with the perfect platform to credit good judging was not easy. A voting procedure for this was felt might not be the best option, so we are working on a process that will accomplish such honorable recognition. Of course, the number of casts judged will play a part, but it will not be the only part. To authenticate the Performance Pack Advocates Committee members commitments to these changes and their support in this effort, they have unselfishly removed themselves and will not be eligible for this recognition. Its all those other judges in each of their regions they want to see recognized for their outstanding contributions to the sport!
For this and several other reasons, clubs will see a new form in their event packets that will provide UKC with more specific judges information for every trial. This form will hopefully also eliminate the State Race Points Form as well as the Judges Listing Form. It will be a universal form that provides UKC with data that can be used for multiple purposes.
Lastly, a special thanks to the committee and to all those judges and participants who continue to support Performance Pack. We appreciate all of you and hope to see everyone in Lynnville this month for the Performance Pack Nationals.