strength in every story
TO The Bar
Technical Officials Guide – The Referee

Technical Officials Guide – The Referee

The Referees

Most new Technical Officials will be pretty accustomed to the referee positions. You will have possibly officiated at a local non-sanctioned event (eg, rules are slightly more forgiving and totals don’t count for national/international records). Some of you may also have officiated at BWL Tier 3 events where you have to adhere to the governing bodies rules and regulations for a Tier 3 event (see Tiering Page for more information on the differing Tiered events). In a nutshell, the 3 referees adjudicate the athletes lifts and decide if its a good (white lights/flag) or bad (red lights/flag) lift. It can be quite daunting for your first few times, and even more daunting when you referee at Tier 1 & 2 competitions where you could easily be judging British records or white lighting a lift that could take an athlete to the world championships or Olympic games! No pressure there then!

So what advice or pointers could be helpful? The below is obviously not an official list of the dos and don’ts, but from experience, we wanted to list some points that would be helpful, no matter what your officiating level.

The basics:

  • The 3 referees, (referred to as left, centre, right or on an electronic competition system, 1, 2, 3 (2 being centre of course) are the minimum requirement for a Tier 3 event.
  • As a bare minimum, to officiate at a Tier 3 event (Official BWL local club comp for example), you will need to have passed the BWL Level 2 Technical Official course. This is a paid for course/examination costing approximately £57 +VAT. Once you have passed, you will also then need to buy your licence (£40 which lasts for 24 months) and also pass a DBS check. To learn more about certification and pathways to the higher certs, navigate to the Refereeing Pathways Page
  • At competition, the judging system maybe either electronic (in the form of an app on a phone/tablet/electronic button system) or non-electronic system (white & red paddles or flags) that will be used to signal a good or bad lift.
  • Have a clear desk. Drinks etc should be under the desk (if it has a cover) or behind the chair. Keep your phone on silent and in your bag/pocket.
  • Introduce yourself to the loaders and create the relationship. Its good practice that you ask one loader to always check with the referees that once they have loaded the bar, that the referee is happy. Explain hand signals – eg twisting of fists = tighten the collars. Point to shins to signal blood – or whatever you like.
  • After each lift, make sure the bar is central, the bar blood free, and the collars tight. If necessary, ask for the bar/platform to be cleaned (if a Technical Controller is not present).
    • Before each lift:
      • Check the weight announced is the same on the bar. The majority of the time, this is the responsibility of the centre ref as they can see both sides of the bar, but the side refs can also make a call if they observe a plate mismatch. Raise your hand and shout STOP!
  • Check the competition platform, barbells, collars, plates. Often the barbell is coated in a grease during storage so be sure to inspect it prior to comp lift off.
  • At Tier 1 events (IWF predominantly) you should remain seated until after the medal ceremony.
  • Make sure you are aware of the time left on the clock and to press the red button if the athlete runs out of time.

Non Electronic Refereeing Systems (eg flags, paddles, and sticks).

When refereeing at competitions with no electronic systems, you often have a red and white flag or something equivalent. Actually, that’s if you’re lucky. I’ve been at comps where its been the old Roman gladiator style thumbs up/down for a good/bad lift. In this case, the centre referee has a lot more to do.

  • A failed lift when using flags: If any referee sees an infringement at any stage during the lift, they should raise their red flag. It’s important to re-emphasise this as most competitions that are run, using flags (or equivalent of) generally wait for the down signal and then the 3 refs raise the flags to indicate a good or bad lift. This is wrong. The process is; during any lift, if any referee sees an infringement, they must raise their red flag. If more than one referee raises their red flag, a majority vote is reached and the centre referee MUST call the down signal as the lift has ended.
  • If no majority has been reached (eg only 1 red flag raised) or no red flags were raised during the lift, it is the centre referees job to then give the down signal. All 3 referees must then display their flags.
  • The down signal is BOTH the lowering of the hand and shouting DOWN. These must be done simultaneously. Avoid raising the hand and waiting. You should raise the hand, lower and shout down all in one go.

Electronic Refereeing Systems (eg OWL Competition Manager)

For Tier 1 & 2 competitions, it’s highly unlikely you will need to use flags, unless the computer system fails. The new BWL system, is the Olympic Weightlifting Competition Manager.

  • Side refs: Generally this role is pretty much just refereeing. Keep an eye out for all the things mentioned above in the basics.
  • Centre Referee: While the role is greatly reduced without the hassles of a down signal, depending on the availability of a Technical Controller, the centre ref could will also assume this role where no TC is present. Therefore pay attention to:
    • Lifters attire
    • Competition platform and equipment falls under the centre refs remit. Inspect prior to lift off. Right bar? Check plates and bar etc.
    • Where no TC is available, ONLY the centre referee should approve the cleaning of the bar and platform. The loaders may not take this decision. However, at some Tier 1 competitions, it has now become (since covid) common practice to clean the bar and platform regularly without the instruction of the centre ref.

Summary:
While there is a lot of information here, these 5 points are always a bit of a go to for us.

  • Trust your judgement (remember it’s a majority vote).
  • Give the lifter the benefit of the doubt if you are unsure.
  • You have 3 or so seconds to change your mind after the lift. This helps when the lifter touches the bar with the foot etc or if you make a mistake and press the wrong button.
  • It doesn’t matter who the lifter is or their age, just referee them the same as everyone else.
  • Relax and enjoy the job. It shouldn’t be stressful.