Welcome to Officials!
As a swimmer's parent, you can be involved with your child and their sport in various ways. One significant way is by being trained, certified, and working as an official. Officials are present at all competitions to implement the technical rules of swimming and to ensure that the competition is fair and equitable to everyone.
As a club, the West Fargo Flyers aim to recruit and train many officials who are available to help at the swim meets we host as a club. Without our trained officials, we are unable to host meets and our swimmers cannot swim. Additionally, the meets we attend in North Dakota require that we provide a certain number of officials or we will be fined. So by becoming an official, you directly help your swimmer and the entire club.
Officials attend clinics, receive training, and are certified by USA Swimming. Novice officials generally start as Stroke & Turn Officials whose job is to observe the swimmers in their assigned lanes from the time they take their first arm pull after entering the water or beginning a race, through the completion of their race. Stroke & Turn officials ensure that the strokes, turns, and finishes comply with the rules applicable to each stroke. If strokes, turns or finishes are executed in a manner that is out of compliance with the rules, in the spirit of fairness they document information to disqualify a swimmer from a race.
There are many levels of officiating that require different degrees of involvement and time. Stroke & Turn officials learn the ropes of officiating by working on deck as an apprentice under the supervision of an experienced official. Once you complete your apprenticeship, you are required to take a test and complete a background check. There are opportunities for those who are interested in getting more experience and moving up the ladder to serving as a starter, referee, and higher.
The Flyers offer a strong incentive program for those who go through the apprenticeship program and become officials. If you are interested in learning more about becoming an official or any other questions related to officiating, please contact our Officials Chair, Chris Domitrovich, at [email protected].
IMPORTANT LINKS:
Sign up to officiate a swim meet
Apprentie Non-Athlete Registration Form
Athlete Protection Training - USA Swimming's Athlete Protection Training course is required and available by clicking here.
Officials Background Check - Do NOT let your background check expire. See Chris Domitrovich, the Flyers Officials Chair, to begin the background check process.
