Officials

Getting Started

Thank you for your interest in becoming a USA Swimming Official in North Texas! Officiating can be fun and is a great way to spend time with your swimmer(s). Officials are a vital part of USA Swimming—they help conduct meets and ensure fair competition. North Texas (NT) Swimming has a large group of officials with a wide range of experience, and we're eager to help you learn and develop as a swimming official.

Follow these steps to get started:

1. Register with USA Swimming

 

When you choose non-athlete registration, you must complete the APT, CPT and Background check (steps 2, 3, 4 below) before you begin apprenticing on deck. To register for a full membership (have a form of payment ready):

  1. Use the USA Swimming member registration link sent to you by your team (if you are Unattached, request the link from [email protected])
  2. Create a login using your primary email (if you have a login you used for your child's registration, you may login using that same information and skip to step 4)
  3. A verification code will be sent to your email of by text to the phone on record. Copy & paste that code to activate your account.
  4. When asked "Who is the membership for? Select 'Myself' if you are the account holder or 'Someone Else' if you are not the account holder.
  5. As a new USA Swimming Official, you will check 'No' when asked if you ever have had a USA Swimming Membership, unless you had a membership in the past (you were a previous athlete, coach or official) in which case you will check 'Yes'.
  6. During the registration process, when you reach the 'Membership' selection page, this is where you will select 'Official' for a full, paid membership.
  7. Complete the registration process and pay your membership fee.

Check with your team's treasurer regarding this fee; in some cases, teams will pick up the cost of registration for their officials once certified.

2. Complete a criminal background check

Before you can become certified as an official, you'll need to complete a criminal background check through USA Swimming. To begin the background check process:

  1. Log into your USA Swimming account and click on the Education button in the top navigation bar, then click Course Catalog.
  2. Click on All Courses and select the Background Check course to expand details.
  3. Click Background Check Links > Initiate Background Check to navigate to IntelliCorp, the third-party background check provider for USA Swimming.
  4. On the IntelliCorp site, click Start Your Background Check to begin the process and follow the on-screen instructions to complete your Background Check and pay your background check fee.
  5. Once your background check is complete successfully (usually within 1-14 days of submitting) you will receive an email confirming the result, and your USA Swimming Membership should be automatically updated to reflect.

As with registration, some teams will pick up this cost for their certified officials; check with your team's treasurer regarding reimbursement.

3.  Complete the Athlete Protection Training program (APT)

In addition to the criminal background check, you'll also need to complete USA Swimming's Athlete Protection Training program before you can be certified as an official. To complete your Athlete Protection Training:

  1. Log into your USA Swimming account and click the Education button in the top navigation bar, then click Course Catalog.
  2. Click on All Courses and select the Athlete Protection Training main course to expand details.
  3. Follow the instructions to take the free course and test, which should take around 2 hours to complete.  This has to be renewed each year you are an official, but future years have shorter 'Refresher' courses.

4.  Concussion protocol training (CPT)

For USA Swimming membership, officials must successfully complete concussion and head injury education at least once.

Individual states may require annual or continuing education and officials must abide by the requirements of their home state or states in which they officiate. Submit your proof of training to [email protected] in order for it to show on your USA Swimming membership. 

Need to take a concussion training course? Here are the links to popular courses - CDC Course, NFHS Course.

5.  Take the Foundations of Officiating online training

To access this training, log into your USA account. On the top blue menu bar, select Education, then Course Catalog. Click the grey
Officials button. Scroll down to find the appropriate course.

Foundations of Officiating is a 30 min FREE basic course, which is recommended before working on deck for the first time. The course is REQUIRED before moving on to the first role specific course or testing. It is an interactive course with rules, graphics, videos, etc. In this course, you will:

  • Recognize common procedural functions in order to collaborate within a team of officials.
  • Demonstrate professional conduct as a USA Swimming official
  • Implement the expectations for a USA Swimming official
  • Identify members of the officiating team and recognize how all the roles work together
  • Understand the pathway available to complete certification for Stroke and Turn, Chief Judge, Starter, Referee, and Administrative Official

Please also visit our Certifications page, to download and print copies of the apprentice log for your position.

6. Complete the Stroke / Turn Judge Certification Course

This course may be taken at any time prior to requesting certification. It is recommended you take this as early as possible in the process so you will have a chance to apply the knowledge you gain in the course, to your apprenticeship.

To access this training, log into your USA account. On the top blue menu bar, select Education, then Course Catalog. Click the grey
Officials button. Scroll down to find the appropriate course.
 

7. Start apprenticing on deck

You can start working as an apprentice as soon as you've completed the steps above. To locate meets to work, go to the NTSI homepage, and hover over Meets and find the Meet Information and Results page for the current year. Bring your Apprentice Log to the meet, and sign in with the Meet Referee one hour prior to any session you wish to apprentice. The Meet Referee will assign you to one or more mentors for the session. See the USA Swimming Certification Standards document under Stroke and Turn Judge for the minimum number of sessions that you'll need for certification.

 

8. Apply for certification.

Once you've completed all items outlined in the USA Swimming Certification Standards document under Stroke and Turn Judge, ask a Certifier for their recommendation by providing your Certification Log sheets. Have them sign your Certification Log sheets and then you will submit them to the Officials Committee . The Committee will review your application and, upon the recommendation of the Certifier, the LSC Officials Chair will enter your certification into USA Swimming's Officials Tracking System.

Thank you for joining a great team of professional volunteer officials! Without you, the fast-growing sport of swimming could not be successful!