US Figure Skating Technical Specialist Qualifications
What Does a Figure Skating Technical Specialist Do?:
Figure skating technical specialists, like figure skating judges, are volunteers. When a figure skater performs in an ice skating competition, the technical specialist will identify the elements. He or she will identify a spin or jump and the level of difficulty of each element. The level of difficulty is based on published pre-set criteria.
Qualifications:
U.S. National Technical specialists are national and international skaters, judges, or coaches. An individual must have completed one of the following criteria:
- Qualified for and competed in the US National Figure Skating Championships at the Novice, Junior, or Senior Level
- Coached a student at the US National Figure Skating Championships at the Novice, Junior, or Senior Level
- Be a National level figure skating judge
- Accomplished the equivalent at an ISU competition
Training:
Those interested in serving as figure skating technical specialists must attend US Figure Skating technical specialist seminars. The seminars include three days of intense training. US National Technical Panel seminars take place three or four times a year in different cities in the United States.