Figure skating competitions run on the International Judging System: a technical panel identifies each jump, spin, and step sequence and its difficulty level, while a separate judging panel scores execution quality and program components. That's the format U.S. Figure Skating uses for its qualifying pathway toward regionals and beyond. A lot of local and club-level competition on Long Island instead runs under the Ice Skating Institute's simpler recreational scoring format — a different credential, not just a smaller version of the same one. EmergencyRefs places credentialed judges and technical panel members for competitions across Nassau and Suffolk County; because the local pool is smaller than for other judged sports we staff, book earlier than you would for gymnastics or cheer.
Skating Is Scored By Two Panels, Not One
Most of what EmergencyRefs staffs involves a crew making calls in real time as a game happens. Figure skating, like the gymnastics and competitive cheer panels covered in our other judged-sport guides, works from a fixed rubric applied to a performance that's already over by the time scoring is finalized — but skating splits that job across two separate groups rather than one panel. A technical panel — typically a technical specialist, an assistant technical specialist, and a technical controller — identifies every jump, spin, step sequence, and other element in the program and assigns it a difficulty level in real time as the skater performs. A separate judging panel, watching the same program, scores the quality of how each element was executed and rates broader program components like skating skills, transitions, and composition. The two scores combine into the final result, but they're produced by two panels doing genuinely different jobs, not one panel splitting the work.
That structure is why booking judges for a skating competition takes more upfront detail than booking a referee for a game. A rink or club needs to know not just how many judges but whether the event needs a technical panel at all, which depends entirely on which format the competition is running under.
Two Different Competition Tracks on Long Island
| USFS Qualifying Format | ISI Recreational Format | |
|---|---|---|
| Sanctioning body | U.S. Figure Skating | Ice Skating Institute |
| Scoring system | International Judging System — technical panel + judging panel | Simpler recreational scoring structure, no separate technical panel |
| Who it's for | Skaters on the qualifying pathway toward regionals/sectionals and beyond | Recreational and test-track skaters, most local rink-hosted events |
| Judge credential needed | USFS-appointed technical panel and judges | ISI-credentialed judges |
⛸️ The format determines the panel, not the venue. The same Long Island rink can host a small ISI-format club competition one weekend and a USFS-sanctioned qualifying event the next — the ice doesn't change, but the panel we staff does. Confirm the sanctioning body before requesting judges, not just the rink and date.
Panel Size Scales With Level and Format
A small local or club-level competition, run under either format, can usually operate on a compact panel for a single session. A USFS qualifying competition at a higher level steps that up considerably — a larger judging panel plus a full technical panel working alongside it, and multi-session events running several skill levels across a full day need judges available session by session rather than one panel covering the entire day. This is the same lead-time logic our gymnastics judges guide covers for meets that scale from a small dual to a full invitational — except the credentialed pool for figure skating on Long Island is smaller still, since technical panel roles require additional appointment beyond standard judge credentialing.
How Judges and Technical Panel Members Get Credentialed
Figure skating judging credentials aren't a single certification earned once and held forever the way a referee's card might be. Judges move through an appointment ladder that starts at a club or apprentice level and, with additional testing and evaluated event experience, can progress toward regional, sectional, and eventually national appointments — with the level of competition a judge is cleared to score tied directly to where they sit on that ladder. A judge appointed at a lower level isn't automatically cleared to score a higher-level qualifying event, the same way a compulsory-level gymnastics judge isn't automatically cleared for an elite routine in our gymnastics judges guide. Technical panel roles sit on a separate track entirely, requiring additional specialized training beyond standard judge appointment, since identifying and leveling elements in real time is a different skill than scoring execution quality.
This layered credentialing is a large part of why the figure skating judging pool on Long Island runs thinner than the pools for more common team sports. A rink hosting a higher-level USFS qualifying competition may need to pull technical panel members and judges from beyond the immediate area to fill every seat at the appropriate appointment level, which is one more reason booking early matters more here than for a sport with a deeper local bench.
Booking Steps
- Tell us the sanctioning body — USFS qualifying event or ISI recreational competition — since the two require different credentials entirely.
- Confirm whether a technical panel is required — standard for USFS format, not part of most ISI recreational events.
- Give us your session schedule — a single-session club event and a multi-session, multi-level competition need very different judge counts.
- We match credentialed judges and, if needed, a technical panel to your format, and confirm the full panel ahead of your competition date.
Staffing a Skating Competition on Long Island?
Tell us your sanctioning body, format, and session schedule — we'll confirm a credentialed panel for your competition.
Request Figure Skating Judges at EmergencyRefs.com →What EmergencyRefs Doesn't Provide
We place judges and, for USFS-format events, a technical panel. Ice resurfacing, a competition director, music and announcing, and awards presentation are almost always handled by the host rink or club, the same way a gymnastics meet's scoring table and awards roles stay with the host gym in our gymnastics judges guide. If you're not sure which roles your rink still needs to fill in-house, ask when you book and we'll walk through it.
Coverage Area — Long Island
EmergencyRefs places figure skating judges at rinks across Nassau and Suffolk Counties, including facilities such as Newbridge Arena in Bellmore, the Northwell Health Ice Center in East Meadow, the Great Neck Park District rink, Long Beach Ice Arena, and Dix Hills Ice Rink. Long Island runs its own local USFS-affiliated competition circuit alongside these clubs' recreational events, so a rink hosting a Compete USA-style qualifying competition one weekend may run an ISI-format club meet the next — confirm which one you're staffing when you book. Figure skating's core competition season overlaps with the same ice-time crunch our winter sports referee booking guide covers for hockey, where rink time booked months in advance means a competition date rarely moves once it's set.
Figure skating isn't the only sport we staff judging panels for instead of a referee crew. Gymnastics and competitive cheer run on a similar simultaneous-panel structure rather than one crew following the action — our gymnastics judges guide and cheerleading competition judges guide cover how panel size and certification work for those sports specifically. If your rink also runs ice hockey games alongside skating competitions, those need an officiating crew rather than a judging panel — see our hockey officials guide for that separate booking process.
Need Judges for an Upcoming Skating Competition?
Send us the date, sanctioning body, and session schedule. We'll tell you within the hour whether we can cover it with a full panel.
Book Now at EmergencyRefs.com →Frequently Asked Questions
A technical panel identifies each element and its difficulty level, while a separate judging panel scores execution and program components. Both feed into the final result.
Yes. USFS qualifying events run the full International Judging System with a technical panel. Many local Long Island competitions run under the Ice Skating Institute's simpler recreational format instead.
It scales with level and sanctioning body — a small local event needs a compact panel, while a USFS qualifying event needs a larger judging panel plus a technical panel.
We place both when the format requires it. Recreational ISI-style events typically run on a judging panel alone.
Earlier than for other judged sports — the credentialed pool is smaller and rink ice time is booked months ahead. Book as soon as your date, format, and sanctioning body are set.