The International Skateboard Judging Commission is responsible among other remits for raising contest judging standards at both national and international level. Not only does that involve the creation of our Judging Certification Programme but also the running of national seminars at the behest of National Governing Bodies in order to educate and encourage aspiring judges through a series of workshops and practical evaluation exercises. Since 2022 World Skate have held just such symposia in the UK, Saudi Arabia, Thailand and, most recently, in Turkiye.

Just last month, World Skate’s Martin Karas joined veteran judges Dani Lebron and Mike Prangnell in Ankara as guests of the Turkish Skateboarding Federation. The Seminar and Judging Workshop saw an invited class of propsective and current skateboard judges immerse themselves in both practical and theoretical aspects of how to accurately and consistently apply judging criteria which have become best practice at international level, right the way up to the Olympic Games.

This commitment to driving up baselines is how National Federations push skateboarding forward by levelling the international playing field by helping skateboarders understand where their ability lies relative to elsewhere in the world. This standardisation of criteria will mean over time that both skateboarders and judges will be able to progress beyond national level and fill the positions created by the ongoing expansion of World Skate’s skateboarding programme toward LA28 and beyond.

If you are a National Governing Body who would like to host a World Skate symposium to support the judges who are the backbone of your competition scene along their pathway through our Judging Certification programme, please get in touch.

The UK, Saudi Arabia, Thailand and now Turkiye have all begun that structuring process as a way to build opportunity within their scenes already.