Page 24 - NGA By-Laws

III.6 The Importance of Accessibility and accountability to the Athlete
An NGA judge has certain responsibilities to the athletes. First and foremost is to attempt to judge and place the competitors as accurately as possible. But many times, this is not enough. Competitors are frequently unhappy with their placements and the tension is exasperated when a judge either cannot give them definitive reasons why they placed where they did or is not available after the show to do so. While the competitor usually disagrees with such explanations, they go a long way toward diffusing the tension and leaving the competitor with a favorable opinion of our organization. Other competitors accept their placements and look to the judges for constructive criticism on how they can improve. This can be an extremely important form of input for a bodybuilder to use. Advice from judges who are competitive bodybuilders and/or NGA certified personal trainers is of use. They not only can explain the competitor’s shortcomings, but can also offer training, nutrition, and contest preparation tips the athlete can use to remedy the problems.
The use of a summary sheet or note pad (see III.5) facilitates the process of providing such information to competitors. NGA judges must remain for at least fifteen minutes after the completion of the contest to be available to provide this service to the competitors.
III.7 Commitment of an NGA Judge to Natural Bodybuilding
One of the most rewarding benefits of being an NGA judge is to know that athlete’s efforts are helping to provide competitors with ample opportunities to pursue their competitive aspirations without using drugs thus helping to prevent the use and abuse of dangerous substances. Any involvement with organizations or media entities that are not completely devoted to drug free training therefore represents a conflict of interest for an NGA judge. NGA judges are strongly advised not to participate as competitors, promoters, judges, or officials of any organization that does not drug test all its shows nor should they be involved in any media entity not one hundred percent committed to natural bodybuilding. Even the simple act of reading a "non-natural" bodybuilding magazine in front of our competitors can indirectly promote drug use and should be avoided. All NGA judges should be perfect role models for drug free training.
NGA judges will include experienced bodybuilding, physique, fitness, figure, and beauty and performance professionals. A panel of five to seven impartial men and women will be scoring judges. High and low scores will be dropped, and a placing system will be used. The head judge may be a scoring official. Ethical concerns are at the discretion of the NGA, the promoter and its’ officials.
III.8 Performance Evaluation of NGA Judges
Certain standards must be met to become an NGA judge and evaluation will continue to assure adequate judging performance once a judge has been named.
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