Why is there a cap on the number of points judges can earn per competition?

Judging experience points are used as part of the rank calculation, which causes some people to seek increased points more than to seek improved judging ability. This is not the behavior we want to encourage. We believe experience is gained through practical experience with groups of judges in different venues, locales, and times. 

Increasing the amount of points available to earn at a competition encourages over-consumption, and hinders the ability of a judge to exhibit proper technique and provide meaningful feedback. At some level, it simply devolves into drinking. Setting higher daily maximums also tends to encourage competitions to exploit the volunteer services of judges. 

Some competitions are multi-day affairs, and we can award points for these days. However, the learning opportunity diminishes during these large events as fatigue sets in. Scoresheet quality suffers, and competitions receive substandard results from judges. Ultimately, we set limits to help improve quality, and to better serve competitions by supplying well-qualified judges.

We also believe that judges learn more through varied experiences, and that you should not be able to achieve the National rank by judging in two competitions. National and higher judges are seen as leaders, and should not be given the rank as a learner’s permit. They are expected to have earned the rank over time, and to be able to use these experiences to guide judges through new situations.