The USATF National Officials Committee (NOC) requires that evaluations of officials be done at major meets every year. Evaluations help officials improve their skills and assist the USATF Officials Selection Committee choose officials for major meets the following season. The goal of the evaluations program is to ensure USATF has the most competent and respected track and field officials in the world. The evaluations process is guided by and overseen by the NOC Evaluations Subcommittee. The Chair is appointed by the NOC Chair, and that person, in turn, appoints the other members of the Subcommittee. The Subcommittee is assisted by the Chair of the NOC Technology Subcommittee. Each year, the Evaluations Committee decides at which major USATF-sponsored meets will conduct officials evaluations. Currently, evaluations are conducted at the Senior Indoor and Outdoor Championships, the Masters Indoor and Outdoor Championships, the Indoor Combined Event Championships, the U20 Outdoor Championships, the Junior Olympics, and the Youth Outdoor Championships. The U20 World Championships will be added for 2026. The USATF Officials Selection Committee chooses the officials (excluding referees and starters) for the Senior Indoor and Outdoor Championships, the U20 Outdoor Championships, and the Indoor Combined Event Championships. Referees are chosen by the Men’s and Women’s Track and Field Competition Committees. Race walk officials are chosen by the Race Walk Committee. Officials for other major USATF-sponsored meets are chosen, for the most part, by Local Organizing Committees (LOCs).
Once Referees, Heads of Events, and Crew Members are selected for national championships, the Evaluations Subcommittee make assignments. Referees evaluate event heads they will be overseeing at meets; event heads evaluate the members of their respective crews. Selected crew members are assigned to evaluate the Head of their event. If a crew is made up of only one or two members, a crew member is not selected to evaluate the head (the head will be evaluated solely by the referee). A crew with three or four members will have one crew member appointed to evaluate their head. If the crew size is five or more, two crew members will be assigned to evaluate their head official. The names of those crew members selected to evaluate head officials are confidential. Crew members selected to evaluate the heads of events are generally more experienced officials at the Master or National certification levels. A database is created to track which crew members are selected to evaluate heads of events. This database is used to limit the number of times a crew member is given this task, if possible, and to allow others the opportunity to submit an evaluation.
Up to a week prior to the meet, an email is sent to the selected evaluators. Included in the email is a notification of the recipients’ responsibility to complete one or more evaluations, instructions on how to complete and return evaluations, an explanation of the two parts of the online evaluation instrument, and the deadline for submitting the evaluations after the conclusion of the meet. Included in the email is a link to the "Instructions and Guidelines for Completing Evaluations" video for reference. For security purposes, an individual pin number is assigned to each evaluator to allow that person access to the evaluation database and protect confidentiality. The deadline for submitting completed evaluations electronically is 7 days after the conclusion of the meet with date noted in the email. An official who has missed the deadline for submitting a required evaluation(s) will be sent a reminder on the 10th day following the meet to submit the required evaluation by the 15th day. If the evaluation is still not received by the second deadline, a final reminder is sent with a deadline of 25 days after the meet. Upon electronic submission of an evaluation, notifications are sent separately to the official who has been evaluated and to the evaluator. The evaluations are maintained for 3 years so that the USATF Officials Selection Committee has access to 3 years of information about an official. If there are extenuating circumstances that prevent an evaluator from submitting an evaluation by the deadline described above, an extension of time may be granted with a revised deadline. The NOC Technology Subcommittee creates a lengthy report for use by the USATF Officials Selection Committee, including information from the recommendation portion of the evaluations for officials who have applied to work at major meets the following season. Association Certification Chairs are also asked to write recommendations to the USATF Selection Committee on their local officials who have applied for major USATF-sponsored meets.
Since 2022, the consequence for officials who fail to complete the evaluations by the final deadline (25 days from meet conclusion) is they will not be eligible for selection for the major championships during the following calendar year. Officials subject to this penalty will be notified before the Selection Committee meeting and given an opportunity to timely appeal the decision to the NOC Chair.
All evaluations are completed online and submitted electronically. Three standard evaluation instruments are used: one for referees to evaluate event heads, one for crew members to evaluate event heads, and a third one for event heads to evaluate crew members. Below are links to the three instruments:
Each evaluation instrument is comprised of two distinct parts, as follows:
This first section of the evaluation provides feedback to the official being evaluated regarding his/her overall performance at that meet as well as their performance in specific areas. Evaluators provide a rating on each criterion, plus optional comments on strengths, weaknesses, and areas for improvement. The information in this section is seen only by the individual official who was evaluated. This information is not provided to the USATF Officials Selection Committee. Use the evaluation link above to review the performance criteria in each instrument.
This section includes the evaluator’s recommendation, with comments, to the USATF Officials Selection Committee regarding the rated official’s suitability for selection for future major USATF-sponsored championship meets. Evaluators provide a 1-2-3-4-5 rating plus required comments to support the rating. The information in this section is seen only by the Selection Committee members and the individual official who was evaluated. Use the evaluation link above to review the selection recommendation scale in each instrument.
If an official disagrees with the rater’s recommendation or comments to the USATF Officials Selection Committee, a statement of dispute is emailed to official.evaluations@usatf.org. The Evaluations Subcommittee Chair will explain the process and email a form for submission. Disputes must be initiated within 90 days from the last date of the meet. Ratings and comments in the Performance Appraisal section of the evaluations are for the rated official’s review only; it is not used or distributed to anyone else, and is not subject to the dispute resolution process. Nevertheless, officials are encouraged to discuss evaluations and any disagreements with the respective raters, if applicable. For information and guidance to begin the dispute process, please email official.evaluations@usatf.org.
For questions, contact the Evaluations Subcommittee Chair, Carolyn Hill, at Official.Evaluations@usatf.org. Last Updated: 4/10/2026