Become a Referee

As a fast-paced sport with many different moving parts, quidditch requires several officials. Every quidditch match is officiated by six referees: a head referee, two bludger referees, a snitch referee, and two goal referees. These referees work together to ensure that each game is run safely and effectively. The IQA’s referee training program aims to certify referees to ensure the highest standards around the world. Referee certification is an ongoing process, consisting first of a written and practical test, and supplemented by referee training programs, online resources, and a system to continually review referee performance. Every official game must be adjudicated by a certified head referee paid $12 in order to count for the rankings and regular season requirements. In order to meet the demand for certified referees, every official IQA team is required to have a certain number of players attempt to become certified referees.

To become a certified referee, the following steps must be taken:

For the 2013-2014 season, referee certification will be divided into three distinct levels: assistant referee, snitch referee, and head referee. Candidates may achieve assistant or snitch referee certification in any order, but only those candidates that have passed both the assistant and snitch referee referee levels may move on to the head referee certification process. Assistant and snitch referee testing only consists of a written test and is free, but head referee testing consists of a written and field test and requires a $25 fee.

Individuals who were certified under the previous rulebook will need to re-certify by passing the written test again but only have to pay a $15 fee instead of the regular $25. If they fail their first attempt at re-certification, they must pay the $10 difference bringing their total fee up to $25.

Referees certified during the 2013-2014 season will have to become re-certified after the end of the 2013-2014 season.

  1. The first step is signing up to take the written test online. A score of at least 80% is required to pass the written test.
  2. After passing the written test, head referees will advance to field tests, which must be adjudicated by an RDT member or a referee administrator. Referees will be paid as a head referee while they are in this probationary period. A score of at least 80% is required to pass a field test.