What Would Wendy Enzmann Do? When Wendy Enzmann decided to be a judge for U.S. Figure Skating, she brought an extensive resume to the official’s table. A national competitor in singles, pairs, and synchronized skating, and an international competitor in singles and synchro, Enzmann now holds official appointments as a national judge, referee, technical controller, technical specialist, and national data and video for singles, pairs, and synchronized skating. On the international front, she judges singles, pairs, and synchro. She is the 2013 winner of the Professional Skaters Association’s Jimmy Disbrow Distinguished Official Award, given to a judge or official who has shown dedication, reliability,and integrity to figure skating through the years. A kindergarten teacher at a private school in her hometown of Stow, Massachusetts, Enzmann is looking forward to judging at Four Continents, being team leader at Junior Worlds, and judging at World Synchronized Skating Championships in the coming months. She took time out to share some judging perspective and answer the question, “What Would Wendy Enzmann Do?”
You had quite an accomplished competitive career in three different disciplines. What drew you to coaching? I coached in college and at the time there was something called the Collegiate Skating Institute that allowed you to coach while you also were judging. As a judge, you can’t do both because you technically can’t get paid, but that program was a great way for college students to explore judging. I had also started trial judging at 16 and, basically, I tried it and I liked it. I like the puzzle part of it, the idea of trying to get it right. Speaking of trying to get it right, let’s answer the question once and for all: What do judges want to see? Obviously that is not a one-answer question, but here goes… Judges want
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By Terri Milner Tarquini
to see someone who can go out and skate their best and not give up even if it’s not their best skate. I skated so I’m familiar with what can happen, but it’s not over ‘til it’s over. Also, coaches shouldn’t put a ton of stuff in that the skaters can’t do. A couple of things that are in the process are ok, but it’s obvious and distracting and doesn’t allow them to do what they can do.
athlete they can be. We are there to help them grow into better skaters. There has been an effort to be more approachable so we can share our knowledge. You know your skater inside and out, but we are a new set of fresh eyes when we see them perform and we want to help in the process of developing the skaters from the beginning levels to the elite level.
What is something that you personally most like to see during a skater’s performance? The first is that they have to stick with it, but the second is for them to be happy and truly enjoying the program. You can tell when a skater has a true passion and love for the sport. Even having the privilege of judging some of the best skaters in the world, it is still so great to see the little ones at a basic skills competition skating their hearts out. It makes me smile to see that.
Skating has had some notable judging controversies—probably the most well-known was the 2002 Winter Olympics regarding the pairs event. However, there was a flap about Italian judge Walter Toigo possibly copying the marks from your sheet without your knowledge during a men’s free skating event in France in August 2010. (Toigo was subsequently banned from judging any ISU sanctioned competitions for two years and has since been reinstated.) How do you respond when asked about cheating in judging? I have judged singles and pairs and synchro at the world level and, for all of my experiences, I have never witnessed anything with regards to cheating. The judges I’m familiar with are very passionate about what they do and about getting it right.
What should coaches have at the forefront of their minds when it comes to preparing their skaters to perform in front of judges? Coaches should be well informed of the rules. They should be aware of the constant changes in the IJS system and make sure their athletes are informed not just about the levels, but that GOEs (Grade of Execution) and components make a huge difference. Is there anything that you really do not like to see in a performance? I don’t like to see people give up. When a skater is having a bad day it is very hard to properly evaluate their skating. I understand the feeling of ‘I want a do-over.’ Sometimes it’s just not your day, but when a skater decides they want to quit it’s just so frustrating to watch and I don’t even like giving marks that reflect what was obviously an off performance. Try the whole program. It’s a performance, after all. Would you agree that judges are more accessible to coaches today than they used to be and, if so, is that a shift that you see as being positive? Yes, judges are more accessible to coaches today. The hope is that, although we are judges and we are evaluating, we want to part of the team that creates the best
A few questions about the IJS system… First, has it accomplished its goal of taking some of the subjectivity out of judging? Yes, definitely for executed elements. The IJS system has completely changed the way we evaluate a skater. It puts the onus completely on the athlete and doesn’t rely on a comparative system and I like that. It is one hundred percent less subjective when it comes to elements. Is the jump completely rotated? It’s either there or it’s not there. There are very few gray areas. GOEs are also very clearly written, but there’s a little bit of leeway depending on where the judges start with a GOE based on the written criteria. For the five components, there is specific criteria judges take into account to come up with a mark, but I still see far less subjectivity. Second, will this be a constantly evolving system or do you foresee a time when it might be set for the most part? It will continue to evolve as skating itself evolves. It’s a whole new way of looking