Try this exercise:

Think about the coaches and/or referees within the QWA (or any other sporting organisation). Identify one who you think is very good at what they do. How did you reach your conclusion? What makes a person a "good" coach or official? The answer is competence. But what does that mean?

The Australian Coaching Council (ACC) defines competence for coaches and officials as "...the application of specific knowledge and skill to a required standard of performance in the coaching or officiating situation". Put simply, the ACC reckons that a person is a competent coach or official if the things that they know and the things that they do meet a minimum standard relevant to their level of accreditation. Sounds reasonable doesn’t it? The ACC has also identified a broad range of competencies for coaches and officials (these are the things that competent coaches and officials know and do) and individual sports can develop their own specific criteria to measure people’s performance in relation to these competencies. By identifying the competencies and their corresponding criteria, we can form training programs that focus on the important aspects of coaching and officiating in our sport and this must lead to better prepared coaches and officials.

The new Level 1 Weightlifting Coaching course has recently been accredited by the ACC and the QWA is currently developing a competency based training program for club and state referees which should be completed by the time this article is published. This program will provide prospective referees with all the knowledge they require to perform effectively at state-level weightlifting competitions and before being accredited they will have to prove their competency by successfully completing a range of simple tasks relevant to the duties of a referee as well as demonstrating their knowledge of the technical rules.