POTTS: THE FATHER-SON JUDGING DUO

After interviewing Graham Potts in the last edition about his judging career and going to Tokyo, it was great to see him judging alongside his son, Robert Potts at the event. It’s very rare that there is a father-son duo of judges at the same event, let alone a World Championships. We spoke to Robert about his experience. “This year I was fortunate enough to be selected as the Director of Shooting (DOS) for the World Youth Championships. This was quite an important role to hold, and job that, as a judge, I find very rewarding and exciting to do.

You work with many different people, the Judge team, the World Archery Staff, the show presentation team and the events team, many of these are people I have grown to know over the years and considered personal friends.

“The role itself for this event was also a little different in that I was also asked to do the onvenue announcements (usually this is done by a specific announcer) but given the pandemic and the fact that the Olympics had not long finished, the staffing was, understandably, lower than normal and we needed to find new ways to do things. The major part of the role however is to ensure that the archers are shooting safely, under the correct timing (especially for shootoffs and matches) and to also ensure the event is running smoothly in co-operation with the WA staff and Judge teams."

“As the DOS you have to be on the field from the start of official practice to the end of the last anthem of the final ceremonies at the end of the shoot. This usually means you get an assistant DOS who can take over if you need to go to the restroom or alternatively make sure you have enough water, and crucially make sure you keep your concentration levels high. I was very lucky to have an experienced Polish judge as my assistant for the event, and we worked very well as a team."

“During the event I was also lucky to be able to work with my Dad, it’s not usual that two judges from the same country, let alone the same family, work at an international event, but as he was a judge, and I was the DOS, it was possible on this occasion. It was good to be working with him again on a field. It is not something we have done, judging wise, in a long time. It may never happen again as far as we know internationally."

“On the second session of Sundays finals my assistant had to leave and so I needed to replace him. I knew that Dad had been given the afternoon off, but, as always, he had said he planned to remain on venue, so I asked him to sit in as my assistant in ops with me. This was great for the two of us to work side-by-side and also within the team from WA and the Organisers who were in the operations tent as we personally know most of them as friends from our time in judging, so it was a nice calm, relaxed atmosphere for the afternoon, and a great way to round off the event for us.”