New Zealand Unicycle Federation

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Skill Level Certification

Want to know how good you are on a global scale?

Don't we all...

But there is the IUF set of Ten skill levels. See NZ Records for the highest skill level holder.

Peter B has liased with the IUF and several members have advised us to adopt the IUF skill levels as the New Zealand Unicycle federation skill levels and appoint our own officers in charge of administering the system. This allows us to base the testing upon the IUF skill levels but use our own bylaws for the administration.

When in doubt I suggest we be guided by the bylaws of the USA or the standard practice of TCUC, one of the best unicycle clubs in the world with the highest concentration of certified high level riders. All riders certified for level 10 have been TCUC members. The USA website provides detailed instruction on level testing which all certified New Zealand testers must be familiar with, until we come up with our own standard.

It is important to keep a high standard for level testing so that it becomes something to aim for. It is also important that it be possible to be tested at national meetings to give all NZUni members a chance to get certified.

SteveP proposes the following system for national certification:

In any given year, a committee member is elected to be the Certification Officer who is allowed to test people to the IUF standard. This person must be of international standing and have good knowledge of the IUF and it's mysterious ways.

The Certification Officer can train other people to do testing. Each tester must

Attend a training session with the Certification Officer so they know what to do.
Know the IUF rules for testing.
Be a current financial member of the NZUNi.
Renew the training once every two years (to keep the standards high).
For candidate who passes a level test:
- log the date, name and level attained on this site on this page: Skill Levels Awarded.
- get their email address if they are interested in newsletters
- Issue the appropriate NZUNi Skill Level Card.
- Charge the $10 fee for NZUni membership if the person is not a member.

PeterB proposes a few changes:

I think we should remove the "valid First Aid certificate" requirement as otherwise we may well have no testers whatsoever!

<TonyM> Yes, I'd agree with remove this requirement. Freestyle really ain't that dangerous!

It may also be a good idea to remove the level 5 requirement and instead replace it with a system similar to what TCUC uses. In TCUC individual officers are allowed to test up to (but not including) the level they are certified for. This ensures that testers do not examine skills they are not extremely familiar with. It also means testing for the lower, more common levels, is shared among more people. I think the best system is to go with this as a default but with the CertificationOfficer able to grant express permission for someone to test higher levels. For example I know Tony Melton is TCUC trained and has tested riders for level 10, so I would be happy with him being allowed to test level 10 even though he is currently not at that level.

<TonyM> An alternative approach is to allow level testing above the CertificationOfficer's own level by having a panel of officers (2 or preferably 3). All officers have to agree that each skill has been successfully completed.

<JoeD> would like to add: I like the sound of the TCUC way of doing things, where you can test up to your current skill level. I think that in the case where people are testing above the level of Tony M and Peter B that we revert to the panel idea. I have removed the first aid certificate requirement from the list above.