SPARTAN RACE OFFICIATING
Discovery + Opportunity
Jessica Franko
Edoardo Ughetto
Dec 2, 2021
“Do you feel Spartan Officiating is Fair?”
77.8% of those surveyed are not convinced
“Do you feel Spartan Officiating is Fair?”
GOAL: Improve officiating to deliver a better competitive race product and athlete experience.
77.8% of those surveyed are not convinced
Research
Stakeholder Interaction: Athletes, Officials, Product
Survey Data:
Experience Interviews: Athletes, Officials, Primary Experience
News: Podcasts, Web Publications, Social Media
Mixed respondents: Racers, volunteers, spectators, staff
86.8% competitive racers
Most Age Groups represented (18-55yrs)
84.2% racing at least 3 years, 55% 5+ years
Survey + secondary research revealed the following pain points about Spartan officiating:
It’s inconsistent. Rulings are overturned, rules re-written, seemingly on a whim. Rules not enforced across every single competitor
The system is heavily dependent on amount of volunteer referees who may or may not be trained/experienced.
People don’t always know the rules - Especially in AG, where they may sign up for a competitive heat unknowingly
Burpees are hard to police - There can be so many people in the pit at once the ref cannot manage all of them, let alone watch the obstacle. Video review can be inconsistent
10 minute penalty - allows people not to be disqualified with the intention that they keep their race/trifecta status, can still compete for series points but lose the podium/prize money. Some use it strategically. Allows more people to use AG as an “early morning heat” option for racing. Some flat out disagree with it as a rule.
The following also emerged from experiential research + qualitative interviews:
The number of athletes officiating systems must address has dramatically increased - In 2016, officiating systems only needed to accommodate the elite heats (~40 athletes, including masters). While the elite heat is currently well-officiated, because of the amount of AG heats and staggered start times, systems need to be able to accommodate up to ~800 athletes per race.
The obstacle is left with less referee supervision when it has the highest traffic and failure rate using the 2 ref / 2 camera system in conjunction with AG start times.
�Customer issues blend with athlete issues - because the athlete is also the customer. �
There is a lack of hard data - to measure how the system is actually performing.
Opportunity
To build more consistent, scalable systems that will improve the competitive race product - �
*athlete incident = any event that requires a referee intervention
Solutions to minimize referee: incident ratio
Minimize burpees
Improve sign-up UX
Remove non-competitive athletes from Age Group
Incentivize referee position (volunteer + paid)
Referee certification/training
Tech-assisted & Remote counting/reffing
Rulebook iteration
Education campaign
Separate customer service vs. sport issues
Solutions - Minimize Burpees
Penalty Loops �
Add other types of non-burpee penalties for obstacle failure �(time, other exercises, etc.)�
Make more obstacles mandatory completion or multiple attempt.
*Design obstacles such that time penalty is built in to obstacle failure.
*Redesign criteria to account for both running and obstacle completion (i.e. winning score vs. winning time).
Solutions - Remove Non-competitive athletes from Age Group
Implement stricter penalties for breaking rules like skipping obstacles - �Multiple 10 min penalties >> DQ
Differentiate between competitive rulebreakers vs. non-competitive athletes accidentally in the heat. Improve race sign-up UX for non-competitive athletes (see next).
Solutions - Improve Sign-Up UX
Make verbiage and visual design VERY clear about commitment to competitive standard for AG racers.
Educate customer service to advise prospective racers correctly.
Do not allow teams to sign up for Age Group heats.
Early Morning Heat option for those using AG for the early start time.
Conduct further diagnostic ux research and usability testing
ID accidental/non-competitive racers upon check-in and at start line- allow to immediately drop to open, assign black headband.�
Solutions - Elevate, Incentivize, and Train More Referees
Get more trained, experienced referee “eyes” on course
Elevate the volunteer referee position:
Tier 1: Volunteer Referee. Shorter shift, special gear, may bypass standard volunteer sign up, On/off - site for a standard free open race voucher. Require Free training. Encourage repeat volunteers and referrals
Tier 2: Certified Obstacle Referee. Require in-depth obstacle referee training �course (small fee) Eligible for full UB, elite, AG races. Must work at least 4 races/year to keep �cert active. ONLY required to referee.
Solutions - Elevate, Incentivize, and Train More Referees
Increase referee incentives:
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Tier 1: Volunteer Referee. Shorter shift, special gear, may bypass standard volunteer sign up, �On/off - site for a standard free open race voucher. Require Free training. Encourage repeat volunteers and referrals
Tier 2: Certified Obstacle Referee. Require in-depth obstacle referee training �course (small fee) Eligible for full UB, elite, AG races. Must work at least 4 races/year to keep �cert active. ONLY required to referee.
Tier 3: Assistant Head Official. Paid position. Local certified, experienced obstacle referees. No travel, room/board. Free race or Paid/event. Head official certification (equipment, volunteer, race mgmt) On/off site
Tier 4: Head Official. (same as current head official position) Paid, head official certification. Travel, room/board. On-site.
Solutions - Tech Assisted & Remote Refereeing
Stream burpee footage to trained, remote referees (Tier 1-3)
Lowers referee-incident ratio
Frees bandwidth of on-site referees
Used in NFL - “Replay Officials”
Potential to extend from burpees to obstacle review
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Solutions - Tech Assisted & Remote Refereeing
Wireless HD Security Cameras for Live Streaming
Solution
2 cameras each
at 10 officiated obstacles
Remote officials watching the live streamed video
Benefits
Higher officiating quality (more referees and higher on-site efficiency)
No manual work
(e.g. moving SD cards)
Lower refs costs
Costs
$4,000
4 sets of 20 cameras
$35,000/year
Cost of 3 additional on-site + 5 off-site trained referees
for 68 events
What is PlaySight?
Valued $80+ million
Cloud-based player-tracking, VAR and streaming products for 20+ sports (tennis, ice-hockey, dancing, wrestling, and more!)
How will this work?
Establish a partnership with PlaySight, develop tailored computer vision algorithms, employ PlaySight Go portable cameras
Assisted officiating (2 cameras per officiated obstacle)
Automated burpees count (2-5 cameras at every penalty location)
Solutions - Tech Assisted Refereeing , Spartan + PlaySight
Solutions - Tech Assisted Refereeing , Spartan + PlaySight
>90% accuracy, 100% consistency, lower refs costs�
lower pressure on refs
at obstacles
Expand brand name to a �new multimillion dollar market�
First player in the game
Solutions - Tech Assisted Refereeing , Spartan + PlaySight
up to 4
concurrent races
Fixed Costs
$200,000
Buying cameras and software license
Variable Costs
$24,000 /year
Management of and access to the system
Solutions - Separate Customer Service vs. Athlete Issues
Set precedent for what is a CS issue vs. what is an athlete issue to maintain consistency. Maintain boundaries. �
Capture “hard data” to actually measure the efficacy of the system vs. experience feedback alone.�
Share efficacy data with athletes to provide rationale for the overall system vs. a singular emotional experience.
*see speaker notes
Solutions - Proactive Rules Education
Solutions - Proactive Rules Education
Spartan Rulebook = 60+ pages
Create a Spartan Officiating Social Media Account. �Content = rules, videos, FAQ, rule updates, etc.�People more likely to read and digest. �Bite-sized, up-to-date rules info.�Share “hard data” (see previous) to increase confidence
Rulebook redirect upon signup for AG/elite.�Download or pop-up, follow up email
AROO!
Questions?
jfranko@alumni.cmu.edu
SURVEY + RESEARCH