Introduction to the Waterslager Standards
By Sebastian Vallelunga
(Back to Song Standards Home Page)
The translations of the various standards that accompany this introduction
are meant to show the differences that exist from one set of national or federation
standards to another.
There is a lot of misunderstanding about the COM and "International Standards".
My source for a lot of the information on how the COM works is a Spanish Timbrado
judge who is a COM member, but the same is true for all breeds of song canaries.
COM is an umbrella organization for running a World Show and for certifying
international judges to work at it. The COM is much closer to our NCBS than
it is to some kind of a United Nations or World Court of birds that can make
rules for bird shows everywhere.
So, what is happening in terms of scoring in one country is not always what's
happening in another. Beyond the score card (which seems to be the same everywhere
except Holland), there is also the interpretation of it and the local practices.
Like whether 2 points for staaltonen is done in Spain, Italy or wherever,
like it is done in Belgium.
My own reading of the KBFK newsletter for November-December, 2005, confirms
that the OMJ (COM judges' organization) has ratified a new standard to be
used at the World Show after three years of work.
According to Luc Vermincksel, our WWC Show judge of 2005 and 2006, the new
standard has two significant changes. Rather than multiplying the scores by
3 after the fact, the points possible will be raised by a factor of three.
At first glance this seems insignificant, but it is a big move. Let's say
we're talking about Klok. Now it can be scored at 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, etc. Multiplied
by 3 these give 12, 15, 18, 21, 24. Under the new system, the Klok could be
scored 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, etc., a much more
discerning system (or a much more picky one depending on your point of view,
I guess).
The other change is to unyoke the tjokken and tjokkenrol tours, making them
worth 6 points each. On one hand, these two are as different as fluiten and
fluitenrol and should be scored separately. On the other hand, tradition is
on the side of combining them and the difference is only a matter of the tempo.
As I said earlier, up to now the score cards have been the same internationally
with the exception of Holland's. However, if Luc is right, this won't be the
case once this new standard is adopted by some other countries. He says the
vast majority of Belgian judges want to stick to what they've been doing at
home.
So, the term "International Standards" is very misleading and any
suggestion that waterslagers are being scored in an identical way everywhere
in the world is simply not true.