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The FBA Judges

Quick links and Messages
Master Judge Program Judge of the Year Program Take an FBA Judges Seminar Seminar Rosters
FBA Judges: Cooking the "No Holds Barred" class at the Funcook will fulfill the FBA Master Judge requirement of cooking with a team.
FBA Judge Requirements

  1. Maintain an active FBA Membership.
  2. Judge a minimum of one FBA sanctioned contest every 12 months. (note: failure to achieve this requirement means you will have to attend an FBA Judge's Training Seminar prior to judging again.)
  3. Be present for the Judges Briefing at any contest your are confirmed to judge. Failure to be present means that you will not judge that contest. Check-in for judges starts at 9am on the day of the contest and ends at 9:30am. The Judges Briefing begins at 9:30am, followed by the Table Captains Briefing.
  4. If you fail to show for three contests that you are confirmed to judge without notifying either the Organizer or one of the Reps, you will be removed from the list of judges for future contests.
  5. Judge all four categories at any contest you are seated at for judging.
  6. During the contest, you are not allowed to visit with the cook teams. Doing so will cause you to be removed from the judging that day.
  7. After the contest, you may visit with the cook teams, however you may not discuss any part of the judging including your scores. Doing so will cause you to be removed from the list of judges for future contests.
The 50 Contests Judged pin!

50 Contests Judged judges: Dan Buchanan getting his pin from Chuck Ray at Haines City. Marty and Karen Hyde, Donna Ray, and Gordon Gilbert, who all received their pins at Ft. Myers. Ruth Cukras, Bert Snyder, and Norman Cukras, receiving their pins from FBA Treasurer Ricky Ginsburg at Palm Beach Gardens. Clara Clark, receiving her pin from Chuck Ray at the 2009 FBA Funcook. Jerry Clark getting pinned by Ida Isaacs at Grant, Florida. Nick Cassevoy pinned by Dennis Schmitz at the Triple Crown. EJ Kraus gets his pin from Ida Isaacs at Tavares, FL. Gayle DiMaggio pinned by Carol Rodehaver and Donna Ray.
The Master Judge Status page now has a column to indicate the Total number of judgings for each certified judge. Note: Repping and Cooking with a team DO NOT count toward the 50 contests.

The Master Judge Program

The FBA Master Judge Program is designed to recognize those judges who have shown their support for the most judge friendly, cooker friendly competition barbecue circuit around. The FBA Master Judge is there at almost every contest. They provide the teams with a fair and unbiased arena to test their cooking skills.

The following requirements must be met to become an FBA Master Judge:

  1. Judge a minimum of 20 FBA sanctioned contests in any 5 year period or less.
  2. Table captain a minimum of 5 times in any 5 year period or less in addition to requirement #1.
  3. Must be a member of the FBA and must sustain that membership.
  4. Must cook with a cook team at least once during the same 5 year period at an FBA sanctioned contest.
  5. The Funcook is considered an FBA sanctioned contest for the purposes of judging and master judge.
  6. Acting as the FBA Rep at an FBA sanctioned contest counts as one judging assignment.
  7. Rep assignments cannot comprise more than 49% of the 20 required contests.

If you are working towards your FBA Master Judge please click here to check your status.
This list will be updated after each contest.
If you would like a detailed breakdown of the contests you have judged
please go to the Contact Page to send an e-mail to Ricky.
Our Newest Master Judges

Lead Rep Chuck Ray with Donna Goodall and Anthony Wolfe at Live Oak, FL.
Donna Ray awards the honor to Mike Goodall at Barnesville, GA.
Frank Jones receives his credentials from Donna Ray at Palm Beach Gardens.
Cook Teams that are participating in the Master Judge Program
The cook teams require 30 days notice to reserve your space with them at an FBA contest
Please contact the head cook directly. Do not contact the FBA as we can not make these arrangements for you.
Forrest's Fine FoodsForrest Dilmore - (850)-209-77772 judges maximum
Kick the Tire, Light the FireMike Byrd - (321)-626-62582 judges maximum
Pop's QuePop Marshall - (813)-633-33382 judges maximum
Smokin' Cracker BBQ TeamJimmy Brod - (863)-381-15302 judges maximum
The Wolfe BrothersAnthony or Richard - (407)-855-4520 or (407)-963-68212 judges maximum
The Judge of the Year Program

The Judge of the Year is an FBA Certified Judge who:

  1. Should emulate the goal of the FBA at all events. Encouraging participation in, and promoting competitive barbecue and the FBA. This involves positive interaction with teams, judges, organizers, and the public. They should also participate in wearing FBA logo merchandise.
  2. Should demonstrate consistent judging in accordance with the judges training manual and FBA standards.
  3. Should attend all contests that they have signed up to judge.
  4. Should be prompt and timely, for check-in, judges meetings, and returning to judging area on time between categories.

The Judge of the Year will be selected using the following criteria:

  1. The FBA Representatives assigned to a contest will, at the conclusion of the contest, reach a consensus on 3 names to be submitted for the JOTY.
  2. At the end of the year, the Judge with the most number of selections will be the Judge of the Year, with the next nine in order being honored as the Top Ten Judges for the year. Each will receive a certificate noting the achievement.
  3. The tally for Judge of the Year will not be disclosed until the end of the year and then the ten candidates will be invited to the CLY party. At the CLY party, the winner will be announced and certificates presented.
  4. Ties will be handled the same as they are at contests.

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