By Melanie Jacob
Journal Editor
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Out of all the judges in Canada, Jocelyn Moe was one of two females selected to be a judge for the weightlifting competitions at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
"It was really quick. Normally you don't get chosen to go to something that big that quick," said Moe. "You would usually start at the Pan Am Games or North American (championships) or little smaller international events, but they just threw me right into the big one. They needed females in weight lifting for officiating; that's how I got chosen so quickly."
Moe got involved with weightlifting when her two sons started in the sport in 1996. Even her daughter joined in a little while later. To support them as she had in all their other athletic endeavors, Moe took the first two levels of the officiator's course for weightlifting.
Over the next couple years, she would eventually take the next level in the courses and officiate nationally for more than a decade. It wasn't until 2013 that she took the internationals course that would allow her to referee overseas.
"Some people will work their way up the ladder pretty fast, but I was satisfied with just being at the national level," she said. "I was officiating nationally for nine years; most only stay at that level for five."
Without much experience officiating internationally, Moe was fortunate enough that one of the ladies chairing the Glasgow games is from Canada and knew of her. She put Moe's name forward and the committee selected her. Moe said the best part about judging at the Commonwealth games was being able to meet so many new people. Even her initial nervousness wasn't enough to take away from her enjoyment.
"The volunteers were wonderful; the officials welcomed me with open arms," said Moe. "It was my first time at an international event; I didn't know anyone other than the Canadian officials that went so I was a bit nervous about that."
To get over her nerves, Moe said she would go and watch other weightlifting competitions and make judgment calls to herself to see if her calls matched the judges who were officiating. Eventually, she calmed down enough that she only watched the other competitions to support Canadian athletes.
Fortunately, Moe also had more than a decade of refereeing experience in Canada, plus she's been involved with the sport in other ways as well. She's been on the board of directors for the provincial Saskatchewan Weightlifting association for the past 12 or 13 years as a treasurer. She's also gone as team leader to events such as the Canada Winter Games in Newfoundland.
Of course, all of these extracurricular activities have made her a very busy woman, especially since they weren't her only responsibilities. Moe recently gave up her position on the Broncos board because it was becoming too much to juggle that along with her accounting business and weightlifting responsibilities.
"I've been involved in weightlifting in every aspect since my kids started, other than being an athlete myself," she said. "I even started weightlifting, but then I had a bad back, so it didn't last very long. I only did it for about a year and had to quit, but at least I got a feel for what it's like to lift so I could be a better coach."
The first hand experience held Moe in good stead considering how technical the sport is. Many people watching don't understand more than the athletes being able to lift the weight over their heads. There are many small errors the judges have to look for and only a short amount of time in which to do it.
"They may have got it over their head, but they may have done something wrong to get it there," said Moe. "There are three judges that officiate the calls, then a jury of five that sits behind the referees if (the jury) disagrees with your calls, they can override your call and then what they say stands."
The three judges that make the immediate call only have a few seconds to make a split-second decision. As such, Moe said that she has second-guessed herself at times, but is comforted by the fact that none of the juries disputed her any of her calls.
"That never happened, so you tell yourself that the jury agreed with your call," she said.
Despite how busy it's been for her, Moe said she's looking forward to continuing her involvement with weightlifting. She's already put her name forward for next year's Toronto 2015 Pan Am & Parapan American Games.
"I'll do it for as long as I can go. I love it and I enjoy watching the weight lifting," said Moe. "Even when I wasn't officiating, I would sit in the audience. I always wanted to make sure I was there for the Canadians."
