Annie notes about volunteer refereeing at invitationals. Ask Brian any questions about refereeing at this or other types of meets.
In my notes "You" refers to volunteer referee, "warm up skaters" are on the warm up circle, "competing skaters" are on the judging circles.
A referee checks in with steward to line up skaters and do any "scratch-offs" or "add-ins" on the official list. You are responsible for updating the judges on any changes to the list.
A referee is responsible for the competing skater starting on the correct foot and edge. If the skater starts on the wrong foot or edge the referee has to stop them and make them start over. You should do this as soon as possible, so make sure that you understand the figure, because you want to correct the foot or edge of the skater before they get to 25%
The referee is responsible for counting the number of rotations in the competing skaters figure and dismissing them after by saying "thank you skater," so watch closely and don't dismiss late or early. Err on the side of letting them do too many if you're not sure, because of you interrupt a competing skater during a figure for an illegitimate reason, that is considered an "interference." If a competing skater is interferes with during their figure, by anyone, allow them to finish the figure but then you are required to offer them a second chance. If the competing skater chooses to redo the figure, they are judged on the second try, even if they do worse. Referees are also responsible for running interference.
Note: if there is a time crunch and/or you are comfortable multitasking, the referee needs to signal to the steward for the next competing skater (whom the steward pulls from the warm up circle) WHILE watching for the competing skaters final rotation. This means you will sometimes be watching to dismiss the competing skater while at the same time asking the next skater if they know the correct foot and edge to start on.