Search for qualified referees by location, rating, weapon specialty, and more. Contact them directly through AskFRED's messaging system. Self-manage a per-tournament referee hire list that all managers can access.
GTG Status
GTG stands for "good to go", and is a USA Fencing concept indicating if a referee meets the minimum requirements to referee an event.
GTG (Green badge): The referee has met all USA Fencing requirements and is cleared to referee
Not GTG (Red badge): There may be outstanding requirements with USA Fencing
Distance Calculations
Distances are rounded to the nearest 5 miles for referee privacy. Distance only appears if:
Your tournament venue is geocoded (has coordinates)
The referee has provided their location in their profile
If you see a warning about your venue not being geocoded, update your tournament's venue information.
Who Can Be Messaged
The Message button only appears for referees who have:
Opted in to be contacted by Tournament Organizers
An AskFRED account linked to their fencer profile
Not all referees in search results can be messaged. Your personal contact information is not shared unless you include it in your message.
The "Hired Referees" List is Fully Manual
Important: The hired list is a self-managed tracking tool for your own organizational purposes only.
Adding someone to the hired list does NOT send them a notification
Status does NOT automatically update based on referee responses or tournament dates
Use this alongside direct communication with referees to confirm actual arrangements