While there are undoubtedly people who are in excellent shape physically and mentally at 70, this is not always the rule. Clearing judges out at 70 offers a way of removing those who are clearly incapable by this age without the acrimony involved in doing this piecemeal, or alternatively just leaving them there to clog up the system. It also stimulates the development of a generation of upcoming judges.
Gabe S.
It is the height of idiocy for business to slough off older employees who have experience and wisdom just because younger ones are cheaper as is commonly done these days. It is even more idiotic for volunteer groups to do the same, for equally shallow reasons.
The benefits of long experience are in judging (as I said previously) undeniable. And the neophyte is never as good as the expert, though he or she may be very enthusiastic. Your suggestion that judges (all judges) be removed at 70 because some may perhaps be incapable at that age displays the very lack of wisdom that the inexperienced commonly display. Perhaps mental acuity and physical health are gone by that age in the UK, but certainly not in a large part of the rest of the developed world. Never mind that becoming a judge requires a number of years and a great investment of time during those years. Never mind that so many people these days are quite sound of mind and body at 70 and beyond. It can take up to 8 years to become an AOS judge, and many do not start until they approach retirement age. So lets say I were to enter the system at 55, and become certified at 63. Why even bother if I only get to judge for 7 years?
One cannot stimulate the development of a generation of upcoming judges, if those who have the most to offer to them are tossed off like so much wilted produce. It is in fact the promulgation of silly ideas, not proper respect for experience, that "clogs up the system." It may be of some value for judges to be "reevaluated" by their peers at regular intervals, but to have firm (and rather low) upper age limit is, to be blunt, stupid.
Dennis Westler
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