Judging
I am a judge and practices can be invaluable to familiarise yourself with a large group of skaters. If you have never seen any of them before, watching the practices is mostly about trying to learn their names, so that in the comp you don't have to rely on their dress color (which can be problematic, especially if nearly everyone wears blue or something). Also, one poster mentioned that judges write notes about the skaters - really? I have never seen this happen, judges are advised not to write anything down in practice, to avoid the issue arising of being accused of pre-judging.
I am a judge and practices can be invaluable to familiarise yourself with a large group of skaters. If you have never seen any of them before, watching the practices is mostly about trying to learn their names, so that in the comp you don't have to rely on their dress color (which can be problematic, especially if nearly everyone wears blue or something). Also, one poster mentioned that judges write notes about the skaters - really? I have never seen this happen, judges are advised not to write anything down in practice, to avoid the issue arising of being accused of pre-judging.