Everyone knows that nothing lasts forever. No matter how successful, influential, or beloved something may be, there will inevitably come a time when change is necessary. In this statement, we will outline the changes that have been proposed and ultimately decided upon by a majority of the community.
Activity
The Small Medium Army League was created with the purpose of supporting and strengthening the Small/Medium army community. Our primary focus is on the S/M armies that remain active and continue to put in the effort to keep the community alive and moving forward. However, our ability to fulfill this responsibility is heavily dependent on the cooperation of our partners, the Club Penguin Army Judges. Unfortunately, we have reached a point where the judging system is struggling to meet the needs of the community.
Numerous army leaders have requested judges for battles and freeland invasions, yet many of these requests have gone unanswered due to a lack of judges willing or available to take them. While we understand that members of the judging team may experience burnout and have other commitments, the current situation has made it increasingly difficult for armies to properly organize and conduct their events. A judging system cannot function effectively without active participation from its judges, and this is an issue that can no longer be overlooked. Due to the current situation, armies are beginning to question whether CPAJ is still in a position to effectively fulfill its responsibilities to the community.
It is the responsibility of the Head Judges to ensure that the judges they have appointed remain active, available, and consistently willing to judge battles when requested. While we understand that judges may become inactive due to personal circumstances or burnout, there still needs to be a level of accountability within the judging team to ensure that inactive members are addressed appropriately.
Unfortunately, the current state of both the judge team and its leadership raises significant concerns. There have been at least 3 Head Judge’s who has demonstrated little to no activity for an extended period of time, yet continues to hold their position today. This raises questions about how effectively the current leadership is monitoring the activity of its staff and whether the necessary standards are being enforced.
If Head Judges are unable or unwilling to maintain an active and reliable team, it ultimately falls back on the armies that depend on CPAJ’s services. For an organization that is expected to support battles and invasions across the community, consistent activity and accountability from its leadership should be considered essential.
Judging applications
There has been a noticeable lack of judge recruitment and acceptance both before Sweater was promoted to Deputy Head Judge and following his removal from the position. During his time as Deputy Head Judge, however, CPAJ appeared to experience a brief period of renewed activity and began showing signs of a potential revival. Unfortunately, that momentum did not last. Sweater was eventually removed from his position due to actions he had committed, and since then, the judge system has once again struggled to maintain consistent recruitment and activity.
At this point, applying to become a judge in CPAJ can feel almost pointless. Judge applications can take months to even be reviewed, let alone accepted. By the time an applicant finally receives a response, there is a strong possibility that they have already lost their motivation or willingness to participate. This creates a cycle where potential judges become discouraged before they even have the opportunity to contribute to CPAJ.
A lengthy application process is especially damaging when the organization is already struggling with a shortage of active judges. Instead of quickly bringing in interested and willing applicants, the current process allows applications to sit for extended periods of time with little to no progress. During that waiting period, applicants may become inactive, lose interest in CPAJ, or simply move on to other communities where they feel their time and effort are more valued. Even applicants who initially had a genuine interest in judging may no longer feel motivated to participate after waiting several months for a response.
This ultimately makes it much harder for CPAJ to build a reliable and active judge team. If the goal is to increase judging activity and bring in new members, applications need to be reviewed in a timely manner. Otherwise, CPAJ risks continuously losing potential judges before they ever get the chance to become one, leaving the organization stuck with the same shortage of judges it has been dealing with for months.
War & practice battles
Another major issue that highlights the current problems within CPAJ’s judging system is the ongoing war between Pizzaioli and Snowwalkers going without proper judging. Wars are one of the most important parts of CPAJ, as they rely on judges to provide fair, consistent, and unbiased results. When a war is left without judges, both armies are left waiting for battles to be reviewed, creating unnecessary delays and uncertainty for everyone involved.
The lack of judges available for this war is especially concerning considering the broader shortage of active judges within CPAJ. This is not simply an isolated incident, but rather another example of how the current system is struggling to provide enough judges to meet the needs of the league. When wars cannot receive timely judging, it can discourage armies from participating in future events and make the entire judging system appear unreliable.
Both Pizzaioli and SWCP have invested time into participating in their war, and they should reasonably expect their battles to be reviewed within a reasonable timeframe. Leaving the war without sufficient judging undermines that effort and can lead to frustration among both armies and it will be hard to determine a clear victor.
Another issue that has become increasingly noticeable is the lack of judges available for practice battles. While practice battles may not carry the same competitive importance as league wars, they still play an important role in keeping armies active, preparing troops for future events, and allowing newer members to gain experience. When these battles consistently go unjudged, it limits one of the easiest ways for armies to maintain activity and prepare for larger competitions.
Practice battles are also an important opportunity for judges to remain active and gain experience themselves. Having judges consistently cover these battles allows them to become more familiar with judging procedures, battle expectations, and how to handle different situations that may arise during a battle. When there are not enough judges willing or available to cover any battles, both armies and potential judges lose an opportunity to contribute to the community.
While practice battles may not be as urgent as official league wars, the consistent lack of judging for them is still an indicator of the wider problems within CPAJ’s judge system. If CPAJ wants to encourage greater activity and participation, it needs to ensure that armies can reliably host practices without having to worry about whether a judge will actually be available. Improving judge recruitment and making applications more efficient would go a long way toward resolving this issue.
The conclusive decision
Effective immediately, the Small Medium Army League hereby declares the termination of its partnership with the Club Penguin Army Judges and officially announces the establishment of a new partnership with the Army Judging Board.
CPAJ has been a longstanding part of the army community, having operated for over four years, and we would like to sincerely thank them for the contributions and support they have provided to the Small Medium Army League throughout our partnership. Their presence has played a role in helping SMAL develop and establish itself within the community. As a league that is still relatively young, having only been established a little over a year ago, making an announcement of this nature was certainly not something we had planned or anticipated. Our intention was never to reach a point where we would need to reconsider one of our longstanding partnerships. However, after careful consideration of the circumstances and the direction we believe SMAL needs to take moving forward, we have determined that this is the appropriate decision for our league.
We remain grateful for everything CPAJ has contributed to SMAL and wish them nothing but the best moving forward. While this marks the end of our partnership, we hope that the contributions and history shared between our two leagues will continue to be remembered and respected.
With the conclusion of our partnership with CPAJ, the Small Medium Army League will now be transitioning to the Army Judging Board as our primary judging organization. This decision was made with the intention of providing SMAL and its armies with a more consistent and reliable judging system moving forward.
We are excited to begin this new chapter with AJB and fully intend to support their organization as they continue to develop and expand. We believe that a strong partnership requires cooperation from both sides, and SMAL is committed to working alongside AJB to help create a more active, organized, and accessible judging environment for the community.
This transition will also allow us to establish a stronger relationship with the AJB staff and work together to address issues that may arise with judging, applications, and event coverage. Rather than simply changing which organization provides our judges, we want this partnership to be an opportunity for SMAL to actively support AJB and contribute toward its continued growth.
We encourage our armies and members to welcome AJB and give their judges and staff the same level of cooperation and respect that we expect from our own community. As we move forward, SMAL looks forward to building a long-term partnership with AJB and supporting their efforts to strengthen the army judging community. In addition, the war between Pizzaioli and SWCP will remain on pause until further notice. With AJB still being a relatively new organization, they are not yet fully prepared to provide judging coverage for battles. Their judging team is still in the process of being established, with applications continuing to come in and new judges being accepted.
Please note that no member of the SMAL Administration or Advisory holds a special position, rank, or elevated placement within AJB. AJB operates as an independent judging league, separate from the Small Medium Army League, and its internal operations remain entirely under its own authority.
While SMAL has established a partnership with AJB, this partnership does NOT give SMAL control or influence over AJB’s internal affairs, including its staff, rankings, judge applications, promotions, disciplinary decisions, or other organizational matters. AJB will continue to make its own decisions independently and is responsible for managing its organization according to its own standards and procedures. Our partnership is intended to create cooperation between the two organizations, not to give either side authority over the other. SMAL will respect AJB’s independence and allow its leadership to manage its organization without interference from SMAL Administration or Advisory.
Yellow Typer Ghostt Megha
Small Medium Army League Administration
