Club News: Judging

TRA Judging Course

  • 10 February 2019
  • cetc_secretary

I first became aware of the judging courses as an adult gymnast and parent of young gymnasts.  I saw it as a way to pay something back to CETC after being a member for a couple of years and enjoying the friendly, welcoming atmosphere and dedication to the sport that the Club has.  It doesn’t matter whether you’re a world champion or a total beginner, the Club is always focussed on your personal development, so I wanted to do something to help.  I signed up to the Club Judge course in October 2018, and I was extremely grateful to receive Club funding to cover the course fee.  
The course itself takes place over two days, and is run by very experienced judges.  The people there had a wide range of experience, from previous judges who were refreshing their qualification, to gymnasts just old enough to qualify, to parents with very little knowledge of trampolining at all.  Everybody was in much the same boat – we were all nervous!  It’s a pretty intense two days, as we covered both the rules of competitions and judging and then moved on to watching videos of routines, learning what to look for and how to score each move.  I had had no idea, despite learning for over two years, how many mistakes I was making!  I went back to class determined to make my tucks tighter and kick-outs earlier.  There are two parts to the exam – a multiple choice paper and a video exam, where you score 10 routines.  I found the video element by far the hardest, but the instructors took us through everything repeatedly and really took the time to make sure everyone felt ready.  
I judged at Club Champs in December, but the real test came with judging at the first Scottish Gymnastics competition of the year in Glenrothes in January.  I was anxious about making mistakes, but the Chair of Judges was extremely reassuring and walked us all through it.  He got us to practice judging the competitors warming up, and I was able to see that I was being a bit too generous and toughen up my scores appropriately!  The day flew by and I even judged DMT in the afternoon.  I didn’t get it right every time, but I could see that on the whole, my scores were reasonably consistent with the rest of the panel, and that helped my confidence.  I’m looking forward to the February competition when I’ll be judging again, and I’d encourage anyone to go through the course – the sport needs volunteers to keep going!  
(Rhiannon Virgo - parent)

 

Trampoline Judging Course - November 2018

  • 6 February 2019
  • cetc_secretary

“When I heard about the next opportunity to get involved in the judges course I was keen to put my name down for a few reasons: this helps the club since we need to put forward volunteers for each competition, I hoped it would help me understand what the judges were looking for so I could help my children understand a bit more how their scores had been calculated and lastly, I’m just plain nosy! The course itself runs over one weekend and is a fairly intense classroom based tuition, led by experienced judges. They were really encouraging and the spread of people that signed up ranged from experienced coaches and current/past trampolining gymnasts to parents like me, who were there to help their club. It really doesn’t matter what your level of understanding of the sport is before you start, you don’t need to know the names of all the moves, because everything you need to know to judge at club level, will be taught to you over that weekend – it really is that straight forward.
For the first SG competition I judged in January this year, then it was a funny feeling to drive to Glenrothes with as many nerves as my kids who were competing!! However I needn’t have worried as I saw lots of familiar faces from the November judging course, all feeling much the same as me and we were totally looked after by our Chair of Judges on each panel. Every other judge there is  prepared to help you out and everyone just wants to do a good job for the competitors so there really is plenty of support. It certainly helped the long day fly by and I didn’t have to worry about who would look out for my 2 children through the day, as the fabulous CETC army of fellows gymnasts, coaches and parents, were amazing in keeping an eye on them - thank you everyone for that!

So if you’re thinking about it, then I encourage you to give it a go, it’s great experience and certainly gives you a whole new perspective on the competition days.”
(Kath Lawson - parent)

 

 

TRAMPOLINE JUDGING COURSE - A PARENTS VIEW

  • 30 November 2017
  • cetc_admin

"The course was very well structured and the tutor was extremely good at explaining all the rules and regulations. He made everyone feel welcome. Lots of people on the course were trampoline coaches, so they clearly knew way more than I did (I’m a complete novice) this made no difference as the tutor made sure we all understood before we moved on. 

The 2 days were intense and to be honest, hard work, but it was so worthwhile. I highly recommend it. It’s given me confidence to speak to my daughter about her skills and understand her sport, which really benefits both of us." (Gillian Hallard - parent)

SCOTTISH GYMNASTICS TRAMPOLINE JUDGING COURSE - APRIL 2014

  • 30 April 2014
  • cetc_admin

On 27 and 28 April 2014, I along with two other parents from the Club, attended the trampoline judging course run by Scottish Gymnastics. 
The course lasts two days and is organised at various venues across the country throughout the year.
The course content covers all aspects of judging, including the shape and form expected, applicable deductions, judging format, scoring calculations and much more!!  No previous trampoline knowledge is required. I have developed my personal understanding of the sport and increased my knowledge of the judging system!  
I can now support the Club at future competitions by helping meet the required ratio of competitors and judges, allowing coaches to support competitors. It also means I can complement coaches’ advice and support to my child, to enhance her development -  and for me, it means an addition to my CV!

As a parent, if you are considering becoming a judge, sign yourself up for the next course.  What’s to loose?? 

(parent)

SG TRAMPOLINE JUDGING COURSE - JUNE 2013

  • 30 June 2013
  • cetc_admin

Saturday 29 June 2013 found me, Lesley Paterson, Elaine la Roche and Heather Preston up bright and early and heading out to the Sighthill Campus of Napier University. We were all a little apprehensive, after all, we had all learned to wash a leotard without the colours running, I was fairly proficient at removing mysterious stains from gymnastic whites, and the others could do amazing things with their daughters hair that stayed in place even when the girls turned upside down, but were we ready for a Judges Course?
There were about 12 others on the course - a mixture of gymnasts, coaches and parents, and the course was led by Sue Freeman a highly experienced Judge form Birkenhead Club. Sue quickly reassured us that the course assumed no prior knowledge of trampolining and that no question was too stupid to ask (just as well!). Over the course of Saturday, Sue took us through all the things a Club Judge needs to know, from what constitutes a pike jump, to what deductions to make for a wobbly landing - and even covered what to do if a leotard falls off! 
We were all pleasantly surprised at how much we already knew just from helping out at club events. We were given great easy to read handouts, and sent away to prepare for the test on Sunday. Test day brought more nerves, but Sue spent the first part of the day going over all the things we would need for the test and made sure we were all well prepared. The test is not timed, so you can take as long as you need and there was nothing in it that Sue had not covered with us. Everyone on our course passed the written test and we then spent the rest of the day watching videos of routines and learning how to score them. All in all, the course was great fun; everyone there was friendly and supportive, and it was good to learn more about the sport our kids love.
Since doing the course I have been asked to judge twice, once DMT and once Trampolining. It is a bit nerve wracking to start with, but without exception I have found the other judges and the Chair of Panel to be really encouraging and helpful. (and a special mention to Val Donlevy for sharing her magic method for totaling scores quickly!). 
It seems to me daft, that we have our coaches judging when they could be out on the floor supporting our children at competitions, and an afternoon judging goes by much faster than an afternoon sat watching! 
If you are interested in becoming a judge at the Club, watch out for details of the next local course.