Judges

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MomNBlue&Green

Cheer Parent
Dec 14, 2009
315
485
Does anyone know what steps are made by event producers to ensure that their judges are qualified (and fair) to be judging cheerleading competitions? I ask this because I was told today that someone I know was getting certified to judge and would be judging one of the biggest cheerleading competitions of the year. I KNOW this person is not qualified to judge any cheer competition much less one this big. She has never even been a competitive cheerleader or anything. In fact when asked to attend this very same competition last year her response was "I'm not paying $35 to watch a bunch of girls jump around on stage." which tells you just how much she knows about what it takes to be an all-star cheerleader. Just wondered if it is really that easy to become a judge...
 
Are there any companies that are beginning the certification process for coaches? I thought I heard something about this at one point...
 
Yes. Cheer Ltd has a certification course for judges. American Championships also has a required course for judging. Several other companies (Cheer Tech, Spirit Unlimited, Coastal) only hire those with a cheer background, and hold an annual judges meeting where rules and changes for the year are gone over.
 
I took my team to a 2-day competition this year. Day 1 we competed Lib to Stretch High to High Tick Tock and a full up, and Day 2, we competed Stretch to Stretch high to high tick tock and 1.5up. Our score when down on Day 2, despite execution being similar both days (We dropped a full up Day 1, and a 1.5up on Day 2) When questioning the head judge on why no increase in score, I was told "Next time, you need to come up to the judges table and let us know that you had a major change in your stunt difficulty so I can tell the judges to make sure they look for it. I mean, they should notice it, but it doesnt hurt to make sure they look for it" Baffled. This was a Varsity event.
 
Because scoring is subjective (even with the rubric) that is very possible. The only way to fix it is all stunts have a difficulty value (like gymnastics). IDK if I like that idea or I dont.
 
I hate to say that I think it really is that simple. My school just recently got new coaches and one of them was supposed to be a judge for a major competition company, when school began it turned out that this particular coach new less than you would have expected her to know considering she was a judge.
But I don't think that all of the judges are like this. I mean how many of us can somewhat predict the outcome of the competition? If none of the judges really knew what they were doing, we wouldn't be able to do this.
 
My level 3 team got a deduction for a handstand on thigh as the head judge said it was illegal at level 3 even though its in updated credentialing booklet and the rule says inversions are allowed below shoulder level, so I'm guessing its not that hard to be a judge
 
How DO you get your judging certification though?

Also, if you get certified by one competition company, does that mean that you can judge wherever, or only specifically for them?
 
How DO you get your judging certification though?

Also, if you get certified by one competition company, does that mean that you can judge wherever, or only specifically for them?

You can get the Rules Certification at the USASF Regional Meetings each summer. Other certifications are company/brand specific.
 
I've been trying to become a judge and not a single competition company has returned my emails and I was a gym owner and certified so I felt if I couldn't use my talents coaching right now I could at least use them judging. Does anyone know how to get in contact with these places to judge?
 
yeah I was good until the video portion. When Les started throwing up these crazy transitions on the video screen I was like WAAAY outta my league. Mucho respect for the legality judges. However, I do not like failure so I WILL pass the test next year!
 
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