Understanding the controversy on scoring... I am writing this to ask coaches to express their opinion of the new scoring system. I am concerned that instead of moving Worlds toward a more universally understood and objective scoring system we have moved the various National Competitions backwards. If you buy into the fact that all-star gyms exist to compete then integrity in the scoring process is critical in protecting the longevity of the industry itself. Coaches will no longer be teachers but will become politicians lobbying for their teams and their gyms. We all know that success equates to prosperity and that means that our livelihood and businesses that we have worked so hard to build will now be surrounded by cloud of mystery. The perception of impropriety will always hang over us all and we will revert back to the days of feeling the need to know the right people and worrying more about being liked than being good. Our ability to make independent decisions that are best for us our parents and our gym will be gone. Instead we will base decisions on the perceived likes and dislikes of judges. We will scramble to learn the identity of the panel and attempt to track their preferences. We will begin to lose participation because parents pay us to know how to teach skills and make our teams successful. Not winning is ok if we have an answer to why and a plan to improve in the future. Under the current situation we lose the ability to reference the score sheet as a teaching tool. The current system gives NO real answers, provides NO plan for improvement, and at times is actually total contradictory from week to week and competition to competition. Everything is answered with a simple statement, Its the judges opinion based on todays performance and the competitors that are here today. It may be different next week. Parents and kids will soon become disillusioned with the sport of cheerleading. We will all become trapped in the frustration and chaos of individual judges opinions changing our routines from day to day and week to week. We are professionals we need to be able to explain to our kids and parents. We need to comfort them with the knowledge that we will become better using the information given us by the judges. Our fate unfortunately is not determined by a Published Rubric, not based on a Code of points an may not reflect the score that was awarded the same team performing the same routine at last weeks competition. Success will be simply a personal preference of style and the ability of a team to keep a repeat judge from becoming bored with a routine they have already seen. PLEASE SPEAK UP !!!!! We are coaches and teachers not politicians. We have worked for 15 years to slowly convert cheerleading into a more objective and less subjective sport. We have worked to train Coaches, Parents, and cheerleaders on difficulty and technique as well as overall impression and creativity. The old system was not perfect and should definitely have continued to evolve. But to throw out 15 years of work and to go back to a winner being chosen through a secret rubric or a personal like or dislike of a team or program just doesnt make good sense. There are those who will chant the phrase Cookie Cutter and to those I challenge to go and watch the routines at Worlds and Summit. Then watch videos of routines from just 5 years ago. The current routines are amazing. I was impressed watching the Summits Lower levels as well as the power teams of Worlds. The sport progressed because creative people will always find a way to express themselves and new comers found that armed with a Score Sheet and a Rubric they could jump into an industry and formulate a plan for success. The current system simply destroys confidence in our industry and the lack of confidence means more and more kids move away from cheer and will try a sport they can understand.....and can be explained.... The true test of a good scoring system is not to chose a winner but to chose a winner while protecting every participant from mistakes and discrimination. It should make competing fair for all involved. It should stand up to the questions of the winners and the questions of those in the majority that did not happen to finish first. We all do not have to agree but we all should understand the process. Scores should be easily defended with respect to a understanding and expectation between judges and coaches and participants. A good system should force a judge that doesnt like me personally to give me a similar score to one that loves me. It should force a score that is right regardless of personal bias. We should respect the difficult position of good Judges and we are protected by the mistakes of those judges that are less experienced. Transparency, Accountability, and a reasonable expectation of similar scoring for a similar performance is not too much to ask ....... S.O.S
Posted on: Wed, 07 Jan 2015 04:05:50 +0000
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