As I write this blog, with the hopes of turning these posts into a longer book one day, I’ve asked a number of people about what they would like to know about gymnastics judges.  My friend Jayne asked, “How many judges were not gymnasts themselves?” The short answer is not very many. In my state we have approximately 50 judges. Only one was never a gymnast; she started judging because her daughter was a gymnast. So that’s about 2 percent (1/50) of judges who were never gymnasts if my state has similar statistics to the rest of the United States.

Answering a question--Where things were, are and going in gymnastics and gymnastics judging

A 50th reunion for the Burnsville High School Class of 1975 will be held Sept. 20 from 6-11 p.m. at the Lost Spur Golf and Event Center 2750 Sibley Memorial

I suspect that judges have slightly different criteria for determining who is a good judge from what coaches may believe. However, the coaches select judges for state, regional and national assignments so a judge’s viewpoint probably holds little weight. My state USAG board ranks judges based on application of rules, consistency, professionalism, number of judging assignments and whether the judge gives the “benefit of the doubt” to a gymnast. Other states have different criteria. I’ve also observed, in different areas of the country, that coaches seem to choose judges who smile and who chat with coaches during competitions.

How many national-level 9-10 meets have I judged and is it fair to the many National level judges who want the same experience?