WAG Are parents allowed to judge their own kids?

[MILgymFAM]

I've known two kids whose both parents were judges and they were able to directly judge them. I've also seen one of these parents be the lead judge on an event. There are always more than one judge though. This was T&T.

 

[Muddlethru]

Perhaps allowing coaches and parents to judge their own kids accounts for some inflated or deflated scores.

 

[flippingtogether]

Yes, I have seen it MANY times as well - parents judge their own kids, coaches judge their own athletes. In these cases, the parent / coach judge cannot be the chief judge/meet ref. In talking to the parents about this - it is tough they said to do it, but they can do it (in one case a parent told me she will NOT judge a session with her own kid - but she is the exception).
Coaches judging their own athletes in my experience are fair, and perhaps a bit tough!

What is also interesting is we moved from a part of the country where I NEVER saw either of these cases happen, to a part of the country where I see it all the time!!

 

[dmbgymnast]

I'm at a YMCA, so the rules may be different. We have a coach at our gym who is a judge, and a mother to one of our optionals. She judges our team and her child at a large chunk of meets. She doesn't seem to inflate or deflate scores, as she is known to be a tougher judge in general. Most, if not all, of these meets are 1 panel judges.

 

[momnipotent]

I talked to a dad who is a judge one time and he says he doesn't even tend to notice if it is his own kid, because he is so focused on the form/deductions. I entered scores for him once and his score was equal to the other judges scores for his child-no problem. Also a 3 judge panel in T and T

 

[vbdb]

A couple of our coaches are judges and will fill in at a meet we're at and even judge the kids they coach. Our girls never want them because they're usually harder on the girls because they know what mistakes to look for.

 

[Deleted member 18037]

I have to say for me the blur of supportive parennt vs tenth your kid judge. I just couldn't. My job is to be her soft place to fall not her judge. I just wouldn't. I write the check, drive and cheer.

 

[B.Gold]

During (old) L6 & L7, at several meets, my dd's coach's mother judged my dd's team's FX and beam. At first we were like, this will be awe-some!!!! But we learned to dread it. Her scoring of our team was brutal.

 

[Deleted member 18037]

During (old) L6 & L7, at several meets, my dd's coach's mother judged my dd's team's FX and beam. At first we were like, this will be awe-some!!!! But we learned to dread it. Her scoring of our team was brutal.

Yeah it's a cant win thing from my perspective.

 

[2G1B]

I know that my DS used to have a coach who was a judge. For MAG here, below regionals, there is only one judge per event. My son always scored significantly lower with that judge than he did with other judges.

 

[Becauseisaid]

We have coaches that are judges. They will judge their own gymnasts. Poor kids....

ROFL! Truth! Those poor kids. Our MAG coach is also the state high bar judge. He actually told one of his gymnasts after the state meet that he hated to give him the score he earned because the kid never worked that hard in the gym. LOL!

Of course, MAG meets are a completely different world. Our MAG head coach is notoriously late to meets. Another team's coach will generally jump in to warm the boys up and think nothing of it. That would never happen with the girls.

 

[lhmom]

One of the moms at my daughter's former gym judges and she has judged her daughters before. She is also one of the toughest judges in the state-we got no extra 10th's from her at a competition.

 

[3rd_time_around]

Short answer: yes. They can and they do.

 

[2G1B]

I think that most coaches who are judging their own athletes that it generally works out worse for those athletes. 1) Those coach/judges don't want to tarnish their reputations for either job by giving inflated scores to their own athletes and 2) Those coach/judges know exactly what their athletes' weaknesses and normal errors are, they are used to focusing on all those little details. They don't miss them. And they deduct for them.

Like I said, for my DS, his coach was always his toughest judge.

 

[Deleted member 18037]

I think that most coaches who are judging their own athletes that it generally works out worse for those athletes. 1) Those coach/judges don't want to tarnish their reputations for either job by giving inflated scores to their own athletes and 2) Those coach/judges know exactly what their athletes' weaknesses and normal errors are, they are used to focusing on all those little details. They don't miss them. And they deduct for them.

Like I said, for my DS, his coach was always his toughest judge.

Again a multitude of reasons why it is JMO that it is a bad idea and shouldn't be allowed.

But clearly its JMO

 

[profmom]

I think it would be harder for a coach who sees a kid every day than a parent who doesn't see the kid doing routines very often.

 

[sewgood]

I think it's important to remember that in a lot of areas of the country, if you couldn't use affiliated judges, you wouldn't have enough judges to cover a meet. In some areas/regions this might not be a problem. In others, if judges couldn't adjudicate their own athletes or children, finding enough judges for a meet would be darn near impossible. It's not ideal to judge your own student or your own child, but I suspect it's allowed because not allowing it would put a very heavy burden on meet directors and host clubs trying to fill those spots.

 

[duyetanh]

I would like to thank everyone who commented on this thread. It has been really informative! We truly are lucky to have people take the time to be judges.
....has this changed my mind, making me want to be one now?
Oh hell no.