Cute Points

[sportyfam5]

I will admit that I have said that about gymnasts before, not to the parent. Now though I would be proud if my DD got "cute points". It means that she is out there enjoying what she does and the judges see that too.
Congrats to your DD and I hope her "cute points" grow with her!

 

[SuperGirlmlm]

Assuming that she's a younger gymnast, if your dd succeeds, the other parent will see that your dd can win without the supposed "cute" points.

 

[Canadian_gym_mom]

As a judge (T&T, not artistic, but whatever)...I don't give cute points. This is going to sound kind of awful, but at that moment they don't really register, if that makes sense. I don't so much see the kid as the backhandsprings or whatever. Their adorability or lack thereof doesn't even register until awards when I'm like "oh. That's the one with the really nice back tuck. Huh. Cute kid".

(I also barely watch warmups, because I know what I'm like & if a kid is struggling in warmup and then brings it during the meet, my coach and "kids are great" inclination would be to reward that & that's not how judging works).

Yeah, dd's coach always said that they were going to win the synchro trampoline because they are both tiny little blondies and there is no age limit for synchro here, lol. Yeah... then one fell and they ended up last. WHERE were the cute point then??!!

 

[2gymmies]

Thanks everyone - my dd is young and small, so I know it is simply unexpected that she would be so focused and successful. I guess I should just be thankful that dd does well and that someone notices. I will just send a complement right back at that parent next time! Thanks again!

 

[cbone]

That's a dual compliment. She's obviously cute and she's high achieving. Be proud!

As for the idea of "cute points", I've heard that a big smile goes a long way with the judges. Remember that kids are learning life skills in addition to gymnastics skills. The way you carry yourself matters on the mat and in life. Scoring points due to a great smile and attitude is nothing to be ashamed of.

 

[gymgal]

We just had states this weekend for 7/8. Not dd. She is next weekend. But a quick look at the scores will show that the younger the age group, the higher the number of 36+. I realize that younger age divisions are more likely to have more "talented" gymnasts (being able to make it to that level at a younger age) but that should account for only a small discrepancy.... Just saying.....

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[Krystan]

But a quick look at the scores will show that the younger the age group, the higher the number of 36+.
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Maybe that's just for the higher levels, but at L4 I noticed the opposite. The scores were much higher for the 10+ girls than younger. The youngest groups (usually 6-8) had the lowest scores, in general. I remember because my dd (10) would always score better than her younger teammates, but they would place and she wouldn't because of the age groupings. I think it must be different at the higher levels though.

 

[profmom]

You haven't seen cute until you've seen 6 year old L4 boys. One of my son's teammates is so freakin' cute that I wish there were a cuteness event. The boys' meets usually have (regular, not monotonous floor) music going on during the rotations, and he dances around to it in between events. He also happens to be an outstanding little tumbler, so he's done very well on floor this year. But at least for L4 boys, the scores tend to be higher in the 8-9 YO group than in the 6-7s, probably just because the little guys don't have the strength yet to do everything as well as the bigger guys.

 

[Geoffrey Taucer]

*shrug* I've made comments like that to parents before -- as a compliment, just saying their kid was cute and I thought their floor or beam routines really played to that and brought it out. Never occurred to me that it could be taken as an insult.

I guess it depends on how its delivered.

 

[Canadian_gym_mom]

*shrug* I've made comments like that to parents before -- as a compliment, just saying their kid was cute and I thought their floor or beam routines really played to that and brought it out. Never occurred to me that it could be taken as an insult.

I guess it depends on how its delivered.

I agree with this, it does depend on how it's delivered. You hit the nail on the head I think lots of people were thinking.

I have said along the lines of "I'd score her first just because she's so adorable" to fellow gym moms worried about how a little one will do in a meet... but i would never think of saying that to a mom of a girl in dd's same level...

It depends too on the relationship you have with the other parent.

All in all I "STILL" think dd deserves cute points in trampoline but I guess hopes just keep on hoping because these kids keep on earning their scores...

 

[2gymmies]

I think the delivery is definitely the key - the original comment had an "undeserving" and awkward vibe to it. That same parent just tonight said it was "so cute" watching dd do her kips, seeing her little self doing something that doesn't seem possible for her size and it had a much more sincere tone to it. Maybe I was a little defensive for no reason or maybe she was frustrated or having a bad day. I'm glad to know it doesn't seem it will persist!

 

[CreateMagic]

If cute points were awarded, then my little prep rookie team should have swept awards last weekend! The other teams had kids aged approx 8-13 ish, and then here walks in my 4-7 year olds. All the coaches were oohing and aahing over them. It was adorable. Of course, then you watch the routines and the difference in the floor and beam routines are so different--my littles just can't remember a long, complicated routine! And to see them vault onto the level 4 vaulting mat--which, btw, is over many of their heads---too cute.

I definitely think delivery is the key here. There's a difference between admiring the abilities of the littles to being jealous of their successes.

 

[Natasha]

We just had states this weekend for 7/8. Not dd. She is next weekend. But a quick look at the scores will show that the younger the age group, the higher the number of 36+. I realize that younger age divisions are more likely to have more "talented" gymnasts (being able to make it to that level at a younger age) but that should account for only a small discrepancy.... Just saying.....

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My dd was L7 this year. At every large meet, the scores were much higher in the younger groups. But, I was there to see those competitions and there were MANY very talented girls in those groups. The very serious gyms with talented girls tend to score very well, and those were the younger groups. It was not cute points, they were just very good. I was thankful my dd was in the 2nd age group at most meets and not in the youngest! At one meet in particular, the last place AA score (award 1/2 of age group) for the Junior A was higher than the 1st place score for the senior B group. I think too, by the time you get to optionals, for most gyms they only move up younger girls to optionals that are very prepared for it whereas older girls may not have as clean of skills but get moved to optionals because perhaps they have already repeated levels or they just aren't likely to improve any further with their form staying in compulsories. At states, an 11 yr old on our team took 9th place in her group while her 14 year old teammate took 1st place with the exact same score. There really does seem to be a qualitative difference between the older and younger girls, at least around here at L7.

 

[GymGran]

We all know there are truly no cute points given. If there were all our girls/boys would be top on the podium. That being said, it's OK to take a compliment on face value (No pun intended) and not look for deeper meaning.

 

[sally]

I wish they did have cute points. Because last year at my dd comp. She was the talk of the whole comp because she was so small that they all thought she was like 5 and couldn't believe how good she was. Ha if only they new she wasn't 5 haha, didn't help her though judges didn't go on the cute factor.

 

[skschlag]

We used to joke with my son that when his "big boy" teeth came in he would lose all his cute points Of course....as he lost his cute points, his scores went up!! LOL!

 

[coachmolly]

You mean my gymnasts scores are based on their actual performances and not on the fact that their coach is just so darn cute and charming? Well darn, my whole self concept has just been driven into the ground .