WAG How to handle it when they get it wrong

[meganliz77]

So my DD had her second meet of the season today. At her first meet they announced a three way tie for first on floor, however my DD did have the highest score confirmed by the scorecard.... We didn't say anything and she shared the victory with her teammates..

Now today, she scored a 9.55 on vault... The highest of the day from what I could tell... But at awards they announced her teammate as having a 9.775 and gave her first place, my DD 2nd. But when it was flashed (and confirmed by the math of her all around score) the other girl had actually received a 9.275.

Again we didn't say anything and realize that big picture wise this isn't the end of the world... My daughter again cheered on her teammates. But at what point or what level do you speak up? Is it ever okay? I don't want to be THAT mom, but equally I wouldn't want my DD celebrating a first place that wasn't truly hers to celebrate...

I guess I'm just wondering what proper etiquette is in these situations??

Thanks in advance!!

 

[profmom]

Are these sanctioned meets? I've seen this sort of thing happen once in a blue moon, but it's been rare enough that we parents have been able to scratch our heads and say, "huh, that was weird" and move on.

 

[gymdog]

Uh, the coach should have said something immediately. I'm not sure I understand though. Was the score flashed by hand? 99% of our meets use electronic scoring, in which the score that is flashed is the one that is entered. But if they flashed it by hand and it got entered by another person (not how it is usually done), then the coach has to catch that and go to the meet director or whoever is available and let them know. In the case where the score was entered incorrectly, and they can't read the score card, the judges go back to their notes. In our state, we always have a paper trail that includes something with the final score for each athlete written down by the JUDGE right after they finish judging...so it is easy to confirm the problem.

 

[meganliz77]

Are these sanctioned meets? I've seen this sort of thing happen once in a blue moon, but it's been rare enough that we parents have been able to scratch our heads and say, "huh, that was weird" and move on.

Yes this was a regional sanctioned meet... So was the first one. I talked with the coaches after her first meet, and they knew it was wrong but kind of shrugged it off as they want the girls to not get too caught up in 'the score'... But when it happened in a pretty significant way today, I was kind of bummed for my daughter... They got the AA scores (at least for our team) correctly and DD took first...

 

[gymgal]

Is it the same meet host for both meets? That is really weird that this would happen to the same girl in 2 meets in the same season. I would talk to the coach about it. Your dd should get a medal/trophy for the first places. They won't take it away from the other girl, but your dd should get recognized for her true placement.

 

[meganliz77]

Uh, the coach should have said something immediately. I'm not sure I understand though. Was the score flashed by hand? 99% of our meets use electronic scoring, in which the score that is flashed is the one that is entered. But if they flashed it by hand and it got entered by another person (not how it is usually done), then the coach has to catch that and go to the meet director or whoever is available and let them know. In the case where the score was entered incorrectly, and they can't read the score card, the judges go back to their notes. In our state, we always have a paper trail that includes something with the final score for each athlete written down by the JUDGE right after they finish judging...so it is easy to confirm the problem.

Yes they were flashed by hand... But given the other girl's pronounced all around score I know they mis-read her vault score during awards.

Our head coach was out on the floor with the next level of girls and we were in another room for awards... The assistant coaches remained with the girls during that time.

My hubby and I were talking about it and just wondering when we should speak up or if we ever should... The girls have their score card in hand at the end of the meet...easy to verify.

 

[skschlag]

does the other girl have a similar name? I can' timagine this happening this often. Very rare. They double and triple check. SOme mistakes are made by the flasher, but otehr than that, it is somewhat rare.

You can mention it to the coaches, and maybe they will watch more closely.

 

[meganliz77]

Is it the same meet host for both meets? That is really weird that this would happen to the same girl in 2 meets in the same season. I would talk to the coach about it. Your dd should get a medal/trophy for the first places. They won't take it away from the other girl, but your dd should get recognized for her true placement.

Different hosts... :/... I think it's just because they are in such a hurry to hand out awards after the meet...

The first meet where this happened, we verified the scores on the back of her card and they did in fact get it wrong...

We talked to DD afterwards and on the back of her medal we wrote 1st and her score... And she took it well and was happy that her teammate was recognized.. She even said she isn't going to tell the other girl because she doesn't want her to feel bad!! For being 7, and fiercely competitive, her maturity is impressive!

 

[profmom]

I can easily see a handwritten 9.275 getting confused with a 9.775, but at most meets awards would be done in a spreadsheet, not based on handwritten scores.

If it were my child, I'd say "eh, she won first AA, no reason to worry about it." I think your daughter has a great perspective on this.

 

[meganliz77]

And we are no giant metropolis... Very rural in the northern most part of the Midwest... Just a little context perhaps

 

[profmom]

Even in the hinterlands of the UP in Michigan, they have Excel. Those meet directors need to get a clue!

 

[meganliz77]

Even in the hinterlands of the UP in Michigan, they have Excel. Those meet directors need to get a clue!

Well then you can relate geographically we aren't all that far away!

(And we LOVE snowmobiling in your neck of the woods ... Beautiful!!)


We are so new to all of this, and CB is really my only resource... Guess we just don't know what
'Normal' is at these meets!!

 

[poodlemomma]

This happened to us on my DD's very first meet ever. Since we were in for a team award, I did bring it up to the coach, because I was worried about the team award. My DD never knew though. She was so excited about getting ribbons, she had no idea she missed out on a first place medal.

I know she got another missed score at state last year. But the coach caught it immediately and went to the judges. I didn't even know it happened until after. That time I would have insisted as the missed score would have lost her her 2nd place in AA at state.

 

[ascarter1]

Seems strange! We are entering our 3rd year of competitions (level 6) and have never experienced anything like this.

 

[MILgymFAM]

Something similar happened with my DD at her first ever meet. We got through the whole meet and recorded her scores as we went. Get to the end and find out she was left out of the computations altogether- wasn't even listed as an athlete. We got with her coach as awards started and I was glad we brought it up because she ended up with a medal that she would never have known. I would say something just so they are more careful in the future.

 

[Aussie_coach]

Sometime they flash the wrong score. It's often a younger person putting the scores up and they get it wrong a lot of the time.

 

[Muddlethru]

Happened twice to my daughter. At her first L7 meet, our gym's annual home meet nonetheless, she won 3rd AA but was somehow completely omitted at the awards. Our coaches told me at the end of the meet. Mymeetscores also had her as 3rd AA. We just shrugged it off but to this date I wish she got the trophy. She was so nervous moving up mid season and having had only 2 weeks to prepare. However, she seemed to have shrugged it off better than I have. The second time, a score of 9.875 was flashed for her vault score. I felt it was impossible. My daughter was jumping up and down. As it turns out, she only got a 9.375. The wrong score was flashed.

So mistakes happen. It is hard to take a trophy away and often times mistakes are realized after the fact. If these mistakes keep happening at the same meet, I would draw our HC's attention to it. However, these mistakes should be few and far in between. Sorry to hear your daughter missed out on her deserved trophy. :-(

 

[meganliz77]

Sometime they flash the wrong score. It's often a younger person putting the scores up and they get it wrong a lot of the time.

I realize that there could be mistakes with flashing but total computation at the end makes me believe it was an incorrect reading of the score prior to awards not incorrect flashing.

 

[meganliz77]

Like I said I'm impressed with my daughter's grace and maturity with all of it and she is truly happy for her teammate who would have otherwise finished second...

My daughter has been taking home a lot of awards already this season, so that also makes me not want to say anything and again not be "that parent". If it hadn't been a score confused for a first place spot (both times now) truly it would be easier to shrug off.

I guess we will just take it meet by meet!

 

[wnl256]

I don't think you are "that parent" for bringing up scoring discrepancies at a meet. The meet director should ensure that the scores are recorded and added correctly. That's part of their responsibility for running a sanctioned meet. You aren't arguing that a judge's score should be higher: you are pointing out a factual inconsistency in how a score was recorded.

However, you cannot go directly to the officials. Parents should never talk directly to meet officials. You must go through your coach. This can be difficult to do if you don't find out until awards are announced as your coach is probably already back on the floor with the next group of athletes.

Now that the meet is over, it is almost certainly too late to have any sort of adjustment made. This is the sort of thing that must be done during the meet.

But in the long run, if it isn't a state, regional, or national meet, the only thing to really be concerned about is the qualifying score for state. Anything else is just to get your athlete recognition. If you and your child can live without that, then there isn't much to worry about.