WAG restroom debacle at comp

[Issagymnast]

Quick question: A member of my daughters team calling her G (aged 8) went to the bathroom with a male coach during the individual beam performance. She was gone too long and my daughter was told to take her turn on beam as 2nd coach (a female coach) did not realise that gymnast G had not competed and was in restroom. My daughter was confused and was panicked looking for G and didn't score as good as usual. Anyway G's name popped up with my daughters score. It was changed but our coaches had to argue with judges to get it all right and G was allowed to compete eventually! What say you about all this? Male coach to restroom when a female coach there? Missing event are they allowed to compete? What are the protocols. It was a great lesson for my daughter btw.

 

[Coach Kate]

We always have the kids go to the bathroom BEFORE we start warm ups and definitely wouldn't send a male coach with a female athlete if unnecessary. It's ok that they let her compete in my opinion but it shouldn't have happened

 

[Issagymnast]

We always have the kids go to the bathroom BEFORE we start warm ups and definitely wouldn't send a male coach with a female athlete if unnecessary. It's ok that they let her compete in my opinion but it shouldn't have happened

Whats the rule if an athlete misses turn at comps?

 

[JBS]

Quick question: A member of my daughters team calling her G (aged 8) went to the bathroom with a male coach during the individual beam performance.

I'm confused... do you just mean that the male coach just walked her to the bathroom and back so she wouldn't get lost... at a meet with hundreds of other people around?

 

[NutterButter]

I don’t understand either? I mean it doesn’t sound like an ideal time to go to the restroom but we are talking little kids and unfortunately nature can just call at awkward times. Do you think the girl that went to the restroom should not have been allowed to compete?

 

[Issagymnast]

I'm confused... do you just mean that the male coach just walked her to the bathroom and back so she wouldn't get lost... at a meet with hundreds of other people aro

I don’t understand either? I mean it doesn’t sound like an ideal time to go to the restroom but we are talking little kids and unfortunately nature can just call at awkward times. Do you think the girl that went to the restroom should not have

Im more concerned about rules of comp when this occured. There was a female coach that could of done this. Do they have to compete in a certain order and how long would they allow her to jump back in. Not my daughter with male coach so her mom can deal with that.

 

[Issagymnast]

I don’t understand either? I mean it doesn’t sound like an ideal time to go to the restroom but we are talking little kids and unfortunately nature can just call at awkward times. Do you think the girl that went to the restroom should not have been allowed to compete?

What are comp rules if gymnasts go out of order? Or are not present? Or if any other issue arises?

 

[JessSyd]

In Australia, the gymnasts are reminded of their order by the judges at the start of each rotation, and the judges will note if any gymnasts are missing. Technically, after that, if a gymnast isn’t ready to go within 30 seconds of the flag being raised, they get a .3 deduction, and if that drags out to 60 seconds they get a zero.

In reality, in the lower levels at least (we’d expect more from, say, level 5 and up) there would probably be a quick conference between the coach and the judging panel, a warning for the coach to take measures to try to avoid this in future, and we’d let the next girl go and come back to the missing athlete. Sometimes confusion happens if coaches aren’t paying attention and judges don’t realise a girl is missing, but we’d do our best to sort things out.

The thing is - these are little kids, and part of the entire mission of gymnastics Australia is to retain athletes and grow the sport. Taking a hard approach to a little kid needing the loo and perhaps taking longer than expected is not a great way to make a competition a fun experience. So in amidst the rules for judges is an overarching rule, which is ‘if in doubt, rule in the gymnast’s favour.’

In team competitions, there is a 1.00 deduction applied to the team’s apparatus score for competing out of order, although again, I’d probably just give a warning through levels 3 and 4 if it was clearly completely accidental.

 

[Issagymnast]

In Australia, the gymnasts are reminded of their order by the judges at the start of each rotation, and the judges will note if any gymnasts are missing. Technically, after that, if a gymnast isn’t ready to go within 30 seconds of the flag being raised, they get a .3 deduction, and if that drags out to 60 seconds they get a zero.

In reality, in the lower levels at least (we’d expect more from, say, level 5 and up) there would probably be a quick conference between the coach and the judging panel, a warning for the coach to take measures to try to avoid this in future, and we’d let the next girl go and come back to the missing athlete. Sometimes confusion happens if coaches aren’t paying attention and judges don’t realise a girl is missing, but we’d do our best to sort things out.

The thing is - these are little kids, and part of the entire mission of gymnastics Australia is to retain athletes and grow the sport. Taking a hard approach to a little kid needing the loo and perhaps taking longer than expected is not a great way to make a competition a fun experience. So in amidst the rules for judges is an overarching rule, which is ‘if in doubt, rule in the gymnast’s favour.’

In team competitions, there is a 1.00 deduction applied to the team’s apparatus score for competing out of order, although again, I’d probably just give a warning through levels 3 and 4 if it was clearly completely accidental.

Thank you

 

[NutterButter]

Curious what you would do if you learned rules were ‘broken’? Like would you insist that the kid who went potty have their score invalidated? Are you now going to have your child advocate for themselves and ask them refuse to compete if they are asked to go ‘out of order’? And if you are that worried that a male coach walks a child to a bathroom in what is likely an unknown, large and crowded competition venue then I think your should reevaluate your overall comfort level with the gym.

I humbly suggest that if you are this worried about rules at a competition that involves 8 year olds, that you take a step back and consider the bigger picture. Part of competing is learning to anticipate the unexpected. Disruptions in the moment are always going to be a possibility and yeah sometimes it’s not ideal but it’s life. Flexibility is your friend.

 

[skschlag]

My son had this happen multiple times. When younger, the coach just conferred with the judges to make sure they had the right name/number for the kid going, and the one going to the bathroom went when they got back. There really isn't a fairness issue here, or anything that would cause a score to be invalidated.

 

[Issagymnast]

My son had this happen multiple times. When younger, the coach just conferred with the judges to make sure they had the right name/number for the kid going, and the one going to the bathroom went when they got back. There really isn't a fairness issue here, or anything that would cause a score to be invalidated.

There must be rules at a comp. Wondering what they are. Coaches did not mention it to judges till my gymnasts score came up as wrong name on scoreboard. The 8 year old gymnasts ran and told the coach. My daughter could have not scored despite competiting? What safeguards are in place if our own coaches dont even realise it. Worrying.

 

[Issagymnast]

In Australia, the gymnasts are reminded of their order by the judges at the start of each rotation, and the judges will note if any gymnasts are missing. Technically, after that, if a gymnast isn’t ready to go within 30 seconds of the flag being raised, they get a .3 deduction, and if that drags out to 60 seconds they get a zero.

In reality, in the lower levels at least (we’d expect more from, say, level 5 and up) there would probably be a quick conference between the coach and the judging panel, a warning for the coach to take measures to try to avoid this in future, and we’d let the next girl go and come back to the missing athlete. Sometimes confusion happens if coaches aren’t paying attention and judges don’t realise a girl is missing, but we’d do our best to sort things out.

The thing is - these are little kids, and part of the entire mission of gymnastics Australia is to retain athletes and grow the sport. Taking a hard approach to a little kid needing the loo and perhaps taking longer than expected is not a great way to make a competition a fun experience. So in amidst the rules for judges is an overarching rule, which is ‘if in doubt, rule in the gymnast’s favour.’

In team competitions, there is a 1.00 deduction applied to the team’s apparatus score for competing out of order, although again, I’d probably just give a warning through levels 3 and 4 if it was clearly completely accidental.

Very helpful. Im looking for the same answer for USAgymnastics. Very eye opening. Thank you. It was worrying as one coach wasnt aware the gynnast left and rotation was out of order. My childs score came up under the missing gymnast name. If this went unchecked my gymnast would not have scored. Its frustrating as a parent because Im watching the score go to someone else and am helpless in stands when coaches dont notice.

 

[skschlag]

There must be rules at a comp. Wondering what they are. Coaches did not mention it to judges till my gymnasts score came up as wrong name on scoreboard. The 8 year old gymnasts ran and told the coach. My daughter could have not scored despite competiting? What safeguards are in place if our own coaches dont even realise it. Worrying.

Mistakes happen. Sometimes parents see it, sometimes the gymnasts, sometimes coaches. Honestly, the coaches have a lot going on so I am not surprised. I know at my son's meets, the judges would say the gymnast's name as they saluted. So if it was wrong, the gymnast would correct them before competing.

The odds of this happening a lot are really slim, and not something to worry too much about.

 

[AlexandraU16]

We had a gymnast get sick the day of a comp and not be able to compete. She was supposed to be the one right before my daughter and so her name came up for my daughter’s score. I simply waved to the coach, pointed to the scoreboard, and she went and talked to the judges. This really isn’t an issue.

 

[skschlag]

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[GymCAMom]

In all sports, things happen out of our control. It sounds like the issue was resolved, even if there was a moment of panic for you (and your child). I'm sure you can email USAG to find the exact protocols, but I also believe this situation will not likely happen again.

As a mother of a child in the sport, I would be appalled to find out someone, especially a teammate, made a post about my young child on a forum such as this.

 

[JBS]

We have definitely had athletes that have had the use the restroom right when it was their turn... however... it has never been a real problem. We just let the judges know and they let us switch the order. If the score comes up under the wrong name... we just talk to the judges (or submit an inquiry) and they fix it.

Which coach walks the athletes to the bathroom on each event could just have to do with which coach coaches that event and have nothing to do with male or female. Really not sure there... you would have to ask the coaches.

We've actually had judges that have had to run to the restroom right in the middle of a rotation... we have just paused and continued when they get back.

 

[Geoffrey Taucer]

Quick question: A member of my daughters team calling her G (aged 8) went to the bathroom with a male coach during the individual beam performance. She was gone too long and my daughter was told to take her turn on beam as 2nd coach (a female coach) did not realise that gymnast G had not competed and was in restroom. My daughter was confused and was panicked looking for G and didn't score as good as usual. Anyway G's name popped up with my daughters score. It was changed but our coaches had to argue with judges to get it all right and G was allowed to compete eventually! What say you about all this? Male coach to restroom when a female coach there? Missing event are they allowed to compete? What are the protocols. It was a great lesson for my daughter btw.

*shrug* sounds like a bunch of inconsequential non-issues to me.

Things don't always go exactly perfectly according to plan; you smooth out the glitches as best you can, and move on. I'd certainly never want to punish a kid for needing to use the bathroom!

 

[Issagymnast]

*shrug* sounds like a bunch of inconsequential non-issues to me.

Things don't always go exactly perfectly according to plan; you smooth out the glitches as best you can, and move on. I'd certainly never want to punish a kid for needing to use the bathroom!

Yes but what are the scoring consequences for a gymnast who is late/no show etc after flag raised or out of rotation...imagine if everyone just went out of rotation, clearly there are rules for a reason. My daughters score suffered by a huge margin. It was a mess for her and I thought coaches control this mix up by communicating with judges, guess not.