Ask the Judges Week #3
Coaches, parents and athletes email us ( mchicsisters@aol.com ) questions you have always wanted to ask the judges. Each week we will send out a question to our M-CHIC Judges Advisory Panel and we will post their responses. To see a list of the members of our Judges Advisory Panel, click here.
This week's question(s):
Week #3 Question:
I'm new to the sport -- as of a year ago, and just a parent observer. We're into conferences now, and it seems like the teams are getting smaller and smaller; seemingly, to keep just the strongest skilled in (even though they have enough girls on their team to put a lot more on the floor). It's disappointing, though, when the teams competing are five girls . . . and even though they execute well, it's not nearly as interesting as a group of, say, 10-14 out there; yet, their scores are as high or higher than the larger teams. For instance, the front runner in our conference makes one stunt group. They execute well. Still -- a bit boring, and seems unfair when other teams are doing three stunt groups with more chance for something to go wrong. Why don't we just put three spectacular girls out there and watch perfection? I do know there's a rule that you can have only a certain number of girls more/less between rounds, so you can't put five in one round, 14 in the next. My point is, though, some groups of five girls are outscoring some of the decent bigger groups. Not nearly as interesting, but if you're going for perfection you get it. . . but doesn't that take away interest in the sport?
Another coach, similar question:
We just competed against a team we have seen several times this year, they have competed with 11 on the floor all season until last night, and she went down to 6 in round 1 then 5 and then 6, so that now she is throwing backhandsprings in round 2, and one stunt group in round 3, (I have 8 across the board). We had a clean round 3 with just a few wobbles, and we also had a 9 point lead on this team after 2 rounds. In round 3 this other team, does the usual OLE and they got all their stunts to go, but they blew us away on scores and most of the it came with the Execution points, I received 10's and she received 17 & 18, with one stunt group, and at one time her tumbling was one girl beating the ground while the other 4 did round offs, cartwheels, and backhandsprings.
I guess my question is - should I also think about dropping my numbers to increase my scores? How is it fair in execution points? How do you score that when there is only one stunt going on, there's nobody to be off timing with?
Even though we had a 9 point lead after round 2 she ended up beating us by 14 points, trust me i'm not a sore loser, I just want to be able to understand and be able to compete with everyone. Our skills are skills that we can do as a full team, but now i'm thinking i should take my best 5 and go for it, with Regionals coming up.
Answers from the Judges:
Judge #1:
Round Three: A Math Story-Problem...
More girls = more excitement? More girls = more execution bonus but possibly more execution errors....? Trying to figure the numbers out and how to best make them work to your advantage has got to be one of a cheer coach's biggest dilemmas. It is not, however, my dilemma; I can only use (and MUST only use) the scoresheet provided to me by the MHSAA. I must judge what I see.
Two categories, Variety and Difficulty, are often a 15 and 20 for every team, so it is impossible to separate teams there. Other categories are completely independent of # and "WOW"; they, too, make it impossible to separate the smaller teams from the bigger teams. General Impression is the only category where I can award a score based upon the thrill and chill of the performance. Don't get me wrong, smaller excellent teams can "WOW" the fans and judges, it just seems like larger excellent teams do it better. Team tumbling, stunting, etc., are all more impressive when done in larger numbers. It is up to the coach to determine what works best for them--to risk some execution errors and go for the big "WOW" or to play it safe and risk having a smaller routine that is "routine".
Determining whether the scoresheet and/or the numbers requirements are flawed or appropriate is not my call to make. That decision can only be made at a higher level. I'm sure there are as many opinions on this as there are coaches and judges.
Good luck, coaches, this is a tough call to make--especially at this time of the season!
Judge #2
I totally agree with you on teams not putting out a full team,especially when they are say from Division One.
My answer is probably to have two divisions...Large Varsity and...Small Varsity. Therefore, if don't want to take the risk you can compete in the Small Varsity Division and if you have a team of 16 you can use every girl in the Large Varsity Division! If you like this idea let Lansing know!!!!!
Judge #3
Larger and smaller numbers on the floor carry both advantages and disadvantages; how to balance those things becomes a coaching decision. Let's start with larger numbers. These teams can have multiple stunt groups, many choices for floor mobility and stunts, increased visual interest, better volume, more energy. They start with higher possibilities for points, and they (arguably) have more chance to get into execution bonus range. Because of the larger number of girls and the greater activity on the floor, details and minor execution errors may be overlooked, and mistakes may go unnoticed.
Now let's look at the team that decreases numbers. This team may be able to do skills in Round 2 that get them more points. They will have fewer execution errors, but the errors are more exposed and easier to spot; there's nowhere to hide with just 5 or 6 girls on the floor. If one girl becomes winded and loses volume, the result is more obvious. There are many stunts that can't be done because there aren't enough girls to do them so variety and interest may be lost. Formations/floor mobility can be very limited and boring, and overall impression is difficult; it's harder to create a "wow" with few girls.
Bottom line is that the coach gets to make the call on what's best for her team. There are great small teams and great large teams; it's more about what the girls do and how well they do it than it is about how many girls are on the floor.
