Ask the Judges Week #7
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.
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This Week's Question:
"Does crowd noise affect how the teams are scored? I've heard that if a team has a lot of fan participation, they are scored higher than if they don't have it.
Just wondering..."
Related...
"How could a team that has super loud fans in round three get a high vocal score? If the judges can't hear the team, and you can see that the team is not saying the words, shouldn't their score be lower???"
Answers from the Judges:
Judge #1:
Dear Parent:
I LOVE it when a crowd is into the competition. It seems like this is happening less and less these days, and it is sad for the sport. Crowd involvement does not bother me, and I can tune it out while it is loud (usually only for certain sections of the cheer). What makes it difficult to judge a team’s vocals are the team members on the sidelines who have well-conditioned and trained voices, know the words and intonation of the cheer, and yell right in sync with the team. Now that they have to sit farther away from the judges, however, it makes it much easier. Sometimes the COACH yells so loud that it is hard to hear the team. That is harder for me to tolerate than the crowd.
I DO, at times, have trouble judging vocals for volume for the first few teams in Round 1 in a new venue—it’s hard to know how the volume is absorbed in the building. Other aspects of vocals, however, are not affected by this. If I were a coach I would bring the girls closer to the front of the mat and have them in a formation that is closer together for at least one transition. This helps me more accurately judge the team’s volume...kind of like a baseline from which to judge the rest of the cheer. If a team remains far back and spread out and then don’t sound loud, I have no choice but to judge on what I hear—and it will negatively affect their score. Please distinguish that, however, from cheerleaders who race out onto the mat before the cheer and get in the judges’ faces--that is NOT what I am talking about here. I don’t really care for that practice either.
I hope this helps and I hope it gets crowds back into the excitement of the competition!! I miss it!
Judge #2:
Crowd response or noise does not have an affect on how teams are scored. We judge what we hear on the floor from the cheerleaders competing on the floor.
In Round 1, 2 and 3 we can only judge what we hear. If we cannot hear the team the vocal scores would reflect not being able to hear them.
Judge #3:
This question has been given a lot of thought by judges throughout the state as well as by MHSAA. At our pre-state meeting we discussed that a loud crowd has it's ups and downs. Of course we want the crowd to participate, it's cheerleading, but at the appropriate times, not yelling throughout the entire cheer with rehearsed sayings. It's hard for the judges to hear the girls and if we can't hear the girls how can we give a 10 if we are not sure what we heard. It's not fair to the other teams if we judge based on the noise of the crowd. So fans, coaches, and non-competing girls please keep this in mind the next time you are cheering for your girls. "If at some point I can not hear the competitors on the floor over the crowd I will not ever give that a 10"
Judge #4:
Crowd participation is not scored anywhere on the scoresheet. If anything, a loud crowd can decrease a team's vocal score if I can not hear what they are saying. Also, if the team members on the sideline are sitting too close to the judges and yelling and screaming too loud so the judges can't hear what the team is saying, that affects the vocal score also. I don't disagree with crowd participation, but don't drown out your team on the mat. It may hurt them in the long run.
