BlueCat
Roses are red, cats are blue
- Dec 14, 2009
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- #91
@BlueCat "I'm not opposed to the scores being absolutely public, but I think that is a tougher sell to the EPs."
I find this the most interesting line in this entire discussion, as I have had similar discussions with a major EP and was told that the gyms requested that scores no longer be made public, and that it had nothing to do with the EPs. I probably should have questioned that statement from the EP harder, but it was around fear of scores being used against gyms and to recruit athletes from lower or less scoring gyms.
I have heard that as well. I know that we have had issues when parents see the the actual breakdown and they question many things in the routines. If it is an issue for us (parents questioning our ability to craft routines that score well), I would imagine it is an issue for nearly everyone. I guess I don't see why knowing the FINAL score is that much different than knowing the score breakdowns. If you have a much lower final score, does it matter whether it is because of jumps or stunts?
This is a broad over-generalization, but there are generally 3 levels of parent "knowledge" about our sport - actual experts (former coaches/athletes, gym owners, etc), those who know a medium amount (parents who visit FB occasionally and/or download the scoresheet explanation from Varsity.com), and those who know very little. Surprisingly, we get the least amount of pushback/complaints/advice from the first group. We get very little from the last group. Our "issues" almost always come from the second group.
It probably causes a little more issues for coaches/gym owners if those scores are made purely public, but I think it is worth the tradeoff. I do understand the argument against that, however. To me, the more private the scoring is, the more you are going to have accusations of favoritism or bias. Usually (not always) I get less angry about results after I see the breakdowns and review the videos.
The biggest misconception is that "raw score" simply represents how difficult your routine is. Parents don't understand why if your "raw score" is lower than someone else, you don't automatically spend the next practice adding more difficulty or more elements to the routine.