Be the Referee: Gymnastics Judges
By Sam Davis
MHSAA Officials Coordinator
December 8, 2022
Be The Referee is a series of short messages designed to help educate people on the rules of different sports, to help them better understand the art of officiating, and to recruit officials.
Below is this week's segment – Gymnastics Judges - Listen
The gymnastics finals will be held March 10th and 11th where a Team Finals champion and runner-up will be crowned on Friday night and individual event champions in each event and an all-around champion will be crowned in two divisions on Saturday.
At the Finals, 18 gymnastics officials will be on the floor for each championship, and there are many who are already working regular-season events. What are they all doing?
The meet referee is the head official in charge. They handle all inquiries and disputes.
And then each event will have a set of judges. It can be four different sets, one set for each event. Or the same set could judge each of the four events. One of these judges serves as the chief judge, and each will score the performance. The two scores are averaged for a gymnast’s final score.
Previous Editions:
Nov. 22: Football Finals Replay - Listen
Nov. 15: Back Row Illegal Blocker - Listen
Nov. 8: Swim Turn Judges - Listen
Nov. 1: Soccer Referee Jersey Colors - Listen
Oct. 25: Cross Country Tie-Breaker - Listen
Oct. 18: Soccer Shootouts - Listen
Oct. 11: Safety in End Zone - Listen
Oct. 4: Football Overtime Penalty - Listen
Sept. 27: Kickoff Goal - Listen
Sept. 20: Soccer Timing - Listen
Sept. 13: Volleyball Replays - Listen
Sept. 6: Switching Sides - Listen
Aug. 30: Play Clock - Listen
Aug. 23: Intentional Grounding Change - Listen
Be the Referee: Competitive Cheer Judges
By Paige Winne
MHSAA Marketing & Social Media Coordinator
January 24, 2023
Be The Referee is a series of short messages designed to help educate people on the rules of different sports, to help them better understand the art of officiating, and to recruit officials.
Below is this week's segment – Competitive Cheer Judges - Listen
Ready! Set!
There are a lot of moving parts to a competitive cheer competition, including safety judges.
For each competition there are a minimum of two safety judges and three panel judges. But what does each position do?
Safety judges are there for safety – as simple as that sounds. During competition, they are mobile, circling the mat identifying illegal skills, improper spotting techniques, time infractions, and anything else deemed unsafe. They also are counting the number of competitors and floor formations for each team.
Panel judges – and there are three of them – are scoring the round. Each round is made up of skills, floor formations, transition moves and stunts that all must be evaluated.
Both safety and panel judges can deduct points for errors in the routine.
Previous Editions:
Jan. 17: More Lines - Listen
Jan. 10: On the Line - Listen
Jan. 3: Basketball Measurements - Listen
Dec. 13: Pregame Dunks - Listen
Dec. 6: Gymnastics Judges - Listen
Nov. 22: Football Finals Replay - Listen
Nov. 15: Back Row Illegal Blocker - Listen
Nov. 8: Swim Turn Judges - Listen
Nov. 1: Soccer Referee Jersey Colors - Listen
Oct. 25: Cross Country Tie-Breaker - Listen
Oct. 18: Soccer Shootouts - Listen
Oct. 11: Safety in End Zone - Listen
Oct. 4: Football Overtime Penalty - Listen
Sept. 27: Kickoff Goal - Listen
Sept. 20: Soccer Timing - Listen
Sept. 13: Volleyball Replays - Listen
Sept. 6: Switching Sides - Listen
Aug. 30: Play Clock - Listen
Aug. 23: Intentional Grounding Change - Listen