What's New ?

• New Judges Reimbursement Policy: This fall, our NC NAWGJ committee has agreed on an updated approach to reimbursement of expenses. The approach requires judges to work at our Judges Cup fundraisers in order to accumulate credit. Judges can work up to 8 judges cup sessions at a rate of reimbursement return of $50/session. A maximum of $400 credit can be earned. The total amount that a judge earns can be used in any combination of reimbursements for memberships, educational travel, testing registration, or judging materials from USAG. The new form for requesting reimbursement is here.

• Is your availability current? All judges are requested to keep your availability updated to reflect the days that you are able to judge. We have some very tight weekends this season where judges will be desperately needed. Please go into the assigning system and mark your available days.
• Certification Renewal: All judges need to make sure that their Safe Sport certification as well as their Safety and Background Check Certifications are all current in order to be assigned to meets. Make sure that your profile in GymJas is updated with the correct expiration dates so that your contracts will accurately reflect your status.
• Contract Expiration Policy: When judges do not send their contracts in for their meets until the last minute (or worse, decline at the last minute) it causes a lot of scrambling and last minute anxiety for the Assigner, Meet Refs and Meet Directors. To try to minimize this in the future, we have agreed to the following change in policy.
  • In the Judge Assigning System (GymJAS), you will see a red flag on any contract that has been outstanding for two (2) weeks.
  • At this point, the Assigner will send a reminder email to you asking you to accept your contract.
  • After one (1) more week, if you have still not accepted your contract, you will be removed from that meet.

• DEM Cards available for order

  Here's the link to order a set of DEM cards.

• AAU membership code

  Judges must have an AAU membership if they are going to judge an AAU meet. The NC AAU Gymnastics website has the links for AAU membership registration. When you register, make sure that you use the Team North Carolina league code to affiliate yourself with NC. Before judging an AAU meet, please make sure to go to the NC AAU website to download any rule updates before arriving at your meet.

  Some rules clarifications

  • On Bronze & Silver Bars: If the gymnast does a cast squat on, straight jump dismount from the low bar, the cast squat on is a separate value part from the straight jump dismount. So cast squat on, straight jump dismount equals 2 A value parts. The cast to the squat on is one skill and the straight jump dismount is the second skill. This is similar to the fact that if a gymnast does a cast - sole circle dismount, the cast is given a value part (if it meets the angle requirement with the feet together and is not just lifting the hips to put the feet on the bar) in addition to the sole circle. The cast (if it meets the angle requirement with the feet together) is one skill and the sole circle is the second skill.
  • If a Level 8 (or any optional gymnast) is spotted in pre-flight or support phase, the vault is Void. Since Level 8 is the first level at which salto vaults can be performed, the 1.00 deduction for spotting in the post-flight is there to encourage coaches to 'bump' the salto when needed. While the intent was to keep the athletes safer on flipping vaults, it is also applicable to any vault performed by Level 8's. If the gymnast is spotted ALSO during the landing phase, the total deduction is 1.50.
  • Requirement #3 for L6 Bars is the following: One 360 degree Clear Circling element from Groups 3, 6 or 7. It may NOT be an element performed with hips on the bar during or at the completion of the circle. Front / back hip circles or sole circles do not fulfill this SR.
  • The roundoff dismount on BB is now added as an 'A' skill.
  • Bronze gymnast can NOT do a chasse + leap combination to meet the dance passage requirement. Other combinations that have been seen that do not meet the requirement are leap + bent knee hop (from the compulsory routine), leap + straight jump. Neither the bent knee hop nor the straight jump are "A"s on floor and are not listed on the Bronze skills chart.
  • If a coach provides verbal directions to the gymnast (for instance, saying "tuck jump" to a gymnast who forgets what to do next) the chief judge should take the deduction on this routine rather than just giving a warning.
  • A cartwheel-roundoff combination can be done without breaking the connection. Of course it depends on foot placement and technique the gymnast demonstrates as in any connection, but many cartwheel-cartwheel or cartwheel-roundoff combinations have been connected this season.
  • On Bars, a Platinum gymnast can not do the swing with a half turn dismount (that IS allowed at Gold) since that dismount is not an 'A" skill.

  Some Basic Guidelines: What Every Judge Should Know

  1. All judges should plan to arrive at the meet 30 min before the March-In time. If you are running into problems that will cause you to be late, call the meet referee to let him or her know. Who is the meet referee of the meet ? For most meets, the head judge on bars is the Meet Referee. For large meets or state meets, there is a separate judge identified as Meet Referee.
  2. What to wear: If the meet says official, it means the official uniform as defined by NAWGJ (i.e. blazer or sweater, white shirt, navy pants or skirt). New judges can wear white shirt and navy pants or skirt until they purchase the uniform. For Judges Critique Clinics, you can wear your jeans, because after all, we're not only judging but we're moving, cleaning, doing hospitality chores, etc. At Judges Critiques we wear our black NC-NAWGJ shirts, or other state / regional shirt. If you have any questions, just ask the Judges Critique Coordinator. If the meet says you can dress in a theme, well, do your best to match the theme but don't feel that you have to buy something in order to accomodate it. At some of the theme meets, wearing jeans is ok. If you have any questions, ask your meet referee before the meet. If you are practice judging a meet, you still need to wear whatever the other judges are wearing.
  3. What NOT to wear: Clothing items that show too much skin. Skirts or shorts that are too short and tops that are cut too low are examples of things to avoid. If the theme is "At the beach", please do not show up in swim suits or skimpy tops! Even when trying to match the theme of a meet, remember that we want to look professional. Flip-flops should not be worn unless they are part of the theme outfit.
  4. All judges who are judging Xcel levels or 6-10 need a start value flasher. The New Judge Coordinators can assist you in getting one.
  5. Electronic devices (phones, notebooks, e-readers, etc.) are not allowed to be in use in the competition area unless it is for gymnastics reasons. As examples, it is ok if you are also a coach and are using a device to take a picture or video of your athlete in a free moment, or if you are using the device to judge with or look at online reference material. And obviously, if you are using it as your judging device, that's fine.
  If you have other things to add to this list, please email king.julieh@gmail.com. Thanks!

  New Judges: Are you thinking about becoming a gymnastics judge?

  Here are links to some resources you may find helpful.

  • The National Association of Women's Gymnastics Judges has a "How do I become a Judge? section that is a great place to start. That site also has information on uniforms, educational materials and useful study aids.

  • The USA Gymnastics website has a Judging Overview section that is also a great resource. It describes the criteria for becoming a judge for different levels as well as the basics of testing and certification.

  • In order to obtain a Level 4/5 Compulsory rating (meaning that you could judge any of the compulsory levels plus Xcel Bronze, Silver and Gold levels) you must pass a written test. All higher ratings require both a written and a practical(video) test. The tests are given at various times throughout the year in North Carolina or could be taken in other states as well. The master test schedule is on the USA Gymnastics site here.

  • Many judges have found the Quizlet site helpful to study for their tests. On the site if you search for "gymnastics Level 4" as an example, you will see several question sets that others have made. Here's the link to a great resource.

  • We have two members of our NC NAWGJ State Committee who are willing to assist in the process: New Judges Coordinator Cherie Hampton and Amber Roland. If you email them at ncnawgjnewjudge@gmail.com they are willing to help to get you started.
    
  • Come join these great judges!

    

    NC judges helping at the 2018 Training Camp: