About this time every year, college judges around the country are told the same thing: Judge what you see, take the deductions that you see, and be consistent with how you judge execution in level 10 gymnastics. In my first judging experience at an NCAA gymnastics meet, I took these lessons to heart, and grossly underscored the athlete’s routine compared to my chief judge. Her response? “I guess I do judge differently in college than I do for level 10.” Navigating these unspoken differences are some of the most challenging aspects of being a new college judge, and why we tend to see the same judges at the same big meets: They have this understood yet unspoken code down pat.
Now that I’ve retired at the ripe age of 35 from judging gymnastics, I intend to pull back the veil and de-mystify college gymnastics judging for the fans. To be clear, I’m not accusing any specific judges of score inflation—we all do it, and we all do it fairly, meaning gymnasts from the lowest-ranked to the highest-ranked teams benefit from judges being much more lenient with execution deductions. Higher scores are good for us all; everyone from athletes to athletic directors benefit from those high-scoring routines, including…
