Cheer Judge: Don’t Blame the Judges
An article in the recent Cheer Coach & Advisor magazine, written by Jonathan Wood, offers an inside glimpse into what goes on with cheer judges.
Mr. Wood often overhears remarks such as, “The judges at last week’s competition were terrible.” Or – comments which suggest that their team lost because of poor judging. Such remarks are upsetting because of all the effort put forth by judges and competition organizers to create a fair system that assesses performances according to clearly defined guidelines.
Mr. Wood makes the point that blaming the judges reflects poor sportsmanship and fails to place the responsibility where it belongs – with the cheer team itself. He refers to Vince Lombardi’s statement, “If you can’t accept losing, then you can’t win.” He then says, “If the judging is good enough to accept the glory of a win, then it should be good enough to accept responsibility for the loss. I never hear “those judges were terrible, we should have lost.”"
The posting I wrote on the championship mindset speaks to this also. A true champion views a set-back or a loss as the opportunity to learn a valuable lesson.
Tags: cheer coach, cheer team, cheerleaders, Cheerleading, jonathan wood, poor sportsmanship, vince lombardi