Bad Event Coordinators

[soccerkid812]

Event Coordinators are no different than the competitors... The vast majority understand the rules, and really make an effort to educate themselves... I've run many events in both B and C, and by no means profess to know as much about the events as some of the teams, but I at least want to know the event well enough to not embarrass myself. Now take a minute and look at the flip side of the coin. How many times, after spending countless hours in the shop building a sand dispenser and testing aparatus to use at an upcoming competition, have I have "competitors" come in with bridges that were 5 CM too short, and couldn't even be tested? Kids with Boomilevers that had to be weighed on the sand scale because the gram scale wouldn't read high enough? Kids that rolled their boom in on wagon, because it was too heavy to carry! Kids that show up to forensics without any goggles or aprons... It can be just as disheartening to the event coordinator that spends hours prepping for an event, then proctoring an event where the kids have obviously not even looked at the rules... There are exceptions on both sides of this discussion.

I agree.
But when the student does something wrong, then it will affect only himself/herself and their team.
But if an event coordinator does something wrong, then it will affect everyone and could be the decision between going to state/nationals for different teams.

[rocketchicka]

I see it all the time at my regionals - feel like i could probably be a better judge.

Fact is there are some BADDDDD judges at my regional, and probably at a lot of other regionals. Maybe even at states, and as for nats...well i've never been there but id assume based on hearing what other people have to say.

Share your experiences, and i have 1 final question to conclude. How can i deal with a bad judge for something like an event clarification?

I had to appeal at the state level once. It was last year actually. My Egg-O-Naut did really well (it actually got 7th!!!) but the egg got stuck in a tree by its parachute. I asked the judge if I could get it down but he told me if he saw me touch that egg he would DQ me. I needed that egg though because in the rules it said that the egg had to be retrieved and brought to the judge to count for anything. Another team got thier's stuck in a tree a couple feet away from mine. They ran over to the pool next to the field and got a big pole to get thier egg down. I was like "that's not fair!"

I didn't want to risk being DQed so I went with my coach to the really important people lol. The trick is to be polite and respectful and don't point fingers. I explained the situation calmly and they gave me the okay to get my egg out of the tree and show the judge and I wasn't going to be penalized.

[starpug]

Event Coordinators are no different than the competitors... The vast majority understand the rules, and really make an effort to educate themselves... I've run many events in both B and C, and by no means profess to know as much about the events as some of the teams, but I at least want to know the event well enough to not embarrass myself. Now take a minute and look at the flip side of the coin. How many times, after spending countless hours in the shop building a sand dispenser and testing aparatus to use at an upcoming competition, have I have "competitors" come in with bridges that were 5 CM too short, and couldn't even be tested? Kids with Boomilevers that had to be weighed on the sand scale because the gram scale wouldn't read high enough? Kids that rolled their boom in on wagon, because it was too heavy to carry! Kids that show up to forensics without any goggles or aprons... It can be just as disheartening to the event coordinator that spends hours prepping for an event, then proctoring an event where the kids have obviously not even looked at the rules... There are exceptions on both sides of this discussion.

Some people don't do Science Olympiad to win, they do it for pure fun. There is no one like that on here because if someone is doing it for fun and doesn't have the time to read the rules, then they sure aren't going to show up here. I think it is important to be accommodating and gracious with these people and not judge them when they leave 5 minutes into a Chem Lab test or their Egg-O-Naut embeds itself into the ground because their nose cone is too pointy.

That being said, not taking anytime to review the rules for an event is disrespectful to the coordinators who spent their time preparing the event.

[lllazar]

Going off of what pug said, most of my team is like that and i can tell you this, they NEVER come on this site. They just do scio for fun. Honestly, their idea of fun is detrimental to the team, but in my opinion more important is the fact that they often at regionals and state have the audacity to complain about bad event coordinators after working on their events for a week or even just a few days. Sometimes, they don't even read the rules sheet and i've seen quite often kids go into events not even knowing ANYTHING about said event.

I don't know what sick twisted idea of fun that is, because i do Varsity tennis, and if someone isn't coming to practices, they don't play. It's as simple as that, i don't get how it's "fun" for anyone to do science olympiad without ever studying...one your hurting your teammates and two your completely disrespecting everyone who worked hard to set up the competition...now don't get me wrong, i do scio for fun too, but i do it more so to learn and explore interesting hobbies. My next highest priority is of course to do as well as i can, the competition certainly makes up a large part of the motivation, but it's not as if we on this forum don't do scio for fun - we do, we're also dedicated to doing well and acquiring knowledge.

[purplepeopleeater]

^^ THANK YOU would you PUH-LEASE come talk to some of my team mates!!!
dholdgreve had some good points. but at the same time, i feel like i have had one or two proctors that don't care at ALL. i have had some that care a TON. and as a competitor, i HATE it when other teams come in not following the rules, or missing stuff. I do this because i want to, because i love to learn, i love science, and i love to compete. i WANT competition so when kids slack, i HATE It, and even more so when they are on my team.

[soccerkid812]

What do you do in towers if there is a problem/rule that you disagree on with the supervisor?
Because if you test it and the tower breaks, you cannot go back and redetermine if it did meet specs or not.

[kjhsscioly]

well, I would suggest writing down all the specs as the judges measure them, and if you doubt what the judge says, wait to test. If you can't, take pictures of all disputed specs with a ruler next to it, and use those. Save all pieces if your tower does break.

[soccerkid812]

And how exactly do you file an appeal?
Just leave the tower with the judge after it broke and tell your coach?

[kjhsscioly]

I wouldn't leave it with the judge. The best way to file an appeal would be to have you coach do it, because I think that they have to put one in from the tab room. If your coach isn't there, go to the tab room and knock, someone will probably help you. YOU keep all written and material evidence, and the predesignated board of arbitration will decide. Also, be prompt, as they finalize the event scores at state before the assembly.

[lllazar]

Last year our bridge coordinator at regionals was ranking bridges by how much mass they held (not efficiency, just which ones held the most). Granted ours held all 15kg, i was quick to text my coach about it, as his laptop was visible from the testing area and i saw he had begun to rank the bridges - the 1st place one at the moment before our test was a 58 gram bridge which held 13 kg, and below it was a 20g bridge which held 10 kg. I also promptly, but calmly, told him about his error and he realized he was wrong. There was no reason for any appeal, as he even had the rules sheet to look at in his binder. Sometimes, you just have to talk to them calmly. Now at the state level, it's more serious and you definitely need to get an appeal in if the coordinator is adamant about his position.