First Steps 8 - Competitions
What To Expect
When you go to you first competition it can be quite daunting. There are a lot of people milling around and usually lots of noise. Your coach will help you get organised and tell you when you are on. It's nice to find a base where all your club members, their families and supporters can stick together.
Your first competitionmay well be a tariff competition, where people are grouped according to the tariff of their routine. Next will come regional and national grades where the groups are based on grade, age and gender.
The picture below is a general scene of a competition showing the layout of panels (pairs of trampolines) and judges. This picture is taken from the spectator's area, if you hover over it with your mouse it should say what things are.
Who's Who
There are a number of officials who are involved in the running of a competition. For a start each panel has 5 form judges, 2 tariff judges, a superior judge and 2 recorders. The form judges will score the routine from according to how well each move is performed (so point those toes!), tariff judges score the difficulty of each move and ensure the routine has the correct moves, recorders collate scores from the judges and enter them on a computer. Superior judges are on their feet around the trampoline, they will check your name and indicate when you can start your routine. They also decide on deductions for landing on parts of the body other than feet at the end of a routine.
In addition to the judging crew, each panel will have a competition marshall who ensures competitors get their warm-ups and compete in the correct order. Warm-ups are usually done in this order: warm up competitors 1 to 5, then 1 competes, 6warms up, 2, competes, 7 warms up etc.
Before your group competes you will be allowed two warm-up bounces to practice your routine, get the feel of the place and warm up. Warm ups are generally supervised by a warm-up marshall who stands in between rounds while the competition marshalls are getting a brew. You should have a warm up card, provided in the competition pack, which you hand over to the marshall who will then tick to show you have had a warm up.
General Information
Rule number 1 is to have fun and enjoy your competition. Don't forget everyone gets nervous, it's only natural, but you should also remember this is an opportunity to meet new friends (you will have at least one thing in common) and show everyone what you can do!.
Rule number 2 is to be organised so there are no panics on the day. Make sure you have packed all your gear and plenty of drinks and food (it can be a very long day). Check where the venue is in advance so you don't get lost going there. The "Events" option on the main left menu usually has all the information you need about events, including how to get there, bounce order, time tables, etc.
You will be performing at least twice, the first time is a set routine that every one in your group performs, and the second routine is called the vol (voluntary). This is your own routine with a tariff appropriate to the group you have entered. Higher grade completions will usually have a final round where the top 10 from the first 2 rounds do battle for the medals by perfoming their voluntary routine.
Sometimes, you may have a long wait between rounds, particularly if it is a large group. So keep warm and keep focused.
Finally
If you're lucky, and you have had a good day, then you may be leaving with a medal. If you're really lucky, you've enjoyed yourself, met a new friend from another club and learned more about yourself. Whatever the outcome, keep smiling and enjoy your trampolining.
Find out more about judges & scoring in the next section...