Something HAS to be done about this “unsafe performing surface” rule. First of all, you cannot control if a bow or other hair “device” falls out of your hair! A team at this middle school “state” had the highest subtotal of the competition (and also the ONLY team to max out in DOD for both tumbling and stunts) but was given SIXTEEN points in deductions for leaving their pom poms on the floor. They weren’t just spread all around, they were placed neatly in a row on the side of the mat and no one even came close to stepping on them. This team has performed this way ALL season! And not one word was said! The safety judge was laughing at the girls while they were setting up the poms before the routine even started which is so unprofessional. The rules say poms are allowed and there is nothing that says you can’t leave them on the floor. The rule only pertains to hair pieces or other pieces of a uniform. To make matters worse, it is up to the head judge’s discretion on how much of a penalty a team should receive. So a grown adult gave MIDDLE SCHOOLERS sixteen points in deductions, you should be ashamed of yourself. These are children! But of course you weren’t there to see how upset they were when their dreams were crushed.
Also gave them two five point deductions for two trick flyers not being braced in a pyramid but they maintain contact the entire time. The only legit deduction was 2 points for a stunt fall and honestly it wasn’t even the right one because the flyer went inverted and should have been more, so I guess thank you for being so gracious there.
The team definitely didn’t have their best performance and they know that, however no one else was perfect either and this was by far the most talented team. It’s hard to be a gracious loser when you went from 1st to 7th because of something like this.
