Diving judges conflict of interest

[Anonymous]

Disclaimer: I have o dig in this fight. Just curious spectator.

At divisionals there were 5 judges, 2 of which are are parents to a diver. (Three other 3 divers had one parent, the remainder of divers (obviously) had no parent on the panel.

Would divers take issue with this? I realize it’s “supposed to be” all technical, but people/parents can’t help their unconscious bias.
That one diver has 200% more bias in their favor.

Is it maybe there weren’t enough parents who bothered to Learn how to judge?

[Anonymous]

If anything, I found most parent judges to be harder on their own kids than strangers.

If it bothers you, train to be a judge. And then sign up for dive meets when your own kid isn't diving, so that you can be sure of your own impartiality.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If anything, I found most parent judges to be harder on their own kids than strangers.

If it bothers you, train to be a judge. And then sign up for dive meets when your own kid isn't diving, so that you can be sure of your own impartiality.

Doesn’t bother me, but if my kid did it probably would.

-OP (swim mom)

[Anonymous]

I am much harder on my own kids than other kids for this very reason.

I don't want to be seen playing favorites.

[Anonymous]

Wouldn't bother me. In college (v.v. small) the two team's coaches judged us at meets. I think it just takes a little perspective on what this means in the big big picture of life.

[Anonymous]

There are good and bad dive judges but it doesn’t necessarily depend on who their kid is. By divisionals, they are usually using fairly good judges. At meets we sometimes have trouble finding enough judges. If we excluded family members, we wouldn’t have any!

[Anonymous]

you should see who judges tennis matches ....

[Anonymous]

also they drop the high and low score-so 5 judges only 3 count

[Anonymous]

It's not perfect, but it's a matter of person power. Not that many parents are willing to judge.

It's true that most parents judge their own kids more harshly - only slightly so, but true. It's because the fear of being called biased is greater than the fear of your kid not winning. But, the dropping of high/low scores also helps in this regard. I know it doesn't completely eliminate bias, but it helps.

Would you be willing to share which Divisionals? Or at least which county?

[Anonymous]

Ask your child if they'd want you judging anything they're participating in. There's your answer.

[Anonymous]

We have a pool with 30 divers. There are 4-5 certified judges. I’m stuck. The more judges, the more flexibility in not diving your own kid. The high and low score are struck anyway so it all works out.

Please please please sign up to judge. I always hear parents say they aren’t comfortable. My kid easily will sit with you during practice and explain proper scoring.

Without a doubt, I’m harder on my own kid than others.

[Anonymous]

There is absolutely bias in dive judging. It’s hard to get pool members that will volunteer, do the training, and show up. Most barely know about diving. It bothered me that one judge who would routinely rate a kid higher because the mom was a friend of her’s (annd had rank at the pool) and then would chat or not pay attention when any other kids were diving. Still pisses me off thinking about it, but she’s one of the few judges that would regularly volunteer and show up.

[Anonymous]

I actually felt bad for the girl whose parent was a judge. She was way more critical of her than any of the other divers.

[Anonymous]

The dive teams beg for parents to volunteer to judge so that there are enough judges. My spouse has been certified to be able to do divisionals and higher, I haven't but can judge school meets. At one meet half the judges were parents from our small team because some of the other teams provided none. I'm typically harder on my own kid.

[Anonymous]

The low and high are thrown out. It’s a good panel if they are all within a point of ea other and most dive parents don’t favor their own