Robin Ruegg

Of Loss On a hot August night in August 1984 the taxi drove from the airport through the empty, quiet streets of Lincoln, Nebraska. Because I was seven months pregnant, the taxi driver, the doorman at the hotel and the concierge wanted to carry my suitcase which would have slowed me down. “No thank you,” I said and hurried to my room. The reason for the empty streets was also the reason I wanted to turn on the TV—the USA men’s gymnastics team was competing for Olympic gold. Two of the gymnasts competed for the University of Nebraska—Scott Johnson and Jim Hartung; it seemed like all of Nebraska stayed home to watch TV and cheer them on.

Reflecting on losses in our gymnastics judging community through death and retirement.

‘Tis the (almost) Season I just got back from “cookie day” at my sister’s house—we created and baked cookies all afternoon.  It’s time for the holidays…followed by a full gymnastics season. Last weekend I judged our c…

gymjudgerob210353846.wordpress.com/2025/12/20/t...

‘Tis the (almost) Season

I just got back from “cookie day” at my sister’s house—we created and baked cookies all afternoon. It’s time for the holidays…followed by a full gymnastics season. Last weekend I judged our compulsory and Xcel Bronze and Silver state meet. Well, I didn’t judge, I was the…

Super disappointed to see my feed FILLED with advertisements, not content about gymnastics.

I had to run outside and took numerous photos. This is right by my house--Cobblestone Lake in Apple Valley, Minnesota. What an amazing sight--Northern Lights in my suburban neighborhood.

Another question from a friend

As I write this blog, with the hopes of turning these posts into a longer book one day, I’ve asked a number of people about what they would like to know about gymnastics judges.  My friend Jayne asked, “How many judges were not gymnasts themselves?” The short answer…

Some thoughts on changes in judging gymnastics from the late 1970s to today.

Burnsville Class of 1975 to have reunion A 50th reunion for the Burnsville High School Class of 1975 will be held Sept. 20 from 6-11 p.m. at the Lost Spur Golf and Event Center 2750 Sibley Memorial

www.hometownsource.com/sun_thisweek...

At the gymcastic show tonight Olivia Karas (bottom)and Helen Hu (top)
Reinacted an acro move they did as kids at the same gym.

July--had to put in my availability to judge this fall. I'm enjoying the break from judging but tend to get a little bored. I'm looking forward to attending the US Classic meet to watch the elite gymnasts compete. And I'll sideline-trip to see my new granddaughter on the way home from the meet!

Such silliness! My sister and I judged the Special Olympics state gymnastics meet this past weekend. We posed in arabesques then realized we were both on our bad sides—I’m a lefty and she’s a righty. We had no idea the volunteer video’d our switch. Gymnastics grandmas rule!

Yes and likewise

What Makes a Good Judge?

I suspect that judges have slightly different criteria for determining who is a good judge from what coaches may believe. However, the coaches select judges for state, regional and national assignments so a judge’s viewpoint probably holds little weight. My state USAG…

Enjoy your commentary! Thanks. And yes, gymnastics is great!

How Many? How many national-level 9-10 meets have I judged and is it fair to the many National level judges who want the same experience?

How Many?

How many national-level 9-10 meets have I judged and is it fair to the many National level judges who want the same experience?

One more meet left for the season--Level 9 Westerns in Fargo, ND. I'll drive up there Thursday, drive home Sunday. Once the weather turns nice, I find it harder to be inside judging. More time to catch up on life once this meet is done.

Awesome--the result of many years of advocacy for our judges. I spent 12 years as Regional Judging Director requesting 4-judge panels. Others followed and got 4-judge panels for all optional levels 6-10. This is how we build judges up and give them experience! Over 30 judges worked this weekend.

nawgj.org/rapid-review...

Love the rapid review videos for preparation. I wish fans/parents/gymnasts/coaches realized how much preparation we as judges do before each meet. I'm judging the 9/10 Regional Dev meet this weekend...best thing is I get to sleep in my own bed as it's in town!

Pet peeve, people saying "perfect 10" when they are talking about a Level 10 Dev routine that started at 10.1. No, it wasn't perfect, but it was darn good!

And thank you for the support!

:) Yup, we do everything. There's big money in running competitions, especially at the Dev/age group level. Cram as many gymnasts into the meet as possible, maximize the income, keep the judges judging nonstop for efficiency's sake. I'm not commenting on NCAA as it's against the rules.

I’d love to see technology used more like this (and for replays the judges could request).

Is it unethical when coaches don't inquire for an over-scored routine? As judges, we try to get it right, but sometimes we simply make an error. For example, once I neglected to deduct for missing a 2-salto pass on a floor routine. Should the coach have submitted an inquiry? I think yes.

Absolutely this should be resolved. Happened once at an NCAA regional meet where I was meet ref. We delayed the meet an hour til the sun set.

and the middle scores were in range, I couldn't call a conference.

Finally, we as judges are well aware that athletes, parents, coaches, fans all want high scores and think we are idiots. We're not. We're human.

It's hard to be perfect. I wish we could use video review when we give feedback. I'd like to have been able to call a conference and reviewed a routine for example where the athlete hit her feet on the low bar (0.2 flat deduction). 2 judges caught it, 2 didn't. But since it was execution,

But most of my mistakes are shorthand failures. I'm keeping my head up, I'm writing down the skill plus any deduction plus trying so hard to notate why I took a deduction--coaches are demanding this when they ask for feedback. But when my shorthand and handwriting are sloppy--

"One hand washes the other." You cannot wash a hand with one hand, just like it takes a team to judge a gymnastics performance--if one of us misses something, the others should catch it.

Plus, despite decades of judging, my shorthand is still sloppy just like my handwriting is. I keep trying!

And I LOVE judging on 4-judge panels: it is so much more "fair" to the athletes as long as there are well-prepared judges.

And I always make some mistakes when I'm judging as do other judges. We beat ourselves up when we do that--we are such perfectionists. But as an old professor said,

2 more Dev gymnastics meets to judge this year--regionals and Level 9 Westerns in Fargo. So, as I reflect on this year of judging, what do I wish others knew?

I prepare before I judge any meet. I judged Floor & Bars this past weekend--reviewed the rules and judged multiple routines on video.