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Volunteer Voices

Jan Dickson and his son James volunteer for the YMCA gymnastics program, and will be in charge of computer scoring at the upcoming home meet (with 900 gymnasts) held March 15 – 17.

When Jan Dickson and his son, James, started volunteering for the YMCA Gymnastics program four years ago, I’m not sure they ever thought they’d see a day when 900 gymnasts would be coming to Door County for a state meet. However, that’s exactly what’s going to happen March 15 – 17. Gymnasts between the ages of 5 and 18 will be competing for a state title, and that means work and a lot of it!

The Dicksons, whose daughter and sister, Ally, competes for the Striver team, are in charge of the computer scoring and are excited, although a little apprehensive, about being part of a state meet right here at home. “Normally we have about 200 gymnasts at a home meet. Now we’ll have about 900 and we’ll be running multiple rotations at the same time,” said Jan. “We’ll have a number of computers set up so that the scoring doesn’t get behind, but it’s going to be busy!”

When gymnasts compete, judge’s score sheets are taken to the computer room where one person reads the scores and the other enters them. Each of the four apparatus (bars, beam, floor and vault) are scored individually and then an overall score is calculated. Gymnasts are judged within their levels of ability (Levels 2 – 9 along with the Prep Optional Levels) and then by age. Awards are then given to the top 30% of participants within each level and age. So take 900 gymnasts times four events each, throw in a few “tie scores” and it’s easy to see that the Dickson boys are going to have plenty to do.

Both Jan and James agree that the hardest part of the scoring process is when a gymnast has been placed in the wrong level or age group. “When that happens, scores have to be recalculated. We’re under the most pressure then, because we know that families are waiting for awards to be announced. We check and double check because you don’t want to miss anything,” said Jan.

James loves to help enter the scores, because he really loves watching what gymnasts can do. “I like to see the crazy stuff they can do. If I did that, I would die.” James laughed. “I like to work the meets with my friends. I’m almost always with someone because it’s just more fun that way.”

And that’s what the Dicksons are hoping Door County residents will do as well. “With 900 gymnasts coming into town, we’re going to need a lot of help,” they emphasized. Volunteers will be needed to help set up and tear down equipment (both the Sturgeon Bay High School and TJ Walker Middle School gyms will be set up for competition), work concessions, flash scores for viewers, run floor music and then assist with the computerized scoring system.

Jan and James are hoping for a huge turnout of volunteers for this once in a lifetime event. “You get really good seats when you’re a volunteer–the best in fact! You’re sitting right next to the judges, so you have the best view and you even may learn something about how they judge, although I’ve been watching it forever and I still don’t understand how the scores are done! I’m better off just entering scores into the computer.”

If you’d like to volunteer for the 2013 State Gymnastics meet, please contact Madelyn at the YMCA at 920.743.4949 or [email protected]. You can also sign-up online at our Volunteer Spot registry page at http://vols.pt/Vrx8JN

Looking for other volunteer opportunities? Check out the Volunteer Center website at http://www.volunteerdoorcounty.com or contact us at 920.746.7704 or by e-mail at [email protected].