Judgement (and a note about Brebles)

I am so very, very tired. I spent the whole day at Gymnastics Victoria (who are housed by Swinburne University Prahran) and I am now a qualified beginner women's gymnastics judge. Whilst I am very pleased to have this qualification under my belt, the course was basically a giant lecture from 8.45 am to 4.45 pm with a couple of short breaks. It was even held in a lecture theatre. 

That'll be -0.1 for the flexed feet, -0.3 for the leg separation, -0.5 for the knee bend
-0.3 for body alignment
 and I'll leave the skill value to the D-panel thanks, Wei-Wei from Stick It!
image credit click here

The information was very valuable and I was very lucky to have the Victorian women's gymnastics judging director take the course. However, it was a lot of technical information to take in in one sitting and by the end of the day I was getting a little weary. 

Officiating in any sport is a challenge. There are extra pressures in subjective sports like gymnastics as your interpretation as an official plays such an enormous part in the outcome of the competition. As well as maintaining impartiality, I will have to learn how to write without looking down at my paper (glance down, you'll miss something), learn a new "language" of gymnastics shorthand symbols that represent the elements in the routine and memorise the all important "General Table of Faults" (the deductions that are applied in the same way across all four apparatus). 

That's a lot for my little hibernating holiday brain to get a hold of. However, being the complete gymnastics nerd that I am, I know I'll have a lot of fun sinking my teeth into it. My mum was a judge when I was doing gym and I memorised her judges' handbook at night when I should have been sleeping. 

In other news, I can finally brag to the world that my little brother has been made a prefect and house captain for 2013. I am so ridiculously proud of him. Since he arrived at St Kevin's half way through year 4, Alex has embraced Kevinian life and the so called "Spirit of Edmund" wholeheartedly. He is a fantastic kid and I'm so glad that his school and his peers have recognised his contributions. Above all, I think he will having a great time being a house captain, bring a lot of character to the role and have a lot of fun with his Kenny housemates (yes, his house is call Kenny). 

I will also publicly congratulate my "other brother", Richard McDonald, who has also been made a prefect and captain of his house. Being Alex's best mate, Dick has spent a fair bit of time at Casa Brebner Griffin over the years. Dick is a top bloke and lovely to have around the place. He and Brebles are a funny pair who share a wicked sense of humour and it has been great to see them be such positive influences on each other over the years as well as loyal friends. 

In other news, I continue to survive as the only female human currently inhabiting the Brebner Griffin residence. Next week I will be going over to Adelaide to be entirely at the mercy of my grandmother, Patsy, who has scheduled a jam packed 4 days of non-stop activities. It will be an experience of sorts, that's for sure...

To those who've expressed such positive feedback to me about my last post. I really appreciate  everyone who bothers to take the time to read what I write. That goes for whether you are a family member, a friend or someone who isn't necessarily a fan of mine but curiosity gets the better of you when you see me post a link! 

In my next post I'll update you on how my mission to smash the plateau is going.