The second week of the NCAA gymnastics has come to an end. And the controversies continue. While the return to action naturally has the fans excited, there have also been several questions. From how things have unfolded so far, many fans have noticed how judging feels different this time around. Over the past few days, many collegiate gymnasts have also noted their frustration over the controversial scoring system, and now, Utah’s Carly Dockendorf has also entered the field.

The Utah Red Rocks finished the last season with a 16-4 overall record. And by the second week of this year’s NCAA gymnastics campaign, they’re already scurrying to find ways to bounce back from a serious fumble on the road. Dockendorf’s girls took a major hit, finishing fourth at the Sprouts Farmers Market Collegiate Quad (scoring 196.800). But the veteran coach believes it wasn’t the gymnasts who were entirely at fault, and the fans agree.

A post on the subreddit r/Gymnastics from January 12 shared how the Utah head coach expressed her thoughts after the team’s disappointing finish last night. “The scoring was interesting today,” Dockendorf said as her team finished at the bottom of the tournament that’s often dubbed as the “preview of the National Championship.” She further stated, “There were just some routines that we were shaking our head a little,” while also mentioning that the team will need to look forward and not be fixated on how things didn’t go their way.

However, Carly still couldn’t keep the disheartening feelings subdued and went on to say, “I’m not going to lie, though. It is really hard to do a beautiful routine, and then not feel like you’re getting rewarded for it.” Justifiably, Red Rocks fans weren’t also thrilled about the whole situation.

Soon, more fans stepped forward, calling the whole NCAA gymnastics scoring metrics foul for this season. Many community members thought that it was the judging that was the biggest issue for the athletes and that Carly had a right to be annoyed with how things panned out at the Paycom Center. “I thought the judging was wacky,” grunted one fan, highlighting that the 10x national champs Utah shouldn’t have to fall prey to such controversies.

Fans are divided over NCAA gymnastics’ new rules

The WCGA introduced the Collegiate Judging Issue (CJI) in May last year. The new set of regulations aims to bring more consistency to the collegiate gymnastics scene by evaluating judges on how they score athletes at events. With the sudden surge in perfect 10s in recent years, many had previously claimed that the NCAA gymnastics was losing its credibility, making the latest scoring system change an inevitable thing. And yet, one fan pointed out last week how this was the first year since 2017 that no Perfect 10s were awarded in the first week of the NCAA season.

“The judging was very inconsistent. I am good with the tougher scoring, but is only good if it is being applied across the board,” wrote one Redditor, who believes Oklahoma’s victory was only ensured because the judges were harsh on the other teams. Another fan also chimed in and claimed that Utah didn’t perform like they were scored at last night’s meet. “But their scores for sure were not the same relative to the other teams. There will always be gift scores, but I don’t think Utah was as far behind as the scores showed,” reads the fan’s comment.

The Utah head coach is known for her poise even under pressure. However, the latest loss of the team visibly irked her, and Carly lashed out at the post-match interview. But one fan thinks that’s the right thing to do when so many controversies surround the new judging systems. “It’s not gonna change unless attention is brought to it. And the new rules clearly haven’t resulted in harsher judging across the board,” wrote the fan.

While last night’s NCAA gymnastics calendar saw Utah pitted against heavyweights like No. 1 Oklahoma, defending National Champions LSU, and National Runner-Up California, they were the only team that finished with a sub-197 score. But one fan sees things differently: “i don’t believe that increasing utah’s scores is the solution to the inconsistent judging,” commented the gymnastics enthusiast. What’s your take on the whole issue? Tell us in a comment!