General Gymnastics League Online Scoring System Proposal

Section 1: Why We Need This Product

In the current landscape of grassroots and club-level gymnastics competitions, scoring remains one of the most critical yet inconsistently managed aspects of event delivery. At present, the majority of clubs rely on manual spreadsheets to record, calculate, and report competition scores. While effective to a point, this system is highly prone to human error, inefficiency, and inconsistency — often leading to inaccuracies that undermine the experience for gymnasts, coaches, and spectators alike.

Full-service scoring solutions like GymData and BG Score offer excellent professional setups; however, the high costs involved make them inaccessible for the vast majority of local clubs and small-scale competitions. As a result, a significant gap exists in the market: clubs urgently need an affordable, reliable, easy-to-use digital scoring system that raises the standard of competition delivery without placing unsustainable financial pressure on organisers.

By developing an online gymnastics scoring system, we can address these needs by:

  • Enhancing consistency and accuracy across competitions, reducing mistakes caused by manual data entry.

  • Improving the speed of results processing, ensuring quicker publishing of final scores and rankings.

  • Centralising competition data, allowing for the creation of cumulative league tables, historical results, and athlete progression tracking.

  • Integrating event sign-up and management, aligning participation directly with British Gymnastics membership systems and safeguarding requirements.

  • Making professional-level scoring accessible to all, regardless of club size or budget.

This new system will not only modernise how competitions are run but also help grow the sport by building trust, credibility, and excitement around competition experiences — from local club events right through to regional leagues.

Section 2: Building the Competition – Simple, Clear, and Consistent

The foundation of the online scoring system must be simple and intuitive, building on the event management system that clubs already use.

Most core details like competition name, date, and location are already captured in the JustGo Event Manager. To integrate scoring effectively, we simply need to add a few new setup criteria:

  1. Apparatus to be Used
    (e.g., Floor, Vault, Bars, Beam, Rings, etc.)

  2. Age Categories
    Pre-set for the General Gymnastics League as:

    • 6–8 years

    • 9–11 years

    • 12–14 years

    • 15+ years

  3. Training Categories
    Two simple bands to group gymnasts by weekly training hours:

    • Under 5 hours per week

    • 6–10 hours per week

By extending the existing event management fields slightly, clubs can create competitions that are instantly structured for fast, consistent scoring and league tracking.

Once a competition is created with these new fields, organisers can then:

  • Add gymnasts into the correct age and training categories

  • Record scores efficiently during the event

  • Automatically generate individual, apparatus, and club rankings

Section 3: Score Input – Fast, Accurate, and Mobile-Friendly

Once the competition is set up, the next priority is making score entry as easy, accurate, and intuitive as possible for judges.

Judges will use their phone, iPad, or tablet to access a mobile-friendly page where they can:

  1. Select their Competition
    (e.g., Spring General Gymnastics League Round 1)

  2. Select their Apparatus
    (e.g., Floor, Vault, Bars)

  3. Enter Scores for Each Gymnast
    As each gymnast competes, judges will input scores using a simple form with the following fields:

    • Gymnast Number (allocated beforehand)

    • Difficulty Value (DV)

    • Bonus Points (for any extra difficulty)

    • Penalties (deductions for errors)

    • Judge 1 Execution Score

    • Judge 2 Execution Score

The system will then automatically calculate:

  • Average Execution Score (average of Judge 1 and Judge 2)

  • Total Score (DV + Bonus + Average Execution – Penalties)

This removes the need for manual score calculations, significantly reducing errors and speeding up results processing.

Additional essential features:

  • Visual Clarity: Clean, easy-to-read layout with large input fields

  • Real-Time Calculation: Scores are calculated instantly once input is complete

  • Edit Functionality: Judges or event admins can easily edit a score if corrections are needed after entry

Section 4: Results and Leaderboards – Instant, Accurate, and Transparent

As soon as scores are entered and calculated, the system will automatically generate live results and leaderboards for the competition.

Key features of the results system:

  1. Apparatus Rankings
    For each apparatus (Floor, Vault, Bars, etc.), gymnasts will be ranked based on their Total Scores within:

    • Their age category (e.g., 9–11 years)

    • Their training category (e.g., Under 5 hours)

  2. Overall Rankings (All-Around)
    A combined score across all apparatus will be calculated to produce an All-Around ranking for each gymnast in their group.

  3. Club Points Table
    Each club's gymnasts will contribute points towards a club leaderboard, encouraging team pride and friendly competition.

  4. Live Results Display

    • Results can be viewed live on screens, phones, or tablets as scores are entered.

    • Automatic Updates mean no waiting for manual recalculations or paper checking.

    • Results are filtered easily by apparatus, age group, training group, or club.

  5. Secure Publishing and Corrections

    • Admins have the ability to approve results before final public release.

    • Any edited scores (e.g., corrections) instantly refresh the affected rankings without delay or confusion.

David Brooke