Judges Attitudes during Kids Q

[MilitantSquatter]

I was asked to judge the Kids Q division during New Holland Summerfest.

I was at a table of 5 other judges (all certified). All I will say is that while the organizer did a great job reminding everyone these were kids, the future of BBQ etc. to not be overly critical when judging down etc. that I found a few judges (also from participating teams from the main KCBS event) to be way to critical in their comments in between categories.

The one thing I also never realized is that an entry by a 7 yr old can be at the same table as a 15 yr old. So while every entry should be judged independently, I would have expected some type of notice as to what ages I was judging to determine if the entry was within or below the capabilities of someone of those ages.

My point here, if you judge Kids Q, don't make fun of the entries.

[Kung Fu BBQ]

That would upset me terribly. i know that the younger kids are doing this out of pure joy. To think that someone would be ripping them kinda gets my blood-a-boilin

[Jorge]

Originally Posted by MilitantSquatter

My point here, if you judge Kids Q, don't make fun of the entries.

Knowing that Rich from Lost Nation might have a kid, or grandkid cooking would be enough to keep me serious. Super nice, and a VERY large man

[River City Smokehouse]

I think this is an issue at about every Kids Q to some extent.

[Sawdustguy]

For those who know me I am a pretty happy go lucky, get along with almost anybody type of guy but this is bullshirt. My blood boils when I hear this. I think I would have smacked the smilies off their giggling faces.

[carlharper]

I'm sorry to hear that some of the judges at your table were so critcal. I also judged the Kids Q contest and the judges at our table discussed and made every effort to judge as instructed, that is to be fair, but lenient so as not to discourage any of the youngsters from competing again!

Many of our comments between categories were that we may very well be having some better entries now than we would tomorrow at the main event. Overall I think the kids did an outstanding job and will look forward to judging their entries again.

[eurycea]

I've judged Kids Q maybe 10 times and I've never heard a judge make fun of an entry. There have been judges who I thought were way too critical including some who want to figure out how to DQ every other entry, but even those judges don't make fun of the entries. I'd say that even in a regular contest the judges I've been around don't make fun of entries unless they've been dq'd for some reason.

[Jeff_in_KC]

Vern and I judged kids Q yesterday and while we only got two entries, we didn't hear any comments such as these. I personally find it difficult to score down on a child, especially given the fact that my daughter competes (and pretty well I must add! ). We had one where the inside lid of the box was so covered with grease from the brats that you would have thought that hosed it down with the stuff. There wasn't much thought given to presentation either but the brats were the juiciest damned things I ever ate! You should have seen Vern's shirt when he bit into his! These were possibly the best brats I've ever eaten and they were cooked by a child. My score: 799.

On the flip side of this, we don't do a child any favors when we let them skate on things like this. How will they learn if we don't be honest. Brutal honesty is probably not necessary but honesty so the parents can look at the scores and try to help the child figure out what to do differently next time to get better. I'd hate to see it turn out like school ("we're ALL alike and however you do it is just fine and no one fails") or like kids soccer ("we don't keep score because winning is not important at this level. We're all winners").

But regardless, making fun of an entry in Kids Q is pretty low. I think as a Rep, I'd ask the offending judges to leave the table and not come back.