Event Information
Before an Event
Competition Calendar
The Competition Calendar is available on the GNSW Website.
​
LINK: GNSW Events Calendar
LINK: GNSW Region Event Calendar
​
Event Schedule, Order of Work and Queries
The GNSW Event Manager or Events, Pathways and Performance Officer will endeavour to publish the event schedule, order of work, rotation information and competitor numbers (if applicable) on the GNSW website as soon as possible after the close of entries. The information will be posted on the GNSW website under the applicable event on the Events calendar section. Any changes to the final schedule will be notified to the affected clubs contact person via email as soon as possible following the change. Final copies of the competition run-orders, orders of work and event timetables will be available digitally on the GNSW website for download. Hard copies will not be available on the day. It is the responsibility of the club and their coach in charge to access this information from the GNSW website, prior to the event.
If there are exceptional circumstances, or the club does not have access to the website for a particular reason, then it is the club’s responsibility to notify GNSW so that appropriate measures can be made to allow communication.
It is the responsibility of the Club to contact the relevant Event Pathways and Performance Officer with any technical queries relating to the event that are not covered in these regulations, the entry booklet or the relevant gymsport technical regulations. Clubs are strongly advised to have an in-depth look at all documents before enquiring further.
​
LINK: GNSW Events Calendar
LINK: GNSW Region Event Calendar
​
Event Communication
All event communication will be made via the GNSW website and or email to the nominated contact person on the entry form. If there are exceptional circumstances, or the club does not have access to the website for a particular reason, then it is the club’s responsibility to notify GNSW so that appropriate measures can be made to allow appropriate communication.
​
Updates during events may be communicated through Team App. Instructions on how to access Team App can be found in the link below.
​
LINK: Team App Instructions
​
Apparatus Height Requests
Unless specifically notified otherwise under an event’s call for Entries, all settings for competitions will be in accordance with the Australian Levels Program Manual and the Gymsport Technical Regulations – or its equivalent publication.
​
Exceptional Circumstances:
In exceptional circumstances, clubs may request the height of equipment to be modified for a gymnast. Requests for changes to be made to equipment measurements must be made on the official Change to Apparatus Measurements form at the time of entry to the event.
​
LINK: Request for Apparatus Modification
​
During an Event
Child Safety and Wellbeing
GNSW is committed to providing a safe environment for participation and ensuring the environment is inclusive, tolerant and welcoming for all athletes and officials (including people with disabilities, indigenous and/or from culturally diverse backgrounds). Aggressive, threatening or other inappropriate behaviour by athletes, officials and spectators while attending an event will not be tolerated. A visible and accessible Safeguarding Officer will be appointed for every event. This officer is the first contact person for participants wishing to report a harassment or abuse incident during an event. At GNSW events this will be the EPPO. GNSW provides an easy to use online Grievance Form to report concerns or misconduct. GNSW also has a dedicated Child Safe helpline (0488 111 260). The line is supervised by the GNSW Integrity Manager to support our children and young people in speaking out, making and handling complaints.
​
LINK: Child Safeguarding Policy
LINK: Child Safety – Report a Concern
​
Access to Competition Floor
Non-nominated officials and spectators will not be permitted access to the field of play, including the competition floor, technical areas, warm-up areas or marshalling area and may be asked to leave the venue if they venture into the competition, warm-up or marshalling area. Additional penalties may apply if parents are in these areas. Clubs are responsible for ensuring the parents from their club are aware of the rules and remain off the field of play.
All officials are required to sign-in upon arrival for each event session.
Permission to enter the field of play must be granted by the Floor Manager, Competition Coordinator or the EPPO. Gymnasts are not allowed to enter the warm-up or competition areas without a coach and cannot commence warm-up before the specified time and directed by the Event Manager. The competition coordinator (Event Manager, Technical Director, Competition Coordinator, Judging Coordinator and EPPO) have the right to remove any individual from the competition floor.
​
Competition Equipment
GNSW will provide appropriate equipment for all events, no equipment is permitted to be brought into competitions by clubs, coaches or athletes.
​
Coaches are not permitted to add, re-arrange or remove springs from the springboards for any reason. Coaches cannot make any modification to competition equipment or setup. All apparatus height requests must be submitted on the official form at the time of entries.
​
Athletes must provide their own chalk for use at events. Athletes must provide their own spray bottle, if required.
​
RG athletes are required to provide their own hand apparatus for their use in competition. All hand apparatus must comply with the apparatus regulations and specifications in the RG Technical Regulations. For the provision of RG spare hand apparatus, refer to the RG Technical Regulations. Clubs and coaches must ensure the hand apparatus used by athletes is safe and appropriate for the athlete’s skill and competition level.
​
Apparatus Safety
Gymnasts, coaches, judges and the NSW Gymsport committee members present at an event owe a duty of care to ensure that the equipment is safe for competition. The event must be conducted in a venue sanctioned by GNSW and the equipment must be, as a minimum standard, safe for competition and safe for the activities that will be performed on it.
It is the responsibility of the Gymsport Technical Director, Judging Coordinator, Competition Coordinator and Competition Manager, or their delegate(s), to check the competition area, apparatus and equipment has been safely setup and adheres to the required apparatus dimensions in accordance with the event specifications and the minimum safe standard for competition relative to Gymsport, level and activities. Delegates required to complete the setup and competition checks may vary for each event and Gymsport.
The Head Judge or Chair of Judges Panel at each apparatus has responsibility for the safe operation of the competition on that apparatus, including the safety conscious conduct of judges, coaches and gymnasts involved from time to time and any persons authorised or otherwise, who encroach on the apparatus environment under the Head Judge’s control.
If a coach, judge or gymnast has concerns with the safety of equipment at an event, or if they do not believe that it meets the minimum competition requirements, if any, they should immediately raise the matter with the competition co-ordinators (consisting of the Event Manager and the Gymsport EPPO). The Competition Coordinators will assess the safety and compliance with competition rules and will determine the matter in any way, and by consulting who in their absolute discretion they see fit to consult. The collective decision of the Competition Coordinators is binding. Clubs that disagree with the determination of the Competition Coordinators may withdraw their athlete from an event or from a particular apparatus at an event and in so doing agree to bear any consequences that apply to team selection or overall ranking that flow from the decision to withdraw from an event.
​
LINK: Apparatus Safety at Events
​
Movement On and Around the Competition Floor
Athletes’ movement to and from the competition floor and between apparatus is controlled by the Floor Managers and shall be carried out in an orderly, quiet manner. Unless actually performing, athletes will remain seated in their designated seating area. Athletes are not permitted to enter spectator zones during their competition session, including between routines and when they have finished their individual competition. Some unobtrusive stretching or lowkey activity may be allowed at the discretion of the Event Manager and Head Judge.
​
Once the competition has commenced athletes, coaches, judges and volunteers are not permitted to leave the Competition Floor or warm up area without the express permission of the Event Manager, Floor Manager or Head Judge.
​
Food and Drink on the Competition Floor
No food or drink except water is to be taken onto the competition or warm-up areas. Coaches and officials may not bring tea, coffee or fizzy drinks into these areas. All participants should have their own individually labelled non-breakable water bottle, which should be kept with them at all times. No glass water bottles are permitted. Glass bottles present a high risk of breakage and could present a risk of injury to participants.
​
Injured Gymnasts
GNSW is committed to the health and safety of athletes. Where an athlete has sustained an injury and is advised by the GNSW Physiotherapist at an event that they are unfit to compete, the athlete must not compete. Where an athlete attempts to compete despite advice to the contrary by the physiotherapist the GNSW delegate on duty will advise the judges to not judge the routine and the gymnast and their coach may be removed from the competition floor and/or subject to disciplinary action.
​
All members have a responsibility for the welfare of all athletes. Any member present at the event has a ‘duty of care’ for a person who has a head injury and must learn to recognise signs and symptoms of suspected concussion. If a person receives a blow to the head or body where a concussion may result, the member should remove the person immediately from training or competition. The person should not be allowed to return to activity until they are cleared of signs and symptoms of concussion that could be present.
​
If there is a doubt of a concussion occurring, irrespective of no evident signs and symptoms, the member must adopt the mantra ‘if in doubt, sit them out’. No one can decide that a participant with a suspected concussion may resume participating on the same day or same competition other than a medical practitioner. This includes the participant themselves, parents, coaches, officials, volunteers or staff.
​
Mobile Phones
Mobile phones must not be used by athletes, coaches, judges or volunteers for personal use while they are performing their assigned duties, or at any time while on the competition floor during a competition. This includes making phone calls, taking photos, video recording, text messaging or reading texts received. Judges and volunteers must not have their mobile phones on their table/station during a competition. There may be circumstances where coaches, judges and volunteers are required to use a mobile phone on the competition floor in an official capacity. Use of mobile phones, or other devices for official roles is under the control of the competition manager. Special circumstances requiring access to a phone should be discussed with the Event Manager prior to the start of the session.
Video and Cameras on the Competition Floor
No video personnel or photographers will be allowed on the Competition Floor during competition or competition warmup with exception of the official GNSW video personnel and photographers. Coaches, Judges and Volunteers must not use cameras on the warm-up or competition floor; this includes camera devices on iPhones or any mobile phone.
​
During presentation coaches are permitted to take photos from within the designated area on the competition floor. Coaches must remain off the presentation zone, and behind the presentation table or area as specified by the competition manager. If coaches are directed by the competition manager to stop taking photos at any time, they must comply with this request. Permission to take photos during presentations may not be granted for every event.
​
The use of cameras or video at events is subject to the GNSW Acquiring and Displaying Images of Children Policy. GNSW permits parents and spectators to take photographs from the spectator area provided all shots are appropriate. Parents should only take images (still and moving) of their own children, unless they have the express approval of the parents of other children. Parents who suspect that other spectators are taking images of their child, or taking photos of another child that is not the child of the person taking the image, may report the incident to the Event Manager. The taking of such images is considered inappropriate behaviour and the person may be asked to refrain from taking photos, delete any photos taken, the camera or other videoing device may be confiscated, or the Events Manager may ask the person to leave the venue. The Event Manager’s decision is final. Breaches may be reported to police and GNSW may take subsequent additional discipline action following the event.
​
GNSW reserves the right to broadcast or telecast any event.
​
LINK: Photography – Acquiring and Displaying Images of Children Policy
​
​
Protests and Technical Queries at Event
Coaches should refer to the Gymsport Technical Regulations for Gymsport specific rules regarding protests and technical queries at an event. Protests and queries can only be made by nominated and accredited coaches on the field of play and if made in accordance with the applicable Gymsport rules and procedures. No enquires or protests from spectators, including technical officials who are not accredited to be on the field of play for that competition session, will be entertained and no conversation will be entered into. No video or photos from spectators or from personal cameras will be considered in any protest or query.
​
Competition Jury
The Competition Jury consists of the Gymsport Judging Coordinator or appointed delegate, the members of the Judges Assembly Committee / Gymsport Committee or appointed delegate(s).
For the purposes for an enquiry or protest when permitted under the gymsport rules, the Head Judge or Chair of Judging Panel may also be included.
At GNSW events, the Jury is not required to be a separate judging position, and the Jury may fulfil other Judging functions during the competition.
The function of the Competition Jury at events is:
-
To supervise the competition and to deal with any breaches of discipline or any extraordinary circumstances affecting the conduct of the competition and the conduct of the judging personnel.
-
To ensure that all the requirements for judging a competition are satisfied.
-
To oversee the total evaluation and the final score for each exercise; to assure that the gymnast is given the correct score for their performance or intervene as ruled herein.
-
To assess a grave error of judgement on the part of one, or several, judges and to take such action as they consider necessary and to ensure the error is rectified.
-
Continually, to review the scores awarded by the judges and to issue a warning to any judge whose work is considered to be unsatisfactory or showing partiality.
-
To remove and replace any judge who disregarded a previous warning. The Jury may remove any judge from the competition whose judgement they regard as unsatisfactory and may appoint another judge to replace them.
-
To take the final decision about inquiries in accordance with the Gymsport Regulations.
-
The members of the Jury must uphold the respect of the sporting ethics by assuring that all the gymnasts be judged fairly, and the final results and rankings are reflective of the scores awarded by the officiating judges.
​
LINK: Judges Policy and Protocols
​
Awards
At GNSW events/competitions awards will be presented as stipulated in the event guidelines and/or gymsport technical regulations.
​
Perpetual trophies awarded will be granted to the winner for the period until the subsequent competition is next held. Trophies must be returned to GNSW prior to the event date in each calendar year. The trophies must be returned engraved and in good, clean condition by the club who received the award in the preceding year. GNSW reserves the right to claim expenses from clubs if trophies are lost or need to be repaired.
​
In the event of an interstate club attending a NSW State Championships, the residential award system will come into place. If a non-NSW athlete receives a placing during the event, subsequent residential places will be awarded for NSW athletes.
​
Results Verification and Approval
Competition results, rankings and award winners are finalised after the final routine of all athletes within the level and division and prior to the awards ceremony.
​
Result outputs for all eligible phases of competition, standings and award winners (including tie-break reports and residential rankings as relevant) are produced for verification and approval by the Technical Director, Judging Coordinator, Chair of Judging Panel or their delegate (relevant for each Gymsport). Results only become official once they are signed-off by the Technical Director / Judging Coordinator / Chair of Judging Panel or their delegate.
​
Any results or scores (displayed or not) prior to the final verification and approval and prior to the awards ceremony are preliminary only and may be subject to change, in accordance with the gymsport and technical rules to ensure that the gymnast is given the correct result for their performance.
​
The Technical Director / Judging Coordinator / Chair of Judging Panel or their delegate will verify and approve the results with fairness, consistency and completely in accordance with the currently valid regulations and criteria, maintaining the integrity of all decisions, showing no preference or bias, demonstrating good moral and ethical behaviour.
​
After Technical Director / Judging Coordinator approval and result sign-off, no changes to difficulty scores or final scores are permitted.
​
Rules or Scoring Issues Arising After Competition and Results Approval
When an administrative issue regarding the rules is identified after the finalisation and approval of the results, the error should be corrected, and new results are to be issued.
​
Administrative errors may include:
-
Miscalculation of the gymnasts score (arithmetic errors)
-
A score incorrectly assigned to a gymnast
-
Leaving a gymnast out of the final results
-
The incorrect application of tie-break rules
-
The incorrect application of the residential awards system
-
Gymnasts incorrectly announced during the awards ceremony
-
Other technical administrative errors
Enquiries or queries regarding the evaluation or judging of a gymnast’s routine will only be considered during the competition in accordance with the applicable Gymsport rules and procedures for enquiries prior to the results verification and approval. Under no circumstances will enquiries regarding the evaluation of a gymnast’s routine(s) or scores awarded be considered after the verification and approval of results.
​
Enquiries regarding rules or scoring issues after the competition must be submitted by the gymnasts’ club. No enquiries will be considered if submitted by any other party. All enquiries must be submitted within 24 hours of the conclusion of the competition and the publication of the results. No new results will be issued for any errors identified more than 24 hours after the publication of scores.
​
If the new results issued due to the identification of an administrative error (within 24 hours of the competition) changes the final rankings of the gymnasts and the award winners, awards will be distributed to the gymnasts based on the corrected rankings. Awards will not be retrieved from the original award recipients.
​
LINK: Protests and Technical Queries at Events
​
After the Event
Results
Results will be posted on the GNSW Website following an event. Results for Junior level competitions and competitions with award banding may not be posted on the website, in this case, non-ranked results for club participants only may be sent to the club.
​
LINK: GNSW Event Results Website
​
Updating Points
Officials receive updating points for each competition they attend. Points will be awarded only for officials that sign in on the relevant sign in sheet and will be applied as per GA’s Updating Policy.
​
LINK: GA’s Updating Policy
​
Sanctioning an Event
Any club/region/committee looking to host an event or competition must complete an event sanctioning application and must comply with all GNSW regulation and any applicable current Government restrictions.
Application forms must be submitted via the online sanctioned event application available on the Sanctioned Competition page on the Gymnastics NSW Website.
Region Committees and affiliated clubs must adhere to the GNSW competition calendar when seeking sanctioning of events to:
-
avoid clashes of dates of important competitions within the same gymsport and level
-
respect the State and Australian Championships Qualification calendar
-
respect the competitions and activities organised by GNSW
​​
LINK: GNSW Sanctioned Events
​
Spectators
Safety restrictions may apply on venue capacity and spectator limits. While Gymnastics NSW will seek to have an audience, some events may have reduced spectator capacity or may be spectator free. Spectator number limits and restrictions are subject to factors such as venue size and restrictions, scheduling, capacity and equity.
Spectators must not mingle or enter any athlete or official zones and participant and spectator groups to remain separate at all times.
​
Spectator Code of Conduct
As a spectator in any activity held by or under the auspices of GNSW, a member association or an affiliated club, you must meet the following requirements in regard to your conduct during any such activity or event:
-
Respect the decisions of officials and teach young people to do the same.
-
Never ridicule or scold gymnasts for making a mistake. Positive comments are motivational.
-
Condemn the use of violence in any form, whether it is by other spectators, coaches, officials or players.
-
Show respect for your team’s opponents. Without them there would be no game.
-
Do not use violence, harassment or abuse in any form (that is, do not use foul language, sledge or harass players, coaches, officials or other spectators).
-
Respect the rights, dignity and worth of every person regardless of their gender, ability, cultural background or religion.
-
Refrain from any behaviour that may bring GNSW, a member association or an affiliated club into disrepute
All spectators must remain in the designated spectator areas at all times. No spectator will be granted access to the field of play or any athlete, official or technical area at any GNSW event. Technical members who have not been nominated by their club at the time of entry, and/or have not been accredited for the GNSW event must follow all directions as a spectator and are not permitted to access the field of play, competition floor, officials areas or warm-up spaces.
​
Spectators must refrain from using photo and/or video cameras with a lens greater than 50mm. Spectators must only take images of their own athlete.
​
All scoring or technical administrational queries at an event will only be entertained if submitted by the club in accordance with the applicable Gymsport rules and procedures for enquiries. No direct enquiries from spectators will be answered. Clubs are required to promote this to their members.
​
Any breaches to the codes of conduct may result in removal from the venue and/or refusal of entry. In addition, breaches will be referred to the GNSW CEO and the GNSW Board for further action.
​
Spectator Tickets
Refer to the spectator information for each event for the ticketing arrangements and spectator terms and conditions. The right is reserved to add, withdraw, reschedule or make substitutions to the advertised event schedules, programs, competition work plans, seating arrangements and audience capacity.
​
No refund or exchange on any spectator ticket is available except as required by law and as otherwise specified by the seller. If a refund is made, GNSW may, to the extent permitted by law, retain any fee it has charged.
​
The right of admission is reserved and is subject to the GNSW and the venue's terms of admission.