Wendy Bruce Martin is used to being the one being judged, not the one doing the judging.
As an elite gymnast, Wendy spent 5 years on the US National Team and during this time she was a member of the ’89 World Championship Team and the ’92 Olympic Team. Wendy trained at International School of Gymnastics before moving to Brown’s Gymnastics in Orlando, FL.
As a result of her hard work and dedication to her sport, Wendy was inducted into the USA Gymnastics Hall of Fame in 2010.
After some time away from gymnastics, Wendy has decided to return and give back to the sport by beginning her journey to become an International Brevet gymnastics judge.
Wendy Bruce Martin was gracious enough to take the time to be interviewed by Gym Blog Central on her judging journey.
Q: How did you become interested in judging?
A: Judging has always been something that interested me, but I know it is such a big task to take on that I focused on school and my business first. Now that I have my business Get Psyched! up and running, I am able to branch out to judging.
Q: Who can judge at the Elite Level?
A: If a gymnast was on a World or Olympic Team I think they can test for Brevet.
Q: What did you need to do in order to take the Brevet course?
A: We had to study the entire code of points. Everything. The shorthand of every skill, its value, bonus on each event, everything pertaining to the “D” score, “E” score deductions, general information about mat and equipment regulations, what judge does what, and the responsibilities of the coaches and judges.
Q: How long did you study for?
A: The course to take the test was a spontaneous event. We were kind of rushed into it, so we didn’t get that much time.
Q: What did the Brevet course entail?
A: Three days of 9-9 training. Cheryl Hamilton was our teacher and she was amazing. We had so many questions and she was so helpful and nice.
Q: What did the Brevet test include?
A: It was a full day. We had 5 routines on each event to judge the “E” score and 5 routines on each event to judge the “D” score. Then in the afternoon we had a 2 1/2 hour written test. This test had routines in shorthand and we had to tell “D” score. It also had very tricky questions about the information in the code. There wasn’t a lot of questions that you could guess, everything came straight out of the book.
Q: Who else tested with you?
A: Betty Okino, Mohini Bhardwaj, Ashley Priess, Annia Hatch, and Jana Bieger.
Q: What does this judges ranking allow you to do (meets, clinics, training camps, etc.)?
A: We all can now judge Levels 7-10. Jana passed the International FIG part and can judge Elite. We all will have to take the International test again next year when the code changes.
Q What are your judging goals?
A: I would love to judge everything. I love being involved and I love to be involved with all the areas of gymnastics. Mental Coaching, coaching, and judging.
Q: Thoughts/emotions regarding the process?
A: It was an amazing week. We all put in a lot of work and took it very seriously. I was ecstatic to see Betty. We haven’t seen each other since 92. I also got to see Kim Zmeskal and us three 92ers had such a great time together. It was also amazing seeing Annia and Mo (Mohini). I loved meeting Ashley and Jana and it was so important for all of us to get together and really get to know each other. We all have great stories to tell and it was special to bond. It was also the first time I was back into the ELITE world of gymnastics. We hung out with Bela, Marta, Dominick Zito, Mihai Brestyan, Chris Burnette, Maggie (Haney), Tammy Biggs, Rhonda (Faehn), Kelli Pitzen, and Brandy Johnson (Scharpf). After spending my life in that environment, it was so much fun to visit it again. Bela and Marta weren’t my coaches and we didn’t have the National Training Camp at their ranch back then, so it was so amazing to get to meet them again.
A: I am defiantly looking forward to continuing studying for the International FIG test next year. I also want to do Optional Levels, but I want to make sure I am an amazing judge before I jump into a real meet.
Hey Christine. I have forwarded your kind words to Wendy!