Sports Scoring 101

Every now and then you hear that Sports scoring at tournaments is evil, that it is open to abuse and that it only encourages sore losers.


I am strongly of the view that this is not the case.

When considering Sports scoring it is important to look at the system that is in place. There are 3-4 common systems that are used.

System 1 – Mark on Scale of 0-5.
This is usually accompanied by some basis for each score – which nobody ever reads and subsequently the score reflects the internal mechanism of the scorer. If you play the happy bunny who gives everybody “5”s then you are boosted; if you place the Russian Judge you probably get a “2”. (If you were unlucky enough to play a certain Australian 40k gamer known as “Torpedo” then you get a “0” if you beat him, which New Zealanders habitually did). So the system suffers from being too subjective and the fact people have different scales

System 2 – Yellow Card/Red Card.
This system is big in the UK/Europe and works on the same basis as soccer. The “stick” is that you can be ejected from the tournament for bad behaviour. However, the big flaw in the system is that it gives you a free pass to act like a dickhead in one game. It also relies on a player calling over the umpire and detailing the problems and then the umpire taking the not-undrastic step of warning a player and eventually expelling a player from the event. For me, this system sounds fine in theory but in practice penalties are hardly ever used and it encourages poor behaviour.

System 3 – The Checklist.
This has a serious of 5-6 questions about game etiquette that a player ticks off after the game. It has the benefit of the umpire being able to isolate recurrent problems and provide feedback to a penalised player. Its flaw is that behaviour is only crudely defined into the 5-6 categories and it is binary i.e. yes or no. Therefore the most you can lose – regardless of how much a dick you are is one point in the area. For you to be punished significantly you need to be an offender across many areas.

System 4 – Default Setting.
This system has three scores – typically 5, 3, 0 and a default setting of 5. It has two step punishment system but unlike the 0-5 no reward. The Umpire’s expectation is that all participants will score a 5 and that deviation from that score will be discussed with the player that assigns the score. Generally this results in 90%+ of players getting full Sports marks, so sports has no outcome on tournament result. However where there is a problem a mechanism exists to punish.

Locally, System 4 has become the most prevalent. Certainly I have used it for all the events I run for the past two years. I would suggest that Wellington events are characterised by a lack of rancour, both in 40k and Fantasy.

I believe Sports systems should punish poor behaviour and when a good system is in place it generally does. One thing that amazes me is the denial that those who consistently score poorly for sports go through. They convince themselves that the score is reflective of their opponent rather than themselves. If the Umpire gives clear instructions as to what the default score is, then sports hits are generally a rare thing. If you receive them regularly then the fault is generally with your behaviour rather than that of your opponent. Everyone can have a bad day but consistent bad days should encourage you to look within.

For me, Sports scoring encourages a collegial atmosphere. If I am having difficulties with an opponent I generally try to address them early in the game to ensure that we both have fun. Typically I find slow play is the most prevalent and an early word gets us both focused on ensuring the game progresses. I can say that the last time that I gave less than full for sports was over three years ago because communication addresses most problems and the system provides deterrent to poor behaviour.

Without Sports this doesn’t always exist. Recently I attended NiCon in Auckland where they used a variant of System 2. Players were warned about behaviour problems by the umpire. This only occurred when a disagreement was sufficient to attract his attention. I saw firsthand the flaws of this system – which effectively amounted to no sports system.

In my third game I was playing Thomas van Roekel, the NZ ETC Dwarf player. As the game progressed I felt Thomas was becoming increasingly nit-picking in his approach. Please be aware that this may not have been the case, however it was my perception. Rules were queried, distances re-measured, rulebooks consulted. Now Thomas was quite within his right to do this but I felt it was as a result of the game turning my way. Again I stress that this may or may not have been the case, but it was my perception. I appeared to lose my temper with Thomas and vented my displeasure, ranting for a couple of minutes. The thing was – and I’m not proud of this – I could do this with impunity because I knew that I could not be hit on Sports.

My behaviour deserved a Sports hit however knowing I couldn’t be disadvantaged, I vented to let off steam. Now Thomas shouldn’t have to put up with that and I apologised both during and after the game. However it shows the weakness in the system if you are a cynical prick. Again, I am not proud of my behaviour and in future I’d endeavour to not do it again. However at the time I felt Thomas was “playing” me and I didn’t appreciate it. But here the system gave me an out for no points penalty. Personally I prefer to play where there is an obvious “stick” in play.

Interested in people’s thoughts on Sports scoring.