Pre-Carnival Check
Before carnival day, enter some practice results and check that all scores are working as expected.
Print some reports and be sure. It is much easier to fix this sort of thing before the day.
Then delete those results.
Carnival Day
Results Entry - be able to:-
Edit competitors' placings quickly and accurately
Find students who aren't listed in the event
Correct student data if it is not correct
Insert a new student
Print Score Updates and Records Broken throughout the day
Print Scores and determine Champions at the end of the day
This has to be done quickly to enable the presentations to proceed
Backup the data so that it is not just on a single computer. Best to save to one of your servers.
Tips for Carnival Day
How many Computers to use?
As a guide, for Swimming , with pre-entered with competitors, one computer with good recorders will handle 180 events. These results come in at a steady rate and the recorders can keep up, but without much respite!
Athletics is often slower overall because Field events often arrive in bundles, and often need checking and correcting. The recorders are sometimes idle, then battling with a backlog. Around 140 events maximum if pre-entered with competitors.
If you are not pre-entering competitors, at the above event levels, go for two computers, each with two recorders, connected with a blue cable to a shared data folder on one of the computers.
Make sure the SportsTrak computer has a Printer
How the recorders should operate:
It is usually the Sport Coordinator (or other staff member) who does the preparation work in SportsTrak before the carnival. On carnival day it is good to have a specialist team to do results entry.
Data entry should be done in pairs. A single data entry person is at a serious OHS risk due to repeated head swivel
One person receives the judges slips, reads the results out, checks what is going into SportsTrak, stores the judges slips.
The other enters the results as they are spoken and repeat what they think they have heard so that results go in accurately.
They will print reports as required.
This pair rotate from time to time.
What skills do recorders need?
They require keyboard skills
They should be finicky and able to interpret and correct sloppy judges sheets. Many judges do not give full placings (esp in Field Events).
They should know how field event placings are determined. For example in High Jump, 2 competitors on 1.55 m are not necessarily equally placed. The one who did it on less attempts is the higher place getter. In school scenarios, the pit judge is often unaware of subtleties and the recorder should monitor all incoming judges sheets.
The need good verbal communication skills
Who can be recorders?
It can be staff or student.
If staff do it they often do it at every carnival, become very proficient and can train other staff.
Non-competing students make good data entry operators, as long as they are trained up. They are quick and confident, but must know the skills listed above.