Preet_Chahal21
CHAK!
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Hi, for those of you who don't know me, my name is Preet Chahal. I have been an active member of the bhangra circuit for 8+ years, involved as a dancer/co-captain for Bhangra Knightz and Virse De Waris, coach of Virse De Shokeen and as a judge for multiple different competitions in multiple countries. I am writing this post on behalf of my team, Virse De Shokeen.
On Saturday, February 4th, 2017, Virse De Shokeen performed at West Coast Bhangra. We were in a head to head matchup with Cal Bhangra. We received the highest average score, but walked away with no placing. Unfortunately, we did not notice the calculation error until after the competition ended.
Some of you may have read the committee’s decision to resolve the issue. In a quick summary, the post states: “Because VDS was not considered for deliberation, it is impossible to state which of the 4 teams would have won overall winner had VDS been a part of deliberation”. First off, we would like to thank West Coast Bhangra for recognizing us as the match-up winners and as the team with the highest average score; however, we strongly feel that an overall winner need to be decided. Without announcing an overall winner, all the hardwork that teams put into this competition goes to waste. We as dancers have one goal when we prepare for a bhangra competition, it is not just to win 3rd, 2nd, or match ups; the goals is to ultimately win that 1st place. If that first place is announced as a draw, there is virtually no purpose of holding the competition. So, we are kindly requesting either for a re-deliberation, regardless of the winner, or a winner based strictly off of the total points, in order to appropriately announce an overall winner for West Coast Bhangra 2017.
Following is a detailed record of how we have been handling the situation from our side:
We noticed that there may have been a mathematical error after the judges meeting. During the meeting, we asked the judges how much of a difference we "lost" by. One of the judge's stated they had us as the winners by +4 points and the other 2 judges stated that the difference we were behind Cal Bhangra on their score sheets was -1 and -0.5 points. The meeting was a timed 10 minutes. So in the rush of hearing the judges critiques we did not even have time to consider that, by the differences in scores, we actually had a higher average score than Cal Bhangra. We waited until the next day to ensure that what the judges verbally stated was correct. Once we received the score sheets, we had confirmation that we did, in fact, have an higher average than Cal bhangra.
The next step we took to confirm this was contacting every judge in order to verify that their individual scores on the score sheets were correct. All 3 judges confirmed that their individual scores and that there was a mistake in the average score. All 3 judges stated that Virse De Shokeen were in fact the winners of the match up and should have went on to deliberation.
After contacting the judges, we contacted the competition committee, who then contacted Cal Bhangra. Cal Bhangra was not on the same page as the committee, but they had decided to go with the truth. Gurprit Pasricha (Guppi) then called us back and stated, “The truth is that VDS, by points, were the winners of the match up and the winners of the title ‘Best of the West.’” I immediately asked Gurprit to confirm if that is the official decision and he quoted yet again, “Yes Preet that is the official decision and we will be writing an apology letter stating what we just told you.”
Later that same night I received yet another phone call from Gurprit with a completely different approach. The committee had decided that we will not be receiving the title as “Best of the West”. This certainly was unfair to us as a team. We went through so many emotions after not placing and then finding out committee had gotten the average wrong, then receiving a call stating it's official that we are the winners. We went from being extremely disappointed and discouraged to extremely shocked and happy to being completely blind-sided and yet again heartbroken. First the mistake takes place, and it happens, we are all human, but to tell us that we will be declared overall winners and then making a complete u-turn and telling us something completely different. Where is the committee’s professionalism?
The next day the committee posted their decision on BTF, without informing us of their final decision. We were completely caught off guard when they stated that they decided to make first place a draw. Which led us to this post; in which we humbly request, once again, that a 1st place winner be decided.
I am sure all of the teams understand the hard work, time and effort that is put into competing at an elite competition for that 1st place. Months of long practices and preparation, only to be crushed due to a simple calculation error from the committee. I have a young, non-collegiate team with dancers from all over Northern California. Our dancers put in hours of work, many of them driving for over 2 hours to each practice multiple times a week. Getting yelled at by their parents, because we don’t get out of practice until 4 o’clock in the morning and then coming back from the competition just to tell them that we were not even considered in deliberation for 1st place, because of a calculation error. This is extremely discouraging for our dancers and their families. We have been relentlessly working towards winning first place for over 2 years now. Now, not even getting a chance to be considered to win a deserving 1st place (according to scores), this is something that no team, new or experienced, should ever have to go through.
This mistake has not only affected us, but it has also affected Cal Bhangra and the rest of the match-up winners. We feel deeply for Cal bhangra, they should not have had to go through this roller coaster of emotions. However, the rightful and deserving winners need to be acknowledged.
The recording of VDS’s meeting with the judges is attached below:
***Personal note***
We are trying our best to respectfully handle this situation. We are not trying to single out any committee/team member. If anyone feels offended by anything that we have said in this post, we humbly apologize as that was not our intention.
Another important note I would like to include is a quote of one of my team members: “I am exhausted.” At 19, such a young age, after only two years of competing, this dancer is exhausted? Her exhaustion comes from the fact that, “For many, this is simply just one of many competitions, but for us, this was the first time we felt like we put out a first-place-worthy performance. This was the first time that on paper, we scored higher than any other competitor. Yet it was decided, without our knowledge, that we don't get a shot at winning the first place, and we still remain empty handed.”
After being in the circuit for 8+ years, I have never had just three words break my heart. But, what truly impacted me was the optimism that these dancers have. Though their mindsets have changed, and their emotions are still fluctuating, the love that they have for Bhangra has allowed them to keep their chins up and prepare for the next competition.
If you believe that VDS, or even any of the matchup winners for that matter, deserve a chance to win the first place that they initially entered this comp for, please say so. I welcome and encourage everyone to share their thoughts and opinions, including the teams involved in the competition from this past weekend.
Thank you.
On Saturday, February 4th, 2017, Virse De Shokeen performed at West Coast Bhangra. We were in a head to head matchup with Cal Bhangra. We received the highest average score, but walked away with no placing. Unfortunately, we did not notice the calculation error until after the competition ended.
Some of you may have read the committee’s decision to resolve the issue. In a quick summary, the post states: “Because VDS was not considered for deliberation, it is impossible to state which of the 4 teams would have won overall winner had VDS been a part of deliberation”. First off, we would like to thank West Coast Bhangra for recognizing us as the match-up winners and as the team with the highest average score; however, we strongly feel that an overall winner need to be decided. Without announcing an overall winner, all the hardwork that teams put into this competition goes to waste. We as dancers have one goal when we prepare for a bhangra competition, it is not just to win 3rd, 2nd, or match ups; the goals is to ultimately win that 1st place. If that first place is announced as a draw, there is virtually no purpose of holding the competition. So, we are kindly requesting either for a re-deliberation, regardless of the winner, or a winner based strictly off of the total points, in order to appropriately announce an overall winner for West Coast Bhangra 2017.
Following is a detailed record of how we have been handling the situation from our side:
We noticed that there may have been a mathematical error after the judges meeting. During the meeting, we asked the judges how much of a difference we "lost" by. One of the judge's stated they had us as the winners by +4 points and the other 2 judges stated that the difference we were behind Cal Bhangra on their score sheets was -1 and -0.5 points. The meeting was a timed 10 minutes. So in the rush of hearing the judges critiques we did not even have time to consider that, by the differences in scores, we actually had a higher average score than Cal Bhangra. We waited until the next day to ensure that what the judges verbally stated was correct. Once we received the score sheets, we had confirmation that we did, in fact, have an higher average than Cal bhangra.
The next step we took to confirm this was contacting every judge in order to verify that their individual scores on the score sheets were correct. All 3 judges confirmed that their individual scores and that there was a mistake in the average score. All 3 judges stated that Virse De Shokeen were in fact the winners of the match up and should have went on to deliberation.
After contacting the judges, we contacted the competition committee, who then contacted Cal Bhangra. Cal Bhangra was not on the same page as the committee, but they had decided to go with the truth. Gurprit Pasricha (Guppi) then called us back and stated, “The truth is that VDS, by points, were the winners of the match up and the winners of the title ‘Best of the West.’” I immediately asked Gurprit to confirm if that is the official decision and he quoted yet again, “Yes Preet that is the official decision and we will be writing an apology letter stating what we just told you.”
Later that same night I received yet another phone call from Gurprit with a completely different approach. The committee had decided that we will not be receiving the title as “Best of the West”. This certainly was unfair to us as a team. We went through so many emotions after not placing and then finding out committee had gotten the average wrong, then receiving a call stating it's official that we are the winners. We went from being extremely disappointed and discouraged to extremely shocked and happy to being completely blind-sided and yet again heartbroken. First the mistake takes place, and it happens, we are all human, but to tell us that we will be declared overall winners and then making a complete u-turn and telling us something completely different. Where is the committee’s professionalism?
The next day the committee posted their decision on BTF, without informing us of their final decision. We were completely caught off guard when they stated that they decided to make first place a draw. Which led us to this post; in which we humbly request, once again, that a 1st place winner be decided.
I am sure all of the teams understand the hard work, time and effort that is put into competing at an elite competition for that 1st place. Months of long practices and preparation, only to be crushed due to a simple calculation error from the committee. I have a young, non-collegiate team with dancers from all over Northern California. Our dancers put in hours of work, many of them driving for over 2 hours to each practice multiple times a week. Getting yelled at by their parents, because we don’t get out of practice until 4 o’clock in the morning and then coming back from the competition just to tell them that we were not even considered in deliberation for 1st place, because of a calculation error. This is extremely discouraging for our dancers and their families. We have been relentlessly working towards winning first place for over 2 years now. Now, not even getting a chance to be considered to win a deserving 1st place (according to scores), this is something that no team, new or experienced, should ever have to go through.
This mistake has not only affected us, but it has also affected Cal Bhangra and the rest of the match-up winners. We feel deeply for Cal bhangra, they should not have had to go through this roller coaster of emotions. However, the rightful and deserving winners need to be acknowledged.
The recording of VDS’s meeting with the judges is attached below:
***Personal note***
We are trying our best to respectfully handle this situation. We are not trying to single out any committee/team member. If anyone feels offended by anything that we have said in this post, we humbly apologize as that was not our intention.
Another important note I would like to include is a quote of one of my team members: “I am exhausted.” At 19, such a young age, after only two years of competing, this dancer is exhausted? Her exhaustion comes from the fact that, “For many, this is simply just one of many competitions, but for us, this was the first time we felt like we put out a first-place-worthy performance. This was the first time that on paper, we scored higher than any other competitor. Yet it was decided, without our knowledge, that we don't get a shot at winning the first place, and we still remain empty handed.”
After being in the circuit for 8+ years, I have never had just three words break my heart. But, what truly impacted me was the optimism that these dancers have. Though their mindsets have changed, and their emotions are still fluctuating, the love that they have for Bhangra has allowed them to keep their chins up and prepare for the next competition.
If you believe that VDS, or even any of the matchup winners for that matter, deserve a chance to win the first place that they initially entered this comp for, please say so. I welcome and encourage everyone to share their thoughts and opinions, including the teams involved in the competition from this past weekend.
Thank you.
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