Scoring Team Bruno - Rokosz

An often forgotten and under-respected segment of a dressage show's crew is the scoring team. Fixed on their chairs, the "board of scorers" eagerly and blindly ticks on their calculaters, determining the winner of each class. Sheet after sheet gets processed and double-checked with the scepticism of IRS inspection agents. But, behind the stern facade of mathematical genius lies friendliness, spontaneity and humour encaptured.

Pat Bruno is the official secretary of the Delaware Valley Combined Training Association and in another life she is part of the solid duo of Devon scorers. Together with Sandy Rokosz, she manages the scoring of all performance classes which take place in the Dixon Oval and Gold Ring.

Besides Dressage at Devon, Rokosz also handles the scores of Dressage at Saratoga and several local shows. That scoring is not always fun and play becomes obvious through one of Sandy stories. "There was this one show where, three years in a row, there were no runners, no scribes and no assistents to help me out with the scoring. This show had six rings and I had to do it all by myself," she reminisces. Fortunately one lady of a nearby barn showed up to help Sandy out. "She worked from morning till night and did a terrific job," Sandy said. She is still very thankful that this lady showed up and prevented her day from turning into an insufferable one.

Both Devon scoring head masters Bruno and Rokosz are bonded by the passion for horses. Pat has her a horse, but Sandy had to give up on owning her own mount. "The closest place to my house to keep a horse is 45 minutes away," Rokosz says. " I used to go to work, drive to the barn and eat in the car and I simply couldn't keep up with it." Still, Rokosz loves working with problem horses and luckily gets to handle some of her friends so that she can keep in touch with the equine.

Although scoring is a job which demands meticulous precision and efficiency, there is room for a joke and some laughter in the press box. Sandy, for instance, loves playing with the intercom when she's channelling scores to announcer Brian O'Connor. And besides doing scores, Pat is also in charge of the updates on the official website of DVCTA. Visit their site and send her a note at http://www.dvcta.org

Text by Astrid Appels of Eurodressage.com

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