Parents When / How long is your season?

[GymnastMomX2]

Kind of a spin off of the qualifying for states thread.

When does your season start / end, and how many meets do your kids compete in? Do you guys do travel meets?

We start in mid-January and finish in March-May depending on level.

Levels 3-5 have 5 meets, no state or anything as it’s in the fall in our state and we compete all levels in Winter/Spring. They have a really short season, but our gym doesn’t worry too much about compulsory levels, they spend most of the time training to prepare them for optionals.

Levels 6-10 have 4 meets plus state, regionals, Westerns, Nationals. So 5-7 meets depending on level and qualifications.

 

[raenndrops]

Season starts in early November and the main part of the season ends mid-March. We have 6 regular season meets and district championships. Then, in June, we have YMCA Nationals. Those competing for the local high school don't compete in our January-February meets, but are back for Districts.
Some years, we compete in Y Regionals in April (Levels 4+ and Xcel Gold-Platinum), but mostly only if it is being hosted by a team in our district.

 

[4theLoveofGymnastics]

For our lower levels 2-5, the season starts in October and ends with State at the end of March. They have 7-8 meets before State. For our optionals levels 6-10, they compete in the spring with an average of 4-5 meets prior to state, regionals or westerns. If the optionals compete in the fall it’s only to test out of a level from what I’ve seen.

 

[Gymmomka]

Season runs September through April with States in December. 4 meets in the fall and 4 in the spring but many girls do 3 in each half of the season. Optionals runs on a similar calendar with a couple additional travel meets, though I don't remember when their states is. At least 4-5 meets out of the year include all levels 1-10 plus XL. The hosting gyms probably find it more economical that way, especially if they are renting a location for the meet. They schedule sessions back to back from Saturday morning through Sunday evening.

On a somewhat related topic, when we register for a meet we need to block the entire weekend off on our calendar. Then they let us know the session day and time about 2 weeks before. That's when my calendar opens up for other plans. I'm curious to know if you have about that amount of notice.

 

[Janneke]

Different country, our season is May to November, with roughly one competition per month. You only need two qualifying scores, so once you have those you can skip competitions if you want (we don't pay up front, so easily done). My daughter likes competing, so I haven't been able to convince her yet that she doesn't need to go to all, but there are definitely 2/3-competitions-and-done girls in her team

 

[Aussie_coach]

Our season starts in May and finishes in October.

 

[mom2newgymnast]

We are in NC. Compulsories start in September with the state meet in early December. Usually 5 meets (all in North Carolina) and then the State meet. During covid, they changed to a spring state meet and did some of the travel meets with the optionals, but they are back to the old season now.

For optionals, we have 5 regular season meets, starting in January, and then the post season (State, Regionals, Easterns/Nationals) depending on what they qualify for. State meet is mid March. Usually 4/5 of the meets are travel meets.. meaning out of state and 5+ hour drives. This year we we have at least 2 that most people will fly to as they would be more like 10-12 hour drives.

All levels also have a mock meet prior to the season.

 

[XcelMom08]

Our xcel begins Dec and goes to May depending on State and Regional qualifications. If not qualified it would end in April.
We have traveled in the past but a lot of our team doesn’t go out of state.
This year there is one out of state meet outside the normal Regional meet. Only a handful of gymnasts are going.
The eat are in state which kinda happy because less hotel fees since everything is 2 hours any direction.
We are allowed to pick our meets but one a month is the rule.
Some have 2 a month so there are options. Most do 5 a month.
We have a level team and boys team too but they start and end different than xcel.

 

[gymgal]

On a somewhat related topic, when we register for a meet we need to block the entire weekend off on our calendar. Then they let us know the session day and time about 2 weeks before. That's when my calendar opens up for other plans. I'm curious to know if you have about that amount of notice.

This is very common for most meets. Sometimes you can figure a particular day/time for well established meets that have kept similar schedules over the years, especially for upper levels, but you can never rely on it when making plans.

 

[katrid11]

Our state just switched to earlier state meets for compulsories. Used to be mid-spring but now are in February giving girls a chance to level up for the spring if coaches want.

L2-5 season starts in late October and States are in February. They will do 4-5 meets plus States. They are staying in-state this year and nearby - longest drive is 1hr.
L6-10 season has a slow start in November and runs through April. We have 1 meet in Nov, 1 in Dec then in January on we have 2 meets a month. We will travel to 2 out of state meets this year - driving distance.

 

[Dahlialover]

MAG in region 2:
The Competition season starts January 1st and ends with National’s on May 9th. Our team has 4-5 meets (including 1 travel meet for level 4 and above) then the state, regional, and national championships.

My son is skipping the travel meet due to finances, so he’ll be doing 4 meets then state and regionals. I think that is totally sufficient.

Our Girls’ teams are pretty similar but their first meet is in December.