Parents Annoyed - flyaway meet where only competitors were teammates

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Hi all - please give me a reality check on flyaway meets. We just returned from a weekend meet where we paid for flights, 2 nights hotel, and all the other stuff that goes along with travel to find that our only competitors were our teammates (in our age group). Is this normal? This is our 2nd year of competing and we did not experience this last year.

I loved the 1:1 time with my daughter, so I'm looking at it like that but I am somewhat annoyed, especially because there was a large local meet that we didn't participate in.
 
That's annoying! We did an out of state travel meet and 3/4 other teams in our session were teams from our home state we see all the time. We decided not to go back to that meet the next year.
 
That would feel weird to me, but if there were other teams in different age groups I wouldn’t be annoyed. Age groups are only set once everyone is registered, so there isn’t a good way to predict if your child will end up in a diverse/competitive one or not. In our region we see the same judges at all of our meets, so getting scores from different judges would be a helpful experience.
 
Wait, so let me get this straight, you traveled to a meet where you only competed against your own gym? like an intrasquad? I have never heard of that before? That would be crazy
 
Wait, so let me get this straight, you traveled to a meet where you only competed against your own gym? like an intrasquad? I have never heard of that before? That would be crazy
I think the poster means that in her dd's age group, there were no other gymnasts from other gyms. Other gyms attended the meet but just were not in their age group for awards.
 
This happened once to us and we were all annoyed. I think there was 3 teams for L9 and just one team for the 10s (ours). The HC acted like she was surprised too but who knows.
 
To clarify - there were 3 other gymnasts in our level that also competed against themselves as they were much older. So yes, @gym_dad32608 it felt very much like an intersquad meet! Many parents were SUPER annoyed. I am mildly annoyed, but as I mentioned I made it a fun "girls trip" for my girl and I and we had a great weekend...but seems like a huge waste of money especially since there was a large local meet at home.
 
@BusyMomof2 This would just go on your list of meets to not go back to. We have a large one that we have developed over the years. We actually find that we are getting pushed more and more into the same meets as they are big... good... and just run well.
 
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@JBS - that's exactly the guidance was looking for. What do I do? Tell our coaches we shouldn't go back? I'm not sure how to handle since I'm just a parent. Our next meet is Metroplex and from what I understand, this will not be the case. At least I seriously hope not!
 
To clarify - there were 3 other gymnasts in our level that also competed against themselves as they were much older. So yes, @gym_dad32608 it felt very much like an intersquad meet! Many parents were SUPER annoyed. I am mildly annoyed, but as I mentioned I made it a fun "girls trip" for my girl and I and we had a great weekend...but seems like a huge waste of money especially since there was a large local meet at home.
Wow, that's horrible, I'm sorry, not sure how your coaches could have let that happen. But you certainly have the right attitude about it.

Metroplex is huge, you will have plenty of competition. We just left Sand Dollar and that was huge too and intense, but fun. Maybe some coaches can explain how they might sign up for a meet like that because to the unknowing that seems like a 101 type error.
 
Unfortunately this does happen sometimes. Most owners/coaches will know ahead of time how big the meet generally is but sometimes things change with the meet itself from one year to the next (Covid too messed up some) or something happens with the gyms or weather that force them to cancel their trips. We routinely went to a meet in the mountains and it almost always snowed (in a state that doesn't usually get snow). When it was nice, the meet had a lot of gyms at all levels. Those snowstorm years? Our girls often competed against only themselves or one other gym because the gymnasts/gyms couldn't get there safely.
 
This happened to us this past weekend! I was extremely irritated! Not only were the girls just up against themselves, they only had 2 age divisions so some kids were put up against girls 2 years older. I mean maybe there were a few other gyms, but basically it was just them. To top it off the scoring was WAY low.. ( i know the whole scoring mentality of as long as they are all within the same range )... but very frustrating to the girls to score in the mid to high 9's and then basically do and equivalent routine and score in the 8's...
 
This happened to us this past weekend! I was extremely irritated! Not only were the girls just up against themselves, they only had 2 age divisions so some kids were put up against girls 2 years older. I mean maybe there were a few other gyms, but basically it was just them. To top it off the scoring was WAY low.. ( i know the whole scoring mentality of as long as they are all within the same range )... but very frustrating to the girls to score in the mid to high 9's and then basically do and equivalent routine and score in the 8's...
So curious - were you in New Orleans?
 
When the gym signs up for a meet there is no way to know what the competition will be like, it can vary so much from year to year.

Had your gym known before entries were due, I’m sure they would have reconsidered.

They will probably avoid this meet in future.
 
When the gym signs up for a meet there is no way to know what the competition will be like, it can vary so much from year to year.

Had your gym known before entries were due, I’m sure they would have reconsidered.

They will probably avoid this meet in future.
It really is hard for me to comprehend this. We have been going to meets from L3-L10 and have never had this happen to us before. Especially for a meet that we have had to hop on a plane. I guess we have been fortunate. Is it really a "leap of faith" when you sign up for a meet? Or do you mitigate this from happening by signing up for meets that have been established for 20+ years?
 
It's definitely frustrating when that happens. Last season we drove 3 hours and stayed overnight for a meet. There were 7 girls in dd's age group and all but 2 were from her gym. We're not doing that meet this season.
 

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