For Parents Meets question

[Gymmom826]

Does it matter what meets are attended? We were informed all meets will only be in our home state due to rising gas prices.My dd will be in her second year of Level 10 so I'm concerned. Shouldn't she need to attend big meets?

 

[gymgal]

Does it matter what meets are attended? We were informed all meets will only be in our home state due to rising gas prices.My dd will be in her second year of Level 10 so I'm concerned. Shouldn't she need to attend big meets?

Not really. The big meets help gymnasts feel more comfortable in higher pressure situations to prep for states/regionals/nationals. But the big meets are not essential.

 

[mom2newgymnast]

Does it matter what meets are attended? We were informed all meets will only be in our home state due to rising gas prices.My dd will be in her second year of Level 10 so I'm concerned. Shouldn't she need to attend big meets?

Are the meets in your state very small? Part of me is jealous, because I can't imagine how expensive meet season is going to be for us next year. I do think my daughter (also a second year level 10) would be disappointed to only do small local meets though. We usually only go to 1 local meet and the rest are large meets that require a 6+ hour drive and a couple that require flying. I don't know if it's really necessary, but our gym seems to only go to big meets, and they try to hit at least 2 or 3 Nastia qualifiers.

But I agree with @gymgal too. We have some very successful gyms in our area that only do 1 or 2 travel meets and it doesn't seem to hurt their success at all.

 

[Muddlethru]

Depends on what you want out of the big meets. There are benefits to attending big meets. The gymnasts gets more experience in larger venues, more competition. I also find watching high caliber athletes can be motivational and for smaller teams they can see skill execution they can aspire for. Nationals and regionals are highly attended by college coaches. So if college gym is your goal and there are limited big meets to attend, those are the meets to be in,

 

[gym_dad32608]

Meet season is 6 months away, that's a long time to try and predict gas prices and where they are going to be. Is it going to be expensive travel? Probably, but I would lean toward only marginally more expensive. Seems like an odd excuse. Either way if your the goal is college participation, then yes meets do matter. Particularly larger, Nastia qualifiers. The Nastia qualifiers tend to have the most college coaches attending other than nationals. Obviously it's not the most important thing, I would say making nationals is, but every little opportunity of exposure helps if college participation is your goal.

 

[ldw4mlo]

Meet season is 6 months away, that's a long time to try and predict gas prices and where they are going to be. Is it going to be expensive travel? Probably, but I would lean toward only marginally more expensive.

Not sure where you live by my travel expenses are significantly more then marginally more expensive. And there is no reason to feel they are going down significantly in the near future, mostly likely just up.

 

[gymgal]

One thing to consider with larger meets too is that your gymnast will not necessarily be up against higher caliber competition. These meets often group sessions in terms of gym caliber and size. Dd's gym was small and they were often with other small teams of similar caliber competition. Many times competing against other gyms in our state even when we were several hours away from our home state. It was frustrating at times.

 

[gym_dad32608]

Not sure where you live by my travel expenses are significantly more then marginally more expensive. And there is no reason to feel they are going down significantly in the near future, mostly likely just up.

Gas is expensive everywhere, and I understand it feels that way. But lets say you drive to a meet that takes 2 full tanks of gas, one there, one back. Lets say tank is 20 gallons, also lets say gas is $4/gallon. If gas goes up another dollar, to $5/gallon. That same trip is $40 more. Again, not belittling, $40 can mean a lot to some people, but given the amount of money we spend on fees, tuition, etc. I think $40 is marginal.

 

[ldw4mlo]

Gas is expensive everywhere, and I understand it feels that way. But lets say you drive to a meet that takes 2 full tanks of gas, one there, one back. Lets say tank is 20 gallons, also lets say gas is $4/gallon. If gas goes up another dollar, to $5/gallon. That same trip is $40 more. Again, not belittling, $40 can mean a lot to some people, but given the amount of money we spend on fees, tuition, etc. I think $40 is marginal.

40 dollars means a lot to many people.

And multiply that 40 dollars by the number of meets. And don’t assume one way is 1 tank of gas.

Last meet season (a short pandemic one) we did it was 3 dollars a gallon. The last regular season it was 2. From 2 to 4 is 80 dollars added to the trip at 5 it’s a 100. And we are already at 5…..

And if you are flying. I just booked airline tixs for a trip that used to cost around 200. Now 500, almost 1000 bucks more for the family. with no guarantee our flights will happen as scheduled. Everything.Costs.More.

I travel for work. I see it every week, doing my expense report. It’s significant. I was local this week, 50 miles round trip. 23.00 gas. Last weeks trip 2 hours from home 120.00 plus tolls and parking, 200 dollars. I’m putting 60-70 dollars a week in my personal car tank for local typical travel a short time ago 35 was an expensive week.

Yes, the point of sticking to more local meets is to minimize costs.

 

[mom2newgymnast]

One thing to consider with larger meets too is that your gymnast will not necessarily be up against higher caliber competition. These meets often group sessions in terms of gym caliber and size. Dd's gym was small and they were often with other small teams of similar caliber competition. Many times competing against other gyms in our state even when we were several hours away from our home state. It was frustrating at times.

This is definitely true. I think we are from the same state.. there hasn't been a meet that we have attended that we weren't in the same session as some of our local gyms. And we travel to all our meets. I think part of the reason our gym targets Nastia qualifiers is they usually have a premiere session that some of our level 10s get to compete in which helps with exposure.

 

[mom2newgymnast]

Gas is expensive everywhere, and I understand it feels that way. But lets say you drive to a meet that takes 2 full tanks of gas, one there, one back. Lets say tank is 20 gallons, also lets say gas is $4/gallon. If gas goes up another dollar, to $5/gallon. That same trip is $40 more. Again, not belittling, $40 can mean a lot to some people, but given the amount of money we spend on fees, tuition, etc. I think $40 is marginal.

I know the OP specifically mentioned gas prices, but I definitely think you have to look beyond that when you are talking about travel meets bring more expensive next year. First $1 a gallon is from current prices maybe, but had in my area was ~3/gallon last January. Currently is $4.60 and it’ll probably be well over $5.00 here by January. This season, other than one meet that was in state and 90 minutes away, all the rest were at minimum 5 hours away. Definitely more than 2 tanks of gas. Hotels and food have also increased in cost. And if the meet is a fly away meet, tickets have gone sky high here and rental cars at your destination are super pricey if you can even get one. I don’t blame a gym for looking out for their families and limiting travel meets.

 

[gym_dad32608]

I know the OP specifically mentioned gas prices, but I definitely think you have to look beyond that when you are talking about travel meets bring more expensive next year. First $1 a gallon is from current prices maybe, but had in my area was ~3/gallon last January. Currently is $4.60 and it’ll probably be well over $5.00 here by January. This season, other than one meet that was in state and 90 minutes away, all the rest were at minimum 5 hours away. Definitely more than 2 tanks of gas. Hotels and food have also increased in cost. And if the meet is a fly away meet, tickets have gone sky high here and rental cars at your destination are super pricey if you can even get one. I don’t blame a gym for looking out for their families and limiting travel meets.

The OP also mentioned specifically for L10 gymnasts and indirectly implied a concern about exposure. In this context, I think its reasonable to assume the OP is concerned about his/her L10's getting an adequate opportunity to the exposure that comes from attending big meets like Nastia qualifiers. In citing gas costs as the primary driver of limiting opportunities seems short-sited to me especially given the marginal cost example that I explained. Even if you add in total for the season, the additional costs are going to be incremental to what we currently pay to participate in this sport in total. Especially at L10. Inflation prior to this year was still running at 2-3% rate so you still should have been expecting to pay more even if we weren't experiencing this inflationary environment

I completely understand that for some people these marginal costs, as small as they may be, might price them out of the sport or force them to make significant changes. But I just don't buy the singular excuse presented of gas prices. In 6 months they may very well be back down to 3-4 range. If coaching staff was that concerned about their families especially their L10s and given the unique current environment, I would try and seek some other solutions/compromises with these families (L10). Maybe they just attend one meet of significance, or make it optional for team to attend?

 

[rlm's mom]

We usually make it to 2 Nastia qualifiers, one is an hour from our gym, the other about 5 hours. I would be very upset if our gym told us they were no longer travelling to the further one due to travel expenses. Those large meets provide experience, exposure and of course the opportunity to go to NLC. With level 10’s trying to make it to college, I know how devastated my girls would be if they didn’t attend.
As pointed out above the costs are marginal in the the big scheme of total gym costs. I understand for some people these costs make a difference and would be fine if they made this away meet optional.
Of course we also attend States, Regionals and Nationals (for the girls that make it) so a few road trips a season.
We also meet up with another strong level 10 gym 4ish hours away at the start of the season. My girls look forward to it every year, the extra costs are worth it.

 

[WV Gym Mom]

Meet season is 6 months away, that's a long time to try and predict gas prices and where they are going to be. Is it going to be expensive travel? Probably, but I would lean toward only marginally more expensive. Seems like an odd excuse. Either way if your the goal is college participation, then yes meets do matter. Particularly larger, Nastia qualifiers. The Nastia qualifiers tend to have the most college coaches attending other than nationals. Obviously it's not the most important thing, I would say making nationals is, but every little opportunity of exposure helps if college participation is your goal

Meet season might be six months away, but most gyms make their meet schedule in the next two months. I know we get our schedule in August...so this is prime planning time for gyms. As for only marginally more expensive, I have to disagree. Airplane tickets I bought in March for $280 each are now over $800. Gas is twice what is was last summer, and hotels and food are about 25-30% more in most areas. Meet fees are going to have to go up as well as their expensese are higher. Most gymnast families where I live are already stretched budget-wise, so I wouldn't call it an odd excuse. Its reality.

My gym is in a rural area, so we have to compete across several states, but we usually keep travel to 2-4 hours max, except for one travel meet a year. And it still is pricey.

 

[gym_dad32608]

Meet season might be six months away, but most gyms make their meet schedule in the next two months. I know we get our schedule in August...so this is prime planning time for gyms. As for only marginally more expensive, I have to disagree. Airplane tickets I bought in March for $280 each are now over $800. Gas is twice what is was last summer, and hotels and food are about 25-30% more in most areas. Meet fees are going to have to go up as well as their expensese are higher. Most gymnast families where I live are already stretched budget-wise, so I wouldn't call it an odd excuse. Its reality.

My gym is in a rural area, so we have to compete across several states, but we usually keep travel to 2-4 hours max, except for one travel meet a year. And it still is pricey.

I know meet planning is now, but again, read the OP, it said GAS prices. Also the OP is talking about L10, not compulsories or lower level optionals. Yes, everything is more expensive, yes, people are squeezed. But I dont think some of you understand the concept of marginal costs. Even if gas prices are double from last year (they are not). You are still talking about $80 marginal cost. Compare that to what you are paying for tuition, a fixed cost (not even counting comp leos, meet fees, coaches fees, all fixed), assume $500/mth, 6k a year and that is being generous, and you are at about 1%. Now layer in the fact that we are talking about L10 and being concerned about exposure and its easy to see that the cost of gas prices is silly as an excuse to limit meet participation.

 

[mom2newgymnast]

I know meet planning is now, but again, read the OP, it said GAS prices. Also the OP is talking about L10, not compulsories or lower level optionals. Yes, everything is more expensive, yes, people are squeezed. But I dont think some of you understand the concept of marginal costs. Even if gas prices are double from last year (they are not). You are still talking about $80 marginal cost. Compare that to what you are paying for tuition, a fixed cost (not even counting comp leos, meet fees, coaches fees, all fixed), assume $500/mth, 6k a year and that is being generous, and you are at about 1%. Now layer in the fact that we are talking about L10 and being concerned about exposure and its easy to see that the cost of gas prices is silly as an excuse to limit meet participation.

I don't disagree with you about the value of attending big meets. The OP hasn't responded again, I'm curious what she thinks of this discussion. Literally, yes the OP did say gas prices, which taken alone is still not a huge expense and does seem like a bad excuse. I think some of us are just pointing out that the overall cost of attending non local meets is certainly more than just the cost of driving to them. It's not just the additional xx amount in gas (which yes is trivial compared to the overall cost of gymastics).

And yes, I do understand the overall costs of gymnastics. As I said earlier, my daughter is a level 10, she's been on team for 9 years and her gym does attend big meets. Last year we went to 3 Nastia qualifiers and had one girl qualify to and compete at the Nastia Liukin Cup. The year before (yes the year right after covid when a lot of gyms weren't travelling at all) we also attended 2 or 3 qualifiers and did not have any in state meets. We rarely do local (<3 hours drive) meets (at most 1 a season), despite there actually being a lot of really good teams in our state. And I can tell you that travelling and attending meets is easily one of the most expensive part of gymnastics for me. We flew to 2 meets last season and drove to 2 (and actually missed the first meet which was 12 hours away driving because of covid exposure). One trip was only 2 hours away. She competed at 8:00am though so we stood over the night before. That was the cheapest meet we've had in years. The other meets were well over a $1000 each. And I know that that will be a lot higher next season as hotel, food, gas and plane tickets are all increasing. So I admit that I am making an assumption that, although the OP said gas prices, they meant overall cost of travel. And I personally would welcome more local meets with only 1 or 2 meets requiring a hotel stay. That would be amazing for my finances.

But I do actually understand that the OP has a level 10 and that it is important for exposure. Some of the gyms in our area seemed to send only their level 10s to travel meets. I wonder if that is something the OP's gym would consider. I guess it would depend on how many level 10s there are at their gym..

 

[rlm's mom]

Gas (assuming a 4-5 hour drive) 80 dollars extra
Hotel - max 100 extra for 4 of us
Restaurant - max 20 extra for 4 of us
Meet fees haven’t risen as far as I know
That’s 200 extra in total per away meet (of course depends on the area) - which I would still call marginal in the big scheme of things if you have a level 10.
We are doing 2 away meets, both in driving distance. All optionals are going unless some opt out.