Mock Meets/Mini Meets

[chinagirl]

I'm a recreational director looking to organize a mock-meet/mini-meet for some of our recreational and pre-team students.

Does anyone have any suggestions on where to begin in terms of structure, who to get to judge, how to divide the kids, etc.

Please keep in mind that we are a gym with a lot of kids, but very minimal staff.

Thanks

 

[nettyinpa]

Do you know of any judges in your region? We're having a mock meet in a couple weeks. There's a judge in our region that's coming in to do it. There is a fee to have her come in so we'll all have to pitch in like $15-$20 for the meet. We also have a coach on staff that's a judge and she may also be judging, I'm not sure.

I think one of the primary things to work on is covering your staffing issues if the coaches work with more than one level or group. Our level 6 coaches are also our level 7 coaches. The 7's had a mock meet last weekend from 8-12 and our practices are usually held at that time. So, we had to come in at 11 instead.

You also need to think about use of the equipment, how is your gym set up now? How will a mock meet take away from those that are practicing? Do you want them all in a team leotard or doesn't it matter? There are lots of little things to work out, even for a small scale meet like you're thinking about.

Or, make it into a meet where you would cancel all practices, and have your coaches be the judges. Our gym has a Class Meet every spring where the developmental girls and lower have a mini-competition. They are broken out by age group, like a real meet, move from one aparatus to another, usually led by an older team gymnast. The team coaches are the judges. Everyone that participates gets a medal or a ribbon. My dd actually won the class meet about 3 years ago. It was too cute. She still says that's her favorite trophy!

Good luck!

 

[cathiann]

Our gym doesn't have the rec kids' meet judged--it's just a fun way to show off their skills. The manager comes up with a routine for each event and each level--that includes the skills they're working on in that level. Everyone gets a ribbon for each event and a medal for participating. But they don't have to worry about their score or anything. They do it in the spring and in December. It's done on a Saturday afternoon when there aren't classes.

 

[gymch34]

We have used the older/higher level team kids as judges for our class program meets- generally the kids look up to them and think they are training for the olympics- so they are very excited. We make colorful signs that the "judges" hold up after the rouitne- like "AWESOME SMILE" or "NICE ROUTINE". It keeps the meet really positive and fun, no scores, no tears etc. Sometimes there is a theme- one time it was the 70's and the signs reflected that- ex. groovy, etc. Everyone gets recognized & a trophy.

I would divide the kids by level, and also then by size. There's nothing worse for a rec kid then them being the biggest kid in w/ a group of little whippersnappers that are in the same level.

Good luck!

 

[bogwoppit]

Our gym runs a rec comp every year and it's a lot of fun. Firstly everone gets ribbons and a medal if they compete.

The older teamgymnasts do the judging, it is always scored out of 10. This makes it easy for the girls to judge and means you don't have to pay for judges too. We usually use FIG scoring in Canada but the 10 is very easy to work across different levels of skill.

The gymnasts have routines based on their level and are judged on the overall routine NOT on the elements. As in, if you do a perfect handstand it will have the same effect as a perfect forward roll. The deuctions are taken off for form and that's it, so judging is simple and the gymnasts who perform their skills the best place higest. This also allows for having gymnasts of different abilities compete against each other in a somewhat balanced way.

The parents are always happy with this and the kids are thrilled with the awards. The podium is set up and name are called out and photos taken etc.

We often have the comp gymnasts come in to show routines etc whilst scores are being totalled. Leos etc are sold and it is generally a fun time and does really encourage the rec crowd. The team gymnasts love to show off and the older girls love to judge and help out.

The kids are divided up into age and abilty for awards.

Usually it will look like this

9-10am for the under 5 rec crowd. They only do two apparatus. The kids compete and are divided into four groups for awards. Ribbons for placements and medals for AA, they all get placements.

Then the precomp from 10-12noon, they will compete all 4 apparatus and will be all in one award group. Ribbons for each apparatus and a medal for bronze silver or gold (girls are divided into three by scores and they all get a medal).

Lastly older rec groups groups from 12 -3pm. They also only compete two apparatus. They are divided up for awards the same as the younger rec group.Ribbons for placements and medals for AA.

Our gym is also very small, all the rec kids are coached by team staff or team, and when the rec comp is held the other classes cannot be held, so it is usually done around xmas in order to not affect comps etc.

Keeping things very simple is the key and also rewarding all the hard work of all the kids leaves no child feeling low.

Good luck with this, it can bring a lot of smiles.

 

[mariposa]

Our gym is hosting a meet this weekend and has one session for competitive rec kids. I will let you know how they ran it, if they had the same judges, etc. It is kind of new here and not sure if other gyms are participating or not. Hope so, as I am sure that will be fun for them.

 

[chinagirl]

Thanks everyone! There is a lot of good ideas in there. Mariposa, I'm definitely interested to see how your mock meet ran.

Unfortunately our competitive team is rather young, so I don't know if we can have the team judge. But I definitely have some ideas on where to look now.

Thanks again... keep sending ideas if you have any. The meet won't be until Feb, so I have plenty of time to plan.

 

[dmytv]

I am a coach for a small young gym but we do well in competitions because before each season I hold a mock meet and pay for a USAG judge to be there and give the girls feedback. For the rec girls I do more of a gym show in the spring.Where they show off their skills with a group routine or a " new skills I learned routine". They invite everyone they know, Grandma, etc., to watch the preformance. Then we premote those going to preteam and the team preforms for fun. It is a show with food and medals and lots of fun!