WAG Thoughts on the Florida Crown Championship

[Bug's mom]

Wondering if anyone has experience with the Florida Crown Championships they would like to share. Our gym is thinking about sending a group in 2018, and I'm curious about what to expect. It's quite a trip for us, so I'm hoping it's worth the effort. Has your DD or gym competed at the meet? What did you think of how it was run? Looks like a lot more compulsories than optionals last year...DD is optional, wondering about the caliber of the meet for > Level 6. Any suggestions for lodging and other things to do while there? TIA.

 

[amiandjim]

I don't know anything about this meet personally but just from looking, only 5 level 6s competed last year....I certainly wouldn't want to travel from Canada for that! The timing of it is a bit strange as well because state meets/regionals have mostly already occurred.

 

[Ali'sMom]

I haven't been to the meet, but I am guessing the reason for lack of many optionals is because it is held after States & Regionals. At my DD's gym, in the past, any meet held that late was used pretty much as a mobility meet. (we are local, and have been to other meets by USA competitions/Twisters)
You'll notice if you look at the girls in L7 last year, they are mostly from American Twisters, who just competed L6 for the season.
For optionals, I'm not sure how much competition the girls would have.

Is there a specific reason this meet was chosen for your gym? Are they open to a different one?

ETA: out of 287 gymnasts, 103 are from the host gym...

 

[wandrewsjr]

If you are looking for a meet in the US with any significant optional competition, you will need to pick a meet in Dec, Jan, Feb or March.

 

[vbdb]

The Magical Disney meet is in February. Our Ontario gym went there two years ago and considered it this year but weren’t able to make it work with the dates for the competition we host ourselves every year. It’s a fun meet, and pretty easy to fold into a Disney trip lots of families enjoy.

 

[Bug's mom]

Thanks everyone, great insight! I guess we have some limitations with scheduling, with our own season running from December through March, and Championships in early April. Makes it difficult to fit in a more prominent U.S. meet without taking away from our own season. Would there be any better options (mid-west to east coast) after the middle of April? Would have to be foreign sanctioned.

 

[NutterButter]

I'm in Minnesota. The large optional meets in the Twin Cities always have teams from Canada (I get so excited to hear O Canada and see the Canadian flag!). Meet season is the same as yours so that may not be of interest to you but one option could be Peppermint Twist. It's in early December but there is a decent showing of optional teams considering it's still pre-season. Peppermint Twist is always a favorite of the girls! Free Leo, cute decor, beautiful medals, lots of vendors.

 

[gymmomx2]

Thanks everyone, great insight! I guess we have some limitations with scheduling, with our own season running from December through March, and Championships in early April. Makes it difficult to fit in a more prominent U.S. meet without taking away from our own season. Would there be any better options (mid-west to east coast) after the middle of April? Would have to be foreign sanctioned.

Why not go sometime in January/Feb? Many Canadian gyms attend US meets in that time frame and just make it a part of their regular season schedule. If the gym schedules the provincial qualifiers accordingly, it's easily doable. For example, first qualifier in Nov/Dec, US meet in January, second and third qualifiers in Feb and early March.

Or... you could do US meet in December or early January and all 3 qualifiers after that.