USAG headscratcher ...

[bookworm]

Soooo, I just saw that USAG is planning for the "first combined USA Gymnastics Development Program National Championships"in Daytona Beach, Florida on May 11-16, 2021 ... for Women's Level 10 and Men's levels 8, 9 and 10 ..."more than 1500 athletes are expected to compete" ..besides the Haney and Azarian decisions, this is another head scratcher. It seems as if NCAA will be lucky to get in a season with teams in bubbles, masked, practicing outside and 6 feet away from each other and that season should "end" in April but USAG thinks the Covid fairy is coming to make things fine to host a meet for 1500 gymnasts the next month in May?!

Combining men and women seems premature when there's a question of an in person meet season to begin with (ours up here have been virtual so far) but heck, if we have to have virtual with 200 gymnasts, I am totally seeing the logic that 1500 in person will be just fine...not.

And why the name change? To make us think it's not JOs ?

 

[wandrewsjr]

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And why the name change? To make us think it's not JOs ?

USOC started enforcing copywrite restrictions what programs could use the term “Olympic”. The program that was formerly called Junior Olympic is now the USAG Development Program. No more using the term “JO’s”.

 

[bookworm]

So copyright issues are the USOC's biggest concern with all the crap going on in USAG? I now see how this is all happening..

 

[gymgal]

I don't see a problem with this. It is such a big event that they will need time to plan for it. Doesn't mean that it will actually take place. But theoretically, they could pull this off with social distancing, only judges, coaches, and gymnasts allowed, proof of negative tests, bubbling everyone for several days, requiring quarantining when they get back home etc. It can be done.

 

[Kelly99]

My question is what about areas that don't have states/regionals? I'm not confident that some of the qualifying meets will happen.

 

[skschlag]

My question is what about areas that don't have states/regionals? I'm not confident that some of the qualifying meets will happen.

I know last season when state/regionals were cancelled, they were doing a video verification for nationals. That could be an option. I think we just have to roll with whatever happens and/or can be held in whatever format this year.

 

[pt coach]

Soooo, I just saw that USAG is planning for the "first combined USA Gymnastics Development Program National Championships"in Daytona Beach, Florida on May 11-16, 2021 ... for Women's Level 10 and Men's levels 8, 9 and 10 ..."more than 1500 athletes are expected to compete" ..besides the Haney and Azarian decisions, this is another head scratcher. It seems as if NCAA will be lucky to get in a season with teams in bubbles, masked, practicing outside and 6 feet away from each other and that season should "end" in April but USAG thinks the Covid fairy is coming to make things fine to host a meet for 1500 gymnasts the next month in May?!

Combining men and women seems premature when there's a question of an in person meet season to begin with (ours up here have been virtual so far) but heck, if we have to have virtual with 200 gymnasts, I am totally seeing the logic that 1500 in person will be just fine...not.

And why the name change? To make us think it's not JOs ?

I had the same question. I understand that in normal times it could make sense to combine the national meets, but it seems strange to try to do so this year. I am certainly hoping that things are much better in May, but scheduling a 1500 athlete meet seems maybe a little too optimistic.

 

[ReluctantGymMom]

It’s happening in Florida - there will be no bubbling or quarantining, there are no restrictions and the county it’s in I believe removed their mask ordinance as well. I know it had been planned last year for Florida too, but Florida was def a convenient choice this time around if they’re trying to avoid needing to follow many safety protocols.

 

[rjb123]

Well it is in May, and many experts are predicting that vaccines will be available to the masses by April. That was with one vaccine so with more than one on the horizon it seems likely that May "could" work. That said, my personal opinion would be to push the post season back by a month or six weeks to allow time for the dust to settle. Also they chose Florida, where it is wide open with no restrictions so it is a sure bet that they can have it there.

 

[mommyof1]

Well it is in May, and many experts are predicting that vaccines will be available to the masses by April. That was with one vaccine so with more than one on the horizon it seems likely that May "could" work. That said, my personal opinion would be to push the post season back by a month or six weeks to allow time for the dust to settle. Also they chose Florida, where it is wide open with no restrictions so it is a sure bet that they can have it there.

The Pfizer vaccine confers protection 28 days after the first dose, so in this scenario the meet participants would basically all have to get the vaccine on the very first day it was offered in order for the vaccine to affect the safety of the meet. That does not seem likely.

 

[doublestrike]

Ya, doubling participants and spectators during a pandemic is just sheer idiocy. Even in a normal year getting hotels and airfare would be tough given those numbers. I don’t see it happening in May but maybe if they push it back. Too many big regions can’t hold qualifiers.

 

[skschlag]

Ya, doubling participants and spectators during a pandemic is just sheer idiocy. Even in a normal year getting hotels and airfare would be tough given those numbers. I don’t see it happening in May but maybe if they push it back. Too many big regions can’t hold qualifiers.

So, they are not planned to be in the same gym. There are 2 separate halls in the convention center, running 2 separate meets. Just the same location.

I hope if they hold it they don't push it back too much. PLus, I think they would have to make that call now, as it is hard to reschedule something that large. And, for those graduating, it would take them out of it most likely

 

[Geoffrey Taucer]

Just for the sake of discussion I'm going to ignore the pandemic/elephant in the room

I think combining the men's and women's nationals is an excellent idea. I think the programs are currently too separated, and there is great benefit to be had from bringing MAG and WAG coaches together at an event. Getting all those coaches together in the same city for a weekend and making it easy for them to watch each others' athletes at the top level could really encourage exchange of ideas and methods in a way that doesn't happen enough right now.

However, planning an event with 1500 athletes (plus coaches and parents) in May shows considerably more optimism than I have at this point.

 

[bookworm]

Well it is in May, and many experts are predicting that vaccines will be available to the masses by April. That was with one vaccine so with more than one on the horizon it seems likely that May "could" work. That said, my personal opinion would be to push the post season back by a month or six weeks to allow time for the dust to settle. Also they chose Florida, where it is wide open with no restrictions so it is a sure bet that they can have it there.

I figured the "anything goes " mentality of the Florida government was a big draw for the location but in terms of the vaccine availability, just putting it out there that the 1500 gymnasts aren't goin to be at the top of the CDC totem pole when they start giving them out. I heard on NPR this morning that there are 21 million health care workers and the 3 million+ nursing home residents that are going to be at the head of the list ...not to say that kids won't get the vaccine in 2021 , but the timeliness for an event in May may not happen.

 

[gymgal]

While Florida itself has minimal restrictions, and likely why it was chosen as a location, that doesn't mean that the meet directors cannot enforce stricter precautionary policies. It is possible to run this safely. If WDW and Universal can run their parks safely in the middle of a pandemic (no outbreaks since opening in July) then so can a meet director. I was just down there and was very impressed with how both entities handled their policies. Airports too. It's not about the money spent on cleaning either. It's about social distancing and mask wearing when SD can't be done, which can easily be achieved if everyone is on board with following the rules. Don't want to follow the rules, what ever they may be? Don't attend. Simple as that.

 

[MuggleMom]

From what I heard from a friend that lives and works in Orlando Disney and Universal are not as "safe" and "covid free" as one would imagine or that is being reported. He made it sound like staff just stay home if they are sick and either dont get tested or dont report results. This is all hearsay though so please take that in consideration when evaluating the information. Generally speaking though I think their policies and safeguards do make it safer than no precautions at all.

I agree there needs to be strict rules and follow them or dont attend, but you need to release those rules sooner rather than later so people can plan to attend or not. Why fly the whole family out to see it if there is an attendance limit for example or you cant watch in person or something like that. I think there should probably be some sort of alternative qualification process as well as the availability of meets to compete in and qualify will vary across the country based on state guidelines for sport. Everything can't be fair given the current climate but you want to try and make the opportunity as available as possible to those who want to try and participate.

 

[Cheryl]

We aren’t allowed to attend out of state sporting events unless child quarantined for 10 days afterward. I can’t see making my kid have to do all remote to go to a meet. For kids who are looking for college opportunities it’s a good idea to have a big national meet, and I like the idea of combining men’s and women’s meets.

 

[gymgal]

From what I heard from a friend that lives and works in Orlando Disney and Universal are not as "safe" and "covid free" as one would imagine or that is being reported. He made it sound like staff just stay home if they are sick and either dont get tested or dont report results. This is all hearsay though so please take that in consideration when evaluating the information. Generally speaking though I think their policies and safeguards do make it safer than no precautions at all.

It is impossible to be truly covid free unless everyone is in a bubble. The concern is with outbreaks. I was speaking along the lines of guest outbreaks, which would be determined through contact tracing in all the different states. We are not seeing this from the parks or from the airlines. From my experience there, the staff keep safe distance from the guests so even if they have been exposed, the chance of transmission to the guests are very minimal.

 

[Cheryl]

A very large, record outbreak occurred in South Dakota and surrounding states because of a giant bike rally. We don’t have an effective contact tracing, we don’t have uniform mask policies, we don’t have uniform restrictions on gatherings,so we have no way of assessing if the people we come in contact with have exposure. When you add that to a state like FL, which is COVID protection hostile, you are asking for a super spreader event. The only way we can be safe and not have to live in a bubble is for everyone to actually be proactive in staying safe. Having a big event that requires travel from many states and likely close contact, just means we all have to spend more time restricted and worry more about catching it.

 

[rjb123]

I figured the "anything goes " mentality of the Florida government was a big draw for the location but in terms of the vaccine availability, just putting it out there that the 1500 gymnasts aren't goin to be at the top of the CDC totem pole when they start giving them out. I heard on NPR this morning that there are 21 million health care workers and the 3 million+ nursing home residents that are going to be at the head of the list ...not to say that kids won't get the vaccine in 2021 , but the timeliness for an event in May may not happen.

No but numbers will hopefully be falling by then with people getting vaccinated. So less community spread as a whole. And some of the girls might have gotten it- my DD is considered a high risk individual so she may actually be phase 2 in our state. Of course who know what will actually happen!