Does your gym host any meets?

[starmaker]

If so, what is expected from you as a parent? How many volunteers hours are you expected to do? Do you still have to pay entry and team fees for your gymmie? I am just curious because our gym is hosting a couple meets this year and I was wondering if there was a norm?

 

[mariposa]

We host 2 meets, one in fall and one in spring. We have to pay entry fees and we also have to work the meet. We were told approx 10 hours each meet, but it depends on how many parents there are, how many sessions, etc. We also don't get to choose, names are drawn.

They also need volunteers to chair committes (I am doing the raffle for fall meet, yikes), we must donate items for the raffle and get donations for the concessions (if we don't, it comes out of our booster club account).

It doesn't seem very fun, but I guess if no one hosted meets, our gymmies couldn't compete. For every meet our kids go to, someone is hosting it. It seems to be part of the "fun" of having a daughter in competitive gymnastics. LOL.

 

[gym law mom]

We host 1 meet during the compulsory season and 1 during optional season. The state association limits each gym to only one meet per season. The booster club hosts the meets(not the gym) so we do have to set up/tear down, work the sessions, do hospitality etc.

This year we got a bad weekend for the compulsory meet(the weekend right after Labor Day) and only had enough gyms come to do 2 sessions. Ended up most parents only worked 1 session(timer, scorer etc) and donate some food for hospitality. The hours worked all go toward our volunteer hours for the year. For us its a fund raiser although we didn't do nearly as well this year with only a 2 session meet.

I'm honestly not sure if our teams have to pay to compete since the booster club pays all the team/meet fees anyway-----kinda of like just taking money out and putting it back in the same account. At our old gym, the host teams did have to pay to compete, but there the meet was run by the gym.

 

[hammy]

I just got home from a weekend of hosting a meet! We have all of the parents work three sessions (including meet set up and tear down), and they use it as a fundraiser for the booster club.

 

[starmaker]

We had a short meeting this weekend about volunteering. It sounded like alot of work. I don't mind volunteering but asking us to pay on top of all of our time seemed off to me but I guess not. Gymnastics just seems to be an all around expensive, time consuming sport for the whole family....

I am sure I will enjoy just as well....!

 

[Drowning123gone]

We are hosting a meet in Jan actually and will have 250+ competitor turnout - our biggest so far.

Our parents are expected to volunteer during the sessions that their kids are not competing. There is no set hours that they have to help, its just be here at this time and you are here until everything is finished. As far as I know parents that help do get into the meet for free but they still have to pay the fee for their child to compete.

 

[gymdog]

Meet fees are pretty much always paid, that is pretty standard in my experience, they need that money for upfront costs related to the actual competition. In smaller invites the host gym can be making up most of the competitors, if no one paid the meet fee it wouldn't work very well.

A lot of gyms have it so that concession profit is going through the booster club, and that is what parents are mostly volunteering for, also other things to keep the meet running smooth so people want to come, and uh, buy concessions? But the BC is making some profit off these events in most cases, generally hence the parent participation requirements. In some teams once your child is old enough to independently help they can be the volunteer but in my experience this age is usually set at like 15+ or something.

The volunteer doesn't pay the session fee but we only do that at outside venues in my state anyway (to defray the venue cost)...have always been a little taken aback out of state to see other gyms charging like $10 per person for a meet held in their gym.

 

[all-aroundgirl]

At my gym, parents are required to do volunteer work at meets we host. Each job is worth so many points and if you reach 20 points before a set date then you are ok. If you don't reach that many points then you have to pay $200. Sounds crazy but it actually works so that we get volunteers from our team and don't have to go looking for any.

 

[gbots_gymnast]

nope

nope our gym doesnt host any!!!!

 

[Tumblequeensmom]

Hey Gymdog.... as you know I'm in Virginia as well... AND our gym actually charged admission at the door last year for our hosted meet! Can you believe it??? A whole bunch of us parents argued that it wasn't the "norm" to do that unless it was held at a separate venue... but guess what? The owners shot us down! We're hosting two meets this year and you guessed it, the owners will be charging admission to our little gym! It will be interesting to see if that factors in how many gyms come to our spring forward classic meet in March!

 

[gymdog]

Really, well in my experience people get kind of annoyed here about that. I have heard a couple HC/O's say they would do it only if they were raising money for a charity (which has been done). Otherwise it just kind of annoys people. They can't bring their whole family, it's too expensive for gymnasts and families to watch other sessions, etc. I am pretty sure the decision for state meets awhile ago was no entrance fees unless it's an outside venue. Of course they are pretty much all at outside venues now that they are combined levels so much so I guess it doesn't matter much! But as recently as about two/three years ago many of the state meets were still held on-site at gyms and there was no entrance fee. Not sure if there is still a policy on that though.

 

[gymmomntc2e6]

Our gym does not host any meets. However, EVERY meet we have been to has charged an admission fee to get in and watch. I would say the normal fee is $5 per adult and $3 per child. I don't really mind a whole lot as I assume the meet fee the gymnast pays is going to pay for judges, coaches food area etc. The concession and entrance fee would be raising $ for the booster club.

 

[all-aroundgirl]

Hey Gymdog.... as you know I'm in Virginia as well... AND our gym actually charged admission at the door last year for our hosted meet! Can you believe it??? A whole bunch of us parents argued that it wasn't the "norm" to do that unless it was held at a separate venue... but guess what? The owners shot us down! We're hosting two meets this year and you guessed it, the owners will be charging admission to our little gym! It will be interesting to see if that factors in how many gyms come to our spring forward classic meet in March!

That's just wrong!