Parents Does your state hand out anything at states?

[e'smum]

so interesting! at all the other meets we go to, there is a meet gift. but at states, no meet gift but the state pin which is handed out (and paid for) by the state of MA. i think last year for level 4 they went out about 40% as dd got medals for 3 events but not the 4th and if they'd gone out 50% she'd have placed on that event as well.

 

[twinmomma]

No meet gifts at State that I can recall. Our state does official state meet leos for girls who qualify, but they are NOT anywhere near free LOL.

 

[Aussie_coach]

Our competitions never give out any meet gifts.

 

[MILgymFAM]

Last year for L6 states you were asked to prepay a for states leotard that would be distributed at the meet. So I'm guessing (we switched gyms and didn't go) that it probably felt to some girls like they got ripped off, like some people got a meet gift and some did not.

Meanwhile, last year's state T&T meet didn't even have gifts- not even anything for sale. No leos, so t-shirts, nothing. I was surprised and my DD was disappointed she couldn't get a souvenir.

 

[e'smum]

Our competitions never give out any meet gifts.

we've been to meets in new york and new jersey. we got leos at both. so i know that 2 other states give them out. haha.
maybe it's a US thing. to be honest, the meet fees would be lower if they weren't handing out gifts. they aren't free. your meet fee is paying for it.

 

[twinmomma]

Last year for L6 states you were asked to prepay a for states leotard that would be distributed at the meet. So I'm guessing (we switched gyms and didn't go) that it probably felt to some girls like they got ripped off, like some people got a meet gift and some did not.

Meanwhile, last year's state T&T meet didn't even have gifts- not even anything for sale. No leos, so t-shirts, nothing. I was surprised and my DD was disappointed she couldn't get a souvenir.

Oy. I'll make sure I set expectations appropriately.

 

[Deleted member 18037]

we've been to meets in new york and new jersey. we got leos at both. so i know that 2 other states give them out. haha.
maybe it's a US thing. to be honest, the meet fees would be lower if they weren't handing out gifts. they aren't free. your meet fee is paying for it.

We too do meets in NY and NJ. We have gotten meet gifts. Never a leo though.

 

[GymMom4]

The girls don't get anything at our State meets. There is a leotard the girls wear for the meet that they pick up beforehand but the cost is included in the meet fee.

 

[Aussie_coach]

I am not a fan of the "everybody gets something to take home" philosophy. It goes along with our times of everyone gets a trophy. Kids don't always need to get something just because they did something, that is not a great lesson to teach our young people.

Our comps don't give out goodie bags, souvenirs, certificate,s ribbons, medals or trophies. They give place awards for the top 6, regardless of the size of the divisions. We don't split each level into 20 age divisions either. In a level 7 comp it is just all level 7's in together, top 6 get an awards and everyone else goes home empty handed. At the most there might be two age divisions in the big levels like level 4. Kids might be competing against over 100 kids, so must kids go home without something in their hands.

As a parent I would be annoyed to pay those expensive entry fees so my kid can always get given a prize.

 

[MILgymFAM]

I understand your perspective Aussie_Coach, but it has been our experience that the meet fees aren't really affected by the swag- same registration fee range for the meets that handed out a leo/shirt/shorts as the ones that handed out nothing. I'd much rather lower fees with no swag, but I guess if I'm paying the same regardless I'll take the leos or shirts.

 

[e'smum]

I understand your perspective Aussie_Coach, but it has been our experience that the meet fees aren't really affected by the swag- same registration fee range for the meets that handed out a leo/shirt/shorts as the ones that handed out nothing. I'd much rather lower fees with no swag, but I guess if I'm paying the same regardless I'll take the leos or shirts.

i've never been to a meet that didn't hand out something so i assume that meet fees are covering it - i don't think a gym hands out hundreds of swag gifts for free. i also know meet fees vary for us. not every meet fee is the same but i assume that also depends on the location of the meet, not the cost of the gift.
i had no clue any of it happened until dd had her first meet and got a fun camelback water bottle. nothing like 50 girls showing up the next day at practice with the same exact bottle!

the swag gift does in no way compensate those girls who do not get up on the podium. everyone wants to be up there getting a medal. no one is pacified with the swag gift in that sense. but i still think it's a fun part of the meets.

 

[MILgymFAM]

i've never been to a meet that didn't hand out something so i assume that meet fees are covering it - i don't think a gym hands out hundreds of swag gifts for free. i also know meet fees vary for us. not every meet fee is the same but i assume that also depends on the location of the meet, not the cost of the gift.
i had no clue any of it happened until dd had her first meet and got a fun camelback water bottle. nothing like 50 girls showing up the next day at practice with the same exact bottle!

the swag gift does in no way compensate those girls who do not get up on the podium. everyone wants to be up there getting a medal. no one is pacified with the swag gift in that sense. but i still think it's a fun part of the meets.

We have definitely had meets with no gift at all. The fees were no less than other meets. Must be location specific. Whether a meet was at a gym, a small venue, or a convention center.. whether there was no gift, q water bottle, or a leo.. we've always paid similar entry fees. There is no $50 meets at a gym with no gift that we've been lucky enough to attend. I wouldn't mind if there were, but we haven't had that.

 

[cadybearsmommy]

I am not a fan of the "everybody gets something to take home" philosophy. It goes along with our times of everyone gets a trophy. Kids don't always need to get something just because they did something, that is not a great lesson to teach our young people.

Our comps don't give out goodie bags, souvenirs, certificate,s ribbons, medals or trophies. They give place awards for the top 6, regardless of the size of the divisions. We don't split each level into 20 age divisions either. In a level 7 comp it is just all level 7's in together, top 6 get an awards and everyone else goes home empty handed. At the most there might be two age divisions in the big levels like level 4. Kids might be competing against over 100 kids, so must kids go home without something in their hands.

As a parent I would be annoyed to pay those expensive entry fees so my kid can always get given a prize.

I definitely see your input but on the flip side since the big meets around here do charge around $75-110 per kid, I feel like for that price they should leave with something lol. Now if they were offering us a dirt cheap entry fee but no prizes that would be another story. Although, strangely enough I have seen that sometimes the smaller meets give more in terms of awards, we have got some of the nicest prizes and had some of the nicest experiences at meets that costed $50-$60 and were held in a host gym. Sure space was limited but the staff were much more friendly, the meet ran on time, door admission was reasonable the age groups were small (8-9 girls in each age group) and they gave out 100% medals along with some sort of t shirt, etc. They seemed to care more about the kids having fun than just making a buck. Then we've been to meets that charge twice the price for both the entry fee and admission, only to have them be rude to us at check in, have the meet be disorganized and running late, no gifts and 30 plus kids in an age group. And these are the meets we have to drive 3 plus hours to get to.

Give me the nice local meet any day!

In reference to the original post, our state meet gives everyone a state championship tshirt and give out the minimum medal requirements per state rules. That usually means Xcel and compulsories get 50% plus 1 for events and 100% AA while optionals get 50% plus one for events and AA. They also give seniors some kind of special recognition gift not sure what it is, I think it varies from year to year.

We are going to our first meet this weekend that actually gives out a leo for the prize and dd is so excited as she's never got one at a meet before!

 

[Deleted member 18037]

I am not a fan of the "everybody gets something to take home" philosophy. It goes along with our times of everyone gets a trophy. Kids don't always need to get something just because they did something, that is not a great lesson to teach our young people.

Our comps don't give out goodie bags, souvenirs, certificate,s ribbons, medals or trophies. They give place awards for the top 6, regardless of the size of the divisions. We don't split each level into 20 age divisions either. In a level 7 comp it is just all level 7's in together, top 6 get an awards and everyone else goes home empty handed. At the most there might be two age divisions in the big levels like level 4. Kids might be competing against over 100 kids, so must kids go home without something in their hands.

As a parent I would be annoyed to pay those expensive entry fees so my kid can always get given a prize.

I can tell you from our states POV, they give a participation medal because you qualified. Their is a min score to get there and that is an accomplishment. And I get that. Everyone technically earned their way there. We found the same at regionals in our area.

In other more local meets we are mostly (not always) beyond the you get something for showing up.

 

[suebee]

I've noticed on a minimal difference in meet fees based on the location of the meet, although I think that in-house meets have slightly lower meet fees around here, but only slightly lower.

But the entry fees are always much more expensive at the convention centers than everywhere else. I assumed that's how they made up for the difference in cost of renting the space.

I see the meet gifts as sort of a souvenir. I am not a big souvenir person so I would not mind if they didn't get them and the price was cheaper, but the kids do seem to like the gifts, even if just for a second or two. My dd finally got a Leo as a meet gift and was very happy, even though I personally thought the Leo was sort of ugly. It's certainly not only she would have chosen to buy.

 

[Deleted member 18037]

Last thing we need her is another plastic water bottle we will never ever use. As we have enough pen/pencil abberations.

 

[FlippinLilysMom]

MN state meets the girls all get a plaque

 

[e'smum]

Last thing we need her is another plastic water bottle we will never ever use. As we have enough pen/pencil abberations.

the camelbak water bottle we got was a $15 water bottle and very nice with the meet logo on it. dd used it as her water bottle at the gym for a long while and now i use it when i go to the gym. with one in dance and one in gymnastics and me going to my gym to work out, we go through a lot of them as they don't last forever. that was at a regular meet though. not the state one.

 

[e'smum]

We have definitely had meets with no gift at all. The fees were no less than other meets. Must be location specific. Whether a meet was at a gym, a small venue, or a convention center.. whether there was no gift, q water bottle, or a leo.. we've always paid similar entry fees. There is no $50 meets at a gym with no gift that we've been lucky enough to attend. I wouldn't mind if there were, but we haven't had that.

honestly, i don't know what our meet costs are. i think they are in the $100-$150 range. we do not attend any help in a private gym. the ones we go to are always at a rented venue. so that contributes to meet costs. since i've never been to a meet that doesn't hand out a swag gift, i have no idea how to even compare. i honestly thought it was odd at first that they handed out the gifts when dd first started competing. she's just now starting to wear one of the sweatshirts she got at her 1st meet ever. she has another sweatshirt and a pair of sweatpants i don't think she's ever worn.

 

[M2Abi]

For state, everyone gets a plaque with sticker placements for events and AA and a pin.