How can I take my daughter to meets that our gym does not go to???

[small~town~gym~mom]

Hello,

My daughter is a level 5 gymnast and is very competitive; However our gym is a smaller gym and usually only competes in smaller meets. I would love to have our girls or my daughter go to some of the bigger meets so we could see some other gymnast from the state and out of state. Our gym does not seem very open to the idea and the coaches dont seem to really want to travel. Changing gyms is not an option as the nearest one is 2 1/2 hours away. Is there a way for me as a parent to become certified so I can take my daughter to these other meets? Do I have to be affiliated with our gym to take her to a meet? Please help!!!

 

[bogwoppit]

Welcome to the Chalkbucket. You are not alone with this issue, we have many members here who are in remotish locations and also have to work with what they've got.

Without your gyms agreement there is no way you could take gymnasts to meets. The gymnasts need a coach who can safely spot them through all of their routines and skills at a meet. To become a L5 coach would take quite some time and you would need to work at your childs gym to learn the skills needed.

My girls only do 3 meets a year, they still love gym, sometimes just having to accept that your location puts limits on what is possible is the only way, besides moving house of course! I too have meet envy though, when I read, and see, about the meets some of the families go to I wish my girls could do the same, but that is not going to happen, 'cos I'm not moving!!!

 

[AGM78910]

Found this on the USAG website

B. Participation

Any USA Gymnastics' activity or event should be open to any member properly qualified under the rules of that activity or event, and every member participating in a USA Gymnastics' activity or event has an obligation to participate to the best of their abilities. It is inconsistent with this obligation for any member to:

1. Restrict the ability of a member to qualify for or participate in competition because of the member's association with a particular organization or individual or because of that member's race, sex, creed, sexual orientation, age, national origin or mental or physical disability.

Does this mean that you can compete without being associated with a gym?

 

[small~town~gym~mom]

Thanks for that...I will have to look into it more. I dont mind being affiliated with our gym...I love the gym besides the fact we dont travel much. Just looking for a way to make it so she can see more gymnast and compete against the best.

 

[gym law mom]

To me the key words in the participation post are "properly qualified." This would pull in Bog's point about mom being qualified to coach per USAG criteria/standards.

To the OP, are you the only family in the gym that wants to go to bigger meets or are others anxious to try this also. Have the coaches given a solid reason why they don't want to travel? Did they have a bad experience in the past or feel parents/gym can't afford it?

I would try and get some interest from other parents and have a casual meeting with the coaches about trying a bigger meet in state for next season. Starting by just staying in state might be more acceptable than suggesting a meet involving flying, hotels etc. If you and others are interested, then offer to set up some fund raising to offset costs. They may buy into the idea if they don't have to do all the work.

 

[small~town~gym~mom]

I believe the gym just cant afford the traveling expenses for our coaches and most have other jobs besides being a gym coach. I would be more than happy to get some fund raising going and have mentioned it several times. I just get the feeling the coaches are content with what we are doing. We have some girls with great talent and could really shine in big meets (not just my own). Thanks for the reply

 

[flippersmom]

I have a professional membership and have been on the floor at meets to help coaches from our gym as far as keeping girls lined up in order, attending the coaches meeting so our coach could warm up the girls. etc.

Although I can be on the floor, I would never try to coach the girls. I am not a coach, and am not qualified to coach. I do not know equipment setting or proper spotting. If this is something you are interested in, I would suggest you look into becoming a certified coach through USAG, especially if you think about taking any children other than your own. If you went on the floor as their coach, you'd be responsible for them.

It also wouldn't be fair to take them and except other coaches to help you and spot/set equipment.

When we have done travel meets, we have always paid the coaches for their travel and time away. I would not expect them to want to go if they had to pay or missed wages from another job without being compensated. I would imagine if the girls used their leos/warm-ups with the gym name, you would also need permission from your gym.

Good luck. I hope you are able to attend a larger meet. We are lucky and have several in our state that we can choose from without having to travel far.

 

[bookworm]

Would it be possible for you to bring your daughter to some of these meets as a spectator? That way she could see the girls compete and see a bigger meet. If you don't do many meets as a gym, the schedule probably wouldn't be an issue.

I wouldn't worry about getting her into big meets yet as a Level 5...worry about her getting coached on the proper basics so that some day when she reaches Levels 9 or 10 (even in her little gym) she will be qualified and prepared to compete with the others at Regionals, Easterns/Westerns and Nationals!!

 

[small~town~gym~mom]

I absolutely wouldnt expect the coaches to miss work or pay out of their own pocket.... it was just to put into perspective the type of gym we are at.

 

[coachmolly]

A lot of gyms worry, especially these days, that putting travel meets on the schedule will cause people to leave because they just can't afford it. Bigger meets often involve many sessions which means coaches need to stay for an entire weekend. Gyms typically finance these trips, but if you are at a smaller gym the budget just might not be there for this to happen.
My suggestion would be to see if the gym is willing to add an optional meet to the schedule. This way interested families could pursue it but there would be no pressure for those who couldn't afford it. One way I've seen it done is to put 5 or 6 meets on the schedule (not including sectionals/states) and say that only 4 of those meets are required. From there have the participating families contribute to the coaches travel fund either through a set fee, fundraising, etc. The first gym I trained at would sometimes try to find families to drive the coach to/from the meet to cut that expense for the gym. A lot of bigger meets have good hospitality areas for coaches as far as meals go, so that would cut down food costs. This just leaves the one or two nights at a hotel which split between several families can be pretty affordable.
See if you can find any other parents who would be interested and do some research on bigger meets in your area. Most states have at least one decent sized invitational a year, so I imagine you could find something within reasonable driving distance.
I always hated that my gyms never seemed to go to the big meets very often and feel like I missed out sometimes, so I know how you feel.

 

[gymjourneymom]

Welcome to CB! Just wondering, does your gym participate in your state's " L5 state meet"? If so, your DD will be against the best in the state there for sure! Our gym didn't compete at "states" until L5. That was my DD's 1st "big" meet and it was at the end of her L5 season. Our coaches didn't want to put too much competitive pressure on the girls at too young of an age(prior to L5). We also didn't go out of state until L6 & even that was only 1 meet in the next state over(easy drive). Now she's an optional level & they travel all over the place! Just wondering if the traveling progresses at your gym, as the levels go up? Or do the optional levels not travel either?

 

[gymch34]

I doubt your gym/coaches would go for this, I know I would not. It would not be good for your daughter at all. You are not her coach, and you should not take her to meets. Please stay in your role as "MOM."

Its a pat on the back to your coaches that they make coaching look so easy- you really do need to be knowledgeable to coach Level 5- its not just taking the kid to a meet and having them do their thing".

You also have to be a USAG professional member- and must take the safety test & pass a background check-plus pay your dues- so much more than being affiliated w/ a gym.

 

[Deleted member D3987]

listen, and take no offense, it is a ridiculous idea/request. and for alot of reasons.

the simplest thing to do is discuss this with your gym. have them set it up with another club owner. you guys incur the costs and pay the other gyms coaches fees, etc;

this kind of thing is done all the time. i have lost count how many 'favors' i have done for my colleagues when they ran into pregnancy, illness, death in the family, etc; the show goes on and most of us are willing to help.

 

[emandelsmom]

My daughters gym is small. Tiny. I love it. We do go to 4 or 5 meets a year. Some out of state and some in, but honestly they are all the same. the judges in our state are the same ones at every meet here. The girls are some of the same as well. Out of state same thing. The only advantage that out of state has is the place may be bigger. But like I said the rest is the same. Take you daughter to watch some college meets. That might be fun and show her what she is working toward.

Have fun and enjoy!

 

[BlairBob]

Imo, 4-5 meets per season is just fine. For compulsories, the season is about 2 months of competition to possibly 3 at longest besides meets such as zones, states, regionals, and nationals (quite often there are 2-3 weeks between states/regionals/nationals).

I saw a local gym is competing 8-9x for their optionals. Ouch. That's a long season besides the cost and time.

4-5 meets allows for a meet every other weekend or back to back at best. Meets 3 weekends in a row-SUCKS. This allows for time to go back to training on working out possible errors or mishaps in the routines. Doing that many meets can often lead to burnout, on either the gymnast or their family or their coach.

Ask the coach and gym about it. They may feel they do the local meets to keep costs down, or to allow for more training time during the season or their own schedules.

AFAIK, many compulsory teams try to compete as local as possible with perhaps 1 away meet. When they hit optionals, they may go on more travel meets.

They may also be trying to compete at the smaller meets to boost the athlete's abilities to score and medal in the beginning of their career. This is good for those levels of 4&5, and even 6. By L6, quite a lot of the culling has already happened.

 

[MdGymMom01]

I agree that 4-5 meets is plenty in a season. For the MDL in our gym we go to 6 meets total running from Dec thru May including championships, so it evens out to about 1 meet per month. This is perfect for my daughter and her teammates. When she was doing All-Star cheer we were going to about 10-12 comps a season and some of the comps were back to back for 2 or 3 weekends in a row and it was BRUTAL. Also, traveling can really take a toll out of you and the gymnast. A lot of DD's cheer teammates became burnt out after about 3 years and HAD to take a break from cheering because of burnout or injury.

I love the once a month meet because it gives the girls plenty of time to train and clean up routines and perfect skills and by the time the next meet rolls around they are ready to compete without being too anxious.

I wouldn't try to interfere with your gym's meet schedule too much--it makes one look like you are stepping on toes and undermining their coaching ability. The poster that mentioned going and watching some meets as a spectator is a great idea. Sometimes watching kids do routines and skills will reinforce just as well as actually doing them. And also--it gives your dd a chance to sit back and enjoy gymnastics as a spectator once in a while!