WAG Reasonable time to get a meet schedule. VENT!

[munchkin3]

munchkin3, seriously no need to jump down my throat for simply pointing out the rule. If you've ever run a meet before, you know it is not easy. These meets are almost always put on by booster clubs and parents, i.e. people who understand the expense of this sport, so no one is trying to screw with "your" money. We are all in the same boat as parents. You never know why they were late...maybe they have an entirely new board this year, maybe there were issues with the venue or the meet schedule software. Maybe they typically don't have a load of participants that travel by air (we are driving). I am sure they are trying and not purposefully being inconsiderate. We are going to the same meet, and I was waiting as anxiously as you when the date kept changing, but I actually felt we got it earlier than we've gotten others in the past. Unfortunately this sport is expensive. I can only afford to have one kid in the sport, personally, and sometimes struggle to pay my bills. We've driven to florida 4 times because we can't afford to fly, especially with last minute schedule changes. But it's the nature of the beast.

And yes, individual gyms will vote with their dollars, which is a good thing.

Sorry bachflyer....I was actually agreeing with you. I understand the complication running meets, I promise........this is just a vent. Also, I don't think you understand my sense of humor which is very sarcastic at times. Ummmm I'm kinda confused at your take on all of this really.
It's is stressful getting you kid to a big event with plane tickets and stressed out parents...I'm sure ill get over it fine..........these are planned by big important people, that work gymnastics...and sometimes gyms can get a bit high and mighty actually........I'm just a parent, trying to get the best deal I can on plane tickets....just like you and every other parent.

The worst one I went to once was in 2007, a state meet.....required a 4 hr drive, and the host posted the schedule the Monday before the meet.....5 days before.....that was downright mishandled.

 

[skschlag]

We had one..3 hour drive through the mountains. We got the schedule 2 weeks ahead, and then the THURSDAY before the meet, they changed the times. D went from competing Saturday at 6pm (meaning we could go up Saturday) to Saturday at 9am. Luckily we had already planned the weekend, so it was not a big deal but for some families it was quite a problem.

 

[munchkin3]

Crazy skschlag, what we do for our kids! But in the end it's all worth it no?
You guys are going to the Disney meet?

 

[skschlag]

We are doing Presidential, yes

 

[munchkin3]

That's a great meet! Especially for the boys!
Very well run!

 

[skschlag]

That's a great meet! Especially for the boys!
Very well run!

and we already have the schedule (sorry...couldn't resist! ; )

 

[munchkin3]

Lol.....god forbid, you can actually plan a vacation AROUND gymnastics????? You mean gymnastics is only but a small part of why you are going to Florida??? LOL!!!!! You are not planning on an entire weekend revolving around gymnastics?????
You are going to have a GREAT time!!! they know how to please kids, and their paying parents! You won't be disappointed......poorer, yes.

 

[MAcastsalot]

@skschlag thanks for the heads up on the Presidential schedule. I hadn't checked because it wasn't supposed to be up until after the new year. Off to buy park tickets!

 

[MeetDirector]

I have been holding off replying to this thread for many reasons, but figure its time.

First, I am not here to make any excuses for poor meet planning, but I will say that until you have actually put together a meet you can't know what goes on behind the scenes. The time it takes to put together a meet schedule is impacted by many, many things; some within the control of the meet director and some not. An accepted standard to get a meet schedule out is a couple of weeks after the entry deadline; but this can be impacted by a ton of things.

I don't know which meet caused the origination of this thread, but having been a gym parent I can say I feel your pain. My personal angst in the past came from one of the biggest meets - Chicago Style. But, when you stop to think about what they have to do to assemble a schedule you realize it takes a herculean effort; now combine that with the fact that they are all volunteers that have day jobs and you can see why it can take some time. This year, Chicago did an absolutely amazing job getting their schedule out early; but, having done that they now have to cope with schedule changes due to late entries and, probably the most difficult, level changes. Why would clubs change levels, you ask? You have to remember that the optional season really doesn't begin until January and the initial level for an optional gymnast submitted on the entry form may change once routines are finalized which is after the entry deadline.

Let me close by saying that there is absolutely no reason why an initial schedule can't be published within a few weeks after the entry deadline. This is especially true for a big travel meet. If this happened to us, you can bet that we would not be going back to that meet and I would make sure our head coach let the meet organizers know. However, you have to allow for extenuating circumstances causing a delay. It sucks, I agree, but sometimes it happens and as a parent you have to plan for the worst case. We did that many times and found ourselves really liking some cities that we would never have spent any time in of our own choosing (Bartlesville, OK, for example).

 

[munchkin3]

Perfect timing Meetdirector! and well said.......this is a VENT thread, not an outright attack on specific competitions and host gyms.
there are parents all over the country going to meets that are stressed out with the travel planning. Some competitions have done a better job than others with their schedules. We will still show up, and our kids will still be ready. It comes with the territory really....
It does feel good to vent and hear others stories....it somehow makes your own predicament seem much more acceptable
I already took the 'worst case' into consideration and changed my flights.....i feel better already.

 

[MeetDirector]

Munchkin -

When we were new to the travel side of this sport we tried to time things down to a fine edge. An old head at the gym passed on a lesson that resulted in us just biting the bullet and blocking the whole weekend. We would routinely travel on Friday morning and not plan our return until late Sunday. This removed so much stress from everyone and if she competed on Friday evening or early Saturday we used the free time to explore. As we got closer to college decisions, we actually used that time for touring college campuses. Our dd's school actually recommended visiting colleges as early as 9th grade just to start seeing what college campuses are like. Was it more expensive? Yes, but what about this sport isn't?

Good luck to your dd!

 

[2G1B]

Speaking of big travel meets... I did a separate post about this but haven't gotten any responses. Does anyone know what is going on with Magical Classic in Orlando? They had a website; but it now seems to be gone. I was trying to do some of our travel stuff and wanted the discounted ticket info. :-(

 

[Aero]

ChalkBucket is so fantastic because we have people like MeetDirector on here. Parents who have been around the block and have seen the sport through multiple perspectives are invaluable sources of information. That's not even mentioning all the great coaches, gym owners, and older experienced gymnasts that share their knowledge, too.

I have learned incredible amounts from all of you.

 

[cbifoja]

Meet Director, thank you for your input. It is always important to understand as many pieces to an issue as possible.

My frustration with Ozone was because of the continuous promises and delays they kept giving. The deadline for that meet was November 1. They originally said the schedule would be out the first week of December. Now this is somewhat ambiguous since people will interpret "first week" differently, but even with the most liberal interpretation, the time period came and went with no schedule.

But wait! Then they started saying "we're sorry, it will be released on such and such date" but each time the date came, still no schedule. Then when they did finally start to release schedules, it was the two that impacted the fewest people (men, T&T). And again, the women's schedule was delayed still. That's what aggravated me. It ended up being mid-December. We had the schedule for two meets that occur AFTER Ozone, before we had Ozone!

Ozone is a huge meet and no way they put some newbie in charge of scheduling. This repeated delay was simply unacceptable to me but then again, I'm just a parent so I doubt anyone at PAK cares one whit about my opinion in this case.

 

[MeetDirector]

Actually, with Ozone they contracted out all of the meet management. When a club does that, they give up all control of producing the schedule and are at the beholdin' of that company. I wouldn't do that (but I like being in control); Chicago Style hasn't done that (but they are incredible); a contracted company can work, but they have to be managed properly.

The host club will listen to you; you need to make your dissatisfaction known with the utmost of professionalism. Make sure your club owner/head coach knows too so they don't go back in the future. Have your head coach mention it to the host club head coach. A host does not want ticked off attending clubs; the word does get around.

 

[tomtnt]

we're counting on the fact that 9/10s usually gets to compete on saturdays and have made all of our arrangements based on that..

 

[Empowered]

Can I just say on a positive side, I know @tomtnt 's gym from the videos you post. Having a child who competed in that area in the past, your gym has unparalleled meet websites. The information is always up early and they put up everything.

I don't know who does all the planning but kudos. We always loved going to meets hosted by your gym.

 

[BachFlyer]

Sorry bachflyer....I was actually agreeing with you. I understand the complication running meets, I promise........this is just a vent. Also, I don't think you understand my sense of humor which is very sarcastic at times. Ummmm I'm kinda confused at your take on all of this really.
It's is stressful getting you kid to a big event with plane tickets and stressed out parents...I'm sure ill get over it fine..........these are planned by big important people, that work gymnastics...and sometimes gyms can get a bit high and mighty actually........I'm just a parent, trying to get the best deal I can on plane tickets....just like you and every other parent.

Sorry if I misinterpreted your response Munchkin, blame it on tone-interpretation-fail I guess my take is just because I've been on the board and helped plan meets for two gyms, and it is hard! Whenever anything goes wrong, we as parents worry incessantly that it will affect participant's perception of us. Our scoring system went down last year for three sessions, and we were beside ourselves because we know that it will upset people. So I was taking it a little personally. I guess I thought that at least Ozone did a good job of apologizing for their continued delay.

So - now that that's out of the way - CB meetup in Knoxville anyone??

 

[gymdog]

Actually, with Ozone they contracted out all of the meet management. When a club does that, they give up all control of producing the schedule and are at the beholdin' of that company. I wouldn't do that (but I like being in control); Chicago Style hasn't done that (but they are incredible); a contracted company can work, but they have to be managed properly.

The host club will listen to you; you need to make your dissatisfaction known with the utmost of professionalism. Make sure your club owner/head coach knows too so they don't go back in the future. Have your head coach mention it to the host club head coach. A host does not want ticked off attending clubs; the word does get around.

Not always, you can contract with some companies and still be one of the meet directors and have input on the schedule, but I'm not sure it's as practical for the largest meets anyway (like Ozone and Manhattan for example). The other problem is disagreement among multiple directors that have different stakes in the situation. I'm sure it depends on the company. I believe those two both use Meet Authority which I'm not super familiar with.

 

[gymdog]

Actually looks like Manhattan uses USA Sports Productions, which also runs cheer competitions.