Parents The good, the bad . . . and the annoying

[JessMom]

I'm curious...

What were your best, worse and most annoying meets and why . . and I'm not referring to gymnast performance but overall parent / spectator POV.

 

[bogwoppit]

Not enough room to actually sit down. Over 60 girls on my dd's division for awards, 100 in the flight. Judges not showing up as meet director had forgotten to book them, how do you forget to book 12 judges.

 

[emandelsmom]

Ugly:
Local meet: ran 2 hours behind schedule, judge was ugly to daughter-asked her name and gave her a tongue lashing for forgetting to salute, one girl did same vault 4 times, gave out wrong rewards,etc
Bad:
Out of town meet:15 dollar admission fee per adult, they forgot to record our girls for team award(which they would have won), marathon being run in same town-roads closed-no prior knowledge of this, groups A, B. and Prep op all at the same time. Too many kids. Ran way behind. Took hours to get through.HUGE age divisons with 30 kids or more in each.

The good_meets at large colleges or convention centers, reasonable fee to enter, nice people who care about the kids, nice judges who give great feedback, great organiztion and runs very smoothly.

 

[cathiann]

Good: Good seating where people can see. Music right level--not too loud and not so quiet you can't hear it. Variety of food at concession that isn't hugely expensive. Parking available nearby!
Bad: Not letting gymnasts in free to other sessions to cheer on teammates. (really, you're that hurting for money that you can't let them support their team?). Obviously opposite of what I wrote above! One of Beth's meets has mostly good about it, but the parking is horrendous! Not fun to walk several blocks on icy streets (with no sidewalks) in January in Minnesota!
Ugly: Unfriendly people running admission, concessions, etc. I know working at a meet isn't your favorite way to spend a weekend (although I like working meets!), but at least TRY to smile!

 

[gymjoy]

Worst meet: running almost 3 hours behind. The gym is crammed with 2 sessions of parents vying for space to just try and breath, much less watching their gymnast!! They set up the awards stand, which they usually set up on the competition floor, in a small corner of the gym right next to the competition area because they are so far behind. Then, before the current session is even over, without announcing it,or marching in, or playing the National Anthem, or having any open warm-up, they start my dd's session!!! Parents are going nuts. New session is trying to catch up with the fact the girls have started competing, last session is trying to cram into the too small awards area. Dads are about to throw punches! And to top it all off - they have 2 bathrooms. Yep, just 2 for about the 800 people shoved into their gym. I felt so sick and dizzy from the crowds that I missed half the meet because I needed to stand outside before I passed out. Oh, and this was the last sectional meet of the season, last chance for many of these girls to qualify for states. A total disaster!! I felt worse for the session behind ours, they were suppose to start at 5pm, but they started around 8pm - and it was all little level 4's. A saw more than a few parents complain to the host gym, and to their coaches before leaving without competing. I do not blame them, they would not have had their little 7yo out of there before 11pm.

ITA with emandelsmom about good meets - at colleges, large high schools, or convention centers with plenty of room, decent stadium style seating, and lots of bathrooms!!

As for the price of meets, we have resigned to just one of us going because the average price of $20 a person, including my 10yo son - who never watches anything, but finds friends to hang out with in the snack area, is crazy. And I refuse to buy the program for $5+ . I do not want to read 40 good luck adds to the host gym's girls!! Thanks, I have a scrap of paper somewhere in my purse.

 

[Panda-girl's Mom]

Waiting long for awards and taken forever going out a zillion places for awards. Also flashing wrong scores or calling up gymnasts for awards in the wrong order for placement and redoing making them give back awards and starting all over again. Flooded bathrooms or dirty bathrooms poor seating I could go on and on!

 

[AGM78910]

The good: Meets that started on time and finished early! (Yep, it does happen!)
The bad: Spectator chairs were set up on the 40x40 spring floor. Everytime someone got up or sat down there was this "wave" effect on the rest of the seats and the spectators were constantly bobbing up and down.
The ugly: Parents screaming and banging on chairs after each gymnast performance to show their support(?)

 

[Empowered]

Good - Most meets with travel set ups in high school gyms are great meets for viewing. The stadium seating makes it so you can see all the events very well and is great for recording video.
Bad - There was a local meet where the scoreboards were messed up. This normally wouldn't have been a huge deal, but it was a qualifying event so the girls on the floor had no idea where they stood or if they'd qualified until it was announced at awards. There were some very disappointed little ones who'd thought they'd done well and found out only by lack of announcement that they hadn't qualified.
Bad - A team my daughter competed against said the most annoying and very loud chant before every member of their team vaulted. They had like 20 girls, 2 vaults each... holy cow if I ever hear that chant again I'll scream. I liked the team support, but this was overkill and distracting to the other gymnasts.
Ugly - At the scoreboard snafu meet there was also only seating for about half of the spectators so people were trying to sit on mats that had been stacked behind the seating. The meet announcer literally scolded the parents on the PA system for sitting on the mats and told them they were very expensive and didn't need to be ruined by sitting on them. The manner in which it was said was so disrespectful. I thought it would have been much more appropriate for them to walk over and explain to the parents they needed to move, but that's just me.
Ugliest - Still think the fingers in the ears takes the cake on this one.

Great - Wanted to end on a positive note. Occasionally there are competitors who's coaches/parents have obviously schooled them on being a good podium sport. They are the kids who always shake the hands of the girls next to them and congratulate them, teammate or not. I love it when kids do this. Sadly though my daughter is clueless and never remembers to do this... lol

 

[jdf]

Bad: When the meet is in the host gym, which is inevitable hidden in an industrial area, and they don't even put up a big sign or balloons or something to let you know you are there.

 

[flipper's fan]

Bad stuff- overcrowding, no parking, difficult to find, poor organization by the host club.
Good stuff- session size compatible with facility size, friendly host club, host club forthcoming about problems /issues if they arise
Annoying- lame gymnast gifts- one meet the gymnast gift was a coupon and one meet it was a cookie- for $75 bucks to get in you expect the gift to be worth more than a dollar.

 

[GymnastJoy]

I'm right with you, jdf. In our area, most gyms seem to be located in an industrial park and there is NO signage directing you to the actual meet location. And GPS is not that savvy .

Good: Meets that place out AA to everyone. Can be long but it's nice at the lower levels with younger girls to at least be acknowledged for participating.
Bad: Disorganized
Ugly: Even though you've gotten there early, parents from the host gym kicking you out of your seats because it is their "reserved area for viewing". Huh?!

 

[Monkeygirlsmom]

good meets: when they can do fun contests and such with the girls!
bad : when they let the other teams walk in front and practice while others are competing (the meet we just were at
the other team was practicing right in the way of the competing gymnast and also the parents could not see either!
annoying : when you have to pay for a 2 yr old (5$ and up) this happened a few times (I think that the 2 year old could care less and is just stuck going )