Parents Volunteering at the meet

[GymBee97]

I actually like the music, the score table, and awards orgnizations. I stay away from timer on beam but any other job I'm ok with

 

[Seeker]

Okay....why do so many of you dislike the Timer on Beam job? I haven't ever done that job before....guess I won't!!

 

[Empowered]

Because you are ALWAYS timing something. There is no down time. Time warm-up, time routine, start and stop for falls.

Not to mention itty bitty compulsory kids have a tendency to look right at you or fall or both when you call out warnings and overtime. Even worse when they make you ring a bell. Lol

 

[Fliptwisttumble]

At our club we have people who really like certain things.... There are no timer or scoring jobs for parents, but some prefer security, some registration, some concession. Least preferable seem to be setup/take down, judge hosting (food prep, cleanup). This is my first season as full meet director so I've rotated through them all.

 

[my4buffaloes]

I like beam timing, but then I guess I didn't do it all. I only did the warm up timing, there was another person who sat by the judges and times the routines.

 

[curlygirls]

I just got finished with volunteering a total of 19 hours for our meet this weekend. I did setup, announcing, working concessions, recording scores, timing warm-ups for the judge on vault, and cleaning. I will tell you that after being on my feet for 8 hours for concessions, it was nice to sit at the table for a session. So happy this weekend is over!

 

[gymmomtoo]

If it's your first meet, avoid music! It's very stressful (even for us seasoned veterans). I would go for scoring or timing--it's interesting just sitting and listening to what they say while judging--some of the judges are pretty funny too (at least here). I much prefer being IN the gym versus out of the gym, but some people get tired of the music, so prefer concessions etc.

 

[GymBee97]

lets see timing on beam I had 3 stop watches doing it all myself. timing the routine, warmups and falls. just way too much and you never see any of the meet just the stupid timers.

 

[GymBee97]

If it's your first meet, avoid music! It's very stressful (even for us seasoned veterans). I would go for scoring or timing--it's interesting just sitting and listening to what they say while judging--some of the judges are pretty funny too (at least here). I much prefer being IN the gym versus out of the gym, but some people get tired of the music, so prefer concessions etc.

I actually love music. I ended up doing it for the first time because someone didn't show up and they just grabbed me. I actually like it. When the music is going you can watch the meet. Granted its a min and a half at a time but once you get use to hitting the repeat button (especially at compulsory meets) its easy. Most of the optional gyms we have had at our gym put their music in order of rotation on an Ipod so it just plugs into the top of the music system and you push play then pause when routine is done. If its CD's I put them in order and just switch from one to the other. Very easy if you are use to using sound systems.

 

[profmom]

If you sign up to take money at the door, sign up to do it at the optional level. If you do L3 or L4, you will have to listen to a lot of complaining by newbie parents/family members about having to pay to get in. Our spectator fees were not crazy expensive by any means and we had a family rate of $20 for a whole family, but you'd think I had asked some people to hand over their first-born child. Some of them seriously tried to argue with me that they should not have to pay after standing in line for five minutes and watching everyone else pay! I really wanted to tell them "just wait until X meet, where not only will you have to pay $10 per person more than we charge, but you'll be forbidden to bring in any food or drinks and you'll be stuck with their $4 sodas," but I restrained myself.

And then there was the guy who waltzed in with the $100 bill to pay for just himself and was very upset that I told him to wait a few minutes until I could break it . . .

 

[Natasha]

Okay....why do so many of you dislike the Timer on Beam job? I haven't ever done that job before....guess I won't!!

On beam you have to time the routine, but stop the timer for a fall and then time the fall with another timer as they have 30 sec. to remount. Then you have to restart the first timer when starts movement again on the beam. Also, may compulsories go over time and you have to ding the warning bell and then the "over time" bell.... I do not like trying to work the stopwatches...it is seriously the only meet job I do not like to do and I have done every job there is....

 

[Natasha]

Profmom- I agree! Our meet was usually the first one of the season so we had many parents come in a the lower level sessions who had never been to a meet before and did not know they would have to pay admission- so lots of complaints. Our fee was the lowest around ($5 for adults and $2 for kids). We would always make sure to warn our new parents that they would be paying much more at other meets.

 

[MeetDirector]

To the OP -
This is not meant to be mean, but from a meet director's point of view, please don't bring your young children to the meet and try to do your session job simultaneously. As I tell my parents, you are there to do a job and your full attention is needed on that job; you cannot entertain/watch your little ones at the same time (especially if you are doing score entry). Extra kids (non-competing) are not allowed in the competition area per USAG rules.

All of the session jobs can be fun if you let them be fun. I agree with everyone, timing beam is probably the worst event timing job there is. Doing music is a good job; boring if you are doing it for compulsories and stressful if you are doing it for optionals. Score entry is a good job, but you must be very careful entering the scores and must be able to work with a lot going on around you. I always use 2 people to do score keeping; one to enter and one to double-check.

 

[Fliptwisttumble]

I generally agree with Meet Director. We generally do not allow volunteers to bring their children. At our last invitational, we offered a babysitting service for those who signed up in advance. Almost no one took advantage, which surprised us.

We do allow kids usually 12 and over to volunteer themselves. Some Families have significant hours to put in, and that helps. But younger kids are not always able to sit and time for a full session without getting up, etc. Younger ones we allow to help with awards and march in. help the adult selling 50/50 (big help in that dept) but otherwise they have to be supervised by the non-volunteering parent.

 

[Natasha]

When I coordinated meets I had parents that had to bring children sign up for a job that their child could help with (nothing on the competition floor). Also, I am talking elementary age kids/gymnasts not little ones. For instance, I would recommend admissions where their child can stamp hands while you take the money or working the sales table where the kids can walk around selling flowers and other items. So- just check with your meet coordinator.

 

[skschlag]

We pretty much always have kids on the floor. Usually 8-12 year olds flashing scores, writing scores, or running scores. My ds has been helping for about 4 years, usually as a runner. The writers are usually on the older side of that. I help with concessions while he helps on the floor.

 

[Natasha]

We use electronic scoring, so there are no volunteer jobs for recording/flashing/running scores. All meets we have been to in our area have the electronic scoring where the judges enter their scores in themselves.
Our judges have also told us that they do not want kids younger than 16 helping with timing.

 

[IreneKa]

Most of the meets we've been to last year had younger kids helping with flashing scores, giving out medals, and concessions. That's why I thought my 9 yo could help too. I was also planning on bringing my 14 yo along. She could help out with some easy tasks and watch her sister.
I will confirm with the meet director of course.

Thanks for all the advises! Keep 'em coming! I had no idea someone was timing the beam or other events. LOL

 

[gymmomtoo]

Definitely make sure the meet director is okay with you having your kids there. If you are having her there, I would recommend NOT picking anything on the competition floor (timing, music, etc.) There's enough kids running around out there as it is, better not to add someone that doesn't need to be there. We have a meet coming up very soon and we don't allow workers to bring their kids with--it's just completely distracting for them and the kids tend to run wild because they're bored.

But we do have team girls helping out--I just got done writing out the assignments for them! They write ribbons, help with march-in, do awards, help in concessions and are there for extra running (checking to be sure judges need anything, etc), if needed. I have to keep them busy though or they tend to clump up and goof off LOL!

 

[kayjaybe]

At our meets, the team members (gymnasts) are required to work a session. We have electronic score boards, but we still run scores up to the office as a back-up verification. There are also the girls that lead each of the groups and move them from event to event. They sell 50/50 raffle tickets or act as "runners" for other positions where people can't leave their posts.

As far as the "best" or "worst" job, that totally depends on what you like. I head our concessions stand & coaches food. It is a TON of work, but I like it. I love being busy while I'm there and I like my co-chair. It is our own thing to run and I like having a purpose. Plus, the coaches have always been so appreciative of the food we make. We changed some things up last year for coaches food and they LOVED it. Some people hate to work concessions because it can be really busy and you don't get to watch much of the meet.

I would not want to work something where I'm tied to the floor. I have a bit of a medical condition and may need to step away for 5-15 minutes unexpectedly. I could never do that if I were doing music or timing or something like that. Even though concessions is busy, if I need to step away, I can without a problem. (Doesn't happen often, but the stress of feeling trapped on the floor could trigger something for me.)

Try out different things until you find what you love!