Parents Why don’t parents protest?

[MILgymFAM]

You have to rent the scoring equipment and sometimes the PA system. Something to play the music on and someone to play it, and someone to run the meet (meet director). It all adds up. Meets are the biggest fundraiser of the year for the hosting gym.

We’ve been to meets with no scores flashed, so I know it’s possible to skip that. I also know that at a few of our gyms the meet director was a volunteer (owner or head of booster club). If all the gyms stopped trying to make money off each other the meets could be small local affairs until higher levels. I know that lots of people love the nice meets and the pomp and circumstance of it all, but I would honestly prefer tiny in-house ones with no gifts, few medals, and no frills.

 

[Deleted member 18037]

@John i LOVE those flip flops! Almost all of our girls wear sneakers in and flip flops to awards. They'd love that. It may be an age thing - I can see older girls not wanting to wear "pom pom" things!. Most of them are 9-11. Would you PM me how you all made those and what the underlying flip flop is?

Not John, but its a simple pompom made with yarn. I'm sure tied to the flip flop.

Flip flops you can find in the dollar store. Although unlikely now (at least in the US) as we are heading into winter. Which means 5 dollars would be too much, per pair,

I am sure pinterest has a ton of ideas for crafting flip flops.

 

[3rd_time_around]

Our parent organization (all volunteer) runs all the meets hosted by our gym with the exception of Judges Cup. That's generally 4 meets a year on average. Even the meets held in our own gym, where we can run two flights at the same time, still have a significant overhead, including paying judges, hospitality for the judges and coaches, medals/ribbons for the athletes, fronting all of the snack bar costs (try having a meet where there's no food - even a small one). Our meets are our biggest fundraisers, and our organization's fundraisers ensure that more kids can participate because the bulk of our money goes to subsidizing athlete assessments and costs. I pay half of what I've paid at other gyms for my daughter's assessments, as a direct result of these meets, among the other fundraising we do all year long.

I guess for me I see it as contributing to the athletes at whoever is hosting the gym.

yes, that's what I was saying. Even small meets have a lot of overhead, and the host gym uses the profits to help their athletes. (or should)

 

[3rd_time_around]

We’ve been to meets with no scores flashed, so I know it’s possible to skip that. I also know that at a few of our gyms the meet director was a volunteer (owner or head of booster club). If all the gyms stopped trying to make money off each other the meets could be small local affairs until higher levels. I know that lots of people love the nice meets and the pomp and circumstance of it all, but I would honestly prefer tiny in-house ones with no gifts, few medals, and no frills.

Who pays the judges? Who supplies the food for the judges (required in the R+P)? Even with a certificate that lists the awards, there is still paper and ink. Someone has to run the meet--they have to pass a test and get their certification in order for it to be a sanctioned meet, even at a small in-house meet. If they are doing all that work for free, then wow, you go to a lot of meets with really nice people who have no jobs apparently, and can devote a lot of time to a meet for free. It just sounds like you think meets should be practically free to enter and no admission fees. Even the smallest meets I've been to charge admission--and I mean the Gym Stars rec league,. I prefer an in-gym meet, they are much nicer, but they still have a lot of overhead.

 

[MILgymFAM]

Who pays the judges? Who supplies the food for the judges (required in the R+P)? Even with a certificate that lists the awards, there is still paper and ink. Someone has to run the meet--they have to pass a test and get their certification in order for it to be a sanctioned meet, even at a small in-house meet. If they are doing all that work for free, then wow, you go to a lot of meets with really nice people who have no jobs apparently, and can devote a lot of time to a meet for free. It just sounds like you think meets should be practically free to enter and no admission fees. Even the smallest meets I've been to charge admission--and I mean the Gym Stars rec league,. I prefer an in-gym meet, they are much nicer, but they still have a lot of overhead.

Meets that I have personally knowledge of: food is prepared and donated by parents, including judges, coaches, and concessions. They may/may not be paid back with the concession profits. Judges are not that expensive, when broken down amongst all competing gymnasts. Same with a sanction. Paper and ink- seriously? I’ve purchased cheap medals for a couple of bucks. Coaches are being paid by their gyms (via the parents paying assessments), and yes I’ve seen volunteer meet directors at multiple gyms. I don’t know what to tell you, except that I have. I have been to meets that cost $25 to register for, and I have been to meets that cost $125 to register for. The $25 one also had a free entry. The $125 was $20 per person. The fact that such a huge range exists tells me that much of the cost comes down to choices. I’m not saying my opinion is fact, but it is as valid as yours. Gymnastics competitions do not *have* to be so expensive.

 

[skschlag]

Meets that I have personally knowledge of: food is prepared and donated by parents, including judges, coaches, and concessions.

In some places, this is not allowed. Most of what we provide has to be store bought and kept at a certain temp, etc. A local gym got dinged hard one year for not meeting health dept. standards, especially for prepared food. So we went to all store bought foods.

 

[Gymcoach93821]

Meets that I have personally knowledge of: food is prepared and donated by parents, including judges, coaches, and concessions. They may/may not be paid back with the concession profits. Judges are not that expensive, when broken down amongst all competing gymnasts. Same with a sanction. Paper and ink- seriously? I’ve purchased cheap medals for a couple of bucks. Coaches are being paid by their gyms (via the parents paying assessments), and yes I’ve seen volunteer meet directors at multiple gyms. I don’t know what to tell you, except that I have. I have been to meets that cost $25 to register for, and I have been to meets that cost $125 to register for. The $25 one also had a free entry. The $125 was $20 per person. The fact that such a huge range exists tells me that much of the cost comes down to choices. I’m not saying my opinion is fact, but it is as valid as yours. Gymnastics competitions do not *have* to be so expensive.

Judges aren’t expensive! With competitions I have been involved in the gym the children are competing at depends on the price. If it’s a local gym then they may only charge the rent to run the comp and the staff that have to be there that day to open up and help run the comp. at state comps if it in a bigger facility with a canteen people selling clothes etc then these are more expensive as more overheads and more staff to pay. Then the gym with the girls competing have to pay for the judges they supply for the comp and the staff for travel and their hourly rate for the sessions the girls are in. The costs we pay our gym get no additional profit with the price they hand out. I understand some gyms may include a profit price but holy moly the cost for judges and coaches are expensive they have to study and get an accreditation for what they are doing. You can’t honestly believe judges don’t cost that much. It is a sport. Sport is expensive and the gyms who do put a profit on their expenses need to in order to survive. If they just paid for their outgoings then what incentive would they have to own a gym.

 

[MILgymFAM]

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They’re not very expensive in my opinion when split amongst competing gymnasts as a part of the meet fee.

 

[Gymcoach93821]

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They’re not very expensive in my opinion when split amongst competing gymnasts as a part of the meet fee.

But that’s exactly right. Then add the coaches and entry cost. And the entry costs vary is due to as I said above. And the gyms that do add profit is because it’s a business. Unless it’s a not for profit business I don’t see why a gym wouldn’t add profit for some things. Our gym doesn’t add profit with comps. But still. It’s a business at the end of the day

 

[MILgymFAM]

But that’s exactly right. Then add the coaches and entry cost. And the entry costs vary is due to as I said above. And the gyms that do add profit is because it’s a business. Unless it’s a not for profit business I don’t see why a gym wouldn’t add profit for some things. Our gym doesn’t add profit with comps. But still. It’s a business at the end of the day

What do you (and others) mean when you say add coaches? The meet is not paying all the coaches with the entry fees- none of the coaches, actually. Each gym is paying their own coaches and passing that cost onto parents in assessments, which are separate from the meet entry fee and spectator fees of course. Three gyms we have affiliated with have been non-profits, actually. And they’ve all kept meet costs down effectively in general, so yes profit definitely plays a part- but the two cheapest gyms were for profit. The meets weren’t terribly expensive and neither gym charged assessments either- all costs besides actual meet entry fees were in tuition. I’m not sure exactly why people are angry at me for pointing out that the cost to run a meet is subjective based on the choices in how/where you want to run it and how much you want to profit. It’s just logical. And it’s not as though my opinion is going to change anything anywhere. I’ve wished awards went to top three only since my kid strarted this sport and here we are still with 50% awards. No one listens to me.. doesn’t stop me from being allowed an opinion.

 

[Exgymmomx3]

Back in the day when I was a gymnast, I assure you there was none of the fancy stuff that goes on now! I was astonished when I brought my daughters to their meets at all of the hoopla that goes on now! Just as birthday parties were simple affairs back then, so were meets. Many at home gyms, at least at the beginning level. No gifts for coming, medals went out 3 places, and all meets were driveable until you made it to a far away regional or National meet. We had a simple team Leo back then and maybe one meet that required a hotel overnight. I honestly have no clue how and when things got so out of hand!

 

[raenndrops]

You have to rent the scoring equipment and sometimes the PA system. Something to play the music on and someone to play it, and someone to run the meet (meet director). It all adds up. Meets are the biggest fundraiser of the year for the hosting gym.

We use our same sound system we use during practices. We have an older gymnast or parent to play the music. We have a volunteer meet director with at least 15 years experience. We have a laptop and printer used for scoring and meet results. We have team girls sign up to be runners / flashers and timers. Our meets are our biggest fundraisers, but the fact that our overhead on them is low really helps.

 

[raenndrops]

Our parent organization (all volunteer) runs all the meets hosted by our gym with the exception of Judges Cup. That's generally 4 meets a year on average. Even the meets held in our own gym, where we can run two flights at the same time, still have a significant overhead, including paying judges, hospitality for the judges and coaches, medals/ribbons for the athletes, fronting all of the snack bar costs (try having a meet where there's no food - even a small one). Our meets are our biggest fundraisers, and our organization's fundraisers ensure that more kids can participate because the bulk of our money goes to subsidizing athlete assessments and costs. I pay half of what I've paid at other gyms for my daughter's assessments, as a direct result of these meets, among the other fundraising we do all year long.

I guess for me I see it as contributing to the athletes at whoever is hosting the gym.

We get much of the food for judges and coaches donated or at an amazing discount from local establishments. Sometimes, parents even offer to cook or bake something for them. Each family, as an option in case they can't volunteer time the day of the meet or in addition to volunteering time, can donate soda, sports drinks, or water for the snack bar. We also ask for $10 from each family to purchase the food necessities. We have also been known to get donations or major discounts for some of that. And we take donations from businesses and give them a shout out in the program (sometimes, we have a copy of a business card or their official logo).

 

[raenndrops]

We’ve been to meets with no scores flashed, so I know it’s possible to skip that. I also know that at a few of our gyms the meet director was a volunteer (owner or head of booster club). If all the gyms stopped trying to make money off each other the meets could be small local affairs until higher levels. I know that lots of people love the nice meets and the pomp and circumstance of it all, but I would honestly prefer tiny in-house ones with no gifts, few medals, and no frills.

Or if going past top 3, then do ribbons for them ... and still put a limit on that. Our regular meets are no frills... and top 12 in each age group get ribbons. Plus, we are efficient with awards (I am in charge of getting our awards ready. I am ready for the first session before the meet begins... I just have to switch out ribbons for ties and remove extra ribbons due to scratches). Our goal is to begin passing out awards within 20 minutes of the last score being flashed... and that is because the results have to be printed out, ties highlighted, and run up to my "office" where my helpers and I are waiting.
Simple meets are the best.

 

[raenndrops]

Who pays the judges? Who supplies the food for the judges (required in the R+P)? Even with a certificate that lists the awards, there is still paper and ink. Someone has to run the meet--they have to pass a test and get their certification in order for it to be a sanctioned meet, even at a small in-house meet. If they are doing all that work for free, then wow, you go to a lot of meets with really nice people who have no jobs apparently, and can devote a lot of time to a meet for free. It just sounds like you think meets should be practically free to enter and no admission fees. Even the smallest meets I've been to charge admission--and I mean the Gym Stars rec league,. I prefer an in-gym meet, they are much nicer, but they still have a lot of overhead.

The judges are paid out of the meet fees.
Our meet director is the retired father of our HC.
HC pays for the paper and ink out of her own pocket. That is why we stopped putting stickers on the back with the scoring info on the back of each ribbon... the paper was too expensive and there was a lot of waste since things were printed out by age group. Bonus was that our awards go even faster now.
Meet fees are $15 per for regular season meets and $35 for District Championships (They get medals instead of ribbons and they get a participation trophy and a goody bag).
No admission charges unless we go to Regionals or Nationals.

 

[Gymcoach93821]

A

Back in the day when I was a gymnast, I assure you there was none of the fancy stuff that goes on now! I was astonished when I brought my daughters to their meets at all of the hoopla that goes on now! Just as birthday parties were simple affairs back then, so were meets. Many at home gyms, at least at the beginning level. No gifts for coming, medals went out 3 places, and all meets were driveable until you made it to a far away regional or National meet. We had a simple team Leo back then and maybe one meet that required a hotel overnight. I honestly have no clue how and when things got so out of hand!

when the parents of children who didn’t place 1-3rd complained

 

[JessSyd]

In my state of Australia, competitions are fairly simple events. Only the ones run by the state gymnastics body are at a fancy venue (a large gym with a spectator area), which already owns all the necessary equipment. The rest are simple affairs in local gyms. Scores are not flashed, and existing PAs (the same ones used for playing floor music during training) are sufficient. I have only ever paid a spectator fee at State level competitions.

There is no swag, competitions medal to third and ribbon to sixth. Gyms take turns to host and competitions do not run for profit. I do not know who pays the judges. I suspect that for sanctioned competitions it is the gym that provides them who pays but someone else might know for sure.

Do meets here provide food for judges? Often judges only do one session then they have to change clothes and become a coach for the next session. I know there is no hospitality for coaches - I have seen them grab a sandwich from their bags between sessions and have, on occasion, given food to a coach that didn't have time to buy herself lunch between sessions when a meet was running late.

 

[mommyof1]

A person who would be in a position to know once told our booster club that meets average $50 per gymnast in profits in our area. There are booster clubs that supposedly fund the entire season’s competition expenses by hosting one or two meets.

 

[gymnastmom05]

Meets that don't charge admission are typically more expensive. I've been around long enough that CGA's meet used to charge spectator admission. They stopped but also raised the gymnast registration fee by about $20-$25 so....it's kind of a wash depending on how many people I'm paying for to get in to the meet. I do like it when I have to bring my son as he has no desire to be there!

 

[gymnastmom05]

A person who would be in a position to know once told our booster club that meets average $50 per gymnast in profits in our area. There are booster clubs that supposedly fund the entire season’s competition expenses by hosting one or two meets.

The meets our gym hosts, the gymnast entry fee is close to covering the expenses of the meet. We make our profit off of the others things - sponsors, ads, programs, admission fee, concessions, vendors, good luck grams, etc.