Parents Small Meet.....Big Meet....Dif?

[blueredzone]

Okay as I have been on here, I have heard many speak of Small Meets... and Big Meets...


Just wondering what people consider a Small Meet? (or maybe better yet... not a big meet)

and What people Consider a Big Meet?

Is it how many gyms, how many kids in age group, where it is, Travel time, spectators?

 

[wgymmom]

To me, small vs. large is number of teams/sessions. We've been at a few meets where we are the only girls at a certain level. Our "large" are still way smaller than those in bigger markets.

 

[z2akids]

For us, it really doesn't affect us. Every meet we attend has at least one full gym/session with each compulsory level. So, our sessions always have approximately 100 girls competing (level 3 this year). That usually equals about 7-10 gyms. Our awards are only based on the girls competing in that session in the same gym we are in. A large meet has multiple gyms going at the same time with multiple sessions of each level.

Our gym hosts a meet that had 2 gyms running over 2 days with a total of about 1200 gymnasts. I know that there is at least 1 full session with L7. But, don't know if the higher optional fill out full sessions per level.

The largest meet we have attended is in Indianapolis and has 3 or 4 gyms going for 3 whole days.

 

[gymgal]

Thinking on the optionals end, A big meet to me is having multiple sessions running at the same time across the 3-4 days. 500+ gymnasts competing, multiple sessions per level (vs multiple levels per session as seen in smaller meets). Gyms from all over the region and usually at least a few traveling 1/2 across the country: ozone, Chicago style, Christmas on Chesapeake, WOGA, Disney, Manhattan Classic (I think that's the name), etc.

 

[thefellowsmom]

This is just my experience and a little mymeetscore research just off my daughter's page.

We are a medium large team (by no means a super power or anything) with over 100 girls on team levels 2-10. We rarely attend what I would consider small meets of only a few teams (couple hundred gymnasts) but sometimes we will send parts of our team to these meets for one reason or another (often relationships of coaches, political reasons or exchange of meet support). These meets sometimes don't even have a level 9 or 10 session or will combine multiple, or all, optional levels into one single session.

I think for compulsory levels the impact of attending a small meet is much less as there simply are more compulsory gymnasts so the sessions fill up regardless of which teams or how many come. For optionals it is a bit more tricky. Not so much fun when your optional team is basically competing against themselves.

Many meets are of what I would call medium size with 10-20 teams in attendance. Some of these trickle over onto friday with multiple sessions of compulsory levels and each level having its own session although some small or combining 9 and 10. This seems to be the bread and butter of gymnastics meets in our area.

The largest meets around here have between 35 and 45 teams in attendance, some from out of state. Multiple gyms over three days. These feel like pretty big meets and tend to be at bigger venues. Level 10 has its own session and such with level 3 having as many as 4 sessions.

We have been to some pretty big travel meets, one with over 120 level 10s. We thought that would be intimidating for our girls but most were actually surprised that what they thought was going to be super stiff competition were gymnasts, just like them. Who knew? They're not superhero gymmies?

I think size of meet varies greatly based on where you live and what type/size of team you are a part of. The size of the meets really makes little difference, they all seem to have that buzz around them and something special about the day.

 

[blueredzone]

For us, it really doesn't affect us. Every meet we attend has at least one full gym/session with each compulsory level. So, our sessions always have approximately 100 girls competing (level 3 this year). That usually equals about 7-10 gyms. Our awards are only based on the girls competing in that session in the same gym we are in. A large meet has multiple gyms going at the same time with multiple sessions of each level.

Our gym hosts a meet that had 2 gyms running over 2 days with a total of about 1200 gymnasts. I know that there is at least 1 full session with L7. But, don't know if the higher optional fill out full sessions per level.

The largest meet we have attended is in Indianapolis and has 3 or 4 gyms going for 3 whole days.

What meet was that? We are in Indianapolis

 

[z2akids]

What meet was that? We are in Indianapolis

Circle of Stars.

That meet was crazy. I have no idea how the hosting gym managed to have enough volunteers to staff it. I do think I read in the program that it is one of the largest meeting in the country. But, I could be wrong.

 

[blueredzone]

Thankfully in Indianapolis we are able to pull lots of volunteers. People line up to help with the Indy 500, NCAA final fours, and when the Superbowl was here. I assume it will be the same for the P&G Champs here this coming year.

Hoosier hospitality at its finest!

oh and Go Colts!!!

 

[aerials]

To me a large meet is 3 days minimum with multiple gyms going on at the same time. They are usually more expensive but also a lot of fun. They also seem to usually be held at a convention center.

 

[IreneKa]

For me, smaller meets are "in-house" meets, usually held inside the hosting gym, and only having a few sessions. They are cheaper and often cannot be declared as "sectionals". We host such meet every October, it's only 2-3 sessions, and only maybe 3-4 other gyms attending. This year all levels 4 through 10 were in the same session, some levels only having 2-3 gymnasts. To compare, the invitational meet we are hosting will have 13 session over 3 days, with more than 800 gymnasts.
Our in-house meet is the only "small" meet our level 4+ are attending this year. All other meets are "big", so the girls would have as many chances as possible to qualify for states. For lower levels though that's not an issue. Any two meets, even pre-sectiona,l will qualify them. So levels 1-3 have different meet schedule, with lots of small in-house meets. They are not as fun as the big meets, but this keeps the cost lower for their parents.

 

[myliljunebugs]

I think for us, our meets are generally considered medium to large. All but one is held either at a convention center or at our nearby University, and I believe they are all 3 days. This is our first year to compete but I watched my niece compete last year and they all seemed fairly busy to me. There were always 5-7 gyms competing, sometimes more, depending on the location.

 

[MILgymFAM]

We have never been to a meet in a gym. They have all been at convention centers or fair grounds, and all have run for three days. To me they were all pretty big. Sessions were broken by level and sometimes multiple sessions for each level, by age.

 

[htimcj]

To me a large meet is 500+ girls competing in a large venue. Smaller meets are in the home gym with only 100-200 girls competing. We go to both but the larger meets almost always require some serious traveling for us.