WAG Australian Champs

[needcoffee]

I really want to watch but not enough to pay for it lol. I'm poor.

 

[Pineapple_Lump]

I can't believe they are charging!

I can - I don't think the quality or quantity of gymnastics on display warrants it though.

 

[COz]

Well it's cheaper than an entry ticket to one event I guess.
Thinking about it that way I'll probably watch it tomorrow.

 

[auswi]

Really enjoyed the live viewing- makes it so real when I've had a little glance at the hours worked for so many years to achieve senior status!

Took Ds who thoroughly enjoyed watching the Mag but my sweet little rec gymmy fell asleep halfway through - sitting bolt upright in her seat

 

[Ausi_poppet]

My husband and I saw some of the WAG levels action, including our daughter's two sessions. What a great arena for the girls to compete in! We got home last night and our daughter arrives back tomorrow, having picked up a team gold and some medals herself, including AA gold. Could be hard to get her to go to school on Monday!

 

[Alie21]

Congrats to your DD Ausi_poppet and all the other competitors

Anyone know if I pay now can I still see it? Kinda not-at-all-live streaming
I was out every night this week. Still not sure I want to pay tho. Gym Aust must be struggling?? Or they really want bums on seats? Maybe they should do it in the school holidays so we could travel

 

[Ausi_poppet]

Yes I was surprised that the live streaming costs $10. To watch it there is $35 for a premium session too, which is a lot of money in my books. I think it's tough that so many young kids are missing a couple of weeks of school for Nationals. Given that the sport is wanting to keep gymnasts in the sport, putting the competition in the middle of the term (overlapping with Naplan) puts pressure on the kids as they move into the senior school years.

And thanks Allie21. It was a stressful competition, but the experience has been really worth it. Back in the gym on Monday working on new skills for next year... what a sport!

 

[COz]

Anyone know if I pay now can I still see it? Kinda not-at-all-live streaming
I was out every night this week. Still not sure I want to pay tho. Gym Aust must be struggling?? Or they really want bums on seats? Maybe they should do it in the school holidays so we could travel

Yes you can still watch today (Saturday's) session.
It seems like you can watch the immediately preceding session after paying, before they live stream the current session.
I paid an hour before today's session and could watch a bit of yesterday session before it stopped working as they were getting ready for the live session today. Now I can rewatch a recording of today's session, which I assume will vanish tomorrow.

Someone has to pay for it to be streamed and hosted on a server that can cope with however many people will be watching it live. It costs a lot more live and would be pretty awful if no one went because they could watch it online live for free.

I think it was $10 well spent. It kept my kid quiet and still for a couple of hours!

Yes I was surprised that the live streaming costs $10. To watch it there is $35 for a premium session too, which is a lot of money in my books.

States in NSW (last year) cost about $20/person, so $35 doesn't sound too bad really although it all adds up I know, because it's not just one person going either etc. $10 is probably less than the public transport costs

 

[Ausi_poppet]

States in NSW (last year) cost about $20/person, so $35 doesn't sound too bad really although it all adds up I know, because it's not just one person going either etc. $10 is probably less than the public transport costs

We didn't pay for transport in Melbourne, but the 2 day ticket to watch our daughter compete was $34 each, with a discount as a competitor's family. I suppose it comes down to how much money people are prepared to pay. When you've spent thousands of dollars for your child to attend, and then another thousand to be there yourself, maybe $35 isn't much more, but for us it was the cost of dinner for two instead, which made a good break from the world of gymnastics.

Having said that, the event was really well run from the kids point of view. The opening ceremony was simple but recognised the achievements of the gymnasts there. When they introduced the athletes at the beginning of the individual session, they named each of them personally, which I thought was a nice touch. They also made the medal ceremony really 'Olympicy'. If I was a 12 year old competing for the first time and wondering if I would like to keep working towards making a national team - my motivation would be very high after that.

Nationals is a huge competition for these gymnasts - the best of the best in Australia. They are expected to compete on much better equipment than they train on, to do it on the podiums and to do it in a foreign camp structure. I take my hat off to all of them. Especially the girls from the Northern Territory, who have had to prepare for Nationals in one shared gym because of arson.

I'm hoping I'll have a reason to go again next year!