Parents Are gym meets fun to watch? Thinking about going to see regionals.

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dani4

Proud Parent
I happened to see that regionals (for levels 8-10) are being held an easy 10 minutes' drive from my house. I've never been to a gymnastics meet, my kids are in preschool classes and like watching gymnastics on youtube. I'd like to go, because I'm curious and I think it would be fun. My kids are 4 & 2- the 4 year old loves watching ANY kind of performance (she has a higher threshold for boredom than I do), so no worries about her, but the 2 year old can get restless at these sorts of things.

So I have a few questions....

Do you think it will be fun, or is there too much sitting around, and if you don't know the gymnasts its not really worth going? I could check ahead of time to see if anyone qualifies from our gym, even though we won't know them personally that would make it more interesting.

Should I leave the 2 year old home with DH? I'm tempted to do that, but he does a lot of work on the weekends and he might not agree.

Any tips for what time to arrive, where to sit, etc? The schedule has times for warm-ups and march ins. When would you arrive, if you weren't there to watch anyone in particular and you were trying to minimize boredom for a 2 year old? I doubt we'll be able to stay more than an hour max.

My motivations for going: I like reading about gymnastics and seeing it on TV, so I think it would be fun to see in person. I've spent my life going to various meets and competitions for other sports, and I know I like being around that kind of stuff. Also, it will be helpful when deciding whether this is something I want to allow/encourage my kids to do someday. Plus we have no other plans next Sunday, so why not?
 
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Personally, I love watching gymnasts: whether I know them or not! Especially at those levels-the routines will all be different and it's so much more fun to watch in person than on TV (although I love that, too!)

There will be all four events running at the same time, so there won't be any "down time". If anything, it can be a little overwhelming to try to see everything!

If you want to be able to focus on the meet and discuss things you see with your 4 year old, I would say leave the 2 year old with someone. Just by nature of being 2, it's gonna be hard to stay in one place so you can enjoy it! Have fun!!
 
I am the parent of a level 8. If I could drop her with the coaches before a meet and pick her up when it's done and watch a tape of the meet, I would. That's how much I loathe competitions.

They can be long, boring... Viewing can suck, siblings get bored. Awards take forever... And that's with a kid I know and love there.
 
If you enjoy watching gymnastics, then you will likely enjoy it. I'd definitely leave your 2 year old home.

I would recommend finding out when the higher level girls are competing as their routines will be more impressive.

Personally, I enjoy watching the competitions. My husband only enjoys watching our kids (but he is really, really not into sports) and even my kids don't like watching unless they are down on the floor for their actual team. They consider it near torture to have to watch their siblings (I have 8 year old twins and a just turned 7 year old, they all compete).
 
Sure, go. As others said, all 4 events are being competed at once, so you're really not going to "miss anything" if you get there late or leave early. I probably wouldn't bother staying for awards unless you know someone and really care whether or not she places. There is usually a fairly big delay between the end of competition and the beginning of awards (like 30-45 minutes or so), and then, as others have said, awards themselves can go on and on and on (and on). As far as where to sit, I like to sit either in the back (so I can stand and not be in anyone's way) or on an end so that I can get up and walk around. It can be hard to get out from the middle of a row, and you find yourself walking in the path of several parents video taping.
 
I would go but leave the 2 year old at home. I have a 2 year old DD and have had to drag her along to a couple of her sisters meets and it's exhausting trying to entertain her.
 
There is usually a fairly big delay between the end of competition and the beginning of awards (like 30-45 minutes or so), and then, as others have said, awards themselves can go on and on and on (and on).

Wow, Mary, our awards always happen immediately....like in 5 minutes! that is crazy. I say go but definitely leave the 2 year old at home.
 
Since you are not going for one particular person, it would be fun to watch. There will be girls competing the whole time on different apparatus, it might almost be overwhelming. Another fun thing about regionals, you will have college recruiters set up around the gym watching. I am not sure if a 2 yr old woul have fun, though. I also vote for skipping the awards. Sometimes, they may have scores posted ahead of time in the venue, you can always check out.
 
Be prepared to pay a pricey admission and eat before you go unless you want to pay $ for concessions as well. I would plan to arrive after march-in time (20 minutes) which will still give at least 2 hours with plenty to see. Leave the 2 year old at home if possible. Level 10 would probably be the most interesting.
 
Thanks everyone! With all the input in mind, I am going to try to go on Saturday afternoon instead of Sunday- that way we can see level 9s instead of 8s (the 10s are on Friday, which is not possible for me), and I can leave the 2 year old home for her nap (the least objectionable time for DH). I haven't had a good outing alone with my older daughter in a while, so this could be fun.
 
Well I love gymnastics meets--heck, my daughter and I are traveling to Regionals to watch and she's not even competing (injury). BUT, I think a 2 yr old would be a nightmare at a meet (have had one in the past and watched friends try to entertain their younger kids). If you are just going to watch, a meet would be TONS of fun (if you like gymnastics)--especially at Regionals, there's going to be lots of excellent gymnastics going on. But I would be prepared to leave early, if your child gets restless.
 
Ditto what others have said about leaving 2 year old home!

If you enjoy watching gymnastics, you will like it whether you know anyone competing or not.
 
Take the 4 year old to the Level 10 session...leave the 2 year old with a sitter.

EDIT: Guess I'm a little late here...how did it go?
 
Not too late! It's this weekend (I may have mis-typed), not last weekend. I'm planning to go Saturday afternoon with the 4 yo. It's perfect- 2 yo is sick, and DH doesn't have much work to do. The 4 yo is excited, and so am I! Now I just have to figure out whether to drive or take the bus- it's on a campus where DH used to work and he insists that the parking is a nightmare and nowhere near the gym. But he often exaggerates these driving/parking issues..

Anyway I'll let you all know how it went on Monday!
 
Just make sure to bring cash because there is usually an admission fee and it could be as much as $20 for an adult (usually less for a little kid). The money goes to the gym hosting the meet generally, to offset team expenses that tuition doesn't cover.
 
We went today!

And everyone was right- there is no way it would have been ok with my 2 year old there. I think she would have been jumping up and down the bleacher steps the entire time, and trying to run out onto the floor :eek:. She's not mellow.

But my 4 year old loved it, for the first few routines we watched she said "wow, she's good!" and then I think she got used to how good everyone was. We were sitting right in front of the floor event, and we were planted there because there wasn't anywhere else to go! I was not prepared for how crowded it was- there were people standing, not nearly enough seating for spectators. It was a much smaller gym than I expected. I enjoyed watching too, and as usual with these things I was ready to go before DD was. We couldn't really see the vault from where we were, but had a good view of bars & beam. I was surprised by how much falling I saw (considering it was regionals). And outside of floor, I had a hard time telling when people were warming up or actually competing.

Overall it was a really interesting experience, glad I went but I don't need to do it again until my kids are competing (if they ever do- I will be fine if they don't, lol). DD was mystified by all the people cheering & clapping, and at one point she asked me why people were cheering for a girl. I said, because it's probably her mom & dad and they want to cheer for her so she hears them, if you ever enter a competition I'll cheer and clap for you too. And then she said "I'm not going to compete, it's too scary!" But she also said that she wants to do all the skills the girls were doing- she was especially impressed by the bars skills. I was too, but honestly there were some face plants that freaked me out- I'm not sure I can be a gym-mom!
 

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