WAG Determining which meets to attend

[Muddlethru]

From a financial standpoint, how do you determine which meets to attend? All our meets these season are overnight meets with three that require airfare. My daughter is an L9. The regular meets that require airfare will cost about $1,000 for each meet. My husband feels we should attend all the meets because that is what the coach suggests. I think it could cost too much. I want to skip just one fly away meet and at least keep the $1,000. There will be 7 (maybe 8--they may add another meet later), plus states, regionals and nationals if she qualifies. We have a choice whether we want to attend all the meets.

 

[bookworm]

I would look at the meet itself to see if I would fly to 3 meets...something like the Chicago Style meet with good competition, yes , I'd go but for a smaller meet with minimal upper levels, not happening. A few years back our gym wanted us to go to a meet in Puerto Rico, said it was "mandatory", but I checked out the competition from the year before and they had had NO level 10s and the only ones that were going to be going was the ones from our gym!! So I politely declined because the airfare alone was 700 a pop, so I said I couldn't afford it...I wouldn't go to a fly away meet with lousy competition, period.

 

[vagymmomma]

I think it should heavily depend on what a family's budget can readily afford. Meet experience is important, but not at the risk of jeopardizing any other essential expenses. Based on your description, I would not have any concerns about missing 1 of 8 meets. The question for you (and maybe your coaches) is whether 2 meets will matter. Especially if your daughter can still practice if she's not traveling.

 

[raenndrops]

From a financial standpoint, I would agree with you and want to skip one of the fly away meets... but is there any way to get the flights for cheaper? Would it be all of you going or just 1 parent and gymnast? How far is it that you have to fly? (I ask that because I prefer to drive for 2 days instead of flying... but that means having enough time off). Is there a meet that is in a destination that you really don't care to go to? If so, that would be a good one to skip.

Good luck with your decision.

 

[luvmygymdtr]

The regular meets that require airfare will cost about $1,000 for each meet. My husband feels we should attend all the meets because that is what the coach suggests. I think it could cost too much. I want to skip just one fly away meet and at least keep the $1,000.

$1,000 a meet?? This sport would be a great challenge for our family at $1,000 a meet. You're a more supportive parent than I. I would maybe do ONE meet at that expense and call it our family vacation. I guess we are fortunate. We have good competition close to home. Our most expensive meet is $130, 50 miles from home. Our gym will be competing 8 meets, but our family will be skipping one so that we can go on a family vacation.

 

[raenndrops]

We have one meet a year that COULD justify flying (YMCA Nationals) ... but we will be driving and making a vacay out of it. We will get to visit more states and I won't have to get on a plane .

 

[gymmomtoo]

Thankful we don't have 3 regular meets that are flying meets! That really adds up. All our meets are "required" but people do occasionally decline to attend due to financial reasons. Or like our big travel meet this year--two families are sending their girls with me. They save on airfare, split the cost of a hotel room and don't have to rent a car. (I'm going because it's my vacation--oddly enough I vacation wherever gymnastics travel meets are--sadly we never go anywhere tropical LOL!)

To answer your question though--I would do as bookworm suggested and favor a large meet with good competition over something that's a travel meet for you, but little competition once there. If all are similar in terms of size, then either go by cost or what city you think would be fun/interesting to visit!

 

[Iwannabemargo]

eeeek - I now feel a bit mean for moaning about the cost of going to London the other day ! 5 hours in the car and overnight at a friends house !

 

[gymmomof1]

Wow that's a lot of away meets. At dds gym they usually do meets in driving distance (farthest we have this year is 10 hrs) but still require a stay over night at a hotel. Some years they have done ones that require flying (she did Texas meet last year). Personally I would have her check out the meets on their website and see which one ( 1-2) she wants to go to and ask her teamates what meets they are doing. Especially since she will be doing regionals and possible nationals-lot of expenses.

 

[Ex member]

eeeek - I now feel a bit mean for moaning about the cost of going to London the other day ! 5 hours in the car and overnight at a friends house !

I know how you feel on that one, we have a meet next weekend (both days) and we need to leave at around 5am - 6am as it will take around 6 -7 hours to get there, London for me is around 2 1.2 to 3 hours away.

 

[profmom]

Agreed -- figure out which of the flyout meets is really worthwhile in terms of good competition and exposure in the sport. No way I'd do all three if there's a possibility of adding regionals and nationals. I know it would kind of stink for you and her, but would you be willing to put her on a plane with another family for one of them? (We may have to do this down the road if we have two upper level gymnasts in the family at the same time.)

 

[my4buffaloes]

I think I would make a pros/cons list of the 3 fly away meets and see which ones will be the best. I would never consider going to all 3 because of a) the cost, b) the time away from my other kids, c) missed work & d) too much time away from home - I use my weekends to catch up from the previous week and get ahead for the coming week.

 

[Bajanswife]

ALL of our meets require a plane flight except the one invitational we host in April. It's not a cheap sport. Our first meet is in South Carolina in November - it takes 2 flights to get there and the airfares are nuts right now. I cannot afford it. I considered begging for a donation from my parents, but then DD decided she didn't feel like she would be ready anyway and was happy not to go. She has not been training the ideal amount of time because it's an important school year for her and her homework load is heavy and she's getting some after-school tutoring as well (she has a big national exam in early May that will determine which secondary school she can go to, and they only get 1 shot at it). So I guess we won't have a meet until our own in April.

 

[Fliptwisttumble]

I think we are fairly fortunate that we have sufficient meets within driving distance. For the majority of the girls, they are able to compete at all meets and have parents drive, and our travel meet is optional. Girls who qualify for national meets, tour, etc. may have to travel by plane, but they elect to do that, or it is part of higher level/national competition.

Another thing to consider, as gymmomtoo said, is perhaps ask if your daughter can go with another family, thus cutting down the costs. I know that if someone asked me to take their child if they were unable to go, I would be happy to.

 

[Muddlethru]

Thanks for your responses. I feel we should just skip one flyaway meet. But they are all great meets with great competition. We are definitely going to Chicago Style which is one of the flyaway meets. The other two are a little further and the estimated expense of $1,000 is just for a parent and the gymnast. Airfare for two could run $600-700, plus hotel (which may end up to be two days), registration ($100+), coaches fees, rent a car, etc. It will be more than$1,000. It will save a lot to send my daughter with another family, but I want to watch her and she'd want me there.

All the driveable/overnight meets are about a five hour drive. Driving two hours and then turning around a day later to drive two days back would kill me. I don't know how you do it raendrops, but good for you that you can do that.

The big pros to going is being away from the kitchen and household chores! Big plus. I am so tired of doing the same thing day in and day out. One of the flyaway meet is in Florida. Nice and warmer! Yay! My husband and I alternate meets. So, I'll get the sunny state. Con, expense. The unfortunate thing is we don't get meet schedules until 2 weeks before. It is hard to get low airfare at that point. The expense will not kill us. But the thought of spending over $1,000 for a meet, three times maybe (hopefully 5 times--would love to have my daughter qualify for regionals and nationals) 5 times in three months, just seems exorbitant.

 

[bookworm]

Which meets are you supposed to go to besides the Chicago Style as we've been to many so could probably clue you in as to whether they'd be worth it. And as far as airfare goes, I always book on Southwest (fares generally drop in the middle of the night on Tues or Wed) because even if the meet schedule does change, you can rebook without a penalty (if it's a higher fare, they charge that delta)but if the schedule works with how you've booked, you have the low fare . I have booked our flying meets at 99 and 115 each way for a couple of our meets and have locked in these low fares if the schedule doesn't change...most meets the 10s are on Saturday so I book accordingly.

 

[MeetDirector]

Gymnastics, especially upper level optional gymnastics, is not for the weak of wallet. At the upper optional levels, it is all about exposure and meaningful competition (if there is a desire for staying in the sport beyond HS). If you are in a state where there is adequate competition and exposure, you are lucky. We are not and as a result have quite a few out-of-state meets all requiring flying and multiple night hotel stays. When you factor in meet fees (typically in excess of $100), coach travel fees, and then your own travel, a weekend gets real close to $2500 (maybe more) for the family. To those of you looking forward to the optional levels, start saving your pennies now (or plant that money tree) since I don't see the costs going down in the future.

Good Luck all on the new season.

 

[my4buffaloes]

You can look up meet schedules online usually prior to the 2 weeks notice that most gyms give their gymnasts. For example Chicago Style usually has their schedule out in early December.

 

[gymmomtoo]

I use Southwest too--love that you can cancel or rebook without penalty. I booked tickets for Westerns two years ago doing that--got it MUCH cheaper than waiting until Regionals and trying to fight everyone else for tickets. If your daughter is a level 10, then assume Saturday--fly Friday and Sunday. If they have multiple sessions at your level, then check with your coach to see if they requested a certain day. And bigger meets nearly always have schedules out more than 2 weeks in advance--check the meet's website

 

[Muddlethru]

Thank ya'll! My daughter' old gym only went to small local meets. So we have no experience with bigger meets. Good to know meet schedules are up sooner. Thank you. I will also check out Southwest (thanks bookworm). As far as meets, Chicago Style, Gasparilla Classic and WOGA. Which one would you go to?