WAG non-sanctioned meets?

[sce]

Okay, so I have heard a few times of kids competing JO levels at non-sanctioned meets. How would that even work? How would you get judges? Why would a gym choose to attend a non-sanctioned meet.

I don't know if that happens in my area, as all the meets I know of are listed on our states USAG site, so I assume they are all sanctioned.

 

[skschlag]

We used to have a couple in our area that were non-sanctioned, but they are not that way anymore. They were boys' meets, and usually just the clubs that had lower level boys that were wanting to test the waters in competition would go. They didn't need uniforms, or USAG numbers or anything like that. But they stopped that about 7 years ago.....

 

[Deleted member 18037]

You get judges by paying them. We have a fundraising meet for a charity. Its judged, by level, not sanctioned.

And you won't find the meet listed on our states site.

 

[sce]

You get judges by paying them. We have a fundraising meet for a charity. Its judged, by level, not sanctioned.

And you won't find the meet listed on our states site.

How of gyms find out about these meets if they are not listed on the state's site? Can sanctioned meets also be done as a charity fundraiser? We've been to a Pink Meet, which was a breast cancer fundraiser, it was sanctioned I believe.

 

[skschlag]

How of gyms find out about these meets if they are not listed on the state's site? Can sanctioned meets also be done as a charity fundraiser? We've been to a Pink Meet, which was a breast cancer fundraiser, it was sanctioned I believe.

Yes they can. MIGS is one, Co Open as well. There are many fundraiser meets that are sanctioned.

I don't know why you wouldn't want a sanction. There is so little time available to compete, that I would not be ok going to a meet that isn't sanctioned.....

 

[raenndrops]

If you want to open up some of the sessions of a meet to YMCAs or clubs where the gymnasts don't have USAG numbers (or an opportunity for rec gymnasts to compete), you have the opportunity by hosting non-sanctioned meets (or just specific sessions).
Several of the meets on the Ohio USAG State website have a day of Sanctioned and a day of Non-sanctioned. The non-sanctioned is seen as more of a fun meet and is less expensive (for the most part).

 

[MILgymFAM]

The only non-sanctioned meets we’ve ever personally seen were in-house meets at the beginning of the season, like a practice meet. Many of the gyms we’ve attended have had those.

 

[Mommyo2az]

I judge a number of unsanctioned meets annually. Usually gyms that are not competitive, just starting out, or putting on a fundraiser or show for the parents. Its about the love of the sport, I judge whatever people ask me to!

 

[CoachAlex]

Sanctioning a meet isn't cheap - so if you are just looking to do a practice meet and don't mind that the scores would not be official (they can't be used to score out of a level or qualify to a sectional meet) that would be the way to go. You can pay a judge to judge a meet that isn't sanctioned - and I suppose if you aren't competing under USAG you wouldn't need a USAG sanction anyway.

 

[Aussie_coach]

We have them everywhere here in Australia. In order to run a sanctioned meet there are certain requirements such as standard of apparatus, amount of space around each apparatus, number of judges on each apparatus, level of judges has to be right for each level, coaches have to have a specific level of qualification based on level of kids competing, has to be advertised in states website and open to all gyms etc, etc. If a gym can't meet those requirements they can hold their own non sanctioned meets. Or if they don't want to open the meet to everyone.

It is common here for smaller gyms, that may not be able to meet the full apparatus requirements, or those with kids who do less hours and want to compete with similar clubs who also do less hours.

Clubs attending would usually still bring judges, or the host club would approach judges and ask the, to attend. Invited gyms would be notified by email.

 

[sce]

Thanks, it is helpful to understand this. I still think it is a rarity in my area, but most gym here seem to have only USAG teams.

 

[MILgymFAM]

Sanctioning a meet isn't cheap

I thought it was $100? We’ve had gyms that did a sanctioned meet for one or two gyms for various reasons.. yes, they obviously needed the scores to count, but if you’re paying judges anyway, it doesn’t seem too high a cost added on.

 

[Ginger]

Sometimes there is one or two non-sanctioned sessions as a part of a sanctioned meet. It was very common in our previous state, and many gyms there offered league (non-sanctioned) gymnastics as a less intense, cheaper option, mainly for compulsory levels or XCel.
Our current state doesn't offer it though, or I haven't seen it so far here.

 

[raenndrops]

I thought it was $100? We’ve had gyms that did a sanctioned meet for one or two gyms for various reasons.. yes, they obviously needed the scores to count, but if you’re paying judges anyway, it doesn’t seem too high a cost added on.

Plus the fee to the Region... and the fee to the State USAG... In Ohio, those add up to $2 per gymnast. If you have 500 gymnasts, that's an extra $1000 that has to be paid out after the meet.

 

[MILgymFAM]

Plus the fee to the Region... and the fee to the State USAG... In Ohio, those add up to $2 per gymnast. If you have 500 gymnasts, that's an extra $1000 that has to be paid out after the meet.

I was thinking small- the non-sanctioned meets we’ve been a part of were all less than 20 girls.

Edited for clarity- it wouldn’t cost much to sanction these little meets.

 

[raenndrops]

I was thinking small- the non-sanctioned meets we’ve been a part of were all less than 20 girls.

Edited for clarity- it wouldn’t cost much to sanction these little meets.

The small ones, yah, it wouldnt cost too much more

 

[FlippinLilysMom]

Does a sanctioned meet have to have 2 judges per event?? We do an in-house meet each year (coming up in 1 month for levels 6-10) and I've heard from some parents that it is a sanctioned meet and that the scores can be used to qualify for state but I've heard from other parents that it's not sanctioned because there aren't 2 judges per event.

 

[raenndrops]

Does a sanctioned meet have to have 2 judges per event?? We do an in-house meet each year (coming up in 1 month for levels 6-10) and I've heard from some parents that it is a sanctioned meet and that the scores can be used to qualify for state but I've heard from other parents that it's not sanctioned because there aren't 2 judges per event.

I think the # of judges per event required may vary by state for Qualifying meets (in states that dont allow EVERY sanctioned meet to be a state qualifier)... but for a sanctioned meet, they can use 1 judge panels as long as the judges are rated high enough to judge all levels.

 

[Splat]

Our first meet is always a non sanctioned meet. My gym uses this meet to see where each gymnast is at the start of the season and that way they can check out some of their competition.

 

[profmom]

I guess I could see it if it is at the home gym or very close by, is early in the season, and is primarily for lower levels. Otherwise, it seems like a distraction and a waste of everyone's time.

I don't like the practice of having an in-house or tiny local sanctioned meet with ridiculously overinflated scores at the beginning of the season to qualify everyone for states. I think it just makes it harder for the little ones when they go to a more competitive meet and get realistic scores. (Not saying that anyone in this thread does this, but I know it is a thing.)