Parents Why do we have to travel so far for meets?

[ktplus5]

Hi! I'm a newbie here and seeking advice on travel meets. Our gym (DD is 11yo, Lv7) is doing two travel meets to other parts of the country this year. We are fairly new to this gym and just don't understand the benefit of traveling so far and spending so much money (airfare, hotel, rental car, etc). Am I missing something here? Is this really going to make my DD a better gymnast? We live in a very large, metropolitan area where there are a lots of gyms within driving distance so it's not like we are isolated and have to travel to find competition.

Maybe I'm just old fashioned

 

[MaryA]

I hear you. At the moment, we go to just one travel meet per year (optional for compulsory and required for optionals... seems like, once you reach optionals, nothing is "optional" any more), but HC has been making noises about increasing it to 2. One travel meet per year, I guess I kind of get. It gets you competing against "fresh" competition and under different judges than if you only stay in-state. Plus, the girls work hard and a travel meet is a bit of a reward for them... a gymnastics vacation! And, when you start looking at college gym, it's good to be able to put on your "resume" that you came in x place at Chicago Style or Parkette's or some other meet that most people have heard about. But more than 1 a year, especially when you live in an area with a lot of local meets (we don't live in a metropolitan area, but there are certainly many, many meets within our usual 2-4 hour driving distance), it just seems like the costs outweigh the benefits, especially when gymnastics is already such a time- and money-sucking sport.

 

[vagymmomma]

It's primarily our optionals that travel very far. The compulsory gymnasts have several meets that are 2 - 3 hour away, but they're all drivable. In our state there are certain areas with large pools of gyms and that's just where the meets are.

Our optionals travel more. Generally only one (besides regionals and nationals) requires an airplace, but some are 5 - 6 hour drives. Our coach wants gymnasts to see girls they would at regionals so we travel a lot within the region (hit just about every state at a meet). They also want to attend some larger meets where they know there will be college coaches.

 

[vagymmomma]

Oh, and the girls LOVE the airplane meet. They really look forward to it and it's a great team bonding experience.

 

[skschlag]

Our boys typically do 2 a year. It is good to get out and have new judges, see what the competition is like in other parts of teh country, and a way to get exposure to other colleges and college coaches. It is a good experience for the too, to experience having a meet outside their comfort zone, in a larger environment, not sleeping in their own beds, etc.

Plus, we enjoy them! Both require airplane travel, and usually 4-5 days to be gone.

 

[Gymmonkeymomma]

It gets you competing against "fresh" competition and under different judges than if you only stay in-state. Plus, the girls work hard and a travel meet is a bit of a reward for them... a gymnastics vacation! And, when you start looking at college gym, it's good to be able to put on your "resume" that you came in x place at Chicago Style or Parkette's or some other meet that most people have heard about.

These are some of the reasons we travel. Our old gym did not leave the State, didn't even go further than 1.5 hrs unless it was for States! New gym was quite a change for me and my credit card, lol.

 

[skschlag]

These are some of the reasons we travel. Our old gym did not leave the State, didn't even go further than 1.5 hrs unless it was for States! New gym was quite a change for me and my credit card, lol.

Lol! Usually by the end of the season I have at least 1 free hotel room, if not more!! Helps with regionals We are really fortunate too that our booster club pays for all travel expenses for the gymnast. If I am frugal enough, I can stretch that to cover me too!

 

[MeetDirector]

Frankly, it all depends on the desires and needs of the athletes and whether or not those needs can be met in your particular state. If you have athletes that have desires beyond club gymnastics, i.e., college, and competitions in your state cannot meet those desires since there is no college exposure within your state, then you will travel. Further, if there just aren't enough high level optional girls in your state and every in-state meet would amount to an intersquad, then you travel. We have both of those situations at our club; we are traveling 7 times to surrounding states to get both exposure and meaningful competition. Regionals and Nationals are after that. This is not a cheap sport and as I tell compulsory parents, "count your blessings now and start saving your pennies."

 

[htimcj]

We travel because our optional girls, especially 8-10 get tired of basically competing against themselves Those girls also want to be exposed to colleges and most of our in state meets are very small so it is nice to see what other gyms are like. I remember going to our first really large meet in L5. DD had won EVERY meet she was in in L4 plus her first meets in L5 so was feeling pretty good Went to a meet with 2000 kids competing watched the first group go n floor and we all thought OH no, this is going to be a REALLY long day! She held her own and even placed on the beam but it was a real eye opener for all of our compulsories! It was good for them/her to see there is still more that could be perfected because we didn't see that in our in state meets.

 

[coyote]

Our optionals, especially 8-10 travel out of state for almost every meet. We are doing one local invitational and our state meet is local this year. We will be traveling to Washington, California, Arizona, Illinois and if Regionals goes well, Jackson, Mississippi. We are not a largely populated state and the upper level numbers really drop. If we didn't compete out of state, our girls would basically be competing against themselves and maybe a couple of others every single meet.. Even the larger meets in our state don't draw many level 9s or 10s.

Also, in trying to get college recruiters to see our gymnasts, we really do have to go to larger meets. Not only can they say they placed such as such at this particular large meet, there are college recruiters actually at those meets so that actually see our girls compete.

It also lets our girls see what the competion will be like at Regionals, Westerns and Nationals.

 

[kaloss]

The way our HC explained it was that it helps give gymnasts a true picture of what/who is out there. If they stay local and win every meet, there's a tendency to think you're the best. By competing large meets with gymnasts from all over, it gives kids a true taste of their skill level. It keeps them working hard!

 

[Bajanswife]

I wish we didn't have to travel so much - I wish we had competition in driving distance! I love the trips, but it's getting so we just can't afford it anymore.

 

[luvmygymdtr]

I wish we didn't have to travel so much - I wish we had competition in driving distance! I love the trips, but it's getting so we just can't afford it anymore.

I ALWAYS love your perspective on travel meets!! And one day, it is my DREAM, to have my daughter compete at one of the meets your gym hosts!! I know my husband and I would be drawing straws (more like fighting it out!!)on who chaperons her there.

 

[Bajanswife]

I ALWAYS love your perspective on travel meets!! And one day, it is my DREAM, to have my daughter compete at one of the meets your gym hosts!! I know my husband and I would be drawing straws (more like fighting it out!!)on who chaperons her there.

And we'd love to have you too!

 

[Empowered]

I have no idea why but I feel your pain KT. My daughter's gym has two meets with airfare (no possible way to drive) and another meet that is "local" meaning it's the next state over with a 5 hour drive. My daughter is terribly excited... my wallet is gently weeping beside me still. The recovery period will be long with this one.

 

[kitkat]

Our meets vary. Last year my daughter flew to Edmonton, AB & St. John's, NFLD and we live in Toronto, ON. She also had some within 4 hours of our home. She was pre-national - age 10.
This year she has several within hours of our home and also in Montreal, PQ . This year she is novice - age 11.
Oh yes, we also have a travel meet in Columbus, OH and that is approximately 6 hours from our home.
So really - all over...

 

[aksaunders]

We live in Columbus, Ohio. In our three seasons doing the gymnastics thing we have typically had two meets per season that required travel outside the state. We have traveled to the Atlantis Crown Invitational in the Bahamas twice and Disney World (USAG Open Championships) once. Because DD competes for maybe 5 hours including awards, we turn these trips into vacations so that we get the most bang for our buck. We have driven to Philly (Dalmatian Classic) and Indianapolis (Circle of Stars) for meets and my wife flew with DD to Phoenix for the Fiesta Bowl Invitational. This year we will travel to Covington (KY), Greenwood (IN), and Indianapolis on three consecutive weekends. DD loves it and we get along great with the other families so we grin and bear the cost.