Parents how do we stand out hosting first meet?

[Gymmastmom9]

We are hosting our first meet. Looking for ideas for our gym to stand out. Should we do superlatives, like a prize for the gym thats traveled the furthest. Dont have any other ideas lol
I want to stand out, I want the gyms to want to come back to us, I want the community to come see us etc
Any advice or suggestions would be super appreciative

 

[Dad1234]

Have a really fun march in for the gymnasts that makes your gym stand out or have a really amazing meet gift.

 

[Gymmastmom9]

Have a really fun march in for the gymnasts that makes your gym stand out or have a really amazing meet gift.

any suggestions for a meet gift, that wont break the bank? Is there a meet gift your family or gymnast like?

 

[RTT2]

Leos are always a great meet gift. After a leo I'd say blankets are probably the second most popular gift item. Don't do anything that prolongs the meet- like awards for furthest distance traveled. I'm happiest when the meet starts and ends on time and the awards ceremony is quick and efficient. Cool, unusual medals and trophies are always memorable. Fun music in between rotations, and good decor help. For me the best meets are well run, meaning they don't start late and don't drag on with endless awards. I hate when they go out to last place- that's probably cute at l2 or 3 but is horrible in optionals. Presidential did that and who wants a 20th place medal?? I like the option of buying a t shirt or sweatshirt if it's a big meet, so if you have a vendor and your meet is a somewhat large one in your area that can be fun.

 

[Gymmastmom9]

Leos are always a great meet gift. After a leo I'd say blankets are probably the second most popular gift item. Don't do anything that prolongs the meet- like awards for furthest distance traveled. I'm happiest when the meet starts and ends on time and the awards ceremony is quick and efficient. Cool, unusual medals and trophies are always memorable. Fun music in between rotations, and good decor help. For me the best meets are well run, meaning they don't start late and don't drag on with endless awards. I hate when they go out to last place- that's probably cute at l2 or 3 but is horrible in optionals. Presidential did that and who wants a 20th place medal?? I like the option of buying a t shirt or sweatshirt if it's a big meet, so if you have a vendor and your meet is a somewhat large one in your area that can be fun.

this will be our first meet. thinking of doing tshirts for a meet gift. music in between is a good idea. I dont think we will go out to 20th (that sounds torture to sit through haha.)

 

[Dahlia]

As a parent, meets that charge less than average for admission stand out in a good way! My other favorite thing is when there is an espresso cart at the early sessions.

 

[Gymmastmom9]

As a parent, meets that charge less than average for admission stand out in a good way! My other favorite thing is when there is an espresso cart at the early sessions.

we may not charge at all for admission, or maybe cheapish, not sure on that detail. I will definitely supply coffee lol

 

[raenndrops]

Both healthy and unhealthy concessions, meet that runs ON TIME, awards that run smoothly.
A DJ, if one of the parents has connections, is great for between sessions and during breaks on floor.
Adequate trash cans, clean bathrooms with plenty of supplies.

 

[Janneke]

Most, if not all, of the above. What my gymnast remembers is the temperature in the gym, especially if it is too hot (rare) or too cold (common). Being on time is the most important to me. Enough seating with a good view of all apparatus is another one. We have been to quite a few where you had to fight over a limited number of chairs/benches with a good view

 

[katrid11]

We (parents) are happiest when:
- meet runs on time
- clean well stocked restrooms
- plenty of seating
- events are easy to see (best meet had a standing area near the beam b/c of where they were located and plenty of seats in the other area where you could see vault/floor/bars)
- refreshments are nice - especially for the mid day times where you cross over lunch
- low to moderate price. (worst meet was $25 per person to sit on a bench with limited view - our gym no longer goes to that meet) we are ok paying $20-25 when it is a convention center. $10ish for gyms. Prefer to pay $0 for little kids.


my daughter prefers meets where there is a nice parting gift - leo or t-shirt.
Oh - she also likes the meets that give out trophies vs medals for 1st-3rd. Nice change of pace.
And she also likes the themed ones like a Christmas one where each score over a 9 gets a paper ornament to hang on a tree...

 

[IreneKa]

For my daughter's short career as a competitive gymnast (4 years) the most memorable were the meets with some "theme" or something a little "extra". For example one was a "luau" meet, where they had to dress up in beach clothes for the awards. One was a "mardi gras" meet, where they had to make masks and wear them for the march in, there was also an award for the best masks (it was also a fun team building activity to get together on a weekend to make the masks).
So, something a little extra like that is always memorable and stands out.

 

[Pfiga]

Some of our meets last year gave out "judges' awards", which were given by each judge for whatever they wanted, ranging from things like "most creative hairstyle" to things at were related to gymnastics (best dismount from bars, etc.). These were always very popular among the gymnasts!

 

[Geoffrey Taucer]

If you want to stand out to the coaches, just make sure you have good food for them.

I cannot count how many times I've heard (or said) "that meet had really good coaches food last year, let's go there again this year."

 

[Coach Kate]

If you want to stand out to the coaches, just make sure you have good food for them.

I cannot count how many times I've heard (or said) "that meet had really good coaches food last year, let's go there again this year."

I was coming to say this! We keep going to one that has a coffee truck and then 2-3 different food trucks parked outside each day of competition. They give coaches/Judges a coffee credit and a meal credit at our truck of choice for each session. On Friday night's session, the hosts took coffee orders for those coming back Saturday morning so it would be ready when we showed up. Fantastic!

 

[Pineapple_Lump]

If you want to stand out to the coaches, just make sure you have good food for them.

I cannot count how many times I've heard (or said) "that meet had really good coaches food last year, let's go there again this year."

That was my thought, I would assume coaches get more say in future meets. Now I can't help but wonder if the meets that some parents have complained about here in the past had really good food for the coaches

 

[raenndrops]

If you want to stand out to the coaches, just make sure you have good food for them.

I cannot count how many times I've heard (or said) "that meet had really good coaches food last year, let's go there again this year."

Back when we were able to host meets, we made sure the coaches had a variety - from super healthy to super ooey gooey. Depending on what teams were coming, would sometimes have vegan options, keto options, diabetic friendly, heart healthy, and colorful fruit & veggie options (cancer survivor friendly).

 

[ORgymmom]

If it’s a meet at a gym, I feel differently than if it’s at a big convention center. If it doesn’t go well it feels like a yucky money grab since the host is not paying rental fees, is mostly running off of volunteer labor and is charging admission plus meet fees.

The worst gym-hosted meet we went to had:

-3 women’s bathroom stalls for 100+
competitors per session + spectators, coaches and judges
-sessions with doubled-up rotations, so each rotation had to wait for another rotation on that apparatus to finish before their turn
-unintelligible loudspeakers
-an award ceremony that took 90 minutes. Girls weren’t allowed to leave the area and weren’t allowed to eat in the award area so parents started sneaking food to any athlete who was nearby even if they were strangers
-mats and bars were releasing clouds of chalk and equipment was worn
-endless lines to get in- athletes were late for warm-ups and shivering in a cold parking lot because the same person checking in athletes was also taking admission fees
-food that the coaches really liked, unfortunately
-insufficient parking- what seems like the right amount of parking on a regular gym day isn’t enough for a meet

Ways to prevent this:
-Have a plan for scoring and awards, and practice it in advance
-Rent those fancy restroom trailers they have at weddings if you don’t have a lot of bathroom stalls
-have separate athletes and spectator check-ins
-Test your sound system, and not just when the gym is empty
-find extra parking or have shuttles to off-site parking. Have a dedicated athlete drop-off area so parents can get their child to warm-ups and then worry about parking. If you have a weekday session and are in a commercial or warehouse complex, make sure that you have an agreement with other tenants about the parking situation for the day.

 

[XcelMom08]

We are hosting our first meet. Looking for ideas for our gym to stand out. Should we do superlatives, like a prize for the gym thats traveled the furthest. Dont have any other ideas lol
I want to stand out, I want the gyms to want to come back to us, I want the community to come see us etc
Any advice or suggestions would be super appreciative

Kids like to put things on their water bottles now. So stickers would be fun. Giving something that will be used multiple times vs a one time has always been bigger for us. Example - we sells more cups with our meet info on it than a flower to give at the end.

As far from a parent perspective- meet fees that are all weekend keep us coming back because many have multiple kids at multiple levels.
And awards - being ready. Kids are ready to get rewarded and parents are ready for the drive back home.
Utilize any volunteer places. So many companies to it and high schools are sometimes obligated to fulfill hours which are easy to fill.

 

[Dahlia]

Another thing that stands out to me is visibility (i.e. how easy is it for spectators to see all the events). The best meet I've been to for this was the Arizona Sunrays Classic Rock Invitational. There were 3 roped off "gyms" in a huge room. But each gym was accessible on all four sides. I literally moved in a circle around the viewing area and could clearly see my dd on all 4 events. Most meets only 2 sides are viewable and often something like bars or vault is way in the back and very hard to see. I know not every space will work for optimum viewing, but do consider that. When I pay $20+ admission to see my dd compete I want to actually be able to see her!

As for meet gifts, to be frank, most of dds go to Goodwill. If it's a comfy leo she'll wear it (but she is really picky and has a lot of meet leos she's never worn because she doesn't like the cut or fabric is scratchy). A free t-shirt is nice and she'll wear that, but sometimes we don't bother because the lines to pick up the shirt are long. Her favorite meet gift ever was a large rice krispy treat with the meet logo on it. It was a fun treat to eat and it wasn't "stuff" to take up space.

 

[CuriousCate]

We loved The Gala in Asheville, NC. We have only been to this meet once years ago (pre-COVID) but my kid and I loved it for a few reasons. They had a great leotard gift. They did awesome dramatic lighting for march in and each team was announced with all the pomp and circumstance your could imagine and accompanied in to the arena by a young boy dressed in a tux. It was truly adorable.