In accordance with our goal to create safe and supportive environment to to develop the foundations of an active healthy lifestyle in gymnastics, we wanted to create a quick guide on gymnastics meets for any skill level. Beginner, EXCEL, JO and everything in between, we do meets a particular way to ensure safety and fun!
Preparation for the Gymnastics Meet
What should you bring to a meet?
Water
Easy healthy snack Ex. Granola bar, not an apple
Grips, tiger paws, or any other brace that they normally wear
Black team shorts if they have them
Possible change of clothes (especially if you plan on getting food!)
Preparing the Day Before
Clothing
Gymnasts should wear their leotard, warm up leggings, and warm up jacket
Undergarments cannot be visible! Do not wait until the last minute to decide what undergarments you will be wearing
Shorts can be packed in their bag, and put on once they take their leggings off
How to wear your hair for gymnastics
No specific hairstyle
Must be pulled back tightly
Hairspray all flyaways
Please wear black scrunchy that came with leotard, unless you are doing two braids
We recommend practicing the hairstyle you plan to do during practice the week before the meet
Buns can be problematic for kids who do backward rolls
Please no additional accessories (bows, ribbons. etc.) unless given permission by coaches
Shoes
We recommend that gymnasts either wear or pack a pair of slip-on shoes (crocs, flip flops, etc.) that are easy to put on if they need to go to the bathroom
Arrival
Please plan on arriving at least 15 minutes before the listed warm up time
When you have arrived at the venue, find your coach and other team members
Please have your gymnast try to use the restroom when they first arrive
Say goodbye and wish them good luck
We ask that supporters please stay in the stands and not try to talk to athletes or coaches during the meet. This can be distracting and potentially dangerous
Find a seat - We encourage our R&R supporters to sit together.
R&R has a reputation for being one of the most supportive gyms with the loudest cheering. Please help us maintain this by supporting all our team members!
What Happens at the Gymnastics Meet?
No flash photography please
Most meets will have a rotation schedule. This lists the athletes from all the gyms on their first event. The events always go in the same order, called Olympic Order: Vault, Bars, Beam Floor Ex. If we are starting on beam, they would do beam, floor, vault. then bars. The order listed is not necessarily the order they will go in. Some meets allow the coaches to choose the order. The order may be different on each event
Gymnasts first do an open warm up where they will do a general warm up and stretch
On each event they will warm up first, then compete. You will know they are competing when they raise their hands (called saluting) to the judge(s). After they compete, they will receive a score. On vault, they will get two attempts and their score is the better of the two attempts.
The Awards
At the conclusion of the meet, there will be an awards ceremony.
Gymnasts are broken up into age groups. It is not necessarily by exact age (ex. all 12 year olds in one age group). They usually take all the competitors and split them evenly into a certain number of groups (usually 2-4 different groups). So you may be in the same age group as someone at one meet, but not the next meet.
Awards are given for each individual event and all around. All around is the total of their 4 scores on each event. Usually only the top 50% of the age group gets a medal (ex. If there are 16 kids in the age group, the top 8 will place)
SOME KIDS WILL NOT PLACE AND THAT'S OKAY! Please emphasize to your athlete that meets are a learning experience and they cannot expect to always win.
Team awards are given as well. The team score is calculated by adding the top 3 scores on each event.
There will be many photo opportunities on the award podium at the conclusion of the ceremony.
If you have any other questions, please contact a coach. We'll see you soon!
GOOD LUCK!