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Meet Directing 101
Presented by Diane Callison
Now that you have decided to host a meet, what’s next?
• Begin planning your budget. Early. As a matter of fact as soon as you are awarded the meet begin planning your budget. – Meets are like weddings, there are lot’s of last minute and hidden
costs involved.
• Some expenses are no brainers, like… • Facility rental, equipment rental, judges fees,
• But….yeah I know, there’s always a “but” isn’t there? – Who is going to set up the gym/facility? – Will you have to hire people to set up and breakdown the
equipment? – Will they expect you to feed them? What about drinks? – Who pays for their parking if you are at an outside facility?
BUDGET
Budget Items
• Besides the cost of the facility take into account chair/bleacher and table rental and delivery/pick up charges for those items.
• Remember to consider that the judges need tables – yes, tables and chairs.
• Budget for 2.6 spectators per athlete and more if you have a session with lower level compulsory athletes.
• Will you have to provide proof of insurance coverage for the facility?
• Will you be required by the facility or neighborhood area to hire or provide security during the event or overnight?
• Does the facility require you to have custodial services for bathrooms and spectator areas.
• What time does the facility open and close? Will you be required to pay for someone to come in early or to stay late?
• Sound Equipment – Are you taking budgetary consideration that you might need AV setups for microphones march in and floor music?
• Don’t forget to budget in food for the judges and coaches if you cannot bring in outside food.
• Will you have to print signs to direct people for parking/restrooms? Or to direct coaches, athletes, judges and parents on where to go when they arrive?
•That is great! You have just now cut out facility rental! So who is paying for the
added electricity you will consume?
•Did you get the air conditioning checked up to avoid it freezing up?
•Remember last spring when the relay on the heater went out and you
decided you could go wait til summer to replace it…. Did you do it?
•If the meet is at your gym – you will need to take into account toilet paper,
paper towels and cleaning supplies.
•Do you need to buy plastic/paper covering to protect floors?
•Is the sun too bright for gymnasts and judges if you don’t cover them with
heavy paper?
•Will you have to put up signage to direct people?
•Is it snowing and the walkways have to be salted?
•Will you have to provide shuttle service between the venue and the hotel for
judges, athletes and coaches?
•Do you have signs for Admissions and Concessions?
My meet is in a gym so I don’t have to worry about all
that stuff, right?
Top of the “To Do” list • Know what you are getting into – make a deadline calendar.
• Secure hotels for athletes families AND judges. Finding out that NASCAR is hosting a race the same weekend or that the super bowl will be in town makes it really tough to secure hotel rooms!!
• Depending on where you live, and the kind of meet you are hosting use the following guidelines:
• Minimum of 6 weeks before the meet –
Meet information should be distributed to clubs –who all is included?
It depends on the level of the meet-
- Is it a qualification meet, an invitational, a Regional Championship?
Each state and region has specific guidelines, but make certain to review them long before you think you need to.
There should not be any “Oh no – I have not done that” moments.
A Quick Meet Directors Checklist
– The Pre-meet information must include all Rules & Policies required information :
• Date of meet
• Meet Site address
• Competition Levels
• Entry Deadline Date (due “in hands” not postmarked!)
• Entry Fees
• Entries payable to:
• Team Entry Fees and team format
• Competition Format
• Equipment type including vault runway thickness and board types
• Admission gate fees according to your State/Region (except invitational's)
• Awards - percentage to be recognized
• When are things due to be posted on the website or distributed?
• Always refer to Rules and Policies for a complete list.
• I recommend that you actually make a REAL checklist and use it
■ Minimum of 30 days prior to the competition, apply for your
sanction.
Apply by mail, fax or online by visiting:
http://usagym.org/pages/membership/pages/info_sanction.html
Need Help? Add Additional Sanction
Administrators Meet Directors may add individuals to assist in verifying memberships.
• Step 1: Log into the USA Gymnastics website www.usagym.org
• Step 2: Click on Member Services
• Step 3: Click on the white Sanction link on the left hand side
• Step 4: When the drop down menu appears click on My Sanctions
• Step 5: Click on the sanctioned event
• Step 6: Click on Assign Sanction Admin.
• Step 7: Enter in the member number or username of the individual you wish to assign.
Sanction Administrators
Please Note:
• The individual that is being assigned as Sanction Administrator does not have to be a current USA Gymnastics member.
• But they must follow the Online Log in Procedure in order to obtain a user log in.
• Once they have been assigned, they will then be able to verify membership for the sanctioned event they are assigned.
• However, Sanction administrators DO NOT serve as the meet director and/or co-meet director. Their primary function is to assist in verifying membership.
Creating a USA Gymnastics Online Log In
• Step 1: Go to usagym.org and click on the Login link located in the top right corner.
• Step 2: Click on the “Click here to Register” Link
• Step 3: Enter in your individual member number (not club number) in the section where it says “member number.”
• Step 4: Proceed to enter the information requested.
• Step 5: Once your user information has been created click on Member Services.
• Step 6: On the left hand side you will notice white links. Click on the My Membership link to access all your personal information, renew your membership, print your member card, register for educational courses, and take the criminal background check screening.
(Background Check is REQUIRED for Professional Members Only)
Who’s going to judge your meet?
• ■ 30 days (minimum) prior to the competition send NAWGJ “Request for Judges” to the appropriate assigning official.
• The official Request for Judges Form can be found through your state or local NAWGJ person.
• Refer to NAWGJ.org for further details on assignment of judges for your competition.
• Check to make certain that you have received Contracts from all of the officials.
Proscore Electronic Scoring System • If you are renting an electronic scoring system, make certain that
you have made transportation arrangements.
• In most cases you will need to have staff people to assist with score entry.
• It is best to meet with them before the meet begins to allow them time to familiarize themselves with these duties.
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Following the Rules
• As you plan your meet, you will need to refer to several sets of rules.
• Most importantly, USA Gymnastics Rules and Policies. This publication can be found online at the national office website.
• The good thing is that it is FREE, that’s right, FREE!!!
• Your State or Region may also have specific rules that must be followed.
• Be IN THE KNOW!!
State and Regional Guidelines
• It is the responsibility of elected officials to uphold the competition guidelines in Rules and Policies.
• Meet Directors, Coaches, Judges and Club owners all have specific responsibilities that must be upheld.
• If an infraction occurs, the State office, Meet Director and Meet Referee have the responsibility and authority to refer Sanction violations to the National Office.
When’s it Due? Pre Meet Responsibilities
• Remember your calendar – make it and stick to it. Even the slightest of over-looked items can create big problems.
• Have you arranged for rented chairs, tables, skirting, and bleachers well in advance of your competition to make certain that there is not a big convention in town or weddings on the same weekend?
• Do you need to meet with outside facility personnel?
• Have you lined up medical staff to be on site?
• Do you know where the closest hospital is located?
• Have you put together a list of the names and phone numbers of key workers?
• Meet with your committee chairs and make certain that they obtain everyone who is volunteering is on a phone list. It is tough when you are about to start your meet and you have no idea where Sadie’s mom and dad are and don’t have a phone number.
Committees • Suggested committees
– Volunteers Coordinator – oversees that all volunteers are where they are suppose to be and working on their tasks. It is important to watch for micro management.
– Media/advertisement – this committee spreads the word about your meet.
– Souvenir Program – get going on selling ads and promotions early!
– Awards – plan who will order, organize and distribute the awards.
– Decorations – Whether it is a lot of awards or a few, it is still important to have someone who knows what is going on.
– Scoring/data entry – who will enter kids into the meet, work the meet and be responsible for scores during the meet?
– Competition workers
– Admissions
– T-shirt sales/apparel
– Concessions
– Hospitality – coaches, judges, dignitaries
– Transportation – of officials
– This is just the short list.
Keep on Keepin’ On
• Assign specific jobs to committee heads and know that every aspect on your meet is covered.
• Have a back up for that volunteer chairperson who will almost ALWAYS drop the ball you gave them.
• Set up your parent/volunteer sign up sheets. There are online services that can assist – or you can just do it the old fashion way on a sign up board.
• Make certain that a volunteer cannot come in and take another person off an event that he/she wants. Safe guard your faithful.
• I strongly suggest that you have a consequence for anyone who backs out at the last minute.
• Timing is everything – let them know early that you need their help and then let them know when signups start.
Championship Meets • All meet directors are required to follow the Rule and Policies of USA
Gymnastics.
• If you are hosting a regional meet, make certain you know the required age group breakdown and your responsibilities that follow the meet as well.
• Are you required to send your regional chair information as soon as your entry deadline has passed if a percent of a percent is used for advancement?
• Be aware of the time frame of posting schedule and birthday ranges.
• Are you hosting East/West or Jr. Olympic Nationals?
• Many extra duties come along with high level competitions and all the requirements are expected to be completed in a timely manner.
• You are REQUIRED to fulfill ALL of these addition duties as required
according to each due date.
Trains, Planes, and Automobiles The Judges
• Judging fees – the fee structure can be found in the Rules and Policies
• Travel
Airfares – Mileage to/from the airport
– Car Rental
– Mileage to/from meet & or to meet carpools
– Tolls
– Meals during travel & during meet
– Parking at airports, hotels and the meet venue
– Any taxi service if needed
Lodging and other things
– Lodging – remember, often judges have to be housed overnight depending on the schedule of the meet and their geographical home.
– Judges may have to travel in the night before a meet in order to have them on site for a morning session.
– If you finish very late at night or if you start early you may find it beneficial to house your judges for less expense than paying mileage for additional days of judging.
– You may be required to pay judges for some non-judging time if there are long breaks between sessions.
– Chief Judge fees are paid at meets with 4 judge panels.
More Meet Director Duties
• Refer to your state/regional guidelines for specific requirements on age groups and the competitive draw.
• Conduct the competitive draw and assign competitors to squads and events according to Rules and Policies.
• Speaking of the competition draw…..
It’s your meet, so why do you have to follow the rules?
• The USA Gymnastics National Office holds jurisdiction over all sanctioned events and the State Administrative Committee also has authority to assess a fee for non-compliance of state requirements. Certain penalty fees are constant. Others will be determined by the designated committee according to the particular situation and circumstances.
The “Draw” Itself • If there is more than 1 age group in a session, clubs
can be placed in the same squad, however, if there are multiple levels in a session, the gymnast must compete by Level, i.e., all Level 6 athletes must compete together and all Level 5 athletes must compete together. The same for each level.
• Please review the Rules and Policies publication if you have any questions.
Finally! Let’s set the schedule!
• Before you publish your schedule, I recommend that you ask AT LEAST 1 person to look it over for that inevitable typo that is lurking SOMEWHERE in your schedule waiting to zap you. It could be as small as a typo that has awards listed at 5:15 AM instead of PM, but it is better to check and find it now.
• At Last! The competition schedule is ready to go out! Just remember…
– Clubs want to know when they are competing and in this day and age parents are not shy about calling you directly to get “Jenny’s or Ashlee’s” schedule.
• Include dates, times and sessions for each level and age group. If Achievement levels are competing in more than one session then list clubs competing.
• If you can send a Gym Roster with the schedule this helps. It help clubs double check USAG #, DOB, spelling and team competition..
14 Day Rule of thumb!!
• 14 days prior to the competition, post final schedule your website, your state or regional website.
• Include a map to the meet site, hotel, age group breakdown and other pertinent information.
• GPS is wonderful but if parents think the meet is at your gym and you are hosting it in an outside facility, it could cause some real ruffled feathers.
• Let everyone know if breakfast is included avail at the hotel, it makes life easiler to know the little things.
Judges Schedule – Judges have families and need to know the meet info as well.
– Rule of thumb - 10 days before meet you should email judges an info packet that includes: schedule, maps to gym & hotel, food details (especially breakfast), travel arrangements, etc.
– It is especially important that the judges know the March-In time and expected end of sessions so that they can plan their time away from their home and family.
– Judges need to know any travel information including lodging, air travel and shuttle service.
– If you want judges to book their own airfare, let them know as early as possible to get good airfares and prices.
More Judging Stuff!!
• Have you communicated with ALL the judges about:
• Travel arrangements as well as any meal plans. Include hotel information for meets that require overnight stays.
• Even your local judges need to know the expectations you have for them.
• Should they eat on site, or at the hotel or somewhere else.
• It is better to give too much info than not enough!
Coaches Hospitality
• Coaches hospitality can rack up a hefty price tag VERY quickly.
• Most meets average 2-3 coaches per session per club.
• The food disappears at record speed and the drinks go even faster.
• You may find that some coaches share their hospitality food and drinks with their gymnast and their families. • If you have someone volunteer as a hospitality hostess, that
helps cut down on this a somewhat.
• It also sends the message that they are your guest and you want them to be taken care of.
Awards in General • Most of the time clubs have to order awards for each meet, and the timing
is crucial but tricky.
• As soon as you are confident that you can estimate your entries, order your awards. I would recommend that you buffer in some for those late entries and changes in level, but it is really important that you get your order in the works.
– I have seen people come down to the week and several times down to the day before a meet and realize that they are in trouble.
– CHECK your order as soon as it arrives. Do not rely on the awards company to never make a mistake – even if you use them all the time and they have never messed up or if they are for a state meet and someone else orders them for you. Mistakes happen. Let’s not let it happen to you. Inventory awards in plenty of time to fix any shortages.
– I have seen boxes of medals marked gold when people opened them at the awards ceremony there were actually bronze medals instead of Gold. Shipments get lost at UPS, FedEX and any other kind of logistics company.
– Nothing gets parents madder than a hot gym or not enough awards!
And the Meet Goes on…
• Refer to specific requirements listed in Rules and Policies and your State/Region for the required number of awards per level.
• Always consider that you will have ties for Gold and Silver and you need to award duplicate awards.
• During awards ceremony: If the session has Ach. & Placement levels, consider doing the Achievement awards first so they don’t have to wait around.
State or Regional Awards
• Regional or State competitions – If you are hosting a State or Regional meet, you are required to use
A1 Awards – NO EXCEPTIONS
– These medals are standardized in size and logo.
– State Medals are ordered through the State Chairperson.
• Regional Medals are ordered by the Regional Chairperson.
• Your State or Region may require you to pay for the awards.
• Check with your State or Regional Chairperson for details.
Uh Oh!!
• In the event a Meet Director is notified that an Entry Fee is paid with “Insufficient Funds”, the truth is that this falls under general business practice and should be handled through the host club.
• However, with that being said, all entries are required to be paid in full before an athlete is entered into the competition.
Get Ready, Get Set
• ■ Schedule meetings with all support staff (committee chairs, timers, tabulators, runners, squad leaders) and hold training session(s).
• It is the responsibility of the meet director to train support staff.
• ■ Ensure all competition equipment meets the required specifications of USA Gymnastics.
• Set up a meeting to look at the facility and equipment layout.
Data Entry And Scores
• There are 2 common scoring programs. – ProScore
– Score Master
– Either program will work, but….
• If you decide to have a gym parent run the computer, I strongly recommend that you make certain that they know the scoring program.
• Just because mom or dad are computer whizzes at work does not mean that they understand the intricate rules and idiosyncrasies of gymnastics scoring programs.
• ProScore allows you to download athletes directly from the national Database.
• However, if you do this, it is a little more difficult to manipulate the numbering system of competitors.
• I am not certain about Score Master since I use ProScore.
Excel and Scoring
• Both of the most popular scoring programs are excel based.
• This means that you can import INTO and OUT OF both of these programs.
• ProScore allows you to import straight from the National Office Database.
• Why does this make a difference?
• It makes your life much easier, confirms membership numbers and D.O.B.!
Data Entry • Numerical System • It is important for coaches to be able to tell
which kids are competing in an age group.
• The best way to communicate this to the coaches is to select a different numerical system.
• You can use several different approaches when assigning the numbers.
• You can number by Level, i.e. 400 for Level 4, 500 for level 5, etc.
• If it is a State Meet for 1 level you can use a different series for each age group.
• There are many ways to accomplish this, work with a system that will communicate info to the coaches as well as be easy for the score keeper.
Examples of Numbering System
• Level 5
• Jr A – 100
• Jr B – 200
• Jr C – 300
• Sr A – 400
• Sr B - 500
• Level 4 – 400 series
• Level 5 – 500 series
• Level 6 – 600 series
The numbering system depends on how many entries you have
and how many different levels.
Number First Last Club USAG Birthday Event Level Session Team
601 Amy Moore My Club 445636 12/10/2006 Women 6 3 X
602 Katy Johnson My Club 561207 09/01/2005 Women 6 3 X
603 Sandy Smith My Club 508451 06/01/1999 Women 6 3 X
701 Mary Jones My Club 625755 08/31/1997 Women 7 2
401 Aimee Martin Your Club 546221 05/05/2000 Women 4 5
702 Holly Deana Your Club 751420 06/01/1997 Women 7 2
Example of an Excel Data Base Ready to be put into Proscore
If you export data into Excel, you can also do many things to make
life easier.
Save as a .CSV extension to allow importing
Import into Scoring Program
• Once you have saved the file, you can quickly import the entire database into the scoring system.
Name That Club!
• Remember that old TV show, Name that Tune? Well in our world it is “Name that Club”.
• We all need to work hard to being as consistent as possible with the name of clubs.
• If there are results for Champion, Champion Gym, Champions, United, United Elite, United Gymnastics, Gym United and UE, it is impossible to sort out who’s who.
Back Up, Back up!!
• If there is one think that I can share with you it would be to BACK IT UP!!!
• As careful as we might be, I have seen hard drives crash the day before the meet and someone in a total panic trying to re-enter the entire meet matching athletes information to the competitor number from what was already published in the Souvenir program…
• It is NOT easy, and very nerve racking!!
■ Notify any clubs of incorrect/incomplete entries. ($25.00 per
incomplete/incorrect entry) – if the corrected form is returned to the Meet
Director prior to the entry deadline, no late fee will be charged. If the
corrected entry is received AFTER the deadline, then the $25.00 per athlete
late fee applies.
■ Refer to your state requirement on late fees.
Coaches & Athlete Membership
• It is crucial that you verify Judges, Coaches, and
Athlete memberships
• Refer to the Rules and Policies for sanction violation fines and penalties
• USA Gymnastics offers a new Membership Verification process. Click Here to read more.
How to Verify Memberships
• Step 1: Log into the USA Gymnastics Website www.usagym.org
• Step 2: Click on Member Services
• Step 3: Click on the white Sanction link on the left hand side
• Step 4: When the drop down menu appears, click on My Sanctions
• Step 5: Click on the sanctioned event
• Step 6 Verify Memberships – Verify Athletes: click on the Athlete roster button; enter club number to
verify multiple athletes from the same club
– Verify Professionals: click on the Verify membership button; enter individual numbers to verify at one time.
Coaches sign In
• I have found that the very best way to avoid those unwanted letters from the National Office is to make your own coaches sign in sheet.
• You can do this in Proscore or make up an excel spread sheet.
• You also need meet site evaluation forms & inquiry forms, either by the sign-in sheet or in coaches packet.
Last Name First Name
USAG member #
Member Exp. Safety Exp. Background Check Exp.
Signature
Callison Diane 411855 11/30/11 11/30/14 11/30/11
At the Meet Supplies • Most meet directors remember to print rotation sheets.
• Most meet directors remember to have competitor cards.
• The things that get overlooked are things like… – Pencils or ink pens for tabulation and coaches to mark scratches.
– Tabulation sheets (score tracking sheets, heat sheets, score verification sheets or whatever you want to call them).
– Inquiry forms – depending on the meet you might need a lot of these!!
– Stop watches – at least 5-7 of these per set of equipment – you will almost always have one go bad on you.
– Chalk – a LOT!
– Velcro for vault hurdle.
– Water bottle and scrub pad for bars.
– Compulsory music – All versions!!
– First aide supplies.
Support Staff
• During the meet you need to provide the following personnel:
• Compulsories:
• A score tabulator at each event.
• Score Flasher at each event if electronic score system is not used.
• Score runner at each event if electronic scoring is not used.
• Timers
Compulsory Timers (5 timers required)
• Vault • – 1 warm up timer – this person could also do score tabulation.
Sometimes the judge will time warm-ups but it is not required.
• Bars • – 1 warm-up timer/fall
• Beam • – 1 warm-up/fall timer
• – 1 routine timer
• Floor • - 1 warm up timer – this person could also do score tabulation.
Sometimes the judge will help time warm-ups but it is not required.
Optional Timers (5 Timers required) • Vault
• – 1 warm-up timer – this person could also do score
tabulation. (sometimes the judge will time Vault warm-ups)
• Bars
• – 1 warm-up/fall timer
• Beam
• – 1 warm-up/fall timer
• - 1 routine Timer
• Floor
• – 1 warm-up / routine timer
Staff Training
• Remember - It is VERY important that you train your staff Before the meet starts.
• They need to know how to time, tabulate, enter scores into the key pads or to do whatever job they have been assigned.
Getting the meet started
• Parents and athletes tend to arrive at least 30 minutes before the session, so be certain that your door is staffed for their arrival.
• Parents standing in a long line can make your audience very cranky!!
• So remember… your spectators do not do well in hail, sleet, snow, rain and heat!
Coaches Meeting • Start coaches meeting on time.
– Ask that at least 1 coach from every club attend.
– Go over general rules of your competition
• Coaches sign in – go over that requirement
• Are you using competitor cards?
• Will the coaches put the cards in their own order?
• Will the coaches be responsible to move the cards from event to event?
• March in - give details.
• Announce where coaches hospitality is located.
• Point out location of restrooms if not obvious.
• Go over team competition.
• Discuss how music will be played.
Timing of the Meet
• Always start on time.
• You may have to monitor the facility to ensure that athletes are where they need to be.
• Assigning a staff person available to line up the athletes for march-in is also important.
• Be certain that you schedule enough time between session for awards.
Results
• Within hours and often minutes of the conclusion of the session, people will be asking for results.
• I suggest that you tell everyone that they will be posted on the web and let them know by what day and time.
And …you are DONE • Well, not yet!
• You still have to load the equipment back in the truck or set the gym back up – so be certain that you make a blueprint of where things go BEFORE you tear the gym down.
• Nothing is more frustrating when you are dog tired than to find out that your mats are now off and you have to “scoot” everything over 5 inches!
Are you kidding me?
• What is even more frustrating than having to move all those mats AGAIN, is not knowing where the anchor bolts are from the ring tower you moved. Or where the recreational bars, and preschool things are located.
• HAVE A PLAN!
And NOW you ARE Done…Almost
Well…not exactly…
• Initial, sign and send in the Sanction report and coaches sign in – you can also fax that report.
• If you are hosting a qualifying meet, you may be required to send results either electronically or overnight to the next meet director.
• If it is your responsibility to collect entry forms and fees for another meet, be certain that you get them over-night’d so that the next meet can get organized.
Print Your Sanction Forms!
Meet Directors, once your sanction is approved, will have the ability to print their sanction packet online.
• Step 1: Log on to the USA Gymnastics website www.usagym.org
• Step 2: Click on Member Services
• Step 3: Click on the white Sanction link on the left hand side
• Step 4: When the drop down menu appears, click on My Sanctions
• Step 5: Click on the sanctioned event
• Step 6: Click on Print Sanction
Return ONLY pages 1-6 of the sanction report form including all sign sheets within 48 business hours after the meet to [email protected]
Do the pre-meet work so that you have less to do during the chaos that will
inevitably happen at some point during your competition.
The best of luck with your meet!
The End
