Below you will find our recommendations and resources for hosting meets.
Step 1:
Find a date! We recommend reaching out to host sites over the summer, since USAG sets their schedules VERY early. It is helpful to look at the spring break schedules for schools in your area to try to avoid weekends where many students will be away.
Step 2:
Decide whether you would like to request an NAIGC sanction. Benefits of sanctioning your event include free NAIGC awards, access to ScoreFlippers for registration and scoring, access to discounted hotel bookings, insurance support, potential access to our Healthcare Team, formal certification by the NAIGC, and real time support from an NAIGC representative. You must used certified judges and meet our Safety & Equipment Standards in order to sanction your meet. When you use our scoring software, results will be publicly available and connect to each member’s account. You must submit your sanction request at least 8 weeks prior to your competition.
Step 3:
Based on your decision in Step 2, either complete the Sanction Request Form or the form to List a Non-sanctioned Event. Sanctioned events will show up on our Upcoming Events page once they are approved (~2 weeks after submission). Non-sanctioned events will be viewable on that page immediately. Sanctioned events will be notified of their status and connected to their NAIGC meet rep 2-3 weeks after their event is submitted for sanction.
Step 4:
- Find judges! If you can request judges by Sept 1, that’s great, but definitely try to request by October 15. We have instructions by state for requesting judges on our Finding Judges page.
- Find an athletic trainer! If your school/gym/club doesn’t already have a source for trainers, we recommend Go4, which is a service that connects events with athletic trainers (more info available here).
Step 5:
Announce your meet! Every region works different, but we suggest contacting your Regional Representative to help advertise your meet. It can also help to post on Instagram and Facebook and DM teams you think may be interested in attending.
Tips
Offer all the levels
Judges prefer judging athletes whose routines were developed for the level they are competing. We have surveyed many judges, who all said that they do not mind judging several levels in a single competition, just make sure each rotation separates athletes by level, preferably competing in order of increase level.
Optimize your schedule
If you are offering both MAG and WAG, think about how sharing vault and floor will work. Some teams have had success starting their MAG meet about 1 hr earlier so that the MAG athletes can compete on vault and floor before the WAG athletes begin. Starting MAG on floor allows for the floor to be open sooner for WAG open stretch.
Judges resources
Make sure your judges know the rules! We have lots of resources for judges on our MAG Rules and WAG Rules pages, under the “Resources for Judges” section.
Offering UAG
Offering UAG can be logistically challenging, but UAG athletes are used to this! At Nationals Finals, the onus is on the athlete to get to there event when needed. Consider this policy for your own meets. If an athlete can’t be at an event when it’s time for them to compete, then they will need to scratch.
If you have any additional questions, please email events@naigc.org.