AAU - National Track & Field Meet

[AnnaS]

Hi Everyone,

My dd 14 qualified for this event. I have just booked our air and CBR. First time staying here (any suggestions/tips welcome ).

This event runs from June 30th til July 7th - we will be there July 2nd - 7th.

Anyone else's children attending this meet? or Has anyone attended this event (or similar) before?

Any suggestions/tips would be appreciated.

 

[Kelly in Kansas]

This will be the 3rd year we have attended the AAU Club National track meet. It is a very well run meet and they are VERY prompt. Make sure your daughter is on time or she will get scratched!!! I have seen this happen to several people. If you don't have a rental car you might need to take a taxi if your daughter has early morning events. You have to go to MGM to catch the bus to Wide World of Sports. It does not cost very much and the concierge at the hotel can arrange it for you.

It is a very competitive meet especially in the sprints. This is the only National track meet that allows foreign competitors. There is usually a large group of athletes from the islands that attend - primarily Jamaica. My daughter, Alexa, met a girl from Bermuda 2 years ago and they are still pen pals. It is fun to see them every year at this meet.


I am sure you are expecting it to be hot. It is!!! There are a few places that have shade. We usually hang out in the air-conditioned basketball arena. (I think it is called the Milk House). There is one area where you can see the track so you can keep track of what is going on.

We have a collapsible cooler on wheels (I bought it at Sam's Club for $25) You will want one of these! It will lay flat and fit in your suitcase. Because it is so hot you will want A LOT of water and Gatorade plus snacks. The track is quite a hike from the parking lot so I highly recommend getting one on wheels. Also, make sure and bring an umbrella for the both of you. If she does any field events it is a MUST. The athletes will be either on the runway or infield for a long time. It is so hot you can see the heat rising from the ground. If you are going to be at the meet for several days you are probably going to go through a large amount of water and Gatorade. Visit www.gardengrocer.com They will deliver groceries to your room. I usually have a couple cases of water, some Gatorade, snack crackers and fruit delivered. I think water at the track meet is $2.00. A case of water is $6.99 from Gardengrocer.

If you have not already bought your WDW tickets the best prices are through AAU. We got a 5-day park hopper for $204. You can use it during the event and 14days after.


We attend all the National track meets both USATF and AAU and this is my daughters favorite meet. Can't imagine why? Track meet AND Disney World – our two favorite things!

What events will your daughter be competing in?

 

[AnnaS]

Thank you Kelly for the great tips. I have used gardengrocer before. I might have to used them now again. This trip will be with just my dd and I so no rental. Of course, there are others we know from here, Staten Island, and athletes/students from her school.

My dd will be doing the 200 m (?) and long jump. Her coach might let her try/train for the triple jump.

I was quoted $100 for 2-day park tickets. Will know more on this when we attend meeting next week. I might use the tickets that I purchased last year to save a few $$. If I can get the 5 day for $200 - I might go for this one through them. Our flight was a bit more than I expected ($857) - a classmate booked in the am and it was $707 - same flights.

Thank you again.

 

[Kelly in Kansas]

You should definitely enter her in the Triple Jump. Not that many people triple at this meet.

Yikes on your flight prices. I won't tell you ours!

What team are you with? My daughter runs for Draft Pick Academy from Kansas City. (I also coach) She will be competing in the 80m hurdles, LJ and HJ.

 

[AnnaS]

You should definitely enter her in the Triple Jump. Not that many people triple at this meet.

Yikes on your flight prices. I won't tell you ours!

What team are you with? My daughter runs for Draft Pick Academy from Kansas City. (I also coach) She will be competing in the 80m hurdles, LJ and HJ.

Thanks for the advice - she might just do the triple jump if she can. It will be on a different day than the other two I believe.

Not sure exactly what we are called "officially" - we are from the CYO Archdioicese in Staten Island - NY - exactly what/who we are representing - is CYO? This is my first time and my dd is very excited. My son did track in high school for three years and he/we loved it.

My dd though - is dying to do this in high school - but she has been a cheerleader for 8 years and is very, very good (I usually never comment on it - but everyone else does). She promised/agreed she would cheer one year in high school - and she can do track the other three years if it is what she still wants.

What year is your dd in? Even though my dd ran with her eight grade group - she will be running with 1992 kids (and not 93) - I held her back in third grade.

Perhaps we will bump into each other - you might find me though where you suggested hiding from the sun/heat.

Are your rooms also blocked at the AS Sports or CBR? I want to know what prices you are offered for tickets this year as soon as you know. Thank you.

 

[Kelly in Kansas]

My daughter is 11. She competes in the sub-midget (96) age group. This is her 4th year competing. She runs both indoor and outdoor – AAU and USATF. In addition she plays premier soccer 10 months out of the year. Needless to say we are very busy. She loves sports and competing. She wants to add volleyball this year but I don’t know where we could fit it in. Between soccer and track she has practice almost every night.

I ran track for 13 years and now have been coaching for 4 years. I was very happy when she wanted to start running! I would say she is following in my footsteps but she is 100x better than I ever was. At the young age of 11 she is already a 25 time National Champion, holds 10 National records and 1 World Record for her age group.
She has been very successful thus far. I will say that she works very hard and it and is a very focused and determined girl. As her Mother I have to work EXTRA hard to make sure we take everything in stride, keep it light and above all make sure she is having FUN. At all the track meets we travel to (5 National meets a year) I try to add a few days onto the trip to do fun stuff. I also make sure I have surrounded her with the right coaches who are gifted teachers but all know that even though she is a very gifted athlete she is still A LITTLE GIRL! The only bad part about that is the team/coaches we chose to run for are 1 hour away. The same thing for her soccer team. We drive an hour each way EVERY night so she can practice. Some days it seems too much but when I look at the big picture I know I am doing the right thing. At this age I think it is equally important to have a coach that can develop an athlete both physically and emotionally. We have been very lucky to find a track club and a soccer club that does that. Since she competes at a high level in both sports I also need to find coaches that would not pressure her to decide on one sport. I will never make her choose and I don’t want anyone else trying to make her choose. At this point she thinks she is playing both in college. If SHE chooses that I will be 100% supportive.

We are staying at AS. We stayed there once before. It is not anything fancy but for track meet trips to Disney we are not at the hotel very much at all.

If you are undecided about the triple jump you should at least enter her in it then decide later. Last year there were only 9 girls that jumped in the Intermediate age group – top 8 medal. A few days before the meet they will release a performance list that will show who has entered and how many for each event. If there are 8 or less she should definitely jump! I am bringing one other athlete from our club. (So two this year. The last 2 years it has just been my daughter from our club.) He is an Intermediate boy and also does TJ. His event is right after the girls Intermediate TJ. If she jumps would for sure run into each other. It looks like we could on Wednesday as well. (I noticed that your daughter LJ at 8:00 sharp. Make sure she checks in by 7:00. Last year there were over 40 kids in the Midget LJ but only maybe 7 checked in on time. Only those kids got to jump. Everyone else was scratched!!! One of those girls that got scratched was a girl (from New York) that breaks the National record every year. It was very sad.

These are the ticket prices from AAU.
Park Hopper
2 day $113
3 day $144
4 day $175
5 day $203

Base tickets
2 day $100
3 day $131
4 day $162
5 day $190

There are also prices for adding water parks. Let me know if you want that too.

Whoever is organizing your even might be suggesting or only telling you about 1 type of ticket. When you order from AAU for every 10 LIKE tickets you get one free. They may be wanting everyone to get the same thing so they can get their ticket free…
In any event you can always order these from the AAU on your own.

 

[AnnaS]

Thank you Kelly.

You have given me a great wealth of information. I am now printing it out and will highlight a few things.

You sound like a great mom/coach to a great daughter. I can't believe she is 11. I hope she keeps it up. There are great scholarships out there for college too - which I am sure you know.

Unfortunatrly, the high school she will be going to will not allow two sports during one season - cheerleading (leading up to competitions) and track are both almost daily events with meets, games, competitions, etc.

Looking forward to this experience.

 

[AnnaS]

Hi Kelly,

Just wanted to say meeting is tonite.

Also - just happened to check Jetblue and airfare went down $120. I now have a credit. Need to book by 6/12/08 - I am sure I won't have a problem using it -

 

[AnnaS]

Kelly,

The prices are exactly like you stated here. I think they are very reasonable. We only ordered 2 adult 3/day hoppers. I have a plus (water park) for each of us if I need.

We were told about the basketball arena too - they will call us on cell phone when athletes performs. Another parent told me about the cooler too.

Thank you again.

I think we are going to miss the pep rally and our mtg. Monday at 8 pm. We are arriving at 6:15 pm at Orlando. I would have booked for morning or day before if I had known ahead of time.

Looking forward to this.

Enjoy yours too and Good luck>