I was part of a Twitter discussion about meet management in New Jersey. Many of the meets we run in NJ are poorly organized, cattle calls. Usually athletes make the meets exciting in spite of how meet management runs the meet. If we want our sport to grow and become more exciting, change needs to happen. To be clear, no meet is perfect and no meet will ever make everyone happy. However, I believe the root of our sport's issues is in the way we run meets.
Start with your "whys". We run meets for a variety of reasons. I believe you can create a meet for many reasons and still make money for your program or organization. The biggest and first "why" you need to answer is - what does this meet do for the sport? If you do not have an answer, change the style of meet or the way your organize events. Your "why" can be a million different things, but be sure to keep the sport's progress in mind.
It must be about the kids. They are the athletes and the reason we do what we do. If the meet is slow and boring, we lose athletes in their performance and their love of the sport. Make the meet sparkle for the kids. Play music, have an announcer, photo booths, awards ceremonies and whatever you can do to make the event fun. Kids will run faster and come back for more.
Have fun awards and awards ceremonies. The awards do not need to be expensive. I've seen meets with homemade awards. Howard Russ of Beavercreek in Ohio gives out gourmet cupcakes at one of his meets. Make a wrestling belt for the winners or print "Champion" on the back of a meet shirt. There are different ways to make kids feel special. DO IT.
Have a Time Schedule. Meets can be as long as you want them to be, but they need a time schedule. If a meet is 10 hours long, athletes better know when they are competing. As a coach, I have zero issues with a meet that starts at 9 am and ends at 6 pm, if that is what the meet requires. But please make sure my athletes know when they race. A time schedule allows me to guide my athletes' arrival to the meet and their warm up. It also can allow event coaches to arrive when they are needed.
Have heat sheets. NJ is notorious for a lack in this respect. We often have no idea whom we are racing until 10-20 minutes before a race, even at our state championship. Milesplit and Athletic.net make this aspect of meet management so easy. If we want our sport to be taken seriously, treat the athletes with respect. Could you imagine the outrage at the Group 4 state championship in basketball, if the teams did not know who they were playing until 10 minutes before the game? That's NJ track.
Assign defined rolls to officials. Every official should know their roll and be reminded of the roll by the meet management. If officials are not doing their job, somebody needs to remind them.
Have a defined Games Committee. The games committee should be defined and introduced to the coaches. A games committee is especially important at high level meets. Let coaches know their rights for protest and whom they should contact to go forward with a protest.
Budget! Be sure to budget your event to suit your needs. For most meets, the money you bring in runs the meet. Be diligent and organized with your budget. Planning ahead will make your meet less stressful for everyone.
Make the venues special. Add flags and signage to the track's venues to make them feel more official. If the venue has some pomp and circumstance, athletes will perform better.
Change and Adapt. A meet director can't respond to every request in a positive way, but you must be receptive to suggestions. If you have a small meet, you might be able to add an event or allow a few extra athletes. After a meet's completion, email coaches and get feed back about the event. Coaches will be honest. Use the information they give you.
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