Annoyed at the US KIDS

mrshinsa · November 7, 2018

Our son played in the final group during the US KIDS Regional this past weekend. Our group finished around 2:30 PM, and my son placed. We read a sign that said award ceremony would start at 3:30PM with the following note :

*Ceremony times subject to change, but will not occur before the time posted.

I was so tired and drained I did not want to hang around and chat. So instead I took my younger daughter to the range to have her hit some balls. When we came back around 3:15PM we were shocked to find out that the awards ceremony had already taken place. I was stupefied, and my sons excitement and exuberance were quickly replaced with confusion and disappointment. On one hand ceremonies are really nothing but a formality. On the other hand, look what happend to Taylor Swift and Kanye West. I talked to our close friend whose son plays in the older division and he told us that their ceremony happened as scheduled and they ended up waiting around for almost an hour.

Just really bummed out about it after all the work we put in to be there, that I almost feel robbed.

tiger1873 · November 7, 2018

All I can say is if your interested in doing the ceremony when you place you should hang around were they keep score. Most places have a place you can grab a burger or hot dog after a round onsite. If not maybe have them txt you or give you a call.

mrshinsa · November 7, 2018

All I can say is if your interested in doing the ceremony when you place you should hang around were they keep score. Most places have a place you can grab a burger or hot dog after a round onsite. If not maybe have them txt you or give you a call.

I agree and I totally would have stuck around, if it weren't for that highlighted side note...

kekoa · November 7, 2018

Not sure what to say but that sucks. After we finished, the director yelled out loud that the awards ceremony would happen at a certain time and it did. I still almost missed it as I was sulking in my beer.

hangontight · November 7, 2018

I’ve noticed some inconsistencies at the US kids regionals over the last year as well . Some they seem to do it right after the last group finishes, and at others have waited around until a certain time Up to a few hours later. Up to a few hours later Honestly I prefer to get it done right away, as most people are having to travel and ready to hit the road.

tiger1873 · November 7, 2018

All I can say is if your interested in doing the ceremony when you place you should hang around were they keep score. Most places have a place you can grab a burger or hot dog after a round onsite. If not maybe have them txt you or give you a call.

I agree and I totally would have stuck around, if it weren't for that highlighted side note...

I hear what you saying. We had an issue once like you described as well. I came the conclusion a long time ago most tournaments are run by either volunteer staff or not ones not paid much and don't always understand that we can choose different tournaments to play in.

wkuo3 · November 7, 2018

It's the persons responsibility whom ran the event , to round up the candidates for the ceremony, especially when there is a change of schedule and/or confusing messages in the posted communication. How difficult it will be to go about the premise announcing the beginning of the ceremony ?

It is very important for the kids to be acknowledged for their hardwork. Someone had dropped the ball, the event sponsor should be notified of what happened. I would send email to the event sponsor and go from there.

kekoa · November 7, 2018

It's the persons responsibility whom ran the event , to round up the candidates for the ceremony, especially when there is a change of schedule and/or confusing messages in the posted communication. How difficult it will be to go about the premise announcing the beginning of the ceremony ?

It is very important for the kids to be acknowledged for their hardwork. Someone had dropped the ball, the event sponsor should be notified of what happened. I would send email to the event sponsor and go from there.

That would be ideal, but probably not realistic. Normally, US Kids is pretty good about updating player's parents via e-mail about changes. Some venues are fairly large so the director isn't going to expend much effort gathering kids for the awards ceremony. The Monterey Challenge was a freaking zoo since some of the courses played didn't have a driving range. Essentially players at Del Monte were forced to go to other nearby course to warm up and all players were limited to a small bucket. You couldn't buy more even if you wanted to. On Sunday, the ball machine at Laguna Seca broke so it was even worse.

Anyhow, I agree that kids should be acknowledged and we normally know pretty quickly after the last group comes in as to who will medal. We have learned to stay very near the scoring table and wait for the announcement. In this case, US Kids is the sponsor and contacting them with regards to this type of issue unfortunately probably won't get you very far.

tiger1873 · November 7, 2018

The Monterey Challenge was a freaking zoo since some of the courses played didn't have a driving range. Essentially players at Del Monte were forced to go to other nearby course to warm up and all players were limited to a small bucket. You couldn't buy more even if you wanted to. On Sunday, the ball machine at Laguna Seca broke so it was even worse.

What happens above is a big reason that you need to sometimes practice without warming up before a regular practice round your playing. You just never know when this sort of thing happens in junior tournaments. Sometimes you simply can't warm up or prepare like you would.

wkuo3 · November 7, 2018

It's the persons responsibility whom ran the event , to round up the candidates for the ceremony, especially when there is a change of schedule and/or confusing messages in the posted communication. How difficult it will be to go about the premise announcing the beginning of the ceremony ?

It is very important for the kids to be acknowledged for their hardwork. Someone had dropped the ball, the event sponsor should be notified of what happened. I would send email to the event sponsor and go from there.

That would be ideal, but probably not realistic. Normally, US Kids is pretty good about updating player's parents via e-mail about changes. Some venues are fairly large so the director isn't going to expend much effort gathering kids for the awards ceremony. The Monterey Challenge was a freaking zoo since some of the courses played didn't have a driving range. Essentially players at Del Monte were forced to go to other nearby course to warm up and all players were limited to a small bucket. You couldn't buy more even if you wanted to. On Sunday, the ball machine at Laguna Seca broke so it was even worse.

Anyhow, I agree that kids should be acknowledged and we normally know pretty quickly after the last group comes in as to who will medal. We have learned to stay very near the scoring table and wait for the announcement. In this case, US Kids is the sponsor and contacting them with regards to this type of issue unfortunately probably won't get you very far.

I can understand that. not everything will be perfect in life, maybe that could be an opportunity education ? Some treat afterward could also make the kid feel better, like her favorite dinner......

Yes, Probably won't make any different if you contact the sponsor, but did the sponsor knew what's going on with the event ? Top brass probably would read the news and the report from the persons running the show without knowing what happened. This is, after all, an event for the kids. Excluding them for their rewarding moment is not good.

Like running a successful business, it only takes one bad moment to erase all the goof efforts done in the past. I'd bet the corporate would like to have some feedback from the parents.