We have local competitions coming up and I have 10+ girls who are brand new to competing. I want to send home a note to the parents about competition etiquette because they have no clue what to expect.

What do you tell parents and students who are brand new? Is there a list online somewhere? I'm thinking things like never approach the judge, parents need to stay off the competition floor, no filming other people’s kids, just things like that.

Thanks!

we did something like this a few years ago but I can't find my copy. Don't forget to add something about no flash photography and being respectful of the team on the floor (not moving while music is playing, etc)

My biggest thing is make sure they know to stay off the competition floor and walk around the gym rather than right through it. Remember they probably have never even seen a contest before so make sure you tell them everything from what to expect walking in the door (is there a spectator fee?), to getting on the floor (individuals watch your lanes, bring a highlighter etc)(groups may have time to sit ad watch but be very respectful), I always like to throw out the reminder that you never know who is sitting where and who knows who in baton so unless you have something nice to say please don't say it!!!Good luck to you and tell them to enjoy and the most important part of baton is having fun!!

The Maryland Baton Council has a good one:
www.geocities.com . . .

The Maryland Council is a good beginning for physical behavior at contests. However, once you get past the physical "don't" aspects:
Don't walk on the competition floor.
Don't walk or sit behind the judges.
Don't use flash photography or take photos at all if not allowed per organizational rules.
Don't video other children or take videos at all if not allowed.
Don't eat or drink in the gym, especially around expensive costumes! Watch what you're doing if you insist on eating or drinking around other people's belongings.
Don't hog ten seats for two people.
Don't block walkways, doorways, or the views of others. Don't allow your children to either.
Don't move around constantly. Do what you need to do (change your child, use the restroom, buy a drink for him or her, encourage, and SIT DOWN.
Don't approach judges without an invitation.
Don't ask others who are busy with their own children to do your child's hair or makeup. Plan ahead. Ask weeks ahead of time for tips on what is appropriate or required.
I would also add some behavioral items:
Be respectful of others.
Be positive. If you can't say anything nice, keep your mouth SHUT until you are safely in YOUR vehicle, home, or hotel room. Dressing rooms, restrooms, hallways, cafeterias, restaurants, parking lots, and most especially, bleachers are NOT the place to talk trash about other contestants, coaches, judges, or contest directors!!!
Be encouraging. It is not always easy to do but your child is putting themselves out there to be JUDGED physically...twirling, modeling, strutting...and it takes a LOT of COURAGE to get out there. Not everyone will win. Not everyone will have a good day. Be prepared. Think about how you will handle disappointment in ADVANCE. Baton twirling is a sport like figure skating and gymnastics and there is rarely a clear cut winner. It's not about the fastest, highest, or strongest.
Be humble. If your child has a great first day, please be humble. For every winner, there are some who place and some who do not. Teach your child ahead of time to humble. YOU BE HUMBLE, TOO. High fiving, excessive celebrations, and huge teams full of whooping and hollering parents who carry on are not setting good examples of good sportsmanship. It is very hurtful for the soloists or small teams from far away with no support to be youngsters in a "foreign" place full of people dressed in identical outfits yelling for everyone but them. Teach your child to applaud politely for all or don't allow it. It's distracting to those still competing anyway. (We were at a state competition. A contestant was competing with no intention of representing at Nationals and the parent made it known...repeatedly...ad nauseum...despite clear cut rules to the contrary. Imagine how a bunch of us felt when she came off the floor high fiving coaches and friends...some of them JUDGING that day! THINK about how your behavior reflects on your child and how your child's behavior reflects on your group.
Be prepared that your child might get tired, fussy, hot, cold, or cry. Have a sweater or jacket that zips for her. Have some quiet activities like coloring books, crayons, Barbies, My Little Pony and a blanket (if allowed) for little friends to convene on to play quietly. Take a pillow or lovey if needed. It helps (if supportive) to have two adults per child. One to tend to the child and one to tend to the stuff in the stands.
LEAVE SIBLINGS AT HOME!!! I cannot emphasize this enough. Unless big brother loves to read, play handheld video games, or watch pretty girls for twelve straight hours or little toddler can be guaranteed to SLEEP for twelve straight hours...YOUR LIFE will be miserable trying to deal with a petulent tweenager or irritable toddler. Long time baton moms hate having to help corral your little ones, "guiding them" to please not toss little balls under the feet of a teen practicing a five spin, fussing at them to please not put their messy food hands on costumes, bags, and expensive baton equipment, and the general irritation of already being stressed keeping up with everything and you're letting a wee one run free getting in the way. Keep them home. There is not room for strollers in dressing rooms or bleachers. There is often not a lot of walkway space around the bleachers. Please call in a favor from the neighbor or make grandmother happy.
Learn the and understand the rules of your organization. What does staying in step mean? Knee level? Tight corners? In solo, it's not just about who has the highest spin count. Watch. Ask questions but don't be a nuisance at the contest. Leg lines. Flow. Continuity. I would have a parent meeting to explain the score sheets ahead of time. Respect the judge's opinion.
Big girls and guys appreciate compliments from moms of new twirlers. However, do not monopolize them to the point where they miss a set or miss hearing their name or their food gets cold! If it looks like they are in a serious competition mode, iPod buds in their ears, serious face on, do not bother them. Do not block their way back into the gym or dressing room to have a "chat." Contests are NOT the time for long chats about what's going on. "Champ" really isn't interested in who you want to coach your child, what new costume you might want to have made, or why things are the way they are that day. Say something nice if you wish, "I loved your routine. That three baton trick was amazing! Your routine was so graceful. You must work very hard and be very dedicated. I love your costume." are all sweet compliments. "I thought you were so much better than Other Champ." is not kind or good sportsmanship.
Have plenty of small change and small bills. Try not to complain about the concessions. No, the good food available probably won't meet your organic standards. It's usually hot dogs, chips, soda, and brownies. It will cost more than it should but some booster group is trying to make money. Be prepared. Eat before you get there but don't stuff your child so full of heavy food that he feels ill all day. Likewise, don't just allow her to feed on simple carbs so that her blood sugar spikes and by ten a.m. she's dragging and whiny. Some contests will have some fresh fruit but most don't. Put a care package in ziplock bag not in the same bag as the costumes and shoes! A small water bottle you can refill all day for her, a banana and small apple, a small bag of trail mix or M & Ms or Skittles for a quick boost of energy before strut are appreciated when there is no time to race to the cafeteria for a meal.
Recognize that we all display stress differently. Some are chill and laid back. Some are highly competitive and if you are one of those...make yourself step back and then, step back ten more steps for the sake of your child. I promise the day will be hectic. You might have to do two hairstyles for team, take it down for title modeling, and put it back up again for solo and strut. Figure out hair AHEAD OF TIME. Don't wait until five a.m. to decide to wash hair and attempt to get it up with only one ponytail elastic in the entire house and a few old short bobby pins Grandma left five years ago. Practice hairstyles ahead of time. Try on all costumes with plenty of time for alterations. Make sure the shoes fit ahead of time. Make sure you designate a place in the house (dining room table, guest room bed, empty top bunk) for everything going to the contest. Six a.m. is not the time to start looking for the curling iron or electric rollers, a stadium chair, the soccer umbrella if it's pouring rain outside, or a can of hairspray.
Purchase all team and solo makeup and put it in one of those little "free gift" makeup bags or a special makeup box. Do not use it for anything but contests so you'll always know where it is. Do not ask to borrow other's personal items like lip liners, lipsticks, and mascaras. It is unsanitory and bad form.
Make sure you have all necessary meds for any family there especially your twirler. If she has asthma, please don't forget her INHALER! If he has attention deficit issues and takes Ritalin, a Saturday contest where he needs to be focused is a really lousy time for you to be forgetful!
REMEMBER YOUR BATON!!! You would not believe the number of people who get there with the dress, costumes, and accessories and FORGET THE BATONS.
Put a smile on your face. Be happy. You're alive. Your child is alive. You are doing something together and making memories on the way there and back. Make the memories of what happens there happy ones. Be nice to other parents. Be kind to other contestants. Smile. Say hello. Nod. Help hold a dress while it's zipped. Hand someone toilet tissue in an overused stall. Hold open doors. Squish if it's crowded. Hug your child. Tell them how proud of them you are. Remind them to practice because it does help. "You perform like you practice." Be positive, be positive, be positive. "Wow! It was almost in your hand!" "You've improved so much since Parents' Day!" "A top ten finish your first time! That's awesome!" "You had a million dollar smile today." "It took a lot of courage to keep going with those drops. That's what gets us through in life...to have courage." "Your team did a good job." "Did you have fun? That's good, sweetie. I did, too." "You sparkled out there." "You showed more confidence today than I've ever seen. Wow."
And if it wasn't so good...
"I'll bet if we set the egg timer for fifteen minutes every day to work on that thumb release I heard Coach talk about, you could really get good like those big girls."
"Maybe Daddy and you could practice marching a couple of times a week. He used to be in marching band in college!"
"Would you like to take a private lesson? I heard another mother recommend it. That's how her daughter improved and learned what to practice. I love you and I'm proud of you."
"Today was tough but I hope you don't quit. I think you can do this. Nothing good ever came easy. If you like this, I will support you."
"I love you. No matter what. I love you."

great post and a lot of super information.

What our team does also is the week or so before the first contest we have a beginners class for parents. I take my daughter into the room and show them how to make a bun, the tools we use, the things we've found that help. Also how to apply makeup, the colors the team uses, tricks for making it last all day. In that meeting we'll also talk about a lot of the ettiquette items mentioned above.

One other thing I make sure to tell people to pack is a medkit - tylenol, advil, neosporin, band aids, clear nail polish (but I always advocate 2-3 pairs of tights too), safety pins, small icy packs. Jut think about the injuries/ailments that can occur during a long day of twirling and be prepared.

Be humble. If your child has a great first day, please be humble. For every winner, there are some who place and some who do not. Teach your child ahead of time to humble. YOU BE HUMBLE, TOO. High fiving, excessive celebrations, and huge teams full of whooping and hollering parents who carry on are not setting good examples of good sportsmanship. It is very hurtful for the soloists or small teams from far away with no support to be youngsters in a "foreign" place full of people dressed in identical outfits yelling for everyone but them.

----

While you have some really great advice, I do have to respectfully disagree with this. Part of good sportsmanship is team unity, which we stress strongly amongst our parents as well as our twirlers. When parents have been shuttling their kids to team practice, and private lessons, paying good money to be part of a corps, and constantly reminding their kids to practice, they have every right to sit in the stands and cheer for their kids and their teams. If they are not being disrespectful to another team, there is nothing wrong with it. I can't imagine how it could possibly be hurtful to another group if a team has a lot of support and they don't, in fact, if that is not happening for them, they may want to reconsider the team they belong to. Our twirlers are reminded to be polite and supportive of other twirlers (a simple "good job" when a rival comes off the floor, or "congratulations" to the person who beat them in their solo), as well as be friendly while waiting in line to go on the floor, because you never know who could become your team mate down the road. As far as being humble, I feel if a twirler did well, they have every right to be proud.

That being said, I believe that contest etiquette is a matter of being considerate and respectful to those around you. Remember that you and your twirler represent your group. Act in a manner that will make people glad you were there, not dread seeing you show up. Be a good citizen, clean up after yourself, don't be annoying to those around you, and most of all, have fun.