Through no one's fault, a local swim meet was recently cancelled in our area due to the northeast snow storm. This is the first time in my 8 USMS years I know of a meet being cancelled at the last minute (some past were cancelled with notice).
Several of our team members sent in registrations for the meet. Of course there are expenses with organizing/planning a meet that must be paid, but the meet directors have indicacted that no fees paid will be returned. Needless to say, this has upset some members, especially those paying more by entering the maximum number of events.
I ask what past experience others have had when a meet is cancelled at the last minute. Did meet directors make contingency plans, especially for winter meets? Were there partial refunds? (It would seem that some expenses would not exist - mailing results, officials, pool rental) Were other types of redress offered if money was not refunded? How did swimmers affected understand and accept their forfeit if any? Do host teams share some/all/none of the risk of hosting meets? How usual or unusual is this?
Parents
Former Member
I don't know of any indoor meets in the New York City area that have been cancelled due to bad weather (surprising, since snow is hardly unknown here), although we have had close calls. Several open water events have been cancelled, by order of the Coast Guard, because of bad weather or rough seas (including off shore hurricanes). But our open water events typically expressly disclaim refunds on the entry forms (some provide for alternate dates).
When I was a member of our LMSC board, we discussed adopting a policy regarding refunds, after one close call. What we found is that the issue is more complex than it appears. Most of the costs of the meet organizers are fixed and may be incurred whether the event takes place or not. The most obvious is that some facilities require a rental fee that may be paid in advance and be non-refundable. But other fixed costs are not so obvious. These could include lifeguard salaries (required by New York state law) or the cost of custom awards (which may not be usable for other events). At one cancelled open water event, the organizers had had event t-shirts made which obviously could not be used or sold.
Requiring refunds as a matter of policy would impose an unacceptable risk for many meet organizers -- some clubs could even be forced out of business. Even if insurance is available, the cost would likely raise the entry fee prohibitively. The board considered creating a "contingency fund" for cancellations, but, since I'm not on the board any more, I don't know if anything happened along those lines. Nevertheless, imposing that risk on meet directors (without such a fund) might very well result in fewer meets being scheduled.
I don't know of any indoor meets in the New York City area that have been cancelled due to bad weather (surprising, since snow is hardly unknown here), although we have had close calls. Several open water events have been cancelled, by order of the Coast Guard, because of bad weather or rough seas (including off shore hurricanes). But our open water events typically expressly disclaim refunds on the entry forms (some provide for alternate dates).
When I was a member of our LMSC board, we discussed adopting a policy regarding refunds, after one close call. What we found is that the issue is more complex than it appears. Most of the costs of the meet organizers are fixed and may be incurred whether the event takes place or not. The most obvious is that some facilities require a rental fee that may be paid in advance and be non-refundable. But other fixed costs are not so obvious. These could include lifeguard salaries (required by New York state law) or the cost of custom awards (which may not be usable for other events). At one cancelled open water event, the organizers had had event t-shirts made which obviously could not be used or sold.
Requiring refunds as a matter of policy would impose an unacceptable risk for many meet organizers -- some clubs could even be forced out of business. Even if insurance is available, the cost would likely raise the entry fee prohibitively. The board considered creating a "contingency fund" for cancellations, but, since I'm not on the board any more, I don't know if anything happened along those lines. Nevertheless, imposing that risk on meet directors (without such a fund) might very well result in fewer meets being scheduled.
