Round Robin Meets
For over a year now, we at Moran Academy have been putting on small meets known as the MASS Mania Series. These competitions are held in what’s called a Round-Robin format. This is slightly different from a traditional Weightlifting competition in a few ways, but there are plenty of similarities. Let’s get into it.
What’s Different?
There is no ascending bar.
The lifting order is decided by the declared opening snatch attempts for that session. This means the bar can go up and down throughout a session.
The lifting order never changes.
It stays the same the whole time, even if a lifter has a higher 2nd or 3rd attempt than another lifter. The order that’s set at the start is the order for the whole session. All athletes perform their first attempt. Once all athletes have completed their first attempt, the order remains the same and all athletes will continue in that same order to complete their second then third attempt.
Sessions are limited to 5 athletes maximum per session (at MASS).
A traditional meet generally allows 10-15 athletes per session. Round Robin meets can have more than 5 athletes per session, but we limit it to 5 at MASS.
A session is completed in an hour or less.
In a traditional meet, each session lasts about two hours.
Counting attempts becomes drastically easier.
Because the lifting order stays the same, no matter what an athlete has for their attempt, they will still lift in the same order. There is no stealing clocks, no following yourself, no two-minute clocks, and a lesser chance of miscounting warm-ups.
What’s The Same?
Totals count toward a USAW Qualifying total.
As long as the meet is an official USAW Sanctioned Event your total counts for USA Weightlifting qualifying totals. All MASS Mania Series events are USAW Sanctioned events.
Weigh In Rules.
Weigh in starts two hours prior to the session and ends one hour prior to the start of the session. All youth athletes must wear a singlet and be accompanied by a Parent/legal guardian or a coach of the same sex. Senior and Masters athletes can weigh in as they see fit or needed to make a particular weight category. All athletes must have a valid USAW Membership. All athletes must show a copy or screenshot of their valid membership at the weigh in. Weigh in official is a certified USAW WSO Referee of the same sex of the session they are doing weigh ins for. Ex: Male official for male weigh ins, female official for female weigh ins.
Sessions are divided up by Gender and then Entry Total.
Sometimes this means men and women are in the same session, but usually not. Lighter entry total sessions go first, with the heavier sessions being later in the day.
Introductions happen 10 minutes before the start of the session.
There will be an introduction of all athletes prior to the start of the session. There is then 10 minutes before the first lifter is called up to lift.
Lifters get 3 attempts on both lifts.
Lifters get three attempts on Snatch, followed by a 10 minute intermission, and then by three attempts in the Clean & Jerk. Lifters have a one minute clock for each attempt.
There are some small differences between the two types of competitions, but as a whole, they are very similar. All of the rules that you are used to still apply, with the exception being the lifting order. If you’ve coached or competed at a Powerlifting meet, then you are familiar with this format.
We hope this answers any questions you have regarding how a Round-Robin meet works. See you at the next MASS Mania!