Hey guys, so im going to go to my first ever yoyo contest, and its going to be nationals in chico California. What will it be like? What should I do? Who do I talk to? Im not asking a lot of questions in this post, im just askin what to expect. Should I bring my yoyos? This is kinda a noob question. But like… When does it start? And do the people compete right when it starts? And does one person compete after the other? Or are there like 10 min breaks inbetween? Thanks!
Also, who will i see there!?!
It will be yoyoing awesomeness. It’s outside at a park on a paved area with a stage/band shell where the entrants do their freestyle. You should bring your yoyos, because just about everybody walking around and hanging out is yoyoing (or playing kendama). You can talk to all kinds of people about yoyos, tricks, etc. There will be vendors there set up with all kinds of yoyos and accessories.
Last year it started with registration for Sports Ladder and check in for the champion freestyle competition (for those that qualified) at 9 a.m. There were plenty of people hanging out starting around then. You will see most of the major players there for the competition, plus a lot of other players there just to hang out and also watch the competition. Also, there are usually some big names like André and JD and others there to judge. The semi finals competition started roughly around 10 a.m. with 2A, 3A, 4A, 5A, and 1A The players go one after another for 1 minute with as little time in between as possible, so they can get through everyone.
In a seperate area they ran Sport Ladder beggining roughly after 10 a.m.
There is a lunch break, but most people hang around. After the lunch break, which may be short if they are running behind, the finals begin in the same style sequence as the prelims at around 1 p.m. Then when it is all done, they present awards.
Dude, you’re worrying about this WAAAY more than you need to be. Please calm down.
Anyways… there’s always a ton of people at Nationals. Everyone’s really friendly, so you can talk with them about yoyo stuff or anything yoyo related. You can trade tricks with them, buy sell and trade yoyos with them, or whatever you want.
There will also be vendors there as well. There are two types of vendors there: yoyo stores (like YoYoExpert and YoYoBestBuy) that will have stands set up, and yoyo companies (usually CLYW, One Drop, YYF, YYJ, Duncan and some smaller companies all have stands set up). There are a few deals here and there, you just have to find them. YYF usually has crazy cheap B-grades you can get. So bring lots of money so you can walk away with a nice haul. I would bring at the least $100 for yoyos.
About the actual contest. They go one after another. About half of the people there actually watch the contest, and half are off elsewhere doing other things (like some of the stuff I mentioned above).
I would definetely bring everything yoyo related that you own. Cause then you can trade, sell or buy stuff as I mentioned above.
Nationals is pretty fun and relaxed, so just enjoy yourself.
Hah thx, im just really excited, I kinda realized its not until like 3 months… Lol