Parents Level 10, college gymnastics team recruiting

[Gaby]

I am thinking about how college recruiting gymnast. Besides competing on level 10, what average scores of level 10 competition are the minimum scores to be considered on the D1 college team in general?

 

[josie55]

I don't know that there is a minimum score, per se, and of course it depends on the team. People will say that it's possible to do NCAA from L9 or with a somewhat sparse L10 record, but that tends to come with a lot of caveats such as, a lower-ranked team, or a D2/D3, or as a walk-on, or with one or two super strong events, etc. Those caveats can still mean an absolutely great opportunity for someone so I don't want to dismiss it, but I think it's misleading to imply that it's common for a L9 or weaker L10 to get recruited to a strong NCAA program.

I am by no means an expert, but what I've observed is that the girls who are recruited to say top 25 schools with scholarships most typically have had a few solid seasons of L10 with scores of 37s and 38s. Some were/are elite. Even so, there are girls with many 37s who don't seem to land anywhere, and I'm not sure what that means. And there are plenty of girls who have more of a mix of 36s and 37s who get spots, probably not on top 10 teams but on many of the others.

Some will say that more/as important than scores is form and that that they have the skills needed in NCAA (very close to L10 but not a precise match). I think that may be true, and can be conveyed via videos and at camps, but I've been told that most coaches want to also see scores. Of course there are factors outside of gymnastics (grades, leadership, personality, coachability, etc.) but I'm not sure that those will get someone recruited, as much as they could keep someone from getting recruited.

Will be curious to hear what others think, as my thoughts above are all from observation and reading versus any direct knowledge or experience.

 

[MuggleMom]

I got really curious about this once and checked schools that are geographically near me that have gym programs (not necessarily the most competitive programs but D1) And I looked at their current Freshman/Sophomores scores on my meet scores to see what scores they had and it ranged from 9.6s to 9.8s on a lot of events. Most of them went to nationals even if they didnt place high there. We have girls at our gym getting scholarships to schools (not high ranking ones) that score mid 9s on some events and 9.6/9.7 on some other events. I would say you may see some lower AA scoring gymnasts in college if they are really good at an event a school needs. The ones with lower AA scores tended to have a "better" event that probably helped in their recruiting.

 

[gym_dad32608]

Just go to college gym news, look up some of the teams at the D1 level you are interested in and look up their scores. Or look at the collegegymnews recruit rankings. Just perusing through those indicates as poster above said. On average you want to see 37.5+ AA scores. But there are many ways to skin the proverbial cat, and average means that there are some AA scores that are below and some higher. Every situation is pretty unique, depending on program, slots open, maybe events that they are looking to shore up, etc. While I don't have time/desire to do data analysis, my hypothesis is that making nationals for several (1+) years is the best predictor of D1

 

[JBS]

37.5+ AA scores

^^^ This... 9.5+ on single events too.

 

[lathyrus28]

I had some helpful advice recently; to look at the college gym fans site...where you can find the current (and next year's) commits to all the D1 programs. Then if you backtrack those names to my meet scores, and you can see where current recruits were scoring in their L10 meets. It's a bit sobering, to say the least You can also see which schools still have roster/scholarship spots open...and how many of their existing spots are filled with Elites who step back down to college.

 

[ReluctantGymMom]

A teammate of my kids just graduated - competed level 10 her junior and senior year, that’s it. Didn’t make it to Nationals, but scored really well this year (last year was a learning curve).

She got a walk-on spot to a smaller D1 team and confirmation that she will make line ups early on, and possibility of scholarship down the line. literally out of her moms sheer determination. She worked with recruitment consultants heavily and she spent the better part of the last 2 years hustling to get noticed.

There are plenty of higher scoring level 10 graduates this year who didn’t get offers, walk-on or scholarship so I think how well you communicate with coaches must also play a good role in it

 

[Tigtimes]

From what we have seen I would say the minimum is 36 range - for lower ranking D1. Top teams former elites and the 38 club. The ivies are lower in some cases but you have academic admissions requirements that are a big portion.

Think bigger factor is your gyms connections/history with college teams. We know a girl who made a top
Ten team with high 36 BUT her gym is one with lots of connections and kids on top 5 teams and elites . If you are from a smaller gym with few or no connections then it becomes a part time job to market to be seen.

As other have said check gymfan site that shows commits and uncommitted and you can get a feeling.

 

[PippenMom]

Just go to college gym news, look up some of the teams at the D1 level you are interested in and look up their scores. Or look at the collegegymnews recruit rankings. Just perusing through those indicates as poster above said. On average you want to see 37.5+ AA scores. But there are many ways to skin the proverbial cat, and average means that there are some AA scores that are below and some higher. Every situation is pretty unique, depending on program, slots open, maybe events that they are looking to shore up, etc. While I don't have time/desire to do data analysis, my hypothesis is that making nationals for several (1+) years is the best predictor of D1

Any idea what videos are analyzed to determine the recruit ratings?

 

[gym_dad32608]

Any idea what videos are analyzed to determine the recruit ratings?

You can read the FAQ on college gym news here. They go into much more detail about methodology. But I believe a lot of the videos are social media, some submitted by athetes/parents, and their own attendance at the large meets. You can actually request to be added to their database of recruits to be followed here. Obviously for the elite girls it is easier to get videos.