Parents Age verification/birth certificate to compete?

[Alibri]

ok so something just crossed my mind. Do your gyms ask for birth certificates for age verification? What about for entry into competitions? My older DD is 7 currently, and I just realized the gym only knows her birthday from my initial registration when she started rec 3 years ago when she was 4. They have never asked me how old she is or when her bday is since then. My DD competed level 2 last year, but there were no age brackets for the comps we went to for L2. This season she will compete L3. Will they ask for age verification at comps?

I’m wondering if anyone checks actual birthdays with birth certificates? I just found out that states are projected to be about 2 weeks after my daughter turns 8, and I heard that means my daughter will need to compete her whole season as an 8-year-old, even though she will be 7 for all of her comps except states (if she makes it). I am assuming this will be the case for every compulsory level she competes. I would be kinda bitter if there were no checks in place for people who might want to cheat that little time frame. Will competitions or gyms check birth certificates?

 

[2G1B]

What organization does she compete under? For USAG it doesn't matter for girls (it does for boys; but not for girls). For AAU I think that they bump them to the next age group after their birthday.

Ultimately, for the girls, in at least AAU and USAG, it really isn't that important. I don't know about any other organizations though. It has stunk for my son as his birthday is just a few days from the cut off that they recently went to, and for the boys there is a maximum age to compete some levels, so he lost a year of being eligible to compete L8. For the girls, there is no maximum age to worry about (other than I believe 18). Generally at meets for USAG they just take the number of girls at a level in a session, decide how many age groups they want, and then divide the girls evenly. This has meant that sometimes my 13 yo DD has been grouped with girls who are all 13 and 14 this year and sometimes she has been apparently just at the cut off as her teammates who are a month or so younger end up an age group below my DD and my DD has ended up in an age group that wen from 13 - 18. Each meet it will be different.

I don't really think that there is much concern for parents cheating on the girls side since there is no real set age group for competitions. If you go to a competition with only 10 L3s it is possible that they will put all 10 of them into a single age group. If you go to a competition with 50 L3s there could be 4 or 5 age groups, some with girls all within a few months of each other and the older end with girls years apart.

 

[Sk8ermaiden]

I think this is a state or regional decision. Here the girls are in age groups like 2G1B says, which are often different at every meet. But if you check usag, the other option is to declare age groups that are used by the whole region all season, and your age group is determined by your age on the last day of state. Sounds like the OP must be in the latter.

I know they *can* check age. We have a gymnast who is extremely small for age, and the coach told her mom to bring her birth certificate the first season, because they would question her age. And they did. But that's the only time I've heard of it.

 

[Alibri]

We are in Southern California, USAG JO.

 

[gymdog]

Falsifying birth dates in lower level gymnastics in the US is historically not a concern. But I guess anything could happen.

 

[triplethreat+1]

In order to "cheat" you would 2ant to know what kind of competition a gymnast would be facing in either age group... Virtually impossible.
But generally the younger age groups have the "phenoms" so it would not be a bad thing to be in a higher age group...

 

[Deleted member 18037]

NY here.

Age groups change all the time, they usually try to keep the size of the groups similar.

Some times the age groups work for you, some times against. The oldest kid on my girls team scores similar to the other girls. She is usually in the senior level, or top senior if there is multiple levels. It is not unusual for her to sweep the podium. The rest in the lower age groups do not, and depending on the age group might not even medal with similar or higher scores.

That’s how it goes. No point in stressing age groups

We fill out registration forms for our gym and daughters USAG registration every year. Both forms ask for her birthday. We have never had to show her birth certificate. I do assume there might be an occasion where we would have to.

We have had to verify our kids birthdate is correct on the meet rooster list. Usually always for States, other meets sometimes yes sometimes no. But that’s to make sure they have it correct.

 

[MILgymFAM]

Everyone is talking about age groups, which I wouldn’t even have thought about- no they won’t ask. I wouldn’t think it is outside the realm of possibility for someone to lie so their kid can start competing younger, though. No one would ever check on that either. I doubt it really happens often, if at all. We’ve absolutely had to show proof of age for other activities- soccer, dance, swimming.

 

[profmom]

Yeah, except for entry before being age eligible, I can't see what the incentive would be to lie about age on the girls' side. On the boys' side, however, one of DS's teammates has a birthday on May 27, and another on May 30. Both lost an entire year in level when the age change went into effect. (So did my son, but he wasn't as close to the break point.) The guy with the May 27 birthday did JD last year but probably would have been a solid L8.

 

[SMH]

We haven’t had to provide any age verification to the gym-
Age groups usually vary wildly from meet to meet either way- my recently turned 8 yr old is sometimes grouped with the youngest age group, so she competes with 6 and 7 yr olds, sometimes with the older 8 and 9 year olds- it just depends on the composition of ages at the meet and how the meet splits everyone up. Since every meet is different I don’t think cheating the system would have much of a point.

 

[meganliz77]

In order to "cheat" you would 2ant to know what kind of competition a gymnast would be facing in either age group... Virtually impossible.
But generally the younger age groups have the "phenoms" so it would not be a bad thing to be in a higher age group...

Agreed. My DD is a 10 yr old level 7... usually it is 10 and under or 11 and under for an age grouping for her. The gymnasts in her age bracket seem to routinely outscore the older age brackets. So while my DD or another younger girl on our team may not hit the podium, their older teammates might place even if they didn't score quite as well.

Honestly, I would worry a lot less about someone being dishonest about a birthday (because I would think it would happen rather infrequently) than I would be about a team holding their kids from competing until they score over a 37 at in house meet. You're talking an entire team versus maybe one gymnast. And even then, it's just par for the course. It is what it is.

 

[CLgym]

I've thought about the original question too, weirdly enough. Sometimes you see super tall kids in the lowest age groups, or teeny tiny ones in the senior age groups.... so the thought has crossed my mind. And nobody has ever asked me to verify age.... I just wrote down DD's birthday when I first filled out her USAG card application. On the other hand, my older son is a travel baseball player and carries his birth certificate (official copy) in his baseball bag at all times because they do check.

In addition to age-eligibility, there would be some incentive to fudge age for purposes of TOPS or similar programs that have different requirements for testing at different ages (and age is based on birth year -- So, for example, an 8-year old must test as a 9-year old if they will turn 9 before the year ends). However, in all honesty, I doubt anyone lies. You would have to predict some future benefit when you first start gymnastics and give your child's birthdate to the gym.

 

[Deleted member 18037]

As a very naive about gym mom when we started I never even gave her age or birth date a thought as to how it would impact her.

But then I was so uninformed I thought whatever level you were that’s how it went. If you were 1st place at L3 bars you were the highest bar score of the all the L3s. Silly me The never ending award ceremony with a multitude of age groups was a total and complete shock to the husband and I.

 

[mls529]

As a very naive about gym mom when we started I never even gave her age or birth date a thought as to how it would impact her.

But then I was so uninformed I thought whatever level you were that’s how it went. If you were 1st place at L3 bars you were the highest bar score of the all the L3s. Silly me The never ending award ceremony with a multitude of age groups was a total and complete shock to the husband and I.

LOL - this was us too! At her first meet, we were so shocked that they broke into so many age categories! My husband and I were laughing to ourselves "so she placed 7th - on bars - of all the 9-10 year olds, at this one session of this one meet" hmmm, I guess that is good?!

And others have said it, but OP, I originally thought it was beneficial to be competing in a younger category, but I quickly learned that is not the case at all. It is often the older kids who get on the podium with lower scores (not a bad thing -- just how it works). I often chat with the mom of a young level 9 who says her DD will never be on the podium because competition is so fierce in the youngest age category.

 

[kayjaybe]

Our gym didn’t ask for any verification.

Age groups at meets will vary depending on enrollments in the meets. Sometimes they use the age on the first day of the meet. Sometimes they use the age for the first day of the state or regional meet where the meet is held.

And if it is a HUGE meet where there are multiple sessions for the same level across multiple days, while they will use the same age determination, they won’t necessarily use the same groupings. A recent meet we were at had 2 L8 sessions going on at the same time. One had a 16+ as the oldest age group. The other had 15+ as the oldest group.

You can’t control it and in any given meet it could be better to be in a higher or lower group, so it isn’t worth worrying about. JMO.

 

[SurpriseGymMom]

Never been asked, never occurred to me that people may lie. Like it has been said, if anything for my DD it would seem to be more beneficial to be a little bit on the older side for a level.... her 15-yo teammate routinely places with lower scores than my 13-yo (who has yet to place at all). That has been the norm for the past few years and my DD isn’t even in the young phenom age category (she is L8)....
In other sports I think it may be more of a problem. DH just went to one of our (13yo) nephews football tournaments and he said some of those kids looked like they were in college....

 

[Amanda]

We've never been asked to show anything. My dd says her coach will sometimes ask their ages/bdays before a meet. I agree with everyone that it is hard to predict what age would be helpful at a particular meet. From my dd's 11 yr old perspective of her limited experience, the judging seems a little easier with the younger groups but placing with a lower score is easier when you are in an older group. Not sure if she is right about the judging but she has often been able to place with a lower score than her younger teammates.

 

[Madden3]

Yeah, except for entry before being age eligible, I can't see what the incentive would be to lie about age on the girls' side. On the boys' side, however, one of DS's teammates has a birthday on May 27, and another on May 30. Both lost an entire year in level when the age change went into effect. (So did my son, but he wasn't as close to the break point.) The guy with the May 27 birthday did JD last year but probably would have been a solid L8.

Yes this was my son too. I did not ever consider lying but I sure as heck regretted not scheduling that C-section for June 1st! (disclaimer I am not promoting C-section births scheduled or otherwise. Just a fact, had to have one but was not emergency. So it could have waited!)

Here to do Little League (at any point, even the little ones doing t-ball) requires birth cert. Never gym. But do not know about girls, actually.

 

[gymgal]

there really isn't much difference in a 7yr old vs an 8yr old.... A 5yr old compared to an 8yr old? Definitely, but not 7 to 8. It would be different if everyone started at the same age and learn the same skills (like in school, generally) but that's not the case with gymnastics. Chances are, the meets will be set up like others have said - fairly equal age groups, different ranges each meet. But if you are in an area where she will be competing against all 8s, don't sweat it. Some meets it will work in her favor. Others it will not. DD often is in one of the higher scoring divisions and it is frustrating knowing if she had been just a little older (or younger, based on the meet), her score would have put her higher in the rankings. It is what it is...

 

[stillhoping]

I've never been asked to prove my kid's birthday. I can see where having a different birthday could have advantages in USAG. It seems like a TOPs kid with a January 1 birthday would do better than one with a December 31 birthday.