Parents Competing which level? Up or down experiences

[trampolinemom]

DS is 9 years old and does trampoline. We live in the netherlands. Hè started tramp september 2013. Started competing spring 2014 and haa progressed through the levels very quickly.

We have levels A to E where A is (inter)national FIG level. B national level. C,D and E regional level

Thuis autumn he is competing C level in team competition and it goes really well. He is currently learning skills and routines for B level. ( For those who know tramp a 7.1 routine with double back and double front half twist, front 1,5 twist back full, Cody and several backs and baranis.

Next individual season starts in march. And coaches doubt which level to put him in.

Pro's for moving up
The challenge. He gets to compete his new skills and routines. He gets to compete with the (older) kids from his traininggroup.
Cons
He is very young for thuis level. Pressure is much higher. It will be a lot harder to place well. This because he will probably be competing with the 12-14 age group and time of flight counts ( the higher you jump the more points you het and older boys jump higher)

So while I am not making any final decision I am curious if any of you did have a kid in a sinilar situation. What was decided and how did it work out?

 

[gymdoc]

We don't do tramp, but YDD is 9, and the youngest L5 on our team. She has all her skills for L6, but would be in an ultra-competitive age bracket at comps for L6. Long term plans for us don't include elite or college gym, so HC is thinking of waiting until next year to move her to optionals. DD is disappointed as she feels she has worked as hard as her older teammates to move up. She would still be on the young side even waiting a year, and HC thinks she'll have stronger scores.

 

[trampolinemom]

Thank you for your reply gymdoc, it seems to be a bit of the same situation your daughter is in. I hope it works out well for her. And sorry for all the stupid grammar mistakes in my post. It is really hard to type english on your phone with a dutch grammar checker active.

 

[momnipotent]

How does he feel about competing up? I would sit down with him and go over the pros and cons you mentioned above and see what he wants to do. I would make sure to mention that he might not place-depending on the kid that could be fine or it could be devastating-only you and your child know which one it will be for him. It wouldn't hurt him to do another year of C level, especially since he is so young, but if he is OK with competing the higher level and not placing, I would let him make the call.

 

[gymmomtotwo]

He is 9. I would have him compete down if there is any question at all about whether he is ready. He has so much time. If the coach is on the fence or has any doubts, I wouldn't put him in with the big boys yet.

 

[MILgymFAM]

I would take his personality into account (or hope his coach does). Some kids thrive in whatever environment challenges them most. Learning and competing harder skills is just more fun and driving that knowing you can win. Some kids thrive when they are in a position to do their very best, which often means competing down when on the cusp.

 

[Faith]

He's 9.

We kind of did it this year (not for gymnastics). DD could have moved up to junior elite ( a year early), or stayed at national level. We did dither- If she'd have done junior elite we felt it was a bit win-win, if she came last she's the youngest, the least experienced etc. No pressure on her, it would purely be for the experience. National level she'd have been expected to win.

We ended up putting her in National level. With hindsight it was the best choice. She did well, and made it clear she was ready for Junior Elite. Huge boost for her confidence, and two fingers to those who told us she wasn't ready. She got her basic technique properly consolidated (which to be honest, being a relatively late starter and having moved through the levels quickly, wasn't as good as it could be).

He's 9. I'd keep him back, perfect the basics, and let him concentrate on up training in his own time. My own experience with gymnastics is there's nothing worse that going into a competition nervous because skills are new and you're not 100% confident they'll land.

 

[GlobalNomad]

Some of this depends on the competition level in your area and where he will ultimately fit best throughout the whole season. If he is in the lower group and has absolutely no challenge, then it would not be a great fit. If he is in the higher group and has absolutely no chance of placing, then it's also a poor fit. I think going into competitions where the outcome, win or loss, is nearly guaranteed, isn't ideal. We are in a situation where DD is not allowed to compete up, and she is winning. For the next competition, many of the girls on her team are refusing to go because they know they won't win, and now DD doesn't want to compete anymore. It's really not ideal to win all of the time. If I had the choice, I'd move her up. It's supposed to be fun, and for these kids, the challenge is part of the fun, I think.

 

[Faith]

I think going into competitions where the outcome, win or loss, is nearly guaranteed, isn't ideal. We are in a situation where DD is not allowed to compete up, and she is winning. .

I get this. The other choice is not to compete. In fact we've had this twice! When DD first started at novice, she won a lot. A lot. We ended up saying to the coaches that we felt Novice was no longer suited to her, she couldn't do any better, beat any more Pb's, and coming 2nd was a bad comp. So we said if they felt she wasn't ready for the next level, we'd be more than happy to take a year off competition, do some invitationals, but spend the year consolidating and getting some sound training in.

She did move up on that occasion, and it was a good decision. She came mid-pack, and made coaches realise that with a bit of training she could be winning that level too. They did pull her out of a few competitions she wasn't ready for.

Keeping her back at National level it was still a fair playing field, and there were half a dozen girls who were at the same level and could have challenged her, so it wasn't a walkover by any means. Top 3 was a good result.

So yes, agree with @GlobalNomad.

 

[trampolinemom]

Thank you very much for your replies.

Some of this depends on the competition level in your area and where he will ultimately fit best throughout the whole season. If he is in the lower group and has absolutely no challenge, then it would not be a great fit. If he is in the higher group and has absolutely no chance of placing, then it's also a poor fit.

That is exactly the problem, they are both not a very good fit. There is quite a gap between C and B level.

His coaches will make the decision but I'm sure they will weigh in what we think about it.
DS is all for moving up, he says he doesn't care about placing and loves the challenge. Also he wants to compete with the kids he is training with. He is now mostly training with A-B levels. I think he has a point there that will make him more part of the team and less the outsider and will add to the fun.

But for a good part I tend to stick to C level for the reasons @Faith gives, confidence and perfecting basics. When he is 10 he still would be very young in a level that most boys start in when they are 12-14.

He does have a long term goal, to try out for World Age Group competitions when he is 11 (autumn 2017) If this works out he should then be competing A level. (2017 is also the first year kids from 2006 are allowed to compete A level)