WAG Getting to NATs/NIT from regionals - rant

[bogwoppit]

I have been undergoing an education today, an education in how messed up the system for getting to NAT/NIT for L10's is.

I now realise that many girls will be staying at home with 37's from R7, and the like, whilst girls from R2, and the like, will be going with 34's.

This is just wrong in so many ways. I cannot believe that this system cannot be fixed, adjust the regions, have a required score for qualification etc etc.

 

[wandrewsjr]

Same thing will happen this weekend in Regions 1 and 3. I've given up.

 

[bogwoppit]

Same thing will happen this weekend in Regions 1 and 3. I've given up.

I had heard of this before, but today I have been actively watching the regions. Right now R2. Oh my.

It would make me scream if I was in a region with 38 kids in Junior A. Wrong on so many levels.

This really needs addressing.

 

[Natasha]

Yep. And then even within regions it is all dependent on your age group. Our region has one age group for L9 (qualifying for easterns) with 11 gymnasts while some have 30+ and it is the top 6 from each age group that go.

 

[bogwoppit]

Yep. And then even within regions it is all dependent on your age group. Our region has one age group for L9 (qualifying for easterns) with 11 gymnasts while some have 30+ and it is the top 6 from each age group that go.

This is another thing I have learned. It really should be a score to get there. I am sure 36 would do it across the board.

Don't we want to see the best of the best at Nationals?

 

[wandrewsjr]

Yep. For some reason Region 1 doesn't seem to be posting results live, but you will see the same thing. Looks like Region 2 was able to fit all of their 10's in one session while Region 1 will have 250+ level 10's in 5 sessions. There was an attempt recently to try to move NorCal into Region 2 from 1 to help balance the numbers but it didn't gain much traction.

 

[my4buffaloes]

If regions don't have enough girls, why not rank the rest of the girls from ALL the regions and take them starting from the top. That way you truly get the highest scores from across the nation.

 

[gymgal]

There is a minimal qualifying score - 34 - but it's too low for nationals, in my opinion. I recall someone mentioning on CB in the past that restructuring of the regions have been discussed. I am guessing it would be very difficult given the size/location of the states involved.

The problem with setting just a minimal score is that there would be too many gymnasts, unless you set it super high, like a 37. and it wouldn't account for the differences in how regions judge/score. I would think it would water down the scoring across the country, in order to get more girls into Nationals. This is what happens at regionals all the time, with the minimal score of 34.

edit: just checked last year's R8 L10. around 60 more gymnasts would have qualified with an across the board 36. And that's just one, relatively small, and relatively tough scoring region.

 

[gymgal]

If regions don't have enough girls, why not rank the rest of the girls from ALL the regions and take them starting from the top. That way you truly get the highest scores from across the nation.

I believe there really are just a few spots that open up due to a region not being able to fill. But again, going across regions would not account for the the differences in scoring among the regions.

 

[bogwoppit]

Yes very few spots open up due to empty spots. I have been checking it out. In some regions there may be 37 girls in one age group, even with the extra places from other regions they still have girls with over 36AA staying home.

Not cool, those kids deserve to be seen at the national level too. If they happen to be event champ on one event they do get to go to NIT, but it is hardly the same thing when their AA is higher than a girl from a different region who got in with a 34.

 

[gymgal]

I personally would prefer seeing something along the lines of having the top 3-5 per age division get automatic spots (with a 35 or 36 minimal qualifying score) and then maybe any others who scored 37 or above

or
the top 3-5 and then ranking the rest of the gymnasts by score within each region and taking a specified top percentage/number for the remainder, based on the regions' numbers compared to the rest of the country.

 

[Natasha]

So a little off topic, but I am trying to find the R8 results and can't find where they are posting them. Anyone know?

 

[gymgal]

So a little off topic, but I am trying to find the R8 results and can't find where they are posting them. Anyone know?

Meetintegrity.com . It is the first one listed, though it says 2012-2013, it really is this year's. It is live scoring but they are done for today. Only L9s today.

 

[MaryA]

What about a percentage? That would address the issue of harder/easier scoring. Maybe top 25% with a minimum score of 35?

Still not perfect, but better than a set number per region. I agree the minimum score is too low for nationals.

 

[bookworm]

I've been in this scenario for over 10 years and you hear the same arguments back and forth each year re:regions and who qualifies versus who stays home....it's not the "fault" of the kid in a weaker region that qualifies with a minimum score just because she happens to live in a weaker region....

 

[magymmom]

I felt the same way with level 8 regionals. My daughter had to sit at home where older girls that scored lower than her got to go.explain that to a 13 year old when this was her first shot at something bigger them state.

 

[Natasha]

I felt the same way with level 8 regionals. My daughter had to sit at home where older girls that scored lower than her got to go.explain that to a 13 year old when this was her first shot at something bigger them state.

Yep that's hard. I am glad R8 does top X number regardless of age group for L7 and L8. But, I just looked at L9 Region scores and in one age group a flat 35 will be going to Easterns while in another age group a 36.9 will not. It just seem like a very brutal "life's not fair lesson."

 

[lhmom]

The first year that the level 10 at DD's gym qualified, she had a 37+ but had come in 8th in her age group (Region 8). She ended up making Nationals because someone in another region (think it was 2?) had come in 7th in the same age group but did not have the qualifying score.

 

[wandrewsjr]

It is, pure and simple, a HUGE numbers imbalance. 50 level 10's in the smallest Region, 250-300 in the largest. They had to draw the regions for the first time at some point based on balancing the population and geography. I don't understand why they couldn't rebalance the Regions every couple decades.

 

[gymkat]

A 37.075 is 10th place in R5 Sr. A...