Parents TOPS testing at 9 years old?

[ivhose]

Hi I am fairly new to the gymnastics world. My daughter started competitive at age of 8 years. She was mainly a dancer before..her coach (a great one) trained her at level 5 right away...she is now level 6 and doing really well.

We recently moved to another state and her new coach is recommending TOPS testing for her.

I wanted to get some feedback from other parents who have already gone through TOPS. Is it realistic for her to test at this point...she is 9 going onto 10 years in a few months?

There were several girls in our last gym that were testing but they started training and testing at 7 years of age. I was under the assumption that girls had to start early to be competitive.

I have read the online requirements for TOPS testing and from what I understand the level of difficultly increases with age....I am not sure it will be worth her time and effort if it's too steep of a hill to climb?

So I am trying to find out if I should encourage it or discourage it?

What should her goals be (realistically) to test well and qualify?

Thanks.

 

[SignHere]

Wow, it's hard to say... As a TOPs parent, I can tell you it's really intense, and for a 10 year old, if she's training Level 6, the State skills testing is probably do-able but then the National testing is a whole other thing! I can tell you, my DD was a level 5 testing as an 8 year old, and a lot of the other girls testing as 8 year olds at our testing center were Level 7 and 8s! The 10 year olds were level 9s and 10s!

Also, by 10 yrs of age, if they don't have 10 press handstands (max) and 30 sec handstand hold (max), 20 leg lifts (max), 10 nearly perfect cast handstands and the rope climb close to the max score, I think they have very little chance.


At our gym, TOPs training is not extra money, but only a select few girls. At some gyms, it is a LOT of extra money - so you want to find that out as well.

So, not to be a Negative Nellie, it's a lot of work for your daughter to put into it, so try to be relatively sure that she has a decent shot before she does it. Because she's not going to be able to try again next year ....

However, my daughter really loves her TOPs training and learned a lot of mental toughness from her training and the TOPs testing. That said, if your daughter's goal is to go elite, TOPs is not the only path, so don't let anyone tell you that!

 

[SignHere]

Forgot to mention.... Your daughter will test as the age that she is on Dec 31, 2013. So if she turns 10 this year, she will test as a 10 year old. My daughter turned 9 in January 2013, so she tests as a 9 year old.

 

[GymBeeMom]

If her coach is recommending it, then they probably believe she has a shot at reaching the needed skills. A few of the skills include yurchenko, back tuck on beam, giants, pirouette on bars, back handspring on beam (these are just a few). Physical abilities include flexibility, handstand hold to 30 seconds, 10 press handstands, rope climb...The full list of what is needed is available on the TOPS page of the USAG website. Check it out and talk to coach about wether they believe she can attain the level skills needed. My 8 year old made TOPS national team training level 7, but we had a 10 year old make it training level 7 as well. Even if she doesn't make it to a camp, the training is valuable-but not the end-all for attaining elite level someday.

 

[gym law mom]

Might be a good idea to sit down and talk with the coach. How many extra hours for TOPS and will it cost more? Since state testing is in June/July that would be alot of skills especially to learn in 6 mos.

 

[ivhose]

Thanks for the responses! A lot to think about!

 

[Fijiwater]

My daughter will be testing as a 7 year old this summer. It's April and she has most of the physical abilities mastered! Still working on a steady 30 second handstand. On another note she has done 15 presses and says she's going after the gym record 26! She is working hard, I hope it pays off for her...also it's killing me waiting for the Tops test dates and sites to come out we have summer vacations to plan around! And I know they say tops state testing is in June and July but in recent years Texas has been doing tests in July and August... I hope they have at least a couple in June, anyone heard anything from Texas managers?

 

[Fijiwater]

And to the OP Alicia Sacromone was 8 or 9 when she started doing gymnastics and made the national TOPs team I wouldn't quote that but I'm pretty sure that's the case, some girls are just natural athletes and can pick it up and run with it...

 

[Gymmom495]

That's true about Alicia however, Kyla Ross was never a TOPS gymnast. So the comments on this about TOPS not being the end all be all of becoming an elite are true. I agree TOPS is just one avenue or tool but not the only one.

 

[Muddlethru]

TOPs training can only help her gymnastics. Ten year olds that make the team typically max out in the physical abilities test and are mostly Level 8. It is an experience and fun to go to,the ranch for national testing even if you don't make the team.

At our gym it does not cost any more to train TOPs. But from posts here in chalkbucket, many claim it s a money maker for the gym. So, I'd try to find out if there are extra fees and extra practice time necessary. If it does not coast extra, I would certainly have my daughter train it. If it costs extra, I would try to find our if they've had girls at least make national testing. It will be great if they've had girls make the team. This would mean they are capable of training TOPs successfully. Merely having a TOPs program does not mean anything. Going to the ranch can be costly especially if your daughter is the only one testing.

There are certainly no guarantees. But I think it is fun,

 

[gymcritter]

I think it might be hard but not impossible my dd had been in tops since 7. This year she is testing as a 10 year old but she is also training level 9 optionals. I would say sit down and talk it over with the coach and see what they think and what the plan would be to get her ready as the testing is coming up soon