WAG USAG participation by level

[agymmom]

I was looking at one of the links JBS posted (http://usagym.org/docs/About USA Gymnastics/Statistics/2010-11_AthleteNumbers.pdf) in his thread about optional burnout and it looks like the greatest percentage of gymnasts quit between levels 5 and 6 (only 51.5% of gymnasts continue on to level 6). No other level is greater (although the highest levels is large, I'm guessing some part of that has to do with kids aging out of (graduating) USAG before they ever have a chance to be a level 10?)

What is so special about level 6?

 

[sglemon]

We didn't experience that at our gym this year. I think we have the biggest level 6 team ever. But I could guess on some of the reasons. Most girls tend to be at the age of middle school when starting level 6. School sports can be a huge draw. Increase homework load can make things tough. Skills are a little bigger, like the flyaway, tuck, and backwalkover on the beam. They can be really scary for some. Practice times start increasing. Level 6 has a notorious reputation for hard scoring, girls who have a difficult time in Level 4 and 5, will struggle in level 6. etc...

 

[thefellowsmom]

I know that at our gym, this really seems to be the time when girls tend to switch to XCEL or quit due to commitment, other interests, or lack of ability to move forward. Level 6 is where the switch to four days a week happens at our gym. That seems to really get people. We also uptrain two levels plus so the big skills like giants and fly aways and BWO on beam are regularly worked during level 5 so maybe fear as well.

We actually have quite a few level 6s this year, but our gym scores out of six a lot and i know from around here that many others do as well. Maybe that is why you don't see a big drop between 6 and 7? Maybe they are split up a bit so the drop after five seems higher than it actually is?

 

[MeetDirector]

The current Lvl 6 is the culmination of the compulsory levels. As such the expectations are higher. As a result of that, the demands on ability and time go way up. If success at Lvl 6 doesn't come quickly after the lvl 5 season is over and during the summer between the Lvl 5 and 6 season, the drop-off will begin at the end of the summer. So while there might be something called "optional burnout", the real drop-off happens before the optional levels even begin. Another way to look at this is that it is a winnowing process and that by the time an athlete is ready for lvl 6 they have to decide if this sport is really for them. A lot decide that it isn't. What you have left are the ones who are willing to make the committment to the next level of thier athletic development.

 

[coachmolly]

So many things pop up around this time. Longer hours require more commitment and kids need to choose between activities and/or prioritize, injuries tend to appear around this time (things like Severs, Osgoods, etc.), and fear issues really come to a head for the first time- back tucks, back walkovers on beam, flyaways. Just a whole combination of factors.

 

[LoriLou]

At our gym I've noticed this. In the cases I've seen it is really hard because of the age. These are middle school kids who have to tell their friends that they can't go to the dance, mall, movies, etc. because they have to go to the gym. Some of the girls that age decide that maybe cheerleading for their school is a better fit socially. At least that is what I have seen. Just a guess....

 

[Aussie_coach]

There are many factors to consider in this. For starters what age do kids normally do level 6?, kids have their first big drop out rate from extra curricular activities in general at around age 10-11 when they often claim it starts to get serious and it is not as fun anymore, for many this is the age when being with friends becomes more important, the body starts to change and the interests start to change.

by 12-13 girls in particular tend to have an even bigger drop out from sports, and again when they start high school. The age of the average level 6 will affect these statistics.

 

[Natasha]

THe other factor with lower numbers for L6 is that you rarely have a repeat L6, whereas it may be common to do two years of L5. Many teams are now scoring out of L6, those that do L6 tend to then do a year of Xcel if they are not yet ready for L7 rather than repeating L6. I know in our state there are twice as many L7 gymnasts as L6 gymnasts.

 

[Quadqueen]

THe other factor with lower numbers for L6 is that you rarely have a repeat L6, whereas it may be common to do two years of L5. Many teams are now scoring out of L6, those that do L6 tend to then do a year of Xcel if they are not yet ready for L7 rather than repeating L6. I know in our state there are twice as many L7 gymnasts as L6 gymnasts.

this varies....our gym treats L6 like any other level, and we do see repeat 6s sometimes.

 

[iwannacoach]

Many years ago there were just 3 levels available for kids that wanted to participate in Junior Olympic age group competitions. The beginning level called class III competed a compulsory routine. Kids would move up to class II and compete both compulsory and optionals and the scores from both routines were added up at State and Regional competitions to determine placement.

We always saw a pronounced drop in numbersmoving up from class III because many kids fell short of the drive, ability, and parental/family commitment needed to flourish at that level.....I mean things got pretty serious past class III.

So now we have a ten level system that acknowledges that not every kid is going to be on a team, but still provides that option as early as L3, and earlier still on an informal basis in some gym program. I think that the drop out rate, at and before L6, speaks well of the 10 level system because it provides so many children an opportunity to "explore the sport" and decide if long term competitive gymnastics is for them.

In a sense the levels of 3-5 can serve the dual and individual purposes of providing a skill progression and award system for recreational gymnasts, a competitive format for those who may or may not be serious, and in some cases it provides both.

So when looking back at the stone age years, what is now L6 is when team participation began, and the choice to participate was not an easy one to make. Some kids who were invited declined, and some who joined the team would quit after the first year. What's really interesting is the percentage of kids who transitioned up from class III to class II......around 50%.

 

[Deleted member D3987]

remember that it was class 3 compulsory AND OPTIONAL. class 2 comp and opt. AO for advanced optional. and then class 1 comp and opt.

 

[iwannacoach]

^^^^^^I'm stuck in the late 70's, and can't get out! I remember the period well. Backward rolls on the beam, they were...... thousands and thousands and thousand of backward rolls.

Are you speaking of the first incarnation of the 10 step....er, level program when they made some changes by allowing class II to drop compulsory as an option (thinking that was AO), and added optionals with lowered requirements as an option at class III, which was then followed (or included) with the addition of class IV.

 

[agymmom]

Thanks for the replies. I was thinking there was one main reason, but it doesn't really sounds like there is one reason, just a bunch of different reasons, all of which add up to a lot of girls not continuing on in the JO path.

 

[Deleted member D3987]

^^^^^^I'm stuck in the late 70's, and can't get out! I remember the period well. Backward rolls on the beam, they were...... thousands and thousands and thousand of backward rolls.

Are you speaking of the first incarnation of the 10 step....er, level program when they made some changes by allowing class II to drop compulsory as an option (thinking that was AO), and added optionals with lowered requirements as an option at class III, which was then followed (or included) with the addition of class IV.

more or less. and some of the regions did it differently as well as some states.