WAG What is most common in your area?

[LindyHopper]

When it comes to age groups/divisions at meets, what is most common in your area?

Under 10, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 and up (even though there may 6 girls in one group and 15 on another)

Jr A, Jr B, Jr C, Sr A, Sr B, Sr C (Where all of the age group's are an equal number)

Some other method (Please describe)

What do you like best, and why?

 

[SurpriseGymMom]

Usually the Ch A- Sr C method.

 

[Seeker]

Same as @SurpriseGymMom, but the divisions are not always "equal". The meet we were at yesterday had very oddly sized groups.

 

[mom2newgymnast]

Usually the Ch A- Sr C method.

Same here

 

[raenndrops]

Same as @SurpriseGymMom, but the divisions are not always "equal". The meet we were at yesterday had very oddly sized groups.

That often happens due to late scratches.

 

[Jard.the.gymnast]

By birth year. Every meet has this (age is incorporated in the levels, but that's an different story) Each group has one year, except for Junior. This is the age division before senior and has 2 birth years. Senior is when you would be senior in Fig.

From upcoming season with birth years:
Pre-instap 2: 2011
Pre-instap 1: 2010
Instap: 2009
Pupil 1: 2008
Pupil 2: 2007
Jeugd 1: 2006
Jeugd 2: 2005
Junior: 2003 and 2004
Senior: 2002 and up

 

[raenndrops]

When it comes to age groups/divisions at meets, what is most common in your area?

Under 10, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 and up (even though there may 6 girls in one group and 15 on another)

Jr A, Jr B, Jr C, Sr A, Sr B, Sr C (Where all of the age group's are an equal number)

Some other method (Please describe)

What do you like best, and why?

We see about an equal amount each way.
When doing it by age, they try to make them as even as possible (10A and 10B for example).
No matter how they do it, we end up with age groups that aren't equal (and sometimes, not even close), so I prefer going by age (for my paperwork, it is easier, lol).

 

[Seeker]

That often happens due to late scratches.

nope. scratches were all listed. this was how they were designed.

 

[Tuppy]

I think it's just split evenly by birthdates. Youngest, middle, oldest. So they are similar sized groups. Slight differences for last minute drops.

 

[MILgymFAM]

Child A, B, etc..Jr A, B, etc..Sr A, B, etc. not usually evenly decided. Sometimes it’ll be category and then younger/older instead of A/B/C.

 

[LindyHopper]

I just found it odd at a meet yesterday when they only went out 30% for medals and there was 1 group that only went out 2 places, and there was another group that went out 5 places. The remainder went out either 3 or 4 places.

You would have thought they could have broken the groups up so that they went out 3 places in each group. It would have sucked to have come in third in the smallest group and get no medal, when there were girls getting medals for 4th and 5th in another group.

I know life isn't always fair, but in my opinion, it would have been nice for them to award medals for first through third in each group. (Which still would have stunk for Short Stack, because she placed 4th on two events, but that's life.)

 

[Seeker]

We experienced the same @LindyHopper ...some age groups had 2 or 3 gymnasts and others had 12. Very odd.

 

[strawberries]

Boys often do groups by exact age 8-9, 10-11, etc and the age groups can be wonky sizes

Girls almost always Jr A, B, Sr. A, B, etc. and the groups are split as evenly as possible in groups ranging from youngest to oldest. So, one group might include a 7 month birthday span while another group had a 3 year span, depending on the age composition of the meet.

 

[suebee]

Most of our meets do equal divisions.

One meet did it by actual age, and the 2 middle age groups had 3x as many kids as the youngest and oldest groups. That was definitely a bit odd. They awarded a lot more medals for the middle groups but it was still weird.

 

[LGnyc]

We experienced the same @LindyHopper ...some age groups had 2 or 3 gymnasts and others had 12. Very odd.

At our L7 meet last weekend, they had age 7-9 with two girls; 10 with just 5; 11 with 15; 12 with 12; over 13 with about 12 as well. Thought it was super weird. Oh, and both 9 year olds got over 37.

 

[gymbeam]

Seems like maybe I read once that age groups can only span so many years and that’s why sometimes you’ll see them forced into breaking some off and having different sized groups.

Does that sound familiar to anyone else?

 

[Juniper311]

Boys often do groups by exact age 8-9, 10-11, etc and the age groups can be wonky sizes

Girls almost always Jr A, B, Sr. A, B, etc. and the groups are split as evenly as possible in groups ranging from youngest to oldest. So, one group might include a 7 month birthday span while another group had a 3 year span, depending on the age composition of the meet.

Yes, I have boys and the one meet I went to that did the Jr A etc stuff, I had no blessed idea what that meant nor why. In fact this thread may be the first explanation I’ve had of it.

I’m way more used to age ranges and unequal medals.

 

[Juniper311]

Seems like maybe I read once that age groups can only span so many years and that’s why sometimes you’ll see them forced into breaking some off and having different sized groups.

Does that sound familiar to anyone else?

Speaking from a slight knowledge of boys meets only... state and regional meets must have certain age ranges, laid out by USAG. Invitationals have more leeway and can decide for themselves. Our fundraiser meet, we will modify the age ranges based in some part on how many register and what works with balancing the numbers while also keeping the awards from getting too long. And, I guess, the personal experience (or inexperience) of the people doing that decision making (booster club parents, not a gym employee).

 

[raenndrops]

Seems like maybe I read once that age groups can only span so many years and that’s why sometimes you’ll see them forced into breaking some off and having different sized groups.

Does that sound familiar to anyone else?

It could vary by state.
I know that in our Y Region, we used to classify our gymnasts as one of 4 age groups... and when age groups for meets were made, they could not exceed the age group ... so if the youngest age group went to 8 and there were just a few and only a couple 9 year olds, but 9 was in the next age group up, they could NOT combine them, but the 9s could be combined with the 10s as long as the total didn't exceed a certain set number, in our case, 12. And an age would only get broken down (10A and 10B, for example) if there were more than 32... now down to 18.

 

[LindyHopper]

Girls almost always Jr A, B, Sr. A, B, etc. and the groups are split as evenly as possible in groups ranging from youngest to oldest. So, one group might include a 7 month birthday span while another group had a 3 year span, depending on the age composition of the meet.

This is what I am most familiar with. Maybe that's why I like it the best.