WAG What percent of Level 4's stay with the sport until graduation?

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gymmom14

Proud Parent
I have been reading a lot of aspiring young gymnast/parents posts about elite intentions. These posts made me wonder about longevity. I also know this will be a very unscientific question, just looking for your opinions from your experience.

Coaches/Parents: What percent of your level 4 team is still competing as a senior in high school? ie: What percent do you think actually continue with the sport until graduation?

At my dd's gym, I would say about 10% and the ones that stuck with it were not necessarily the ones that I would have thought, not the most talented or successful. It has been the ones that truly love the sport and work hard.

Looking forward to your replies!
 
http://www.chalkbucket.com/forums/threads/usag-athlete-membership.37083/

Here is a link to a post dunno made with some 2012 stats. This does not talk about ages (so you can't tell, based on these, who has stuck with it till graduation) but they are interesting to look at and think about at any rate. Keep in mind these are the "old" levels. You also can't really tell where the starting point is. For example, the number of level 4's is larger than the number of level 5's, but some gyms don't start competing till (old) level 5, so the girls in each group aren't necessarily the same, if that makes any sense.

I would think that 1 in 10 is probably in the ballpark, though I'm sure some gyms do a better job of retaining girls than others.
 
A very small bit of data: DD's preteam group started competing at (old) L5. I think that preteam group was about 14 girls, and ten of them made it through preteam to their first gymnastics meet. The remaining six are now 11 and 12 years old and competing L7 and L8. Miraculously enough, all but one are in the same practice group this year, which has been great for the five who've walked this long road together. All bets are off, however, as to who will stick with it through high school.
 
1 in 10 seems a little low to me, but it's probably close. It certainly depends on the gym and the year. DD is just competed L8 and is in middle school. Of the 20 girls on her original L4 team (what's now L3), 11 are still competing (from new L5 up to L8). I'm sure there will be more drop off by the time they graduate. The risk of injury seems a lot higher as they get older (partly due to harder skills and years of overuse). Puberty and social lives get in the way. I can definitely see at least 5 making it to graduation though which would be closer to 25%.
 
According to Dunno's numbers, the number of level 10's is almost exactly 10% of the number of (old) level 5's, but of course that doesn't tell the entire story because people could stay with the sport till they graduate and never make it to level 10, and people can make it to level 10 as a high school or even middle school student and then quit before graduation.
 
According to Dunno's numbers, the number of level 10's is almost exactly 10% of the number of (old) level 5's, but of course that doesn't tell the entire story because people could stay with the sport till they graduate and never make it to level 10, and people can make it to level 10 as a high school or even middle school student and then quit before graduation.

Yep. I can see many sticking around but not making it to L10. Peaking at L8 or L9.
 
I am sure that the average doesn't tell the story. Some gyms are going to retain a lot more than others, and some gyms will lose gymnasts not just to other gyms, but to the sport entirely, at significantly higher rates. That's why I think it's a great idea to ask about rough percentages of "home growns" who are still competing in high school as optionals when one is gym shopping.
 
One of the 16 year old L9's at our gym started with about 15 others at old L4. She was the last one in her group to get her kip, and is the only one still in gymnastics. However, she is currently injured and may not come back to finish out through high school.
 
http://www.chalkbucket.com/forums/threads/usag-athlete-membership.37083/

Here is a link to a post dunno made with some 2012 stats. This does not talk about ages (so you can't tell, based on these, who has stuck with it till graduation) but they are interesting to look at and think about at any rate. Keep in mind these are the "old" levels. You also can't really tell where the starting point is. For example, the number of level 4's is larger than the number of level 5's, but some gyms don't start competing till (old) level 5, so the girls in each group aren't necessarily the same, if that makes any sense.

I would think that 1 in 10 is probably in the ballpark, though I'm sure some gyms do a better job of retaining girls than others.
Is this info available for 2013 yet? I'd be curious to see the numbers with the new levels. I looked but couldn't find it....
 
I am happy you asked this question. And cant believe you did because I was just thinking about this last evening going through pictures of my daughters. I ran across my daughters L4 team picture and realized Of 17 girls on her L4 team (2010-11) 7 have quit; 1 is L8-at another gym; 4 are L7; 1 is a L6; 2 are L5; 2 are in excel. Thats %52 having quit or moved from JO in 3 years. And I think I could safely say our gym does a very good job of retaining gymnasts.
 
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20 in level 4. 7 of us made it to level 7. One graduated high school as a level 7. 4 others quit and 2 of us graduated high school as level 9s. It's funny because the other girl who graduated high school as level 9 with me was the best one on our level 4 team and I was the worst.
 
Of the 20 or so girls that my DD started old level 4 with (at ages 8-9), there are 5 of them still competing. Four are HS sophomores and one is a junior. All 5 of them are level 8s. Three have competed 8 for two seasons and two (my DD included) competed for one season. None of these five girls were ever the top gymnasts on their team. They were all slower to learn skills and advance, but their determination resulted in three of them earning multiple state titles over the years (mostly compulsory). All of the girls who were successful early on (level 4) quit at around level 5 when things got more challenging. I think these five will all stick with it until graduation and will probably peak at level 8-9.
 
I'm guessing the percentage is down around 3.5% based on the observation that the average length of stay at L4 is around 1.25 years compared to the average L10 experience of about 4 years.

I think the better measuring stick is the number of kids that move into each of those levels in a given year. So maybe 500 kids moving into L10 vs 15,000 moving into L4. I don't know the actual numbers but would think they're close enough for chalbucket purposes.
 
Of the girls DD started out with in first year developmental (age 5, so I'm thinking preteam?), there were 10. Now as 9 and 10 year olds, two have left, one is equivalent to L8/starting 9, two are equivalent to L7, one competed L5 this year, and the rest are high 4s - almost L5s who didn't compete this year as we start competing at L5.

I expect those numbers will drop over the years, as they hit a) puberty, b) high school, c) higher levels.
 
I have wondered this too. Last spring we had 12 old L4s compete 3 invitationals. Of those 12 only 4 are now in new L4. The remainder quit or moved to xcel. One in ten sounds about right if they drop this fast. This spring we had 10 new L3 compete 3 spring invitationals. I'm waiting to see how many will still be on the team for the fall season.
 
In 2009 my gym opened and that was my first year. On that original team there where 10 girls, 5 years later there are only 2 of us left, one got hurt, 2 graduated, a the rest quit
 
Some statistics or demography or psychology grad student needs to do a dissertation on this topic, because it would be interesting to know, not only what the numbers are, but what the percentages are who leave for what reason. For example, the Y gym that DD came from doesn't really have upper-level optionals, and the girls there tend to go from level 4/5-ish to Xcel and also do high school gym team when they reach that age. Does that make them MORE likely to stay in gymnastics (because they have time to do other things, get to be a part of a recognized school sport, etc.) or are girls who are in a private gym where they practice longer hours but progress more quickly more likely to stick with it? How does ratio of coach-to-gymnast affect attrition rates? What percentage of gymnasts leave due to injury? What percentage of gymnasts leave because of issues with their coaches? Is a gymnast who has to repeat levels more or less likely to quit than a gymnast who progresses more quickly? It is a veritable treasure trove of information to delve into. Somebody write a grant!
 
One of the girls from my original level 4 team is still on team with me now, and we are both graduating this year. The rest of the girls on our current team either switched to our gym recently from another gym, or went through the level progressions differently, so they weren't originally on "our" level 4 team.

I am still pretty close with most of the girls who quit gymnastics, and all of them are very successful at they sports that they do now; cross country, soccer, hockey, pole vault, and even basketball!
 
MaryA, I am thinking the same way you are. It would be neat to analyze gymnasts. For example: My dd did L4 7 years ago with a team of 14 (my dd being the 2nd oldest). There are 2 currently in the gym today. The rest have moved on. The other girl still competing is in 8th grade, my dd in 11th. Obviously, my dd started gymnastics late. I am wondering with all the push to get gymnasts through the levels young, if the older, slow and steady gymnasts have a better chance of sticking with it through high school. I also wonder if lower level gymnasts who are good and excel at everything (ie; play piano, softball, voice, drama, basketball) quit younger than those who are basically only excelling at gymnastics. Seems to hold true to what I have come across. Interesting!
 

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