Parents 9 year old daughter may be too old to join team :(

[OrangeArt]

From a parent of a kid that has also got the "too old" at age 8 (almost 9), I can agree it totally sucks. Thankfully my daughter didn't really want to change gyms at the time (I was hoping to have her move), so I never had to give any explanation to her about the rejection. And her current gym has not problems with ages, considering we had a 15yo level 2 in the past.

I can only guess gyms do this because they are motivated to keep the ages down, thus having a better chance of getting girls to multiple years at level 10, and a shot a college recruitment...

The upside is, if you find another gym home, maybe you will see them at meets, and when she does great, they can realize what a treasure they lost

 

[Ali'sMom]

The upside is, if you find another gym home, maybe you will see them at meets, and when she does great, they can realize what a treasure they lost

We had a moment like that. And, although I was very respectful, it felt GOOD

 

[3rd_time_around]

These age restrictions that some gyms impose make me sad. My daughter didn't compete her first meet till age 9 (old level 4, new level3), and was at Level 9 E. Nationals by age 14, and level 10 at age 14. If they won't put her on team, find another gym if that's an option. Xcel is ok, but it really was designed for girls who couldn't or wouldn't commit the time for JO, who weren't quite ready for the JO program, or who couldn't afford the JO program (don't be hating if you don't agree. It was called prep op before. This is what it was originally designed for). It's got better guidelines now and actual skill and age requirements, so it's a better program than it was, but if she wants to go to level 10, there is no entrance to JO from Xcel. They still have to score out of level 4, level 5, and any other JO level.

 

[Dr Maleficent]

Though I've heard stories (on here) about gyms who do put strict age limits on entering JO, I would encourage you that there are definitely many gyms (hopefully near you) who will not think a 9 year old is too old for L3.

I just did an analysis of the age groupings for our area's Level 3 States Competition. Note that though it may seem on CB that all the L3s are 6 y/o phenoms, here is the actual (approximate) breakdown by age of those who will be competing at states:

* Approximately 18 per age group, and I looked at the birthday cutoffs and aligned age groups to actual ages at time of competition.

Wow - anyone who says CB is not warm and fuzzy needs to read this - someone has spent time gathering information and making a chart to give a mum and her 9 year old hope and reassurance. What a lovely thing to have done.

 

[Dahlia]

A lot of gyms around here have open tryouts for team in the Spring (usually after the state meet). I don't know if any place age restrictions, but there may be open tryouts at other gyms at some point. Our gym just specifies "previous gymnastics experience" and mentions level 2. I have no idea if coaches use age in their criteria for evaluations (my daughter is 5 and in the pre-competitive program, so no personal experience).

 

[headoverheels]

My daughter did her first year of competition in Bronze Excel at the age of 8. She did level 3 at age 9, and won first place in the state meet for floor exercise with a score of 9.825. No one has ever suggested that she is over the optimum age for gymnastics and if they did I would be finding another gym. Your girl is not too old - your gym is too narrow minded.

 

[wgymmom]

Time to check out other gyms! "Too old" for team is crap. I would leave that gym.

My DD had been in gymnastics since age 3, but we were at a small, noncompetitive gym. I didn't move her until she was 9, and she went into old L4. I beat myself up regularly for not switching her sooner!

 

[xrachx]

There is no such thing as a child being too old to compete, but there is such a thing as the wrong club for your child

Just need to find the right one for your family