Parents Age at state

[notthatmom]

i tried looking for posts about this but they are all pretty old and I know it changes from year to year ....

DD turns 8 the week before state, and even though making state is going to be good enough in my eyes, I feel like her competing with 8 year olds at state when she's been in the lower age group all season would be somewhat of a disadvantage to her. Plus she's tiny, she looks more like a 6 year old at this point, I have a feeling no one is going to believe she's 8 anyway lol. She hasn't qualified yet but she is SO close, she has three more meets to get that qualifying score and I'm confident she'll make it, only time will tell. We are in IL if that matters.


Thanks in advance!

 

[amiandjim]

In both states my DD has competed in, you compete the age you are that day. And yes, I feel your pain. DD's birthday is just before states as well.

 

[duyetanh]

Our state goes by age...to an extent. Once you get in optionals, you are kind of stuck if your are young. For example, my kid did level 6 last year, and the youngest group in this level at states went from age 8 to 10...which meant girls almost 11 years old were in her group. It just is what it is. I say that while yes, they are important, states aren't a big deal compared to the overall season. Does she feel it was successful? That is the main thing. Good luck to her!

 

[sce]

i tried looking for posts about this but they are all pretty old and I know it changes from year to year ....

DD turns 8 the week before state, and even though making state is going to be good enough in my eyes, I feel like her competing with 8 year olds at state when she's been in the lower age group all season would be somewhat of a disadvantage to her. Plus she's tiny, she looks more like a 6 year old at this point, I have a feeling no one is going to believe she's 8 anyway lol. She hasn't qualified yet but she is SO close, she has three more meets to get that qualifying score and I'm confident she'll make it, only time will tell. We are in IL if that matters.


Thanks in advance!

You really did not ask a question. How old she looks factors in not at all. Also, realize that many gymnasts are small and therefore look younger than they are.

The way they do age groups in my area, including states, is by birth dates. They list all the birth dates in order and cut off the groups by however many fit into each group. If that's how it's done where you are, then she will most likely be competing against some of the same kids that she has all season.

 

[mom2newgymnast]

The way they do age groups in my area, including states, is by birth dates. They list all the birth dates in order and cut off the groups by however many fit into each group. If that's how it's done where you are, then she will most likely be competing against some of the same kids that she has all season.

That is how it is done in my state also. And the age groups were much narrower since there were a lot more girls competing. I think my dd's age group only covered 3-4 months of birthdays. I wouldn't worry about, she'll do fine. Good luck to her qualifying!

 

[MeetDirector]

i tried looking for posts about this but they are all pretty old and I know it changes from year to year ....

Actually, it doesn't change from year to year. The USAG rules on competitive age are in the Rules and Policies, page 77. These rules establish that an athlete is supposed to compete the whole season at the age that she will be at the State Meet (or other level-specific culminating meet). Most states establish what those "age determination" dates are before the season starts.

I really wish that everything would move to the birth date cut-off method for determining award groups for a given meet and stop grouping by a specific age. I have done this for years; they do it this way for regional and national meets; now state organizations just need to adopt it for all meets in their respective states.

Good Luck.

 

[beachgirl]

When she gets to optionals you will want her to be in the older age group because the youngest age group is usually the toughest.

 

[Deleted member 18037]

It really depends on how they break out the age groups. My daughter just had a birthday and we are heading out to states. Her birthday winds up in the middle of an age group.

 

[QueenBee]

When she gets to optionals you will want her to be in the older age group because the youngest age group is usually the toughest.

Yup, at our Level 7 meet last year, 11th place AA in the youngest age group was over a 38! Imagine having a AA score of over 38 in optionals and not being even close to the podium. All of the girls are super talented, that youngest group is just super competitive.

 

[NY Dad]

My daughter just had a birthday.

Happy birthday to your DD!

 

[Committed]

You just get used to it. DD has always been the youngest age group. She's generally the youngest (or very close) at every single meet and competes against girls 3-4 years older: not weeks or months. Age divisions are equally grouped, so when her bday falls is moot; she's Child A (or whatever equivalent).

The youngest age group is definitely the most competitive at most levels. Some are happy to bump up into the next age group for a meet or two!!

 

[Deleted member 18037]

Happy birthday to your DD!

Thank you.

 

[notthatmom]

You really did not ask a question. How old she looks factors in not at all. Also, realize that many gymnasts are small and therefore look younger than they are.

The way they do age groups in my area, including states, is by birth dates. They list all the birth dates in order and cut off the groups by however many fit into each group. If that's how it's done where you are, then she will most likely be competing against some of the same kids that she has all season.

lol I didn't realize I didn't ask a question. I meant to say does anyone know how the age/date works.

I know it's silly to wonder this far ahead but I'm just always the extra curious one

 

[Deleted member 18037]

lol I didn't realize I didn't ask a question. I meant to say does anyone know how the age/date works.

I know it's silly to wonder this far ahead but I'm just always the extra curious one

It varies, depends on how many in a level.

For us this weekend. 4 age groups of 17 each. Age/birthdates broken out to split the age groups accordingly. We had to confirm our girls were grouped right. I had to really scrutinize, to see which group my kid was in. It was something like Nov 06- Mar 08- GrpX (just a example not acutal group)

Age groups, vary all the time. Sometimes they work for you, sometimes not. It is what it is.

 

[notthatmom]

Thanks everyone for your replies and input....meet season has been a fun ride so far

 

[gymdog]

A look at the previous year results indicate that IL has between 700-800 level 3s and had about 24 age groups based on birth date cutoffs (child, youth, junior, and senior A-F).

There seem to have been kids in a bunch of the age groups that were 8 at the state meet. Based on my state which has a similar number of level 3s and groups (although we take, for example, 8 year olds and then chop the birth dates from there so it's pretty similar, we have about 5-6 age groups of 8 year olds. Most of the participants are primarily 8, 9, 10 year olds. My guess is the IL distribution is at least somewhat similar and that would make 8 year olds approx Child D or E through Youth F or Junior A. So a brand new 8 year old is likely Child D or E.

To give a sense of the scores that placed in those groups, they were well above the state cutoff score with the top 10 scoring between a mid 36 and a mid 37 in Child D. Event scores 9.4-9.6 except beam which was lower. Top 10 AAs were a bit lower in Child E and so were top event scores for the most part (not by a ton) which just illustrates it's the luck of the draw when there are so so many age groups at these huge level 3 states.

 

[e'smum]

my dd turns 10 next sunday. states is the end of march. last year, in level 4, there were so many
9 yo's they actually had separate meets, depending on when their b/day was. no matter what, my kid will be in the child category. i don't think it's to her disadvantage as she's been competing against 1oyo's all season. b/c there are less in lvl 6, the child age category includes a wider range in b/dates.

depending on what the age range is, she may may be in with 9yo's as well. it all depends on how many 6's there are in MA and what their age range is.

 

[Mommyo2az]

When she gets to optionals you will want her to be in the older age group because the youngest age group is usually the toughest.

Yes this! My daughter just turned 10 and is level 6. Last few meets she has still been grouped in Child A with 7 year old hot shots!

 

[Deleted member 18037]

Ok here is the thing. The reality is if you are doing Lwhatever it really doesn't matter your age is. If you can do whatever level your competing age shouldn't matter young hot shots, older seasoned kids. The age groups are what they are. It's an any given Sunday thing.

 

[e'smum]

Yes this! My daughter just turned 10 and is level 6. Last few meets she has still been grouped in Child A with 7 year old hot shots!

from how it goes around here, for regular meets, she will still be lumped in with the groups she was in the beginning as they are all getting older together. my kid just competed her last meet as a 9yo tonight. next week is 2 weeks and she will be newly 10. she will still be in child category.
honestly, i'd rather stay in child. ups her game.