MAG "Age Bumping"

[emorymom]

I just wish he wouldn't get promised things, and then gets slammed back.

I totall relate to what you're saying. OTOH, my kids are only 7 and 8, and I've already learned from multiple experiences that this is something that we are going to deal with in gymnastics so don't get emotionally involved in things coaches say prior to official move ups.

My son started L4 as a 6 year old and turned 7. He is going to compete L4 again I believe. He had next to no bonuses this year and didn't get his mushroom circles until the end of the season, and even then he did them in warmup and fell during the comp. I wouldn't be the least surprised if he did L5 two years also. And I do consider my son to be an exceptionally gifted athlete. But on floor, he still has a poorly shaped BHS, no decent straddle press handstand. Obviously pommel has a way to go before he could do L5 bonus. He does not go to a handstand on Pbars. It would be an oddly chosen use of a weekend day to go to an L5 meet next year and compete against 9 yo L5s (who've turned 10) who have all their bonuses, unless truly, he just zooms through the bonus skills for L4 and kind of has to be moved up.

If you put a mushroom in his bedroom, he will do it all the time. Thunk thunk thunk thunk ....

 

[MyBoysFlip]

I have a "6 YO" Level 5. He actually turned 7 at the end of September. We planned on him being a Level 4 this year until things changed in October/November. He is solid on the Level 5 routines but does not have all the bonus and because of this rarely places at meets. He is fine with this and knew going into it he would most likely not have a great year score/place wise.Several of our Level 5 meets have had breakdowns of 9U or 8U and the ones with 7 YO awards - its still very tough to place without bonus. I'm not sure what I would do if I could go back to November - I think competing at any level is amazing for a little guy - and most boys teams seem to uptrain all year - our 4's work 5 tricks almost every practice.

 

[Deleted member 10727]

I do trust his coach, and his coach would have had him move up to level 5 had the age bumping ruling not come down. As it stands, my son will have a great first (official) year, even if he has to compete at a level 4. Competitions are such a small part of it anyway, imo, although my son loves competing.

 

[LilHawkMom]

My son was also a young level 5. He was 6 yrs on Sept 1 and then turned 7 yrs in January when he had his first meet (he skipped level 4). I remembering heavily questioning the coach about that decision. I was so nervous for him and also knowing he would not do that well since it was his first yr and lack of experience and his age compared to others. And now in hindsight it was the best thing. His coach said he didn't want to hold him back and it worked out well. He has always been bumped up and now he was 9 yr old on Sept 1st and level 7. It is many months till the next season and if your son has a good progression over the summer his caoch may bumped up to level 5.

 

[BlairBob]

a few years back, i had a real lil guy, i think he turned 6 in january. he didnt compete high bar and generally didnt do pb unless the meet had low narrow pb but he loved it and managed to get a 9 on vault and medal ( though there was a lack of a consellation medal at one meet ). i just wanted to get him the bug for competing and buy in. he did do rings which were higher than he preferred but hit his elements. cant remeber about ph, though i had another 8/9yo who generally scratched ph/mr because he was really self conscious about his competence and dismal performance and banging into the pommels.

both kid's parents came up to me a few years later thanking me for competing both of them because of the joy they got from it and they really improved in their 2nd and 3rd years though many questioned competing them that season though the 8/9 did really did decent to really well on 5 events while training only half/third time

 

[themonkeysmom]

I also have a young gymnast. He competed level 4 as a 6 year old and is currently competing level 5 as a 7 year old. As the years go by, I am learning that there is so much more to being successful at a level than just being able to complete the routines. My son's coach expects not only 90% of the complete routines with some bonuses and good form, but a certain level of focus and emotional maturity before deciding to move a boy up to the next level. Even the most talented 6 year old just can't process things the way a 10 year old can. While watching practice I have noticed that the really young ones like my son are much more likely to have little blips in their attention where they accidentally throw a front handspring when they were supposed to do a back handspring, etc. The higher the level gets, the more likely these small lapses can lead to serious injury. As the boys get older their focus improves and these things become less likely to happen.

It sounds like your son will have a great year as a level 4, and he shouldn't be bored because he still has goals to achieve in the level 4 routines and bonuses, and it sounds like he will still be able to uptrain. I know it is very disappointing for your son, but it's a great time to help him understand that the coach knows what's best for the long run.

 

[Galadriel]

our boys head coach almost disregards the 'super talented 8 year old syndrome' in favour of the hard working gymnast who is in their teens who night not have shone as a youngster. don't know if a good or bad thing - just what he does!
he wants it to be more about the gymnast self drive than a parent drive. its about the long haul with boys apparently!
he also has a thing on the boys notice board about 'how do i know if my son will 'make it' it talks about what 'making it 'actually means to him and down playing parental pressure and how a gymnast transitions to almost any sport well due to the all round strength and discipline etc gained in gym.
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[skschlag]

One of our best gymnasts (going to college for gymnastics) started at 12! He is amazing

I spoke to a bunch of judges at a meet one time (all staying in the same hotel, so just happened to run into them!) It was really eye-opening. They talked about how the kids that are winning at 4, 5, and even 6 usually don't stay with the sport as long (there are always exceptions). They said that the kiddos who have to work hard, and do, are the ones that tend to stick it out. One theory was that as things get harder, they get discouraged. Anotehr thought was that as the scores go down, and the kids stop placing, they get discouraged. Or, that they worked so hard at the lower levels that they just burnt out.

Just another thought. Boys/men compete well into their 20's and beyond. So this is a long sport career for them! I think we get so used to how the girls move up that we forget that these little guys don't really get going until puberty!