Parents Age Grouping?

[3LittleGymmies]

I am just curious what some of your opinions are about this subject. Do you prefer when your child is grouped in a specific age range, like Under 7, young 8's, old 8's, young 9's, old 9's, etc? Or do you prefer when the grouping is less specific... like Under 10, for example. My daughter's first meet of the season is coming up and the schedule just came out, and that is how it is grouped this time.. Under 10 and 11 and older. That's it. It's a decent-sized meet (500+ gymnasts), so I don't think it's based on numbers and there is just one session for her level. She has never had a meet done that way, so it's going to be interesting. Last year, at the same meet, there were 111 gymnasts in her level. Assuming there is that many or more this year (there should be more this year), it seems like it will be difficult to get up on the podium with such a broad age grouping.

 

[3LittleGymmies]

*Note: Last year at the same meet, they did 6-7, 8, 9, 10+

 

[Bajanswife]

What level is this? Is it possible that there are very few competitors in that level this year? Otherwise it does seem strange that the grouping would change that much.

 

[3LittleGymmies]

@Bajanswife, it is (new) Level 4. Last year, there were 111 Level 4 girls at this meet and a total of 420 gymnasts. I know they have over 500 gymnasts this year. I am waiting to hear back about how many Level 4's... but I am assuming there are over 100. Seems so strange to me.

 

[3LittleGymmies]

I heard back that even though it *says* Under 10, they *may* be doing 7-8 and 9-10 for awards for that session. I guess we'll see...

 

[rjb123]

Hmm. I don't think I understand what you mean. All of the meets that DD has gone to last year and so far this year have a range of ages in each session based on birth dates. Then they divide into smaller age groups. the age groups have varied just depending on the meet - my DD is 7, and there are not many 7 year old kids in her level in our area. So she frequently will get grouped with kids who are older 8's, once even a few 9 or ready to turn 9's. While I wish there were more kids her age in her level, there just are not. It is what it is, ykwim?

 

[3LittleGymmies]

What I meant was that the session is listed as "Under 10", and not broken down more (like 6-7, 8, 9, etc). I asked the coach and they said it may be broken down more than that for awards, but it may not, they're not sure. If it's not, that would make for a really tough meet.

 

[Bajanswife]

Oh OK, I was wondering if your DD was in one of those levels that a lot of gyms seem to be skipping this year. It seems like there will be over 100 level 4s in this meet, so yes I would expect further grouping. Otherwise your DD could be competing against over 50 gymnasts! I know that's how it's done in some places, but it doesn't seem to be the norm in the U.S., and certainly not based on past experience with this meet. Weird!

 

[JoyAvenueMom]

yikes! unless they break it down, you're probably looking at 60+ kids in your section. That would be tough. That seems a little unusual, so I would be surprised if they don't break it down more for awards. Our meet this weekend (new L4) is also broken into two sessions...10 &up and 9 &under. However in previous years, this meet divided the groups into much smaller divisions for awards.

 

[rjb123]

What I meant was that the session is listed as "Under 10", and not broken down more (like 6-7, 8, 9, etc). I asked the coach and they said it may be broken down more than that for awards, but it may not, they're not sure. If it's not, that would make for a really tough meet.

Ahh, I get what you mean now! Clearly I have not had my caffeine yet! I would guess they divide into smaller age/ awards groups.

 

[Natasha]

It is rare here for the schedule to list the age groups for awards. Usually the schedule just lists the ages in each session, like yours did (10 and under; 11 and up). You will probably find that they will break each session into some type of age groupings, either by actual age ranges or by birthdates. I wouldn't stress over it though, if it does end up being a very large age group it can be a good learning tool to focus on competing against herself (improving from last time) and not worrying about the placement.

 

[3LittleGymmies]

This is a new gym for us (we moved), so we are still learning how they do things. Our old gym always listed the age break down with the schedule. We are hoping it's broken down more.. but if not, it is what is I guess!

 

[2gymmies]

Sometimes it is better to have large age groups because they place 50% of the age group (at least the meets we go to). If there are 8 girls in the age group, only 4 are getting awards for each event. If there are 30, then 15 get awards. I would think more girls might get at least 1 award in the second situation.

 

[Quadqueen]

I can't say I've ever known what the age breakdown was for awards before the meet, or even before awards....? Probably better that way...one less thing to concern myself with!

 

[IreneKa]

Sometimes it is better to have large age groups because they place 50% of the age group (at least the meets we go to). If there are 8 girls in the age group, only 4 are getting awards for each event. If there are 30, then 15 get awards. I would think more girls might get at least 1 award in the second situation.

50% is still 50%. Say you have 30 girls, but they break them down into 3 age groups 10 each. 5 girls in each group get the awards, so 15 total, the same number as if they don't break them down. But in the first case there is more chances for them to get 1st, 2nd, and 3rd places.

 

[htimcj]

We have one meet that we go to that does it that way. Very large groups. The rest we don't know the exact break down until be see or purchase the program at the meet itself.

 

[Becauseisaid]

We never know age breakdown unless they happen to print it in the program. Usually we only know that "L3s are competing in 2 different session, we compete in Session 1 with X gyms". For scoring purposes, our girls are usually divided by Child, Jr A, Jr B, Sr A, and Sr B.

Honestly though I wouldn't go by last year's # of gymnasts in each level for this year. I know a lot of the gyms in our area dropped girls a level or 2 to perfect the new routines. L4 is fairly sparse around here while L3 is crazy.

 

[cbifoja]

It doesn't matter to me because I have no control over it and it doesn't change anything. My DD is still having to compete against x number of gymnasts and will still get a certain score regardless of how many competitors are there.

 

[GymGirl's Mom]

Every meet I hear parents get upset about the age groupings and I have to say I just don't get it. If your kid stays in this sport for any length of time she will begin to compete in larger and larger age groups- such as 12 and under for some higher level meets. Just accept that it is what it is and try not to get mad when 7 year old Susie is competing against a 3 time 10 year old repeater. It's going to happen and the less of a big deal you make out if it- the smaller the deal will be. Just focus on how your kid did and try not to worry about the rest. If you need/want her to medal everytime find another sport- in the Optional Levels those big age groups often only go out 1-3rd for awards anyway.

 

[gymdog]

I'm sure it's going to be broken down more for awards. You're saying the session (meaning what time the kids compete) is 10 and under. They would never break a session down to just 7 year olds except at a state meet, because it would be a burden on the coaches and not enough kids anyway. The award categories are separate.

I would not keep asking the coaches about it.