Parents Ages on Team

[KimmeeA13]

One thing I have noticed in our gym is that the girls on team are not typically as young as some of the ones mentioned here. For instance, my DD is in a practice group for Xcel Bronze and her group is the youngest. She is the second oldest in the group. There's one 7 year old, one 9 or young 10 year old, and the rest are all 8, including my daughter although she will soon be 9. But I read on here all the time about these 5 and 6 year olds who are on team. Which is more common - my situation or the younger kids? The youngest girl in our group was handpicked for team out of rec classes when she was 5 and this is her second year on Bronze. All of these girls are expected to move into "new" level 3 for next year.

I'm not concerned about her age because I don't expect Olympic greatness from my girl. I want her to enjoy herself and learn but I realize that starting "late" means she may not reach the elite or higher levels, if she chooses to go that route. I'm just curious. What is the real advantage of having kids start on team at a young age? Am I being dense? I just imagine my own daughters at the age of 5 and I'm quite sure neither of them would have learned much at all! ;-)

 

[gymmiemom]

I have no idea which is more common as I only have experience with our gym. My DD is the youngest on the whole team. She just turned 7, and is uptraining new L4. If all goes as planned she will compete that next season. The other girls in her level are 9-12 years old. The new L2 and 3 girls are 8,9 and 10 at this point.

We are a small gym though so the overall number of girls to choose from is not that large

I do know that at meets the younger age groups tend to have more girls and are more competitive score wise, usually, not all of the time.

 

[suebee]

I think team means different things at different gyms. My dd just turned 5 and is on preteam. Her gym has a (old) level 2/3 team that competes a few meets and they are considered "team." The coach just told me dd will be invited to join the level 2/3 team next month. But I know that at many gyms, level 2/3 and sometimes even 4 would be preteam because they don't compete.

Meta: at dd's gym, the level 2/3 team are girls who are usually 5-7 yo.

 

[MaryA]

The girls at DD's gym tend to be pretty young, making DD, a 12-year-old level 7, feel positively ancient. But then, when we go to meets, her age group is often the biggest. Last year there were more 11-year-olds at level 6 States than any other age group.

 

[Amber]

So from what I read, your DD will be 9 and on the new level 3 next year. In our gym, this would be the average age for level 3. The ages for new Level 3 range from 6-11 years old, with most girls being in second or third grade. And we have a pretty large team. While there is a benefit to starting team really young, such as TOPs and going elite, there are also benefits to being older, such as: better attention span, being able to understand and apply corrections with more ease, more advanced coordination...the list goes on. Unless your DD is headed for the Olympics, her age is fine. I have a 11 year old starting excel Silver, and and 8 year old new level 4. There are some posts on CB of teens on Level 2 and 3. I hope you feel reassured

 

[cbifoja]

Our last year's L3s are mostly 6-8. Our L4s are 8-10. Our L5s are 8-12. Our L6s 9-13. Not sure what ages are on our pre-teams.

 

[gymmomtotwo]

Our gym doesn't start true team until you are ready to compete level 5 (new Level 4)and do it well. The absolute youngest a kid can be to compete that level is 7. There are usually a couple of 7 year olds ready to compete, but the ages for our Level 5s this year was from age 7-11. The preteam girls range from age 4-9. They all have several years of preteam under their belt to get ready for level 5. It's usually a 3 year process, though some progress more quickly.

Our Xcel girls range from age 7-17, and have either be chosen for that team because the JO program is not a good fit. The kids can start competing more quickly, as they don't have as many skills to learn before they can compete. Hope that makes sense.

 

[okie]

The girls on our preteam (now called Competitive League) range fom age 5 to 9 (about 20 girls). They train new level 2/3 and compete at in-house mock meets each month. New USAG level 3 girls are ages 6-9 (18 girls). We do not have elite track or TOPS. The gym that is one mile from our house moves girls to team at younger ages (often they must wait to compete as they are too young) and they progress at a faster pace with longer training hours, presumably because they are on elite track. This gym is very successful and many girls receive NCAA scholarships.

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[KimmeeA13]

Thanks for your replies! I know we have a few older girls (12+ years old) on our Bronze team and I was mainly wondering if we were unusual. Our regional meet is a week from Friday and they've split the levels up into age groups. Out of 5 groups for Bronze Xcel my DD is in the second youngest group, although if her birthday was 3 days earlier she'd be in the middle group. I know the attention span would not have worked in my DD's favor if she had started team at a young age!

 

[aussiebug]

My DD is 8 and on team here in Aus, she started late. Shes only NDP1, with Olympic dreams. Probably won't happen, but she's working hard!

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[Amusibus]

Our gym has kids on the younger side. Pre-team is ages 4 to 6, they usually start old level 4 at 7, or go into TOPS at 7. The girls who start later don't go through the developmental program, they go straight to old level 3. From there they decide to continue or not, after level 3 the hours go up very quickly.

 

[Fliptwisttumble]

I will admit that this notion of "team" sort of baffles me..... It's not a term we use at our gym nor have I heard people from neighboring gyms use it. The only time it's used is if you make the provincial "team" to go to say a national meet, Easterns/westerns (I assume like US regionals).

Are there kids at these levels who train at the same level (say L4) but aren't on the "team"? Or is it just the name used for the group of kids who are all training L4?

 

[Committed]

DD competed Level 3 this year at age 5. She was the youngest on the team by 2 years. There were two 7 year olds, and the rest ranged up to 12yo. If she were to stay at her gym, she would have been new level 3.
As soon as she gets her cast off, we will be going to a new gym where she will be on the pre-team. Their lowest level in the fall will be new level 3. I have no idea what their statistics look like, but her pre-team will consist of two 5yo, six 6yo, and two 7yo.

 

[OzZee]

I'm in Australia (NSW)
We compete from level 1.
You have to be turning 6 in the calendar year to start competing.
But most kids turning 6 (kindergarten/first year of school) would be in a pre-levels group. Under 6 they are usually in preschool classes, a few gyms have an advanced preschool/development group usually just once a week.

The average age for competing ndp 1 is turning 8 or 9. ndp 2 turning 9 or 10. ndp 3 turning 10 or 11. ndp turning 11 or 12.
This is the age group for an intermediate (we have three age groups in the lower levels, these are set. junior, intermediate, senior). Intermediates are by far the largest age group.

For those with elite hopes then it's a different story. You need to be at the right place at the right time, usually by 5 or 6 and join a gym with an idp (international development) program.
If you are young and outstanding you can move over later but it's quite rare after 7.

We don't have 5 year olds being trained bhs (I was even shocked when I saw my just 6 year old being trained them).

 

[MaryA]

I will admit that this notion of "team" sort of baffles me..... It's not a term we use at our gym nor have I heard people from neighboring gyms use it. The only time it's used is if you make the provincial "team" to go to say a national meet, Easterns/westerns (I assume like US regionals).

Are there kids at these levels who train at the same level (say L4) but aren't on the "team"? Or is it just the name used for the group of kids who are all training L4?

I think "team" generally implies competing. If you are competing level 4, you are on the level 4 team, as opposed to someone who is maybe just working on level 4 skills. At meets there are team scores and awards (generally the top 3 or 4 scores on each event added up) so it is, to a certain extent, a team sport. Are all gym meets just individual competitions in Canada?

 

[OzZee]

We don't use the word team in Australia either.

 

[gymmiemom]

I will admit that this notion of "team" sort of baffles me..... It's not a term we use at our gym nor have I heard people from neighboring gyms use it. The only time it's used is if you make the provincial "team" to go to say a national meet, Easterns/westerns (I assume like US regionals).

Are there kids at these levels who train at the same level (say L4) but aren't on the "team"? Or is it just the name used for the group of kids who are all training L4?

"team" means the kids who compete. Like MaryA said, there are team scores and awards at each meet. There are girls in our gym who are in a rec class that work some of the lower level skills (L3 and L4 with possibly some more advanced tumbling skills) that aren't on "team" either because they or their parents don't want to make that commitment or they haven't been invited for whatever reason.

 

[Azgymmiemom]

It's funny...my dd, 10, and training L8, only has regionals to go. She is in the youngest age division at regionals. I was very surprised,since you only have to be 7 to compete L7. There are two age groups with only a year span...11 and 12. So, in region 1, most L7s are 11-12 yrs old.

 

[Mom2Brats]

I remember being worried when my daughter started that she'd be 'old' competing L4 as a 7 yr old, based on USAG requirements and reading about some amazing young athletes here. But she's progressed steadily one level a year and always been in the youngest or 2nd youngest age group. Now, at 11 (almost 12), she was in the Junior 4 out of 16 age groups. So while she's not on the super young end by any means, she's still in a very good place for her age.

 

[GymGirl's Mom]

Our Compulsory gymnasts L4-L6 are all 6 to 10. Our Optionals are 9-18. Our gym has pretty young teams. That said, when we go to meets there is a huge age range in EVERY level- don't worry. I have seen 13 year old L3's.