Women Average age per level?

[gymcoach1]

I attended a not so local meet this weekend and was shocked by the ages of the lower level gymnasts... they had level 4's that I'm pretty sure were 16.... made me curious what the average ages are at different gyms, for us its:
Level Two- All are 5
Level Three- Most are 6 and two are 7
Level Four- All are 7
Level Five- All are 8 besides one, who is 11 (third year on L5)
Level Seven- Youngest is 7 and oldest is 11
Level Eight- Youngest 8, most are 9/10 and two 12 year olds
Level Nine- Most are 12-14
Level Ten- 13 or older with the exception of an 11 year old

 

[Deleted member 17723]

Your gym makes my gym look like grandmas
Preteam: not totally sure but I think around 5/6
Level 2 (well they compete xcel bronze): 6/7/8/9
Level 3: youngest I believe is 7 turning 8 soon and oldest is 12
Level 4: youngest is 7 turning 8 soon and oldest is me!
Level 5: youngest is 11 and oldest is 15 turning 16
Level 7: youngest is 14 and oldest is 17
Level 8: 17
Xcel silver: 14
Xcel gold: 16

 

[gymdog]

Well it sounds like your gym is the exception because you can probably count the number of 7 year old optionals in this country on one hand. And I'm okay with that, that's great that it works for you but it is definitely not average and it seems to me like it would take some serious manufacturing at the preschool age. Keep in mind that Gabby Douglas started at Excalibur at 7/8 and competed level 4 the same year (old level 4 so the equivalent of new level 3). If a phenomenal talent walks in at 8/9/10 I'm not going to say it's too old...in my experience it is not.

 

[Seeker]

The ages at your gym skew VERY young based on my experience. Way young. Your oldest L7 is 11? The fact that the majority of your L8's are younger than 10 is quite rare and honestly a bit of a surprise. Those ages by level are generally the exception and not the rule.

 

[gymcoach1]

Wow I knew we were definitely on the younger side but didn't realize it was so rare.... also it won't let me edit but I forgot that there are two 8 year old level 4's too (still fairly new to the gym). The local gyms in our area are pretty much in the same age range too... what region are you all in?

 

[Deleted member 17723]

To be honest I am not completely sure... I think region 6.

 

[ascarter1]

My dd is a level 7 and we are almost always one of youngest, if not the youngest team at competitions. There are 5 girls, 2 are 11, 2 are 10 and 1 is 9.

Not all the levels at our gym are that way, really just level 7.

Our 6's are ages 9-12.

We don't have any 8's.

Our 9's range from 11-15.

Our 10's are 16-18

 

[billise]

Our level 3's range from three 7 year olds all the way up to 12 years old with most being 9 or 10. We are an elite gym in region 1.

 

[gymbeam]

Region 8 here and our gym averages are:
4s - 4th grade
5s- 5th grade
7s- 5th grade (because we compete levels 5 & 7 in the same school year)
8s - 6th grade
9s- 7th grade
10s - 8th grade and up.

these are averages, but the variance is no more than one grade level in either direction for all these levels (except 9 & 10 because of doing more than one year at those).

 

[MILgymFAM]

My DDs gym has optionals from 11-17, all ages mixed through all the levels. They have a 12 yo L10 and a 15 yo L6, it just varies. Their compulsory girls are: L3s are all 6-8, the lone L4 is 9, and L5s are about 10-13.

We have been to gyms here where you had to be invited to preteam from the preschool class or the door was closed. Also, we went though a ton of gyms that wouldn't give my 13yo a tryout because she was a compulsory- so I do think that ages tend to skew lower in our area in general. I do know that there were 17year olds at L3 and L4 states though, so there are always outliers.

We are region 1.

ETA: only one Xcel and she is 24.

 

[raenndrops]

Our gym
L3: ages 6-13 ... average - 9-10
L4: ages 8-13 ... average - 10-11
L5: ages 12-13 ... average - 13
L6: ages 11-14 ... average - 13
L7: ages 12-14 ... average - 13
L8: ages 14-15 ... average - there are only two of them, lol
Xcel Gold: ages 10-14 ... average - 12-13

 

[mom2newgymnast]

Wow, the OP's gym seems very young. My dd's gym seems to be in the middle age wise. They also have a pretty wide range within the levels. We are in region 8.

I don't know all the levels, but I think that preteam is 5-6, level 2's are 6-8, level 3's are 7-10 and level 4's are 8-10. My dd turns 8 in January and she is the youngest on the level 3 team. The oldest just turned 10. The youngest optionals we have are a 9 year old level 6 and a 9 year old level 7, but they are the exceptions.

My dd is usually in the youngest age group at meets, although sometimes she is in the second to youngest group. There is one gym we compete against that has all young gymnasts. If a meet has 6 age groups, all of their's are in the youngest 2 groups. There is another gym that is really dominating this year that is the complete opposite. They have no one in the youngest 2-3 age groups and all of their gymnasts are older (and they are not repeating levels either). At meets, our girls are really spread across age groups with no more than 2-3 per age group, and usually none in the oldest couple of age groups.

 

[Sasha]

OP your gymnasts would be VERY young where we are, even among the top gyms.

My DD just finished L4 at age 9.5 and was in the "Youngest" age grouping EVERY meet (except states, different system), even against the top gyms nearby who produce regular TOPS national campers, NCAA girls, and a few elites.

Even among these top gyms (and ours) there are only a sprinkling of the super-young in each level. MOST (so on average), are less young.

Here's us: very competitive, but not known as a "top" gym overall...
L3s are mostly 8-9, with only 1 lone 7 year old, and a couple 11-12
L4s are mostly 9-10, with one 8 y/o and a couple 11-12
L5s are mostly 10-11, with a couple 12-13
L6-7s are 11+
L8s are 12+
L9s are 13+
L10s are 14+

And when we compete, MOST of our girls are in the Youngest 1-2 age groups, which means most of the OTHER gyms we compete against are skewing older than us. In fact at a recent meet, I was talking to a dad from another gym, and he seemed in awe that our L3s (who are mostly 8-9) were "so young". His daughter was 11 and one of the youngest L3s at his gym

 

[gymmiemom]

My DD is 9 and a L7. She is the exception to the rule in our area. Average age for her level is 11+. Same for L6.

Usually the biggest age group for all of the compulsory levels are 9-10 with the exception of L2. But a lot of gyms don't even compete 2.

L8-10 are at least 13.


It's not that shocking to me to see how it varies. Some areas have tons of gyms and some (like mine) have virtually none. We always go to one destination meet a year, so the girls can experience a higher caliber of gymnastics and we know going in that our girls are gonna get there butts handed to them To me it's a lot like how scores vary. Here a 35 AA is going to earn you a placement medal. Other places not even top 50%.

 

[profmom]

Interesting. I don't think I have ever seen a team where all of the L8s were 12 or younger. What happens with your L8s who have trouble adjusting to puberty-related growth that slows them down on bars or creates blocks on beam? Do they move up and do L9 without meeting requirements or do they tend to leave? Or is your team so small and/or new that you haven't faced this issue yet?

 

[JoyAvenueMom]

Kipper's gym tends to have the youngest team (median age) at every local meet, and most of our travel meets. However, we have a much bigger range than OP. L3 : 6-12 L4: 7-12 L6: 8-13 L7: 8-15 L8: 11-15 L9: 12-16 L10: 12-18 We take anyone on team (new or transfer) regardless of age.

 

[MomIdidit!]

We are region 6, I am not familiar with all the ages at dd gym but her level 4 team consists of 6 year olds turning 7 and very young 7 year olds.
There is no competing levels 2 or 3 and level 6 consists of girls that are 8 and 9 years old.

 

[thefellowsmom]

Interesting. I wonder if it also has to do with selection requirements for team. Only the little hotshots allowed in?

Our team is somewhat more inclusive, but I also notice that the demographics change through the years as well. This is just a snapshot of today. Trends would really be more telling.

For example, I noticed that in a couple of these very young teams mentioned, there is a big gap between level eight and nine. 8 or nine year old level eights but then youngest level nine is 12. That's a lot of time to sit at eight or maybe just a snapshot.

Sometimes I wonder how planned out some of this is as well. Number of coaches, size of program, philosophy etc. Do any of these determine the kids you put in the pipeline and how quickly you progress them? Or is It really just what kids are walking through the door? I am noticing ebbs and flows and changes in the way things are happening at our gym. What is going on at the bottom seems to maybe compensate for what is happening at the top?

With all that said, we are on the younger side. There have been meets that our team filled the entire lowest age group. But, the ranges are wide, but not to the extent of teenaged level 3s and 4s. These kids would be tracked to xcel in our gym. Once you are in jo though you are not asked to leave or move to excel. All jo kids are supported in their goals. Our gym repeats kids as necessary as well as skips levels as they deem fit. Very individualized progressions.

These numbers are more of an average, not necessarily a picture of this year. Many of the older range of kids include kids that needed to repeat. We also have quite a bit of movement in the level 4-6 range of kids moving to excel or to less intense gyms. Some people resist the upper level optional requirements and expectations our gym lays out.

2s - 5-7
3s - 6-10
4s - 7-12
6s - 8-13
7s - 9-14
8s - 10-14
9s - 10-16
10s - 12+

 

[Mrs. Puma]

We are also region 6. I'm still new to this gym, so I don't have perfect statistics, but I think we're on the older side. I believe there is only one 6 yr old L3 and the rest are 7-9ish. Puma Jr at 8 is the youngest L4 (I believe there is one 7 yr old L4 that trains at out second, smaller location). There is one other 8 yr old L4 , but soon to be 9 and the rest are 9-11. The L5s are 9-12ish. There are two recently turned 10 yr old L6s and I think the rest of the optionals are older than that, mostly young teens. Sorry, that's not super specific, but again, I'm just learning the ropes at this new gym.

 

[gymmomtotwo]

DD was youngest level 4 last year at just turned 8. Kids ran from 8-12.
She is youngest level 6 this year at 9 with the group running 9-13. We skip 5 and sometimes 6.
We have some pretty young level 10s (maybe 12 ish?)
Every optional level has a big age range from 9 on.
We have not had a 7 year old level 4 in several years, it is not a common thing.
We had one kid who moved gyms very young to become a now international junior elite. She was I think a 10 year old Level 9 at the time.
We are top three in the state at all levels.
We have full ride NCAA Division 1 gymnasts.
We have a good number of Level 10 make nationals.
Only an extraordinary 7 year old at our gym would be a 7 year old level4. We don't do Level 3.