Women Benefits to competitions at lower levels?

[Dream]

I am wondering what the benefits are for girls to compete at the lower levels such as level 1 or Xcel bronze? Some gyms in our area do not take their athletes to competitions until Xcel Silver or JO 4. Others seem to want them to start competing frequently ASAP.

 

[Tmacs]

Honestly.... to suck the parents into the sport . because what's cuter than an L2/bronze gymnast?
I think for less populated areas of the country, level 2 gets more kids on team at an earlier age. I don't think many kids would stick around at our gym if they had to progress through pre-team and rec levels all the way to level 4. We just don't have that many gymnasts to choose from. At age 7, my daughter was done with rec. She hated it. But as soon as she got on team, she absolutely loved it… the discipline, the camaraderie, the seriousness of the sport. She would not have continued if she had to wait to compete until L4. I believe the shaping and conditioning they did in the lower levels made her a very good L4-9 gymnast.

 

[Cmom]

Honestly.... to suck the parents into the sport . because what's cuter than an L2/bronze gymnast?
I think for less populated areas of the country, level 2 gets more kids on team at an earlier age. I don't think many kids would stick around at our gym if they had to progress through pre-team and rec levels all the way to level 4. We just don't have that many gymnasts to choose from. At age 7, my daughter was done with rec. She hated it. But as soon as she got on team, she absolutely loved it… the discipline, the camaraderie, the seriousness of the sport. She would not have continued if she had to wait to compete until L4. I believe the shaping and conditioning they did in the lower levels made her a very good L4-9 gymnast.

I agree. My daughter's gym ysed to start at level 4 after two years of preteam. Unfortunately a lot of girls would quit before they got to compete. Switching to one year of preteam then level 3 has been better for retention.

And yes there a sizeable number of parents are more likely to stay if their kid is offered the chance to compete sooner. I personally don't understand this sentiment. I feel like the monotony of routines could be really tedious for young kids. I also don't really want to spend a good chunk of my weekend traveling to watch little kids earn medals for jumping on a springboard, but I might be in the minority.

 

[HopefulGymnast]

I have no idea if this is true, but I wonder if it'd also help get them used to competition environments so it feels more casual to them. So they won't feel as much under pressure when they're older in competitions?

 

[Ajoy]

I agree. My daughter's gym ysed to start at level 4 after two years of preteam. Unfortunately a lot of girls would quit before they got to compete. Switching to one year of preteam then level 3 has been better for retention.

And yes there a sizeable number of parents are more likely to stay if their kid is offered the chance to compete sooner. I personally don't understand this sentiment. I feel like the monotony of routines could be really tedious for young kids. I also don't really want to spend a good chunk of my weekend traveling to watch little kids earn medals for jumping on a springboard, but I might be in the minority.

Agreed. I personally do not love competition even now because of the expense and time suck.

 

[Cmom]

Honestly.... to suck the parents into the sport . because what's cuter than an L2/bronze gymnast?
I think for less populated areas of the country, level 2 gets more kids on team at an earlier age. I don't think many kids would stick around at our gym if they had to progress through pre-team and rec levels all the way to level 4. We just don't have that many gymnasts to choose from. At age 7, my daughter was done with rec. She hated it. But as soon as she got on team, she absolutely loved it… the discipline, the camaraderie, the seriousness of the sport. She would not have continued if she had to wait to compete until L4. I believe the shaping and conditioning they did in the lower levels made her a very good L4-9 gymnast.

I would think there would be even more time for shaping and conditioning if they weren't focusing on routines.

 

[GymDadWA]

If the goal is to make a high level gymnast then lower level competitions are a speed bump to that goal.

If the goal is to enjoy the gymnastics journey the low level competitions are fun and memorable.

They are a soft landing when it comes to getting familiar with the competition setting and how things work, low stakes, and if the gymnast makes a mistake they tend to not feel bad, but other than that it's just for fun and the memories.

 

[CluelessGymMom]

I think competing at the lower levels help girls figure out competition nerves and getting comfortable at meets. We had a couple of girls on my daughter's team who were sooooo nervous the first season! They improved each meet and were handling it much better by the end of the 1st season.

 

[GymnastMomX2]

I don't think there are any benefits, when my older daughter was little she started competing at age 5, level 1. While it was adorable, it served no purpose and didn't help with her future development in the sport. She "retired" after her level 8 season before HS. My younger daughter didn't even get moved to team until she was 8 years old, and turned 9 before her first season that fall as a level 4. She's still in the sport competing as a level 10. I guess it depends on what your goals are with the sport.

 

[NYCMom]

I think in addition to the nerves, it helps the young athletes learn how to recover from mistakes quickly in a competition environment. I’m glad my daughter learned in levels 2 and 3 that a choreo mistake on floor or a fall off the beam in front of judges isn’t the end of the world, it’s a mistake you brush off and you develop a short memory. I can tell that those early years of competition and mistakes have made a difference in how she reacts to things on the competition floor in level 6. I think if she was only in her 2nd year of competition as opposed to her 4th, that poise wouldn’t be there and she’d still be developing that skill while also trying to learn high level gymnastics.

 

[Aussie_coach]

Other sports often offer kids the chance to compete every week in season. If they join the local basketball, netball, soccer, cricket, football team they may train once or twice a week and then compete every weekend.

In gymnastics, the athletes spend many more hours training and do far fewer comps.

Waiting until higher levels to compete means the kids are training years and years before they even hit their first comp.

Most gymnasts never even make it to the nippier levels, so they may never get the chance to compete.

Allowing them to compete at a lower level gives them a sense of what they can work towards. They spend so much time and so much effort learning these skills, they often want the chance to use the skills and perform the skills.

We have to ask ourselves if the main purpose of the sport is to create level 10’s, College or elite athletes.

Or is it to give as many kids ad possible the chance to develop the amazing life skills that gymnastics has to offer. Of course, both can be true but if we wait until higher levels to compete most kids will never get the chance.