Can a Gymnast Skip Lower Levels?

[Quadqueen]

This may be an obvious question, because I know gymnasts don't need to "score out" until L5, but....

I have a friend whose DD competed L1 last year. She was told at the time that she would skip L2 and go to L3 this year, but now her DD's coach is saying they can't do that...she must compete L2. I told her I didn't think that was true...?

 

[gymmomntc2e6]

levels 1-4 are not required. coach must have a reason, but there is no requirement to do each of the first 4 levels. perhaps the gym itself has this rule, but it is not a USAG rule.

 

[Deleted member D3987]

no, that's not true. the rules begin at level 5. this is where minimum scores must be attained for mobility. and you can't skip levels there.

levels 1 thru 4 are not considered competitive levels. they are participatory levels.

 

[bogwoppit]

Gymnast must compete L5 & 6 to go to optionals. Most gyms do not compete L1-3, but some choose to. So according to USAG she doesn't have to, but her gym gets to dictate what happens in her gym.

I suppose the question could be, what skills is she lacking in order to compete L3. How old is the gymmie?

 

[Quadqueen]

This is a YMCA gym...one of only two gyms I know of in this area (the other one a Y gym too) that compete levels 1 and 2. Maybe this is the coach's rule and my friend didn't understand what the coach said. I explained to her that her DD did not need to compete L2, but didn't want to argue

She says her DD is ready for L3, but I haven't seen her...I suggested she come on over to my DD's gym, where the girls start competing at L3, so she doesn't have to wait through a whole year of L2...which I think has some pretty dumb skills like a headstand and a forward roll on beam. ??

This little girl will be 7 in November. She is not one to be identified as very talented, but I still don't think she should waste a year at L2...??

 

[bogwoppit]

If she is 7 I would sugggest her looking at other possibilities. The leap from L1 to L3 isn't that big and at 7 shouldn't be a huge challenge.

 

[3rd_time_around]

Have her read the chart online. You can google it, I don't know the exact web address. But it's online.

This is a YMCA gym...one of only two gyms I know of in this area (the other one a Y gym too) that compete levels 1 and 2. Maybe this is the coach's rule and my friend didn't understand what the coach said. I explained to her that her DD did not need to compete L2, but didn't want to argue

She says her DD is ready for L3, but I haven't seen her...I suggested she come on over to my DD's gym, where the girls start competing at L3, so she doesn't have to wait through a whole year of L2...which I think has some pretty dumb skills like a headstand and a forward roll on beam. ??

This little girl will be 7 in November. She is not one to be identified as very talented, but I still don't think she should waste a year at L2...??

 

[emorymom]

It could mean something like this: we don't have room for you in L3, so if you want to stay on team here you need to compete L2. For example, they have 6 L2s and 9 potential L3s but they maintain an 8:1 gymnast to coach ratio, and your friend's daughter is the least qualified of the qualified L3s. She could probably be L3 at another gym like PPs said.

I don't know about USAG L2, but AAU L2 around here seems a bit harder. My daughter has really strugged with the handstand flatback vault. I wish we did USAG at the L2-L4 levels. And AAU L2 can be wicked competitive. Simple things but really working them to perfection.

 

[Quadqueen]

thanks, everyone! yes, I think it could be a space thing, or it could be that there were so many L1s last year and no L2s as far as I know and she wants gymnasts in every level (they only have gymnasts up to L5 there).

Emorymom, that's interesting...I thought AAU was supposed to be a more laid-back program?

 

[emorymom]

I think they medal out more, which frankly is kind of harsh when they're older (basically if you are 15th out of 17 everyone knows it, YEAH!!!). Here is an example I found of what our state does in AAU L2.

mjschreiber's Channel - YouTube

 

[GymSurvivor]

In my state AAU used to medal out more (which I agree was more harsh!)
But they've changed the rules and will no longer do that.
Overall now AAU has become quite a bit more strict!