Parents Excel question

[twinmomma]

As always, some clubs will take advantage. I think USAG needs to set hour limits or guidelines. It's tough when your 4 and 7 hour a week kids are going up against those that are doing same hours as compulsories. It's against the spirit of what XCEL is supposed to be for. And compulsory fall kids shouldn't be competing in XCEL in spring meets either. Unfair for the kids doing XCEL to have less hours, be more affordable, etc.

I totally agree. We made the decision to do Xcel this season a) because when DD was asked to be on team the L3's were well into learning their routines and it was discussed DD wouldn't compete until the back half of the season and we wanted her to have a full competitive season experience and not be singled out from her team; and b) DD had never competed in ANYTHING other than a season of soccer and we wanted something a little less pressure infused in order to have her decide if this was what she wanted, since she was extremely nervous about competing at all.

It's unfair for kids with little experience and fewer hours to compete against kids who are competing year round or simply using the Xcel season to prep for JO season.

 

[raenndrops]

We only have ONE season a year in our gym. We have meets Oct-Mar. Then we have YMCA Nationals in the summer... At Nationals, we are going up against teams that not only compete against other YMCAs, but a lot of them also compete in USAG meets and practice more hours. It just makes it all the better when our girls who practice 7.5 hours a week beat them!
One of the teams at L6 & L7 practices 15 hours a week... and their Pre-L3s practice 7.5 hours. There are other teams that practice even more than they do.

I say this so everyone will understand that there will NEVER be a level playing field across the board. Xcel was originally designed to be a less expensive, less time-intensive way to keep girls in the sport and allow Optional competition at lower skill levels. The only way to guarantee that you are going against other teams that believe as you do is to form a league with nearby gyms that believe the same as you and compete within the league (for the most part)... and challenge the girls with out of league competitions only occasionally... Sectionals (if your state requires them to advance to State), States, and Regionals.

 

[gymgal]

And also remember that until last summer USAG's own website outlined xcel/prep-op as a program not only for those just starting, wanting a more relaxed program but also for gymnasts 'no longer' wanting the intensive training of JO (meaning these were JO trained gymnasts previously) - AND for current compulsory gymnasts wanting to gain experience in optional routines in their off season. This program was never meant to ensure an even playing field for non JO gymnasts.

People new to xcel don't realize but xcel was born from prep-op, which was regulated by the states, not USAG. As it grew in popularity, USAG felt the need to step in and begin regulating it. That's when it became known as Xcel. This is important because ling before USAG stepped in, many states had very good, established programs that fit the need of their state.