Grades..

[Ex member]

My oldest dd and I travelled away to a meet this weekend and we went with her coach and my youngest dd's coach and a assistant. Wasn't really looking forward to spending 5 +hours in a car with then! nothing personal, just don't really know them outside of the gym so felt awkward.

It turned out to be a great weekend and I ended up getting to know the coaches better and avoided ' personal' discussions about my youngest dd's gymnastics with her coach as didn't think it was appropriate , stuck to general chat about gym and the groups, youngest dd's coach old me that they will be doing grades in the early part of next year (dd turns 9 at the end of next year). I had no idea that they were going to do grades so was surprised. Dd's group trains 5 hours a week at the moment and the coach wants them to do more, just getting time and space in the gym.

As I am new to Grades, has any one got any information on the side of things. I have been to the disability NDP grades and know a little about that side of things but have no clue about the mainstream side of things , are the grades dd's coach mentioned similar to the disability NDP 's or are there other grades that they take that are not NDP?

 

[Iwannabemargo]

no there is one "set" of grades but it is split into 3 streams, elite, national and regional. Most girls will compete regional, fewer national and very few elite. Each stream has( I think) 6 grades within it, so grade 6 regional is equivalent to old grade 14. If you look for it there is a thread about the grade changes on here some where, but I'm at an airport on my phone so can't search atm. NDP just stands for National development plan, we usually just say grades.

Hth

'Margo

 

[Jenny]

On 5 hours and 9 years old I would think she will do club grade 6 to start with. Well done! I am sure she will really enjoy it.

 

[Ex member]

Thanks, dd is still 7 at the moment so turning 9 seems ages away lol.

 

[Iwannabemargo]

ah, I think Jenny was confused as to which daughter, she would normally do her first grade in her "competing 8" year, which is the calendar year in which she turns 8, so that would be next year all children born in 2007 (often written as "07's"), it doesn't matter if its 01/01/07 or 31/12/07 they all compete as 8 year olds.

 

[Jenny]

ah, I think Jenny was confused as to which daughter, she would normally do her first grade in her "competing 8" year, which is the calendar year in which she turns 8, so that would be next year all children born in 2007 (often written as "07's"), it doesn't matter if its 01/01/07 or 31/12/07 they all compete as 8 year olds.

Yes I was going by competing age. She turns 8 before January so will compete as 9 all next year including grades. It really gets those end of year babies.

 

[Ex member]

Yes, my youngest birthday is Thursday and is an 06 baby and my oldest is in December and is and 03 baby. I think disability gymnasts don't do grades by age but by level, last year oldest dd did her first grades and was level 8 and had gymnasts in her level group from 07 birthday to around 98 and 99 birthdays, I have noticed that the disability gymnasts "career" lasts longer than mainstream and the national squad is older especial rhythmic that has some gymnasts in their 20's , the path oldest dd is on can lead to the national team (not saying dd will get to do that but you never know), some of the boys in dd's group are going to a trial for the boys national team next month.

 

[Iwannabemargo]

so as an 06 she will be competing 9 next year, so if she enters other competitions they should class her by level (say level 7) and year 06.

 

[Ex member]

Youngest dd has her first competition in December , a Tumbling and Trampette friendly and she will be with the 06 year group, it must be tough for the one who are 8 at the end of December to compete against ones that turn 9 a few days later, I guess as they get older it doesn't matter to much as they are stronger, more flexible, more mature.

 

[Iwannabemargo]

its still tough, especially when they combine age groups, last year P&F had to compete in the 12 and under group when she was 9 as the nest age group down was 9 years old, as she is a November birthday.

 

[Ex member]

That is tough, when they beat the older girls it must give them satisfaction especially when they are nearly 3 years younger.

 

[Iwannabemargo]

mine, smug, never lol

 

[Frase]

Dd's birthday is early January. Obviously I planned that just for gymnastics

 

[Noideaaboutgym]

My DD is an 06 and the birthdays of the girls in our gym who competed 14 this year ranged from early Feb to end December. The size and maturity is all over the place though, whilst the youngest is probably one of the most immature so is the oldest!

 

[twinklytoes9468]

Dd's birthday is early January. Obviously I planned that just for gymnastics

Yes and not too bad for school either!

 

[Ex member]

From what I heard the coach say to another parent they are doing Club Grades next year, either 6 or 5, it may be 5 due to the ages of the gymnasts on the team, 8-13 year olds, my dd will turn 9 next October and is the youngest. They will most likely be going down the compulsory regional path (I think that is the correct one) after Grade 5.

They have been working on the following:

Beam:
Various leaps and turns and the odd split jump, forwards rolls and cartwheels progressing to back walkovers and front walkovers and back handsprings.

Bars:
Pullover, cast and back hip circle, straddle undershoot dismount, working on squat ons.

Vault
Hand stand flat back on high crash mats (dd can now do this despite the mats being nearly as high as her) front handspring on fast track

Floor
Round offs, back handsprings (on fast track), round off back handspring with a spot on fast track. Backwards roll piked.

Stretch/conditioning:
Splits 3 ways, straddle lever, straddle lever to stand, occasional straddle lever using parallettes.