WAG Guinea Pigs for D1?

[Supportive not pushy]

DD and 5 of her teammates are on-track for L10 freshman year. They are hard workers and have D1 hopes. Problem is... in the 20 years our gym has been open, they have never had a gymnast make it that far. Some L10’s have gone on to D2 or D3.

I asked HC why not D1 and she said, “No one has ever wanted to compete at that level.”

So my question is... should we have confidence that our coaches can get our girls there skill-wise (assuming they stay in it and stay healthy)?

This is the best gym in our area and re-locating is not an option.

 

[MILgymFAM]

This is the best gym in our area and re-locating is not an option.

It doesn’t sound like there is a better choice than trusting them and the process, so as long as the gymnasts are healthy and happy and progressing, I wouldn’t waste energy on worrying about it.

 

[Jard.the.gymnast]

I mean, someone has got to be the first, right? I think your coaches can do it. If you are happy, I would stay

 

[gymdog]

What level and age is your daughter now? It's kinda hard to say on track for L10 freshman year in most JO programs with regular hours and training unless she's a freshman now and planning to compete 10 in 2019 but that's just my opinion. Esp not for 5 people unless you're one of the mega gyms in the country.

It seems like this gym is the best choice for your family either way. At some point that has to be enough. D1 is no certainty at any gym really and the gyms with relatively more D1 candidates are not always the prettiest picture. Plan for the future but also stay in the here and now because there is so much more to gymnastics (and life) than making it to D1. Your daughter may want to be a doctor and being a premed might not fit in with a D1 school she gets recruited to, for instance. I think it's definitely something to educate yourself on even starting now. It's good for your daughter to have goals but like with many things in life they'll be living goals that evolve as she gets further down that path.

 

[John]

I would not worry about the progression and skill, I would worry that your coaches do not have relationships with D1 coaches. I just want to throw out there that the club coach/college coach relationship may be an important factor to consider.

 

[gasrgoose]

It's possible. We know a girl from a state with a tiny gymnastics community who is the first level 10 ever at her gym and she has D1 offers from SEC schools. She's really good though, qualified and did well at JO Nationals as a freshman in high school. Also her coaches have made an effort to get to know NCAA coaches. It requires the coaches and gymnasts marketing the individuals to the NCAA coaches to get them on their radar. And that does not mean a recruiting website, they are useless. Club coaches are contacting NCAA coaches with info about possible recruits and the individual recruits are emailing YouTube links of their skills and meet performances/results. Send them to camps at the schools that they might be interested.

 

[bookworm]

I guess it would depend on what level she is now ....what is your idea of "on track" ? Is she an 8 as a 7th grader and you figure a year at 9 next year and then 10 as a freshman, but not all kids progress like this so the whole "on track" thing can be sort of nebulous...

As others have said, D1 isn't the only option and often isn't the best option and frankly, don't bank on it for funding your kid through college because it can all change in a heartbeat. If your daughter is at a smaller gym and wants D1 but there are no girls before her, by all means, check out camps at the desired schools, high performance camps in your regions and have a sit down with your coach and plan some strategies for your coach getting your kid's name out there....making JOs will be a start as NCAA coaches are there in droves.

 

[Flicfliclay]

So you really need to remind yourself that getting into a D1 school on a scholarship is no easy task. While my daughter is set to be a level 10 by 6th grade ( next year as an 11 year old ) and has lofty goals of getting a scholarship at a D1 top 10 school, I tell her that it is a tough thing to do AND she goes to a gym that has many relationships with D1schools and has girls every year get said scholarships. Even knowing this WE still don't just assume that it will be easy or happen at all.

 

[reluctant]

So you really need to remind yourself that getting into a D1 school on a scholarship is no easy task. While my daughter is set to be a level 10 by 6th grade ( next year as an 11 year old ) and has lofty goals of getting a scholarship at a D1 top 10 school, I tell her that it is a tough thing to do AND she goes to a gym that has many relationships with D1schools and has girls every year get said scholarships. Even knowing this WE still don't just assume that it will be easy or happen at all.

That amazing. Will she be the only 11 year old level 10 in the country?

 

[Flicfliclay]

That amazing. Will she be the only 11 year old level 10 in the country?

Guessing that’s a big no! Lol there’s TONS I’m sure! I’ve never researched ages of gymnasts at certain levels.. just assume that they’re out there because they compete against her in her age division.

 

[reluctant]

Guessing that’s a big no! Lol there’s TONS I’m sure! I’ve never researched ages of gymnasts at certain levels.. just assume that they’re out there because they compete against her in her age division.

Guessing that’s a big no! Lol there’s TONS I’m sure! I’ve never researched ages of gymnasts at certain levels.. just assume that they’re out there because they compete against her in her age division.

I was going off of Lily's mom commenting that she was one of the youngest last year at nationals, but I guess that's Nationals, so not everyone who's out there. I've just never seen an 11 year old Level 10 but we are not in the most competitive region.

 

[FlippinLilysMom]

That amazing. Will she be the only 11 year old level 10 in the country?

No, there were probably 3-5 11/12 year old level 10 gymnasts at nationals in 2018, so while it is rare it is not unheard of.

 

[Seeker]

Most of the kids that age at that level of gymnastics are on elite path so you often won’t see them in JO.

 

[rjb123]

My 12 year old will be level 10- not on elite path. There were a ton of young level 9's last year too- at least at Easterns

 

[bookworm]

My oldest was an 11 yo level 10 at her first JOs and Jordyn Wieber was the youngest there I believe that year and she was 10.

 

[Flicfliclay]

I was going off of Lily's mom commenting that she was one of the youngest last year at nationals, but I guess that's Nationals, so not everyone who's out there. I've just never seen an 11 year old Level 10 but we are not in the most competitive region.

Well, She will be amongst the youngest in JrA age division. WE are in the toughest region (1).. so we see lots of young girls in those levels. You may not see many young level 9/10 gymnast and westerns or nationals simply due to the fact that they are in a huge scoring age division.. It is quite often that in that youngest age division you see 38's and only the top get to go out of each age division. So you will have girls going to that didn't even score as high as a lot of these young girls that will make it to these competitions. Not exactly fair, but it is what it is.

 

[FlippinLilysMom]

Well, She will be amongst the youngest in JrA age division. WE are in the toughest region (1).. so we see lots of young girls in those levels. You may not see many young level 9/10 gymnast and westerns or nationals simply due to the fact that they are in a huge scoring age division.. It is quite often that in that youngest age division you see 38's and only the top get to go out of each age division. So you will have girls going to that didn't even score as high as a lot of these young girls that will make it to these competitions. Not exactly fair, but it is what it is.

How does one determine that one region is tougher than another?? Just curious.

 

[Flicfliclay]

Most of the kids that age at that level of gymnastics are on elite path so you often won’t see them in JO.

Our elite path girls compete level 10, but you won't see a lot of the young girls at a westers/easterns/nationals simply because their scores need to be higher in their age divisions. While they a lot of teams beat out the majority of scores they don't get to go because they only take the top of each age group.

 

[Flicfliclay]

How does one determine that one region is tougher than another?? Just curious.

You can look on lots of websites.. chalk warrior for example list the top regions. And Region 1 is it. Same with USAG.. top scores = top region = region 1

 

[FlippinLilysMom]

Our elite path girls compete level 10, but you won't see a lot of the young girls at a westers/easterns/nationals simply because their scores need to be higher in their age divisions. While they a lot of teams beat out the majority of scores they don't get to go because they only take the top of each age group.

Our elite path girls also compete JO.