Great post by
@thefellowsmom above.
Building on her point about how preteam means something different at different gyms - age of preteamers is often directly related to what level your gym starts competing (in JO). Many (most?) gyms start first level of competition at Level 3, which has a minimum age of 6 years old. So preteam will often be average age 4-6. Many others starts at L4 (minimum age 7 I think), so preteam may be a little older. Still others compete Level 1 or Level 2 (minimum age 5 I htink), and preteam can then be 3 and 4 year olds.
Of course depending on the gym, there can be much older kids on preteam, too, though many gyms are very selective and won't go too much older than the younger age levels (they instead track those kids into Xcel or Rec). Our pre-team, for example, has kids up to age 8, but mostly age 5-6 - we start at L3. And before preteam, we have a couple levels of pre-preteam (developmental) that start at age 3 and are for kids who can handle more structure in the lessons and still have fun. We are a 'mid-range' gym - no elites, reasonably competitive, but not a 'power' gym. Though we do permit Xcel students of any age to track over into JO around level 4/5 if skills are comparable, older kids will initially be tracked into Xcel if they have not yet competed JO (so no 11 year olds on JO preteam, for example).
So though your daughter is only 4, at many gyms she would have already had a year or more of developmental specific classes (that are still fun if you are at a good gym), and would be tracked into preteam or even L1/2 at age 5 and be competing as a 5 year old.
I would say the most information you can consider for now is 1) the success of the gym you are at as measured by how competitive they are at both Compulsories and Optionals (or if they have elites, also good), and 2) learn at what maximum age they are invited to preteam, and how they are selected.
If #1 is reasonably good, then the program is likely solid, and will support whatever goals your daughter ends up having. Then you just need to understand #2 to know how much time you have at your current gym before you would have to commit to more hours/different class.
The thread on "What would you tell your former self" - I would tell myself what I just typed. I didn't understand any of it, and so I thought I could walk my kid in as a 7 year old and that was young enough for any goal she might develop. Although in one sense, yes, it is young enough to enjoy gymnastics (which she is doing as a 10 year old compulsory), it turned out my daughter was WAY more intensely driven, competitive, and in love with the sport than I would have ever guessed (with natural talent, maturity and strength to boot), but I missed the boat getting her into a proper preparatory program (before, or even after beginning at age 7) for her to be competitive at the level she would have liked. There is really no 'catching up' at this point, and I have watched her over this last year deal with some of that realization that she will not be playing in the same league (so to speak) as girls who started younger and with stronger programs in pre-team and such. Of course there is no telling how she actually would have fared, even in the 'best' program for higher level goals. She might have not kept up with the whiz kids and quit, who knows. But the 'missed the boat' feeling is a very hard one to squash, especially watching my daughter going through that realization. I am helping her focus on possible opportunities beyond gymnastics as she longs for a sport where she can work toward the top (perhaps collegiate level, not talking olympics). I will forever be grateful that she did discover gymnastics, though, as it has been wonderful for her in so many ways, and I love watching her every beautiful move
