Parents Invitation to Xcel Bronze & Silver

[Jalen’s Mom]

My daughter is 7 and has spent almost 2 years on two different pre team levels. She recently had testing and was invited to join the competitive Xcel program. I do not know much about this, but I was wondering why the Xcel and not levels 1 or 2? Was she not good enough for those levels? I’ve read and researched that Xcel wasn’t a good path if a gymnast wants to pursue a college career in gymnastics? My daughter eats, breathes, and lives for gymnastics, and Im hoping she won’t be disappointed in the long run

 

[SurpriseGymMom]

Without being there, knowing your daughter and knowing the gym, it will only be speculation from our end.

It is possible that at the ripe ol’ age of 7 she may already be deemed “too old” for your gyms JO program L1-2 (they may focus on a younger, stronger developmental team and only take 5yo for L1, for instance).
Their L1-2 JO program may be bursting at the seams and they are only accepting the very best/most connected/whatever gymnasts.
Your DD May lack certain traits they want to see for JO track.... could be physical ability, body shape, focus, skill development, tons of different stuff.
If you want to know why she is selected for their Xcel track rather than JO, ask. If you feel that whatever they tell you is either not a good reason or you are being brushed off, you always have the option to have her evaluated at a different gym (assuming there are others). Be open minded though, sometimes coaches see things differently than parents. Good luck!

 

[raenndrops]

I agree with SurpriseGymMom, without knowing your gym or your DD, nobody can tell you, so you are better off asking the gym. I would also ask them if mobility into JO later would be possible (some gyms do NOT allow this, but others are willing to let a girl transition to JO if she demonstrates ability).
IF you are satisfied with their answer and choose to stay, Xcel CAN be a good place to start in competitive gymnastics.
It sounds promising to me that they refer to is as the COMPETITIVE Xcel program. It should mean that they treat Xcel with respect.

As for Xcel not being a good path to college gymnastics, I have a few thoughts:
1. Xcel has only been a National USAG program since 2013. This has only been the 5th season of the National Xcel program. There were various versions of Xcel (called by different names throughout the country and having different requirements) before that. In 2012, each region set up their own Xcel program prior to Nationalization, but the rules in the different regions were all a little different.
2. Based on the skill limits in Xcel Diamond currently, a gymnast would most likely NOT be able to go directly from Xcel to NCAA D1 or even D2 gymnastics, BUT D3 might be a possibility... s would college CLUB gymnastics.
3. A girl could start out in Xcel and transition into JO later. There is a mom on here whose DD started gymnastics later, but competed Xcel Bronze and Gold and then transitioned into JO and might possibly compete L8 next season if all works out well.
4. In Xcel, a girl can skip skills that are a PITA while still getting higher level skills. No shoot through or mill circle (L2 and L3). No Front Hip Circle (only L3 now, although it used to also be in the level above). No REQUIRED choreography. Routines can be designed to suit the gymnast's strengths while minimizing her weaknesses.
5. In Xcel, girls can add in upgraded skills once they are competition ready (within skill limits allowed in each division). My YG (age 13) competes Xcel Platinum. On Floor, she can compete a Roundoff-Back handspring while working on her Front Pike. She HAS the front pike, but is not solid in it, so she can swap it out if it "is on vacation" during a meet. Next season, she will probably compete Platinum again, but after that, she will likely go to L6 or L7 - depending on her skill acquisition in the next 2 years. She could still possibly make it to L8 or L9 before graduating high school... and this is with a low hours program (7.5 hours a week, of which she often only gets to stay 6 hours)

 

[Jalen’s Mom]

Thank you! I’m a new gymnast parent and still trying to understand the sport a little better. My daughter,it seems, can do most of the skills of the level 1 and 2 requirements. She just recently mastered her mill circle on bars, can do a shoot through, back hip and her dismount. On the beam she can do her turns dismount and handstand, on vault she completes her handstand to fall back on her back, and on the floor she’s almost (slight spotting) completed her backhand spring, mastered her round off and good and bad leg cartwheel. I have noticed that her gym only competes level 4 and higher, so I’m assuming they use Xcel as a middle point. But I will take the advice and ask those questions of mobility

 

[raenndrops]

Thank you! I’m a new gymnast parent and still trying to understand the sport a little better. My daughter,it seems, can do most of the skills of the level 1 and 2 requirements. She just recently mastered her mill circle on bars, can do a shoot through, back hip and her dismount. On the beam she can do her turns dismount and handstand, on vault she completes her handstand to fall back on her back, and on the floor she’s almost (slight spotting) completed her backhand spring, mastered her round off and good and bad leg cartwheel. I have noticed that her gym only competes level 4 and higher, so I’m assuming they use Xcel as a middle point. But I will take the advice and ask those questions of mobility

With this new information (gym only competes L4+), then being invited to the Xcel Bronze/Silver team is GREAT! Xcel Bronze and Silver are approximately equivalent to Level 1 through Level 3.5ish.
Bronze competes the Level 3 vault (at L2 or L3 height). Silver goes over the vaulting table... but onto the L3 vault stack... in a handstand flatback.
On Floor, it sounds like she has skills for Bronze and is working on skills for Silver.
On Bars, Bronze only needs 4 skills... Mount, cast, circling skill, and dismount. Silver needs 1 additional skill and CAN go to the high bar, if they want. They also have to cast halfway to horizontal or higher.
On Beam, Bronze needs a mount, a 1/2 turn, a leap or jump, a non-flight acro skill (handstand or 3/4 handstand count), and a dismount. Silver needs a mount, 1/2 turn on 1 foot, a jump or leap with a 90º split, a non-flight acro skill, and a dismount.

 

[gymgal]

Thank you! I’m a new gymnast parent and still trying to understand the sport a little better. My daughter,it seems, can do most of the skills of the level 1 and 2 requirements. She just recently mastered her mill circle on bars, can do a shoot through, back hip and her dismount. On the beam she can do her turns dismount and handstand, on vault she completes her handstand to fall back on her back, and on the floor she’s almost (slight spotting) completed her backhand spring, mastered her round off and good and bad leg cartwheel. I have noticed that her gym only competes level 4 and higher, so I’m assuming they use Xcel as a middle point. But I will take the advice and ask those questions of mobility

Many gyms feel it is too cumbersome to compete levels 1 and 2. They either don't compete those levels at all, preferring a preteam, or they start in xcel first and move over to JO for 3/4. Does your gym compete gold/platinum through xcel as well as the JO levels? If so, I would want clarification on what happens to the girls who go through bronze/silver. How are they split between JO/xcel.

 

[kiwi2406]

Some clubs will do Xcel Silver, Gold (full season), test out of JO4 and JO5 (one meet each) and go onto optionals. This may well be the case in your gym, especially to fast track what they might deem as 'older girls' into optionals. This will get the girls, if all goes well, into optionals in a matter of about 3-4 years instead of the typical 5-7. There's obviously no harm in asking if this is what the gyms intentions are for her.

 

[MILgymFAM]

Some clubs will do Xcel Silver, Gold (full season), test out of JO4 and JO5 (one meet each) and go onto optionals. This may well be the case in your gym, especially to fast track what they might deem as 'older girls' into optionals. This will get the girls, if all goes well, into optionals in a matter of about 3-4 years instead of the typical 5-7. There's obviously no harm in asking if this is what the gyms intentions are for her.

I don’t have a dog in this fight, but I gotta ask- why would it typically take 5-7 years to get to optionals via JO compulsories when there are only two required levels (4&5)? Wouldn’t it take the same amount of time to compete those as to compete Silver and Gold? My DD did two months of rec, a season of silver, a season of gold, and then L6. Her gym when she started only competed IGC and Xcel, so that’s what she did... but I’m just curious.

 

[blueberrygym]

I agree with all that's been said here. My daughter just turned 9 and is doing her second season of Xcel Gold. She is having a really good experience in Xcel because she is progressing at a pace that works well for her strengths/weaknesses...and there isn't a lot of pressure. Her old gym uses Xcel in place of compulsories, but at her new gym, it's an alternative for those who don't want the demands of JO or those who are not as strong in some of the required JO skills. If your daughter really wants to compete at a higher level, but stays in Xcel, she will ultimately max out at Platinum or Diamond. There isn't a lot of competition for Diamond in my region so our gym doesn't train/compete Diamond. So I'm hoping my DD can switch over to JO, or she will be Platinum forever starting at the tender age of 9. Definitely inquire and get the details so you can figure out the path ahead for your daughter!

 

[Musicmama]

Not all gyms will move girls over from Xcel to JO, but my dd had a great experience starting off with Xcel Bronze at age 8. She moved over to Level 4 at age 9 and this past season she competed Level 5 as a 10 year old and is presumably moving to Level 6 next month because she's done very well this season.

One really great thing about Xcel vs Level 2 (dd's gym doesn't compete Level 1) is that my dd was able to have her routines be more difficult than Level 2 as her skills became competition ready. So she was competing ROBHS on floor (L3 skill) and had the Level 3/4/5 dismount from beam in Xcel Bronze. Had she started in Level 2 she wouldn't have gotten to compete those skills that year and if she'd started in Level 3 then they wouldn't have let her compete at all that year since her bars wasn't up to Level 3 skills until about halfway through the season. Having more options for difficulty levels on each event was very helpful in her situation!

As long as your dd is being challenged and moved forward according to her abilities, I don't think it really matters. If you think she'll be bored and need more than Xcel can offer then I'd definitely talk to the coaches about the possibility of moving her over to JO after they see what she can do on a team. If her gym doesn't move girls between tracks then you could always talk to other gyms about what they would do with her if she switched to them.