Anon Is this sandbagging?

[Anonymous (e51c)]

I have a 11 year old xcel platinum who had a great season, scoring 36-37 AA all season. It’s her second year repeating platinum. It seems unfair to keep her in platinum again next year and continue to score well, yet she will be really young for diamond. Most diamonds in my area are 14 and up and she will have just turned twelve. I see kids who score 37’s at states and regionals repeating platinum and I feel like they should have moved up. I don’t want to be that parent, but there is also lots of room for my daughter to upgrade her skills for another year on platinum, which might actually cause a drop in scores. If she stayed on platinum she would probably still be in the youngest age group for most or all of the season. Do you think a third year in platinum is sandbagging or should she move up to diamond? Coach thinks she can handle diamond but every time she is the youngest on a level it just seems so unfair when her competitors are a whole head taller than her. In diamond, I know she will be competing against older girls coming from the DP program and my daughter has only ever done xcel. My daughter would probably compete the bare minimum skills on diamond. All the skills that will be new to her next year regardless of level will be cast handstands, BHS on beam, Arabian off the beam, and round off back layout on floor. She has all these skills but has not competed them yet. She has some twisting skills but they need work. Thanks!

 

[Anonymous (b73b)]

If she has all the skills, and they are performed well (ex; good form) then there is no reason to not move her up. High all around scores dont mean anything. There was a Xcel Gold girl at my gym who got 39 AAs but when she moved to Platinum she only got 32 AA her first few meets. Skills should determine level, not AA (ofc you could have both) I done think 12 is that young for Diamond, as there are 12 year olds doing level 7-9. My gyms diamonds are usually 15-18years but this year we had an 11yo, and she had a great season. But in all, its up to the gym. Maybe see if you can talk to the coach about it. Her coach would know whats best for her.

 

[Anonymous (2a32)]

I'm not understanding what is unfair about competitors that are a whole head taller than her?

I hate the whole "sandbagging" excuse. Every child's story is unique and there may be one of a hundred reasons why coaches decided to keep a child on a level. Spectators my see their performance and assume that the child is being held back to score high but the coaches know so much more than we do and made the decision for a reason.

I think instaed of being worried about if it looked like sandbagging I would focus on my child's goals and dreams which option helps her reach that best.

 

[Anonymous (4e61)]

What does your DD want to do? It seems there's no reason for her not to move up but also it sounds like she can be challenged with new skills still if she stays platinum so there's no 'bad' choice here. If it were my child, I would look to what her goals are and also consider if moving up changes her social scene in the gym (if that's even an issue for her). I don't think a 2 year age difference is a big deal and don't fully understand the 'full head taller comment' but maybe there's big differences in maturity between her and her older teammates? In my experience once she starts puberty, the 2-3 year difference between older competitors diminishes. My DD was the opposite - she was 3 years older than her teammates which was a bigger deal when she was 12 and they were 9 but once the younger ones hit middle school, the age difference was no longer important and they were all BFF's (and remain BFF's years later!).

 

[Anonymous (c424)]

If she still has room to upgrade her skills in Platinum, there is nothing wrong with staying in Platinum.
Does she have consistent casts to 3/4 handstand or higher?
On beam, does she have a jump or leap with at least a 155º split? Does she have an acro series with flight?
On Floor, does she have 2 B Saltos and can she connect each to another acro flight skill (either before or after)? Does she have a B turn?
On vault, is she doing a 10.0 SV vault?

If the answers to all of these are yes, you might consider moving her on to Diamond, but still don't have to. No matter what you choose, you are NOT sandbagging!

 

[Coach.HayHay]

Hi there!

If you don't mind me asking, what were her scores in Platinum the last two years? and what did she compete? Scores are not the end all be all for deciding to move up but as a coach, I do take it into consideration when I need to.

Also, regardless of level, when it comes to judging and awarding places, they categorize all the gymnasts by age among their level. I'm sure you've heard them say "theses are your Senior B champs!" or "Here are the awards for Junior C" and things like that. Smaller meets will sometimes have fewer age categories, but generally speaking, your daughter will not be competing with kids much older than herself. When it comes to the bigger invitationals and State or Regional meets, she would be with kids very close in age (within a year or two of each other). So you don't have to worry about her competing against kids much older than her. Also, age and size doesn't necessarily determine how well a gymnast is or guarantee an advantage.

In terms of holding her back vs. moving her to Diamond; there is no wrong answer really which means either way you go is going to be fine. The cool part about XCEL is there is a lot of overlap between the levels. The higher allowed skills on platinum are usually the lower/base skills for diamond, etc. and if anything, she will have an opportunity to score even higher by practicing her Platinum skills for another year.

I don't think there is anything wrong with doing a third season of Platinum. I have two Golds right now that very well may have to do three years of Gold. However, each year will still bring new skills so even though they are not moving up in level, they are still progressing as athletes within the sport.

11 is pretty young for Diamond, however threre are 11 year olds that are doing levels 7 and 8 which is roughly Diamond equivalent so its not completely unheard of.

It seems like there is no real "wrong" decision, which is always nice. Go with your gut!

 

[Dahlialover]

What does your daughter want to do?