Parents L10 gymnast (The Reality Of College Gymnastics)

[LJL07]

I get it. We had no idea. I understand now why our Diamond Xcel group is so huge and why so many girls switch over in HS. You miss out on a lot when you are practicing 20 hours a week. Sometimes I wonder if my DD will make the switch before HS is over. It's just sad that there are so few potential options to continue to D3 for gymnastics compared to other sports. That said, she loves the sport and it's still her favorite activity in the world.

I don't think we even have Xcel Diamond over here, or I think I would steer my older daughter in that direction. My girls love it too, so that is why I'm still here. My daughter competed level 8 last year in 5th grade, and she is truly pretty good. She thinks she is going to Florida. I already know this is going nowhere unless we move, and she is only in 6th grade. I'm kind of all over the place in this thread, but they spend so much time doing all of this. They can't do any school sports or activities because they are always tied up with gym, and they think it is going to lead to a certain outcome, and it is just not going to happen. My husband (who is very practical) said that there are talented kids all over the world who never get to become Formula 1 racers (apparently this was his dream), snowboard, etc., due to lack of opportunity. I understand this, but the difference to me is that the girls ARE doing the sport and think it is leading them somewhere.

 

[LJL07]

IMHO the cutoff to qualify for nationals should be 36. Yes some regions would be underrepresented, but this sport should be about the athletes, not the regions. The girls in more competitive regions and age groups would still be at a disadvantage, but this current system where girls with 35s get to go, and others with high 37s and even 38s stay home, is not only unfair, but undermines the entire notion of nationals truly being “the best of the best”.

You mean nationals, right? Not regionals? I think 36 would be too high for regionals

 

[FlippinLilysMom]

Jumping in late to this thread. I have one of these "former elites' I think the question that needs more attention is why do so many not continue down the elite path? My daughter's gym had 8 girls training elite and now just one remains. USAG needs to look into why so many amazing gymnasts would rather do level 10 versus elite. I know my DD is 100% happier doing level 10 but I completely understand the parents thinking it's unfair for their daughters to compete against her. She did hopes and level 10 for 2 years. It was a lot but had she only done hopes she would have only had 2 meets to compete in, when she competed in the DP meets she did DP level routines, not her elite routines. I also think the qualifying score for nationals should be raised to 37. There was a HUGE disparity in skills being competed at nationals this year.

 

[gym_dad32608]

Jumping in late to this thread. I have one of these "former elites' I think the question that needs more attention is why do so many not continue down the elite path? My daughter's gym had 8 girls training elite and now just one remains. USAG needs to look into why so many amazing gymnasts would rather do level 10 versus elite. I know my DD is 100% happier doing level 10 but I completely understand the parents thinking it's unfair for their daughters to compete against her. She did hopes and level 10 for 2 years. It was a lot but had she only done hopes she would have only had 2 meets to compete in, when she competed in the DP meets she did DP level routines, not her elite routines. I also think the qualifying score for nationals should be raised to 37. There was a HUGE disparity in skills being competed at nationals this year.

That's a good point. I do think USAG might be better served creating a few more elite competitions. I think that will keep a few more in elite even if they do not make the national team.

I also think they might revisit the requirements for level 10. As JBS mentioned before, I agree, a lot of L10s are competing with essentially L9 skills. They are ok with 9.8 or 9.7 SV on their routines. Why not make a requirement that if you are doing L10 you have to have 10 SV on all your routines?

 

[JBS]

I have one of these "former elites' I think the question that needs more attention is why do so many not continue down the elite path?

There is the question.

There is just not much in elite... first and foremost... competitions. If there was a more robust Hopes / Elite competition structure... that alone would be enough to keep a few more involved in it. I mean... come on... there were 7 qualifiers this year and the closest one to me was 8 hours away.

 

[FlippinLilysMom]

No

There is the question.

There is just not much in elite... first and foremost... competitions. If there was a more robust Hopes / Elite competition structure... that alone would be enough to keep a few more involved in it. I mean... come on... there were 7 qualifiers this year and the closest one to me was 8 hours away.

 

[LJL07]

Jumping in late to this thread. I have one of these "former elites' I think the question that needs more attention is why do so many not continue down the elite path? My daughter's gym had 8 girls training elite and now just one remains. USAG needs to look into why so many amazing gymnasts would rather do level 10 versus elite. I know my DD is 100% happier doing level 10 but I completely understand the parents thinking it's unfair for their daughters to compete against her. She did hopes and level 10 for 2 years. It was a lot but had she only done hopes she would have only had 2 meets to compete in, when she competed in the DP meets she did DP level routines, not her elite routines. I also think the qualifying score for nationals should be raised to 37. There was a HUGE disparity in skills being competed at nationals this year.

This has nothing to do with this thread, but I am really intrigued by how your gym got it together to produce elites and very strong level 10s. I know your daughter is an outstanding gymnast and has the talent, but you also have to have the right gym. Our gyms just cannot get it together over here. The talent is here. The gyms are horrible. A new gym pops up every few years, and not a one of them can recruit coaching staff or get it together to successfully train upper optionals. Why? What is the secret? I know this is a whole separate conversation.

 

[LJL07]

And honestly, they keep increasing and increasing and increasing the difficulty of gymnastics. It is getting bananas. Just look at Simone Biles at the Olympics this past year. I truly think that is why these girls don't stick with elite. They are beating their bodies up at a very young age. It has got to be mentally and physically exhausting. Why does no one address this?

 

[LJL07]

And our state might as well just bow out now if they raise the cutoff to 37. This is laughable. Not that we ever have many if at all at Nationals, but we will never have them if the cutoff goes up to 37.

 

[Tigtimes]

I also think the qualifying score for nationals should be raised to 37. There was a HUGE disparity in skills being competed at nationals this year.

I think that is the case across all optional levels. There are always those that compete way higher skills than others. I do agree there are those competing at nationals that are at the lower end of the scale. Not sure how to even it out other than line up every level 10 score in the country regardless of age and then take the top 300 (or whatever number is at National) only then do I believe you truly getting the best.

as for having a 10 start value my daighter did not have a 10 start value on vault but consistently topped those with a 10 all season, winning vault at many meets. Just cause you have a 10 start doesn’t mean you do it well.

 

[FlippinLilysMom]

This has nothing to do with this thread, but I am really intrigued by how your gym got it together to produce elites and very strong level 10s. I know your daughter is an outstanding gymnast and has the talent, but you also have to have the right gym. Our gyms just cannot get it together over here. The talent is here. The gyms are horrible. A new gym pops up every few years, and not a one of them can recruit coaching staff or get it together to successfully train upper optionals. Why? What is the secret? I know this is a whole separate conversation.

I will say that we got very lucky. We live just minutes from our gym and they didn't initially train elite, just started when they saw the upcoming talent. Our owners/coaches are amazing.

 

[FlippinLilysMom]

And honestly, they keep increasing and increasing and increasing the difficulty of gymnastics. It is getting bananas. Just look at Simone Biles at the Olympics this past year. I truly think that is why these girls don't stick with elite. They are beating their bodies up at a very young age. It has got to be mentally and physically exhausting. Why does no one address this?

That was a huge part of why Lily stopped training elite. She literally said enough is never enough. She would get a new crazy skill and the NTC would immediately tell her coaches to upgrade it. Their is no ceiling to elite.

 

[FlippinLilysMom]

And our state might as well just bow out now if they raise the cutoff to 37. This is laughable. Not that we ever have many if at all at Nationals, but we will never have them if the cutoff goes up to 37.

I just hate seeing gymnasts who scored a 38 at regionals not advance to nationals but yet gymnasts in other regions get in with a score of 35. It's definitely not the best of the best at nationals.

 

[FlippinLilysMom]

I think that is the case across all optional levels. There are always those that compete way higher skills than others. I do agree there are those competing at nationals that are at the lower end of the scale. Not sure how to even it out other than line up every level 10 score in the country regardless of age and then take the top 300 (or whatever number is at National) only then do I believe you truly getting the best.

as for having a 10 start value my daighter did not have a 10 start value on vault but consistently topped those with a 10 all season, winning vault at many meets. Just cause you have a 10 start doesn’t mean you do it well.

Oh yeah, I saw a lot of very scary looking attempts at yurchenko fulls and one and a halfs at nationals.

 

[JBS]

No

No to what part?

 

[gym_dad32608]

as for having a 10 start value my daighter did not have a 10 start value on vault but consistently topped those with a 10 all season, winning vault at many meets. Just cause you have a 10 start doesn’t mean you do it well.

This is true, and I have seen that happen at meets too. I know it doesn't happen at nationals though and I am just trying to think of ways to limit the # of L10s that are competing that probably should be competing L9. Like many of the options discussed here, no perfect answer.

 

[JBS]

This conversation is jumping into about 6 different topics… but I think they are all great… so discuss away. It’s a great read for anyone just wandering around the interweb that has a gymnast with high goals.

 

[josie55]

You mean nationals, right? Not regionals? I think 36 would be too high for regionals

I don't have a strong opinion on what each region should have as a qualifying score to regionals, but when it comes to qualifying to nationals (from regionals) I think the current requirement of a 35 is too low. I think 36 would be reasonable. Under the current system, you can have an athlete who scored a career high of 35 at regionals qualify to nationals, while another who had a season low of 37.5 at regionals is left home. Of course creating more balanced regions could help, but raising the minimum qualifying score seems pretty straightforward and logical to me. And yes, my kid would be bummed (as would I) if she came in 6th at regionals with a 35.9 and didn't get to go, but I don't think she'd feel like it was unfair.

 

[gym_dad32608]

What about taking season average scores and having to compete in at least 3 meets? Or making the scores the average of best 3 meets and regional score? That way there is some skin in having to perform in a high stakes type setting. T

Girls that did not compete that many meets could then be in the specialist category that they started this year?

 

[FlippinLilysMom]

No to what part?

Not sure...sorry!