Parents Level 3 Team Try Outs

[notthatmom]

Sorry if this post makes me sound like a crazy person, but I can't sleep and I'm curious. My DD has been on pre team for a month now and she's doing great! (Yay!)

Team try outs are in May (yeah I know, that's a while from now, hence the "I'm not crazy" disclaimer)

My question is, what is the norm for try outs getting into level 3. Do they have to have all the level 3 skills? Or do they accept them to train level 3 with the team kids since it's a couple months before comp season begins?

DD has already made great progress (got her pullover last week, eeee!!) and is getting close to her moves for the floor routine...back handspring is a long way down the road though...I'm just so proud of the progress she's made in a few short weeks.

So I'm not worried that she won't be ready by tryouts, I'm just not sure how it works exactly. I'm thinking it may also differ from gym to gym, but what is it like for your gym?

Thanks! And thanks for reading my late-night ramble

 

[Committed]

It really varies by gym. At DDs gym, you have to have all the skills to even try out.
The first round of try outs begin this month (for next season). The "last chance" try outs are in April/May, but the skills should look pretty good at that point.
Some gyms allow girls on team without all the skills.with the expectation they get them by season. Sometimes they have to scratch events because they are not able to compete.

So, you'll have to inquire at your own gym.

 

[notthatmom]

It really varies by gym. At DDs gym, you have to have all the skills to even try out.
The first round of try outs begin this month (for next season). The "last chance" try outs are in April/May, but the skills should look pretty good at that point.
Some gyms allow girls on team without all the skills.with the expectation they get them by season. Sometimes they have to scratch events because they are not able to compete.

So, you'll have to inquire at your own gym.

I figured it varies by gym...at our gym they sometimes have really young girls train with the team (as in too young to compete level 3 the following season)....which is most likely already the answer to my question. I just don't want them to accept DD on level 3 to train, then not have her compete yet, I might as well just keep her on pre team and save the money for another season.


When she started pre team though I inquired with the gym about what it would cost for the team levels, and they chatted with me as if they thought she'd be ready for competition by next season (2017), so I guess I shouldn't be worried. But it's interesting to see how the gyms differ!

 

[gymdog]

Hard to say. My guess is on average look for all the floor skills except a connected roundoff back handspring, although would need a decent roundoff and hopefully like a back handspring on trampoline. Beam have the skills but need polish. Bars, have a good cast back hip, a shoot through, glides, decent shapes and strength. Vault probably be able to attempt the vault but not require any real polish or amplitude to it.

I think on average most level 3 coaches expect to reach the roundoff back handspring, mill circle, and front hip circle after joining level 3. Strength and flexibility and body positions are the most important things overall.

 

[SurpriseGymMom]

Our L3/4 coaches work closely with the developmental team coaches to determine who is ready. If any of us (advanced rec coaches, developmental team coaches, team coaches) spot a kid in rec who has something we like, we observe them closer and then evaluate them. Depending on where we are at in the season, they might not need all the skills yet but they should be pretty close. For our "beginning of season major move up" I will move up all girls who are at or close to having their skills. As the developmental team coach, my job is to prepare them for team and make sure they are at the very least close to the skills needed for the level we want to place them in.
Most girls who go to team at our gym will go through our developmental team first, only a few will come in as older girls from advanced rec classes.
So, I guess it's more of a "your kid is moving up to team" thing than a big evaluation. We already have a pretty good idea of which kids will move to team several months before the "big" move up.

 

[Deleted member 18037]

2 gyms, no tryouts, you get invited/asked to join team.

When we moved to second gym as my girl was already a JO gymmie. She had a tryout with coach about 20min, yes to team but no level. First practice, they then put her in her level. It was entirely appropriate, and I knew where they were going to put her after watching practice for about 30 min.

Current gym, if you don't have the skills for the level you don't move, our gym starts at Level 2, there is no preteam. Level decisions are made at the end of summer.

 

[raenndrops]

In our gym, the procedure changed this past season because team has gotten so big... HC did all tryouts. She had the sheet with the skills (in old levels, it was the L1-L4 report card... but she has the updated one and JUST has L3 on it). Gymnasts from our advanced rec class could sign upfor a tryout time in April. They were asked to demonstrate skills on each event and HC evaluated them.
If they had about 75% of the skills, they were invited to TEAM. If they had at least 60% of the skills, they were invited to TEAM WITH SKILLS EMPHASIS... and would be re-evaluated at the beginning of August for a season that begins in November.
The advanced rec class so far this year is much smaller, so the process may change again next year.

 

[AgingHippie]

The gym we started at was very small
DD asked about moving to team from rec. She was moved to pre team for a few months and was then moved to L3. I don't remember any real tryouts but she was only 1 of 6 L3's when she started competing. We looked into another gym after L3 States and were put on L4.

 

[cadybearsmommy]

It really differs from gym to gym, some gyms want them to have all the skills so all they have to do is clean up for competition. Other gyms are ok with inviting them to team with 75-80% of the skills. Also, it's not uncommon at all for girls to do two years of pre team, as a matter of fact a lot of gyms have two levels of pre team. It's a big jump from pre team. It's very possible she may just have a skills explosion before May and have mostly everything down. I wouldn't sweat it at this point. As the tryouts get closer you will have a better idea of where she is. However, as someone who's child was probably moved up to team too early, an extra year of pre team isn't a bad thing at all. My dd's first year she was supposed to compete L3, when it was clear in the summer that she wasn't ready, we (the parents not the coach) pulled her and put her in Xcel bronze. And she still struggled that first year b/c her skills were just not polished enough to be competing yet. The 2nd year of competing she did MUCH better. Wishing your dd the best of luck keep us updated!

 

[notthatmom]

Thanks everyone! This is all so helpful! May is a long way away, but I'm excited to see where she is by then, I'll keep you all posted

 

[Gymmommy71]

DDs gym invites people to try out from their existing rec classes, and the tryout is also announced on their web site so anyone can come. If you got an invite from a rec class there's a good shot you'll make a team, you just don't know which one. Girls who do the tryout get placed in anywhere from Bronze XCel all the way up to JO optionals depending on skills, so we definitely do not tryout just for one specific team. Some girls do private tryouts as well - especially those coming from other gyms.

 

[mobeans]

It would be best to ask at the gym. Every gym works very differently. We do not have tryouts as girls are "asked" to move to the nxt level. Here you have to have all the L3 skills to move to L3 which would be a front hip circle, bhs, handstand on beam. But may is a ways off so your DD may very well be ready by then. Check into the process, though, that way you are prepared!