Women Level 4 divided into two teams: Is this common?

[Mama2JLN]

DD is a 6yo level 4. She is at a new gym this year due to a move. She spent the summer working out with them and they determined that she would be a good fit for their level 4 rec team. By way of background, she competed level 3 last year with AA usually 35-36.

Following the summer, I found out that there are two level 4 teams: rec team which practices 5 hrs/wk attending 5 meets and jr team which practices 9 hrs/wk attending 8 meets. I didn't think too much of it until I found that DD was competing against them at meets. We've only had one meet so far. There were 19 girls in DDs age group (8 and under). She came in 4th behind 3 girls from our jr team.

Obviously, the jr team girls are going to score better because they get almost double the amount of gym and coaching time. Our prior gym had no such division. Is this a common practice?

Also, I've never experienced such a large age range (8 and under) at a meet. Two of the girls that scored higher than DD were 8, with one of them to turn 9 next month.

Thanks if you made it this far and thanks in advance for any advice/insight you might have. I've learned quite a bit from reading the forums.

 

[LizzieLac]

I think the age breakdown at meets depends on how many at each age. I was just at a meet where there was no 9 year old division! So in your case, maybe there was a ton of 8s but only a few 6s and 7s (not enough for awards to make sense) so they combined them.

It sounds like the gym might have a slightly more advanced group of level 4s that receive more hours, mainly because they are stronger/more experienced and can handle it. Hopefully they look to move girls from the other group into the more advanced group as they get stronger.

 

[wallflower]

DD's gym did something like that. The more advanced group had more hours and were training level 5.

I wouldn't worry about it. Just be happy with your Dd's progress and don't worry about the rest. My DD's team competed against teams this year in level 6 that go 22 hours a week. We do 13. DD was 7 competing level 6 and her age group was usually 7-10 years old. Stinks to be that 7 year old, but hey she held her own. All of our meets divide age groups into equal numbers of kids. So her age group would have a range of 7-10 year olds and some of the other groups would have a range of 4 months. Each group had equal numbers of kids though so it is what it is.

 

[gymmomtotwo]

I'll be a different voice here. A six year old with proficient skills for level 4 would not be a rec team gymnast at our gym. She would be training for level 5 and getting ready for TOPs testing in a year or two. We don't compete 4 but any six year old at your daughter's level would be considered very talented and would be training at least 10 hours a week. She's placing right with older kids who are in a higher level group and training more hours. I'd want to know what the plan was for her over the next couple of years.

 

[gymgal]

When dd was at the beginner level (prep-op rookie), the gym decided to divide the group because it was so large. dd ended up in the younger group that met 3 fewer hours (6 compared to 9 - 1 less day) than the older group. I was a little miffed initially because dd was only 6 months younger than some of the girls in the older group. The age cutoff was so arbitrary. But I did like that dd wasn't going so many hours for her first year. Some of the parents (including me) were worried that these girls wouldn't have a prayer when competing against the older group but as it turns out, most of them did well. They kept these 2 divided groups for 2 years, then combined them into one large team. By that time, there really was no noticeable difference in the skill/experience level of the two groups. And a year later, dd skipped ahead of the group to compete a level above. She is now entering her first L7 season. All this to say - having less hours or different training does not necessarily mean your child will fall behind the other group. She will progress as quickly and as well as she is meant to.

From my perspective, it was very helpful for the coaches and the girls because they were able to tailor the practices toward the age levels. Like I said, dd was only a few months younger than the youngest in the older group but she still benefited from the different coaching strategies for younger gymnasts.

I will add that my dd's team was strictly split according to age - not ability level. With you gym naming them team and rec, I would want some clarification on what exactly this means - are they looking to keep two different tracks? You may want to talk with the coach about what possible future plans are for the group - will they combine them again in the future, do they expect the younger group to repeat 4 next year while the uppers will go to 5? This will give you some perspective on what to expect in the coming years.

 

[GymGirl's Mom]

Obviously, the jr team girls are going to score better because they get almost double the amount of gym and coaching time. Our prior gym had no such division. Is this a common practice?

Large Level 4 teams (20+ gymnasts) that are split in two groups for practice are not uncommon in my area. Also, having one group that is working more hours, skills, etc over another group is not unheard of. Did you ask the gym if one group feeds one direction (Prep Op/Excel) and one feeds another (JO) after Level 4? That may be the case. Would you like your DD to be in the group that practices more hours? If so, ask for a conference with the head coach of L4 and be prepared to hear him/her out as to why he/she thinks your daughter is in the group she is in.


Also, I've never experienced such a large age range (8 and under) at a meet. Two of the girls that scored higher than DD were 8, with one of them to turn 9 next month.

Age groups are determined by a lot of things and your region's guidelines. 8 and under is not that crazy of a grouping, I have even seen 9 and under for Level 4- with 20+ gymnasts in the group. Just depends how the gym running the meet divides it up, and as I said before how competition age is determined in your region/state. As your daughter ages and moves up the levels the age groups will get bigger, I find. All of the sudden in Level 7 (for hypothetical example) the division may be 11 and under and 12 and up- meaning theoretically 7 year olds are competing against 11 year olds.

 

[bogwoppit]

Well they may call the five hour group the rec team, but they clearly are not rec if they are doing the same meets. As your dd is 6 I wouldn't be bothered that much. But I would certainly ask at what point she would be considered for the jr team. Though it may well be that the gym always repeats levels and the jr's are all repeaters. Not something I love either.

 

[MaryA]

One thing I have learned (thanks to ChalkBucket) to ask myself is "Is my daughter getting what she needs?" which is different than "Is my daughter getting the same thing that Suzie is getting?" I do realize this is easier said than done. I think it's perfectly within your rights to ask about her placement. It may just be because your daughter is 6 and they think 5 hours a week is more appropriate for a 6-year-old than 9 hours. Or it may be, as someone else suggested, that they are already dividing girls into "tracks" which certainly seems premature for a 6-year-old level 4. Or even a 6-year-old who just walked in to the gym for the first time, for that matter. I guess, if you ask and the coach says that your daughter has been put into a less competitive track due to her lack of skills, and they expect her to do move on to do Excel or some such thing, then I might be worried/annoyed (unless you also are interested in her perusing a less competitive track). If the coach says it's because she's 6 and they want to take things slowly so that gymnastics stays fun, then I would think that was a very good answer.

 

[Deleted member D3987]

it's appropriate. Bog suggested why. and it's how the gym gives both those groups what they need. it's reasonable.

 

[Mama2JLN]

Thank you for all the responses. To answer some questions, it seems that their general track is for most girls to repeat level 4. They do one year if level 4 rec team and then one year of level 4 jr team. However, there are two girls that skipped from level 3 rec team to level 4 jr team this past year. I do not know that they would move anyone mid year. DD loves her coaches and gym, but she does see that jr team gets more time and is sometimes jealous of that. There is no one else her age on level 4 jr team and she is actually one of the youngest on level 4 rec team. I guess I'm hoping that she will move up a level next year so that although she'll be a level 4 again, she will have moved on to new skills. The rec team levels 3 and 4 practice together and the level 4 jr team practices with the level 5s. So, there is also more up training going on with jr team. I didn't realize that this was a common practice, but we did move from a very small gym to a more mid-sized gym. DD competes against her old gym next month, so we will just focus on being ready for that. Thanks again for helping out a newcomer to both ChalkBucket and team gymnastics!

 

[gymgal]

Mama, your additional info make this situation much more understandable. If they do 2 yrs of 4 and she is one if the youngest, it sounds like a great placement for her. I understand you concern about next year but it sounds like she will then be in the upper group, training the next level, regardless of the level number.

 

[gymmomtotwo]

I'll have to amend my answer a little bit too, knowing more. I saw the term rec team and it made me think she was on a completely separate track like our XCEL team. No way a Level 4 competing well 6 year old would be place upon our XCEL team, and that's what I was picturing. Anyway, sounds like her coaches think she was better placed with the younger kids due to her age. I still am surprised with her keeping up with the older kids and competing so well that she is not in a position to uptrain, but she has plenty of time and sounds like she is getting good coaching in the group she is in. You may find at some point they think she is ready for the more advanced group.

 

[Jenny]

And don't forget that 4 hours a week less is 4 hours a week of pounding less on her little 6 year old body. Over a year that is over 200 hours less of pounding. She might thank you for that later!

 

[sjm2b3]

Interesting post and replies. I found them really helpful. My DD just finished her first level 4 season and she is also a 6 year old. After the season it appears they are divided into two groups, probably those who are moving up and those not (DD is in the latter). She originally was pretty upset but she seems happy now (2 weeks of this). They are all working level 5 skills but I would say the other group is working more aggressively at them. We joined this gym about a year ago, and at her previous gym she was doing more of a fast track, and also TOPS....this gym is much more laid back and focused on keeping the kids happy. Sometimes I worry that I made the wrong decision by switching but she is happy and the post about the pounding in her body is soooo true...she's only about 35 lbs!!