Move up or repeat

[Tmacs]

I curious what expectations people have about their gymnast repeating or moving up next year after all of this? It may be a moot point if there aren’t even competitions but just wondering. My daughter did very well in L3 and does not want to repeat but not sure the vault will come in time. She has most of her other L4 skills beside 2 ROBH.

 

[amiandjim]

Our gym has already sent out rosters with new levels for next season, even though they are just going back next week. However; they will re-evaluate the girls in August and move them up or down accordingly. My child did move up to level 7, but at this point, I don’t think levels matter, and I would be totally fine with her doing another year of 6.

 

[mommyof1]

I don’t know how level decisions could rationally be made at this point. The kids have been out of the gym for more than two months, and they aren’t going to be able to jump right back into training new skills. There are just too many unknowns.

If my daughter were to return, however, there’s no way she would ever agree to repeat L5. Depending on readiness she would compete L6 or Platinum, or I would request to have her train a year without competing (I think the gym would agree to this because it is small and understanding of individual circumstances).

 

[FlippinPrincess]

Our gym said everyone still has the opportunity to move up once gym resumes. They have also been doing a lot of mental preparation for the reality of returning after being out for so long. I assume mine will repeat L4, but who knows (I don't really care either way.) I do think it's nice the option to level up is there, especially for the L5's who I'm sure are excited to have the opportunity to move to optionals.

 

[Deleted member 18037]

Mine has been out of gym since the first week of March. We have no idea when we are going back. From the looks of things if we have a miracle maybe July or August.

Last thing us parents, coaches and our gymnasts are thinking about is levels.

My daughter said last week I wish I could do a kip. She is L8/9

 

[jennifunk]

Ours will return in a couple of weeks and train with their current teams for the summer. At the end of summer, new levels will be determined. Not all that different from the norm except not starting summer with the presumption they’ll move up if they get the necessary skills over summer this year. I don’t think it’s one size fits all at our gym, but I have a feeling there may be more repeating levels than usual given: 1) they lost half of a competition season at current level (ours is in the spring); and 2) lost months in the gym likely means a good bit of summer devoted to brushing off the rust and getting back to where they left off before (and rather than) uptraining new skills all summer. I think my daughter is still hopeful and fully intending to work toward her goals as if she can move up, but she also understands the realities. In some ways it’s kind of nice to relieve some of the typical pressure and anxiety over leveling up.

 

[Pirouette]

Gym has assured gymnasts that as long as they work hard when they come back to the gym, no one will be going back in level. They have told the gymnasts that the return to the gym will mean going back to basics for quite a while, to make sure that the kids are in the appropriate condition to safely do skills. No one will be learning new skills for a while.

 

[mom2newgymnast]

Our gym hasn't directly addressed it yet, but the general expectation is that everyone will move up as normal, assuming they have the skills. Our compulsory season is in the fall, so most of the compulsories had already moved up and were training the next level. If there is a season for them this year, I think they will be fine competing the next level. The optionals were obviously still in season when things closed. They have been doing 3+ hours of daily zooms for most of the last 2 months and have done a great job keeping the gymnasts engaged and conditioned. My daughter was a level 8 and is hoping to go to 9. Obviously not an easy transition even in a normal year, so it will be a challenge. But her coaches are preparing them for level 9 right now. They have been working a lot of drills (bars!) and even some skills (nothing scary, mostly beam skills on air tracks) at home over zoom. Anyway, if they aren't ready, they will be repeating 8. Only time will tell.

Also I am hearing/reading about lots of level 7,8,9s that are finally back in the gym and are saying it's like they never left. A couple of days of easing in and they are pretty much doing everything they were doing 2 months ago. I think many of these girls were working out at home which I am sure helped the transition back. I am cautiously optimistic.

 

[MuggleMom]

I thought my DD would repeat 6 no matter what before all this mess but she was doing really good at the end of the season and was likely going to be 7...now I'm not so sure. I think she and I would both be happy either way...just want stress free. Good thing about optionals is lots of uptraining no matter the level because you can always put new skills in routines as you get them. I hated compulsories so glad we cleared that hurdle before this mess cause if it caused another year of compulsories that could have been hard.

 

[cmg]

Plan for the worst, hope for the best?? I know my daughter wants to move up and her coach wants her to have all her skills for all around as a L10. She was a weak L9 so not sure how this is going to work. She already was going to have to work her a## off over the summer to hit L10. Perhaps she will just compete floor and vault if she is ready? Perhaps she will do L9 again? I don't know, way to early to tell. Gymnastics is pretty black and white, you either have the skills or you don't. There is also the safety aspect. It is not like running a race and you just come in last. In gymnastics you could really hurt yourself if you try skills that you are not ready for. I stay out of this completely. My hope is that she can at least do some L0 competitions if they have meets, or as another poster suggested I guess she could just train for a year but I think performing in competitions is really important.

 

[raenndrops]

Our HC has told the girls who plan to be Optionals next year to start looking at floor musics. That goes for Gold / Platinum and L6-8/9. She also told those girls that want L5 that they can work on BWO and BHS on a tape line on a panel mat if they have one.

IF YG doesn't retire, she will be repeating Platinum because 1 - We don't offer Diamond and 2 - Beam.

She had thought about petitioning to L6, but doesn't like the vault options and the split requirements are higher and the cast deductions are bigger.

She also thought about just training for the year to focus on getting more skills and solidifying her other skills.

 

[Dahlia]

I think we're fortunate in that I was fairly certain dd would repeat next season before all of this happened and dd actually wanted to repeat.

Tmacs - I will say L4 is a whole different beast from L3. It's not just the skills, the judging is much more picky. There are a good chunk of girls at our gym that scored 37s and 38s in L3 that struggle to get even a 34-35 in L4.

 

[Deleted member 18037]

Gym has assured gymnasts that as long as they work hard when they come back to the gym, no one will be going back in level.

Going back in level, is not the same as moving up a level. Or even staying the same leve.

 

[Ty’s Dad]

Well in Feb my daughter was supposed to try and do a inter squad meet before next season to skip 9 and go 10. Now I’ll be lucky for her to just get into the gym, I really don’t care if she goes level 9 this whole thing is just crazy.

 

[Tigtimes]

Now I’ll be lucky for her to just get into the gym,

yes just returning is what mine is looking for at this point. Looks like closer to end June here so another month to go, crazy times indeed.

Tonight She said look my abs are basically gone in such a sad voice. This sport seems to make them already feel over the hill at 14, add this crazy on top with 3 months out who knows what will be. Thoughts of levels just don’t even seem to matter, rather just seeing if they can climb back to where they left off and that journey won’t begin for a few more weeks.

 

[Ty’s Dad]

yes just returning is what mine is looking for at this point. Looks like closer to end June here so another month to go, crazy times indeed.

Tonight She said look my abs are basically gone in such a sad voice. This sport seems to make them already feel over the hill at 14, add this crazy on top with 3 months out who knows what will be. Thoughts of levels just don’t even seem to matter, rather just seeing if they can climb back to where they left off and that journey won’t begin for a few more weeks.

Yeah my daughter grew too. I think the gym is going to open up sometime in June also, but the wife is not taking a chance so IDK. Happy wife happy life right lol

 

[duyetanh]

Well in Feb my daughter was supposed to try and do a inter squad meet before next season to skip 9 and go 10. Now I’ll be lucky for her to just get into the gym, I really don’t care if she goes level 9 this whole thing is just crazy.

She will kill it. Because she is amazing!

 

[Ty’s Dad]

She will kill it. Because she is amazing!

Thank you

 

[GymnastMomX2]

I’m not too worried about levels honestly. My daughter was out for 8 weeks in Dec/Jan with a growth plate injury in her shoulder, plus a couple weeks easing back into skills. She was 100% caught back up with her old skills plus some within a month or less. By the time the gym shut down in March you would have never known she was out.

We usually would have found out about summer training groups and levels by now but haven’t heard anything yet. I think the plan was to score out of 5 this fall sometime and compete 6 in January, and I still think that’s a realistic goal. (Even if we don’t go back for a few more weeks)

I think our kids will surprise us with how quickly they bounce back. Especially if they’ve been doing any kind of conditioning to keep strength up, and honestly even if they haven’t.

 

[mom2newgymnast]

I Ihink our kids will surprise us with how quickly they bounce back. Especially if they’ve been doing any kind of conditioning to keep strength up, and honestly even if they haven’t.

I agree! I know my daughter's team has been working hard over the break and are ready to pick up where they left off. I've also talked to others that have only done a minimal amount of conditioning while out and they are all doing great now that they are back. I think they will be a little behind in learning next level skills though.