Odd path to collegiate Club gymnastics

[ajbe]

My daughter has never competed on the JO track. Before competing Level 5, she switched to the prep optional track and has stayed there for years. She has been very successful and has competed at the Platinum level for the past two years - this would be her third and last year as she is in 12th grade. She does a pike tsuk (working on layout), double on floor etc, and has taken several 1st places at States against girls who once competed Level 9 and even 10. So for all you worriers, prep opt / xcel can be a great choice if you aren't looking to get a scholarship and have a hard worker.

Her coaches are really pushing her to compete level 8 this year because she would be their best gymnast at that level and would undoubtedly qualify for regionals provided she doesn't get injured. Obviously the first hurdle is petitioning to allow her to leapfrog like this over 5, 6 and 7. She thinks maybe Level 8 would provide her with a bigger challenge but she is reluctant to step up to more hours of practice her senior year with very challenging classes. Ultimately, her plan is to do Club level gymnastics in college, as she realistically isn't skilled enough to do NCAA. I would be interested in hearing anyone's thoughts about changing to Level 8.

 

[Granny Smith]

Why have they pushed for level 8? If she can compete with 9s & 10s, why wouldn't they push for 9? Being her last year and if she did switch over, she'd be increasing her commitment without really getting anything out of it (scholarship), I'd personally stay prep opt/xcel.

 

[GymBee97]

If NCCA program and scholarships aren't in the plan then I would stay PreOp. Senior year social events will be more meaningfull to her and it really won't make that much of a difference in the club level gymnastics in college.

contact the colleges she is interested in and see what their criteria are, that will give you a better idea of what she needs to do that. I agree with Granny Smith.

 

[gymnut1]

no advice but great to hear about another way to achieve success other than JO. Good for her. HOpe she enjoys her last year and gets into a college with great club gymnastics. Sounds like she is up there with good skills.

 

[ajbe]

Thanks for all the quick feedback. She is lagging on bars to compete level 9, as she has only begun learning releases. She is pretty much level 9 otherwise but she said she would get slammed on bars. But she is frustrated with some of the Xcel restrictions like it doesn't allow gymnasts to compete Yurchenkos - something she is working anyway because she pretty consistently gets at least 9.3 on pike tsuk and the tsuk layout is eluding her. I guess we will continue to discuss this as a family.

 

[bookworm]

I wouldn't want to move her to L9 out of Prep Op right off the bat because if she's been really successful in Prep Op, returning to JO might not be that pleasant (score-wise) . And even though she's competed against former 9s and 10s, the scoring in Prep Op is different than the scoring in JO so it might not translate like you'd hope.

I would have her try 8 and if she's kicking butt there then maybe consider the move... but realistically, it's her Sr year, she's been in Prep Op the whole time doing well, she's not going to do NCAA and the skills she has as a Prep Op will certainly get her on a college club team so why rock the boat?

 

[BlairBob]

For NAIGC, basically she can show up. That's it, that's all. Other club, no idea.

 

[bl1ndd]

i read this thing, somewhere in the USAG handbook, where it says you can go to level 7 if you're at least a freshman, so i don't see why you couldn't go to any other level, like 8 or 9? here's a link, read number 6. :: USA Gymnastics :: Junior Olympic Program Overview ::

GOOD LUCK!

 

[ajbe]

Well it looks like our region, Region 5 has added a new Xcel level "Diamond" ahead of the US-wide effort to make Xcel more consistent across regions. Unfortunately, it looks like the previous levels (silver, gold, platinum) have reduced skill requirements, so now my daughter would be at the "Diamond" level with no real increase in skill requirements. So I think she is seriously considering trying to move over the the JO system. I hadn't seen much about the petitioning process before but the link bl1ndd provided confirms what we thought - that she might have to actually do a Level 7 meet before she can move to Level 8. I don't think Level 9 is in her future unless she gets further along with some of her bars releases. Thanks everyone for the advice!