Coaches Opinions about starting an Xcel program

[flipsandgrips15]

Currently, our gym only offers compulsories and lower level optionals. We are a "brand new to competing" program so our girls just haven't worked their way up to the higher levels yet. A lot of our girls are also what most gyms would consider older or too old to begin competing. We are considering offering the xcel program for next season so my questions are...

What are your opinions on xcel?

How does your gym utilize this program? (Older kids, late starters, those that struggle with compulsories?)

Is it judges easier/harder?

Can you choose any music for floor?

Pros of using xcel vs cons?

Any advice, opinions, and information is greatly appreciated! We have ordered the xcel COP so we can look through the requirements as well.

 

[raenndrops]

Give me time and I will answer everything. Xcel is great. They can have their own music. Great for older, lower level girls. Will give more info later.

 

[flipsandgrips15]

Give me time and I will answer everything. Xcel is great. They can have their own music. Great for older, lower level girls. Will give more info later.

THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!

 

[coachmolly]

Currently, our gym only offers compulsories and lower level optionals. We are a "brand new to competing" program so our girls just haven't worked their way up to the higher levels yet. A lot of our girls are also what most gyms would consider older or too old to begin competing. We are considering offering the xcel program for next season so my questions are...

What are your opinions on xcel?

How does your gym utilize this program? (Older kids, late starters, those that struggle with compulsories?)

Is it judges easier/harder?

Can you choose any music for floor?

Pros of using xcel vs cons?

Any advice, opinions, and information is greatly appreciated! We have ordered the xcel COP so we can look through the requirements as well.

Xcel is great for certain things and certain purposes, and it sounds like it might be a good fit for your program and circumstances. However, it does have flaws and downsides just like JO and absolutely not one size fits all.

I will preface all of this by saying I work at an Xcel only gym- so all kids who compete go the Xcel route- so that absolutely colors my opinions.

My Opinions on Xcel:
I like that it provides a competitive opportunity for kids who are talented, but not necessarily the type of talent that would be super impressive in the JO levels. I have kids who are pretty talented, amazingly hard working kids who do very well at Xcel but have some major problem areas that would absolutely prevent them from being successful compulsory gymnasts. They are wonderful gymnasts who absolutely deserve to be competing and Xcel is great for them because we can work around those problem spots (limited flexibility, no walkovers, fears of back tumbling, etc.).

How we Use Xcel:
We are a very small gym and our team is Xcel only. We start competing at Bronze, though some kids jump in at Silver. Typically we take elementary school aged girls (current Bronze team is 1st-5th graders). Silver team is 3rd-5th graders. Gold/Platinum teams are primarily middle & high school girls who started competing at late elementary/early middle school.

Judging:
I think this varies a ton from state to state and it's really hard to compare with JO because they are totally different programs. I'm in a very high scoring state. Scores are higher to some extent because kids can avoid the skills they struggle with which is not an option in compulsories. Though I do think judges take it a little easier on Xcel kids, especially those who are in the lower score range. I think that goes away to some extent as you get higher in Xcel levels- Platinum scores are much less generous than Bronze.

Music:
You can choose any music as long as it fits time limits. We do 1 routine for Bronze that they all share, 2 routines for Silver (1/2 get one, the other 1/2 the other), and individual routines starting in Gold.

Pros/Cons:
It's great or the kids I mentioned above, kids who are involved in other activities and don't want the hours of JO, smaller gyms with less staff, older girls at lower levels, girls who are feeling overwhelmed or burnt out by JO but want to keep skills and still compete, kids with some fear issues.

Cons- I am honestly not a huge fan of Xcel for some of our younger/more talented kids because I think it limits them a little bit in the long-term. And I think those feelings are largely because we don't even have JO as an option for our kids.
I also think the concreteness of the compulsory routines has a lot of value for little ones new to competing.

I think it's a great option to have and really can be utilized in a lot of ways. Though, just from my experiences, I think it is best used in addition to/alongside the JO program rather than in place of it.

 

[ayyyrial]

As a gymnast, I was a late starter before Xcel came to my home state. I was extremely driven and wanted to push myself, practice a billion hours, and get to the highest level possible. I competed in JO very seriously for 5 years, from (old) L4 through L7, and was almost always competitive in my age group for at least some events. However, if we had had an Xcel program at the time or if the head coach had been different, I would have probably been tracked into Xcel and been very disappointed. So I think it's important to consider not only gymnasts' talents and ages, but their desires.

My home gym used Xcel as a low-hours, low-cost alternative for kids who didn't want to or couldn't commit to JO. Some high schoolers were there so they could also do other high school activities; some younger kids as well because they wanted a more "fun" gymnastics program. Some kids were there because their parents couldn't afford JO. The coaching was not always good (although now they have a very dedicated coach who is a friend of mine), and the judging is sometimes very easy.

Where I coach now uses Xcel very differently. They have a huge, very selective team program, and classes/team rosters are always too full. To get onto Xcel you have to train for years with pretty low hours, make it through all the rec levels, and then just hope that they have a spot open for you. It's also competitive, although slightly lower hours, and the kids are not always late starters. Judging is comparable to JO. I know a couple of former Xcel gymnasts who have a lot of resentment because they feel that Xcel always gets the short end of the stick from the gym in terms of scheduling, coaches' attention, and even team leotards. From what I see that's pretty true. For example, the Xcel coaches are not treated very respectfully by gym management and are switched on and off of Xcel assignments willy-nilly...so the coaches don't get to work with the same group consistently, and the gymnasts don't always get consistent coaching or coaches who care.

So I think it can be used for different purposes by the gym. It's important to consider what the gymnasts are getting out of it above all, and to be honest with gymnasts and parents about the expectations and purposes of the Xcel program.

 

[raenndrops]

What are your opinions on Xcel?
I love Xcel. I have 2 gymmies.
OG went through Old L6 (competed that at Age 10). She had some issues and developed fears/mental blocks on her ROBHSBT and her flyaway… Fell on her neck on a BT in meet warmups once… fell on her flyaway and the coach had to catch her to keep her from landing on her head. She had been clipping her toes on the bar for a while and that was scary enough. That was in the 2011-2012 season. She took time off (technically August through October) and came back and competed Xcel Gold starting in January (half season). She did another year at Xcel Gold and then took 2 years off due to family drama and pressure. She was over the back tuck fear, but still had the flyaway fear… and had an added fear of BEAM - everything except walking and pivot turns.

YG competed Old L4 for 2 years and current L3 for a year. She was getting bored but didn't have her kip or beam cartwheel. She DID have a long hang pullover from a jump to the high bar, a FHS-stepout-Roundoff, a front tuck 1/2, and almost a ROBT and a flyaway. She was bored with L3, so HC let her move to Xcel Gold. She competed one season, took a year off when the family drama finally caught up to her, and came back this season. She is competing Xcel Gold again, and if she gets her kip more solid, she will be scoring out of L4 and L5 and competing L6 next season.

Xcel is great for girls that aren't ready to move up to the next JO level because of a skill issue or a fear issue. It is great for gymnasts that have uneven skill levels on different events. It is great for older gymnasts as a way for them to experience Optionals sooner than going through compulsories would allow. it is great for girls that have other things they want to do too.

How does your gym utilize this program? (Older kids, late starters, those that struggle with compulsories?)
In our gym, Xcel is completely voluntary. They practice the same hours as the rest of the team (7.5 hours a week for all). They are all part of the same team.
Our gym starts Xcel with Gold (we are in a YMCA program and our Region allows you to start with Bronze, but our District doesn't go below Silver… and only one team ever had Silver… and never more than 2 girls. The Region also does not support Diamond) so we only use it through Platinum.
We use it for:
1- Older starters. If they are under 13, they have to do a season at L3 first (unless they were on the Jr. High team at 12). Once they have done at least 1 year of L3, they can go to Xcel Gold if they are not ready for L4 (or if they want to do Optional Routines).
2- Those that struggle. If you have competed at L3 (or L4) for 2+ years and you are at least 11, you can request to compete Xcel Gold. If you competed L5 and struggled, you can compete Xcel Gold the next season.
3- Those that competed for the Jr High Team. Anyone who competed for the Jr. High team (which has basically Platinum Rules with high school bonus… but often has girls competing Gold routines), can go back to where they were in compulsories after the Jr. High season, or they can switch to Xcel. The switchers were most often going to have to compete L3 or L4. If you are scheduled to compete L5, HC allows you to score out 2x and move to L6 mid-season instead (The preferred route because we like L6 better than Platinum for several reasons).

Is it judges easier/harder?
Since there are no text errors in an OPTIONAL routine, judging may seem easier than Compulsories. However, like JO Optionals, the judges judge what they see. They compare what was done to what was required. They determine the SV and take the deductions for the execution, etc. We go to the same meets with the same judges. They judge what they see. They don't judge less harshly because one girl is Xcel and another is L6 for example.

Can you choose any music for floor?
You can choose any wordless music for floor. It can have sounds, but not words, if you know what I mean. You just need to make sure it doesn't exceed the time limit for the Xcel division (Xcel is Divisions, not levels) you are using it for.
I like the idea of individual music for older girls, no matter what division of Xcel they are in. They are old enough to find music they like and are more likely to do well if it is their own choice. I also think for a small team, it wouldn't be hard to let every girl have their choice (or a few selections to choose from). It makes it easier if you need to make one shorter because Little Suzy gets through everything faster that Little Sally.
My YG, her first year in XG, had 37 second floor music (cut down from the original 55 seconds) because she had too much time at the end to lose points. If I would have had more time, she would have gone into her last meet with it cut to 33ish seconds because she still had too much time.

Pros of using Xcel vs cons?
Pros:
1 - Customize routines to individual strengths while minimizing weaknesses.
2 - Optional routines mean that even if the entire team does the same exact routine, the judge cannot judge that Suzy messed up because she didn't do everything in the same order as Sally and Sarah.
3 - Since it is supposed to be a lower time and cost program, girls can still have a life outside of the gym.
4 - You don't have to hear the same music 72 times in a row!!!!!!!
5 - Done Right, it is a great program.

Cons:
1 - Some people still look down on Xcel as a "lesser" program.
2 - You may have to face powerhouse gyms that are very selective for their JO team and funnel other gymnasts that would be great in JO at another gym into their Xcel program.
3 - If you have both JO and Xcel, you may need to attend more sessions of a meet.
4 - Parents may not understand why their child is in one program versus the other or may get upset if you even suggest a switch to Xcel.

Any advice, opinions, and information is greatly appreciated! We have ordered the Xcel COP so we can look through the requirements as well.
If you have ANY questions, feel free to PM me!!!

 

[flipsandgrips15]

Thank you all so much for your responses! [emoji4]