Women Phasing out compulsories?

[raenndrops]

As an observer I don't understand why you can't go the compulsory route with lower hours? My DD is currently planning on level 5 next year and will probably be at around 10 hours. Bronze was 5, level 3 was 8.5, level 4 was 9. She isn't an all star by any means but playing another sport is important for now only being 9 and has at least medaled at every competition she's participated in.

You can go the compulsory route with lower hours, but there are a lot of gyms that go crazy with the hours.
With effective practices, there is no reason that Level 3 gymnasts need 12+ hours a week ... and I have heard of up to 16 hours a week in Level 3.

But there are also Xcel to Optionals gyms that treat their Xcel gymnasts like DP gymnasts, both in hours and requirements. They want their gymnasts competing maximum level routines to make the transition to optionals easier.

 

[raenndrops]

I just want to add that I think Xcel’s lower hours, flexible routine construction, and less stringent requirements are a great thing for the majority of gymnasts and I would never want that to change! A gym could run Xcel like DP with higher hours and more stringent gym-imposed requirements and that would adequately prepare gymnasts for optionals but it would ruin Xcel! I very much do not want to see the spirit of the Xcel program compromised.

I agree, but unfortunately, some gyms have been going against the "spirit of the Xcel program" since it was nationalized. It seems like more and more gyms (especially in region 8) do it.
Luckily, I only see some of those gyms once a year ... funny enough, I will probably see a few later this week.

 

[ORgymmom]

As an observer I don't understand why you can't go the compulsory route with lower hours? My DD is currently planning on level 5 next year and will probably be at around 10 hours. Bronze was 5, level 3 was 8.5, level 4 was 9. She isn't an all star by any means but playing another sport is important for now only being 9 and has at least medaled at every competition she's participated in.

I think lower hours are great if your gym has sufficient coaches, small groups, and organized workouts. When our athlete was in compulsories, she was in groups of 10-16 with one coach, lots of waiting around, and rotations that always got interrupted by optionals or elites needing equipment or coaches subbing while other coaches were at meets with different groups. We didn’t realize how inefficient it was until an out-of-state gym switch to one that happened to do lower hours. She was sore the first few weeks because they got way more done and were never waiting around.

 

[Sebastian12]

I just want to add that I think Xcel’s lower hours, flexible routine construction, and less stringent requirements are a great thing for the majority of gymnasts and I would never want that to change! A gym could run Xcel like DP with higher hours and more stringent gym-imposed requirements and that would adequately prepare gymnasts for optionals but it would ruin Xcel! I very much do not want to see the spirit of the Xcel program compromised.

I feel a lot of mixed assumptions are made in this thread. What xcel does is to give a chance for more girls to progress on their own paths.

our region has a large and strong xcel presence…here is some myth debunking:

1. Many xcel programs are smaller than DP, although with fewer hours on paper, the actual practice may be more effective;

2. Xcel doesn’t not focus on forms is a fallacy. The same goes to the opposite argument - being strict is ruining the xcel spirit. Gymnasts are coached to perform a skill correctly and safely, and that does not fluctuate with the code of points. Yes a 150 split jump will get the same score at one point but gymnasts don’t stop striving for 180. All our xcel then optional gymnasts have done well- including winning states and regionals, and none of them trained over 12 hours before level 6/7.

3. Just because you dont compete a skill, doesnt mean you dont practice or learn a skill. The final routine is the one that may give you the highest scores, but as an example, I haven’t heard of any xcel girls who don’t practice BER even though it is rarely competed.

The “skipping skills” thing is to not hold girls back just because they can’t get one skill - allowing them to work on that skill while progressing them to the next level and maintaining their interest. And yes, xcel has a whole set of required skills for each level too, you can’t just cruise along without learning the key skills.

4. Xcel kids can have college dreams, and DP kids don’t necessarily have to have college dreams. Most lower level young kids don’t even know what college actually is…with the difficulty to get into college gymnastics, I believe most families just want to take one step at a time and see where the journey takes them. Triaging the kids so young based on “college dream”, “having other interests” is completely arbitrary.
Example, my daughter has no interest in college gymnastics, but it won’t stop her from wanting to progress to level 10, and most of her gym friends are like that.

5. Xcel sapphire is level 10 equivalent. I have no doubt xcel will be college bound in the coming years.

I am a firm believer that no matter which path works for the kids, as long as it makes them happy and progress, it is a good path.

 

[RTT2]

Given how difficult it is for even multi year level 10s to get a spot on a team, I’ll be surprised if many Sapphires are recruited.