Women Platinum? Xcel? Gold? Silver?

[#BGymnast]

Hi! I'm an Australian gymnast. For our level system, we just start at level 1 and go up to 2,3,4, etc. When I hear American terms like "Platinum", "Gold", "Silver", "Xcel", I never quite know what they mean.
What are you when you first start? Normally we are no level, you aren't called any specific thing like "Level 1" until you start competing that level.
I also still hear Americans say "I am lvl 7" as well.
If someone could please explain how it works and what they mean, that would be really helpful to me.
Thankyou so much in advance

 

[raenndrops]

USAG WAG has DP - Developmental Program - Levels 1 - 10. Levels 1-5 are compulsory levels. Everyone at one of these levels competes the same routines as everyone else in the entire country. The first level that a gymnast is actually required to compete to move up is Level 4. Levels 6-10 are optional levels. Each has its own special requirements.

They also offer Xcel, which goes Bronze - Silver - Gold - Platinum - Diamond - Sapphire.
Xcel is all optional levels, but many gyms have 1-3 different basic routines for Bronze, Silver, and fewer gyms also do it for Gold. Gold is the first required level.

Some gyms "skip" DP Compulsories (except for scoring out of Level 4 and Level 5) by competing Xcel through Gold.

 

[XcelGirl]

Hi! I’m an American Xcel gymnast, so I can explain how our program works!

In the US, we have a whole separate competition track called Xcel, and instead of levels, we have divisions. They go:


Bronze → Silver → Gold → Platinum → Diamond → Sapphire


You don’t start as “Level 1” or anything like that. When you’re ready to compete, and your family/coach decides on what competitive track to put you on, your coach places you in whatever Xcel division fits your skills. A lot of people start in Bronze or Silver, but it totally depends on the gym.

Xcel is more flexible—you get to build your own routines (with your coach), and you just have to meet certain requirements instead of doing the same skills as everyone. It’s still real competitive gymnastics, just less strict compared to the other track.

Before you’re officially placed, we’re usually just on a Pre-team Or a Rec Track.
Some gyms have a Pre-team, some gyms don't. If a gym doesn't, you would be in rec classes, training to get skills.

Once you start competing, that’s when you become Xcel Bronze/Silver/etc.

So if you hear someone say, “I’m Xcel Gold,” that means their division is Gold. We don’t use numbers like 1, 2, 3 in Xcel at all.

Hope this helps!!