Anon Possibly Unpopular Question: Former National Team Members Competing in Nastia?

[Anonymous Post]

When the NLC first started, they named certain meets as qualifiers. Back then, all level 10s were in the running to qualify. They would say they the top 2 seniors and the top 2 juniors out of all level 10s in every session would go to the NLC. If there was more than 1 session of level 10s, everyone would wait until all sessions were complete to see who had come out on top and qualified. It was pretty exciting!

Then, a few years in, it became where the coach would choose 1-4 gymnasts to be designated as trying to qualify to the NLC. They competed in a special level 10 session, the “Premier” session. Only those designated would be in that session and allowed to qualify. It was such a crushing blow to my daughter, when she wasn’t chosen (there were only a few level 10s at her gym, and she had qualified to Easterns in level 9), since the years before she was just as much in the running to qualify. I‘ve seen many non-designated level 10s score better in their sessions than the ones in the premier session with the same judges, but it doesn’t matter because they weren’t designated ahead of time. I liked the old way better, where all the 10s had an equal chance.

They do it the old way now? All level 10's have the opportunity to qualify, not just designated kids. The biggest issue now is that these huge gyms come in to EVERY Nastia to qualify multiple girls..

 

[gym_dad32608]

They do it the old way now? All level 10's have the opportunity to qualify, not just designated kids. The biggest issue now is that these huge gyms come in to EVERY Nastia to qualify multiple girls..

Yes, this is not true that only "premier" session girls qualify. It still is any L10 at that meet, regardless of session. The premier session came around mainly because college coaches are more likely to attend the evening/last session on a saturday and so it became more of a showcase of best girls from the gym.

 

[Anonymous Post]

Yes, this is not true that only "premier" session girls qualify. It still is any L10 at that meet, regardless of session. The premier session came around mainly because college coaches are more likely to attend the evening/last session on a saturday and so it became more of a showcase of best girls from the gym.

No, look at Atlanta Crown. There is a Premier session for qualifying. Only level 10s in that session were in the running. Our gym has 2 dozen level 10s, only 5 were chosen for that session as it was the qualifying session.

 

[Anonymous Post]

They do it the old way now? All level 10's have the opportunity to qualify, not just designated kids. The biggest issue now is that these huge gyms come in to EVERY Nastia to qualify multiple girls..

I agree with the issue you stated. Some gyms only compete at NLC qualifiers so they can have the most girls qualify. But, the meets our level 10s have been to for several years all have a premier session designated for qualifying, and the owner picks the ones he thinks will do the best and they go in that session.

 

[gym_dad32608]

No, look at Atlanta Crown. There is a Premier session for qualifying. Only level 10s in that session were in the running. Our gym has 2 dozen level 10s, only 5 were chosen for that session as it was the qualifying session.

All I can say is that I was at 2 NLC qualifiers this year, Presidential and Buckeye. Both had premier sessions and both had ALL L10s regardless of session as eligible to qualify.

 

[JBS]

Buckeye had 7 sessions of L10. You could qualify from any session.

 

[Anonymous Post]

I agree with the issue you stated. Some gyms only compete at NLC qualifiers so they can have the most girls qualify. But, the meets our level 10s have been to for several years all have a premier session designated for qualifying, and the owner picks the ones he thinks will do the best and they go in that session.

Your gym coaches may still do it the old way, by picking the girls they think will win, but the qualifiers are now open to ALL level 10's competing at a Nastia qualifier in any level 10 session.

 

[Jenny]

Your gym coaches may still do it the old way, by picking the girls they think will win, but the qualifiers are now open to ALL level 10's competing at a Nastia qualifier in any level 10 session.

do the scores go up in the premier session? Giving those gymnasts more chance to qualify

 

[gym_dad32608]

do the scores go up in the premier session? Giving those gymnasts more chance to qualify

As I mentioned earlier, the premier session generally has the best gymnasts of each gym competing since most of the college coaches attend these sessions. So by a function of talent, the scores are going to go up. Do they go up because judges get looser in their scoring? Perhaps, but from what I have seen, the scores go up because of the amazing athletes competing in these sessions. Watching the seniors in these sessions is like watching a college meet.

 

[Jenny]

so it makes sense to put your best athletes in that session.......

 

[Anonymous Post]

so it makes sense to put your best athletes in that session.......

You don't get to "pick" the session you are in. Nastia Qualifiers have multiple sessions of levels 10's. Some may suggest that the premier session is the last level 10 session of the Nastia. But there isn't a designated premiere session.

 

[Jenny]

You don't get to "pick" the session you are in. Nastia Qualifiers have multiple sessions of levels 10's. Some may suggest that the premier session is the last level 10 session of the Nastia. But there isn't a designated premiere session.

Clearly some Nastia Qualifiers did have premier sessions this year

 

[gym_dad32608]

You don't get to "pick" the session you are in. Nastia Qualifiers have multiple sessions of levels 10's. Some may suggest that the premier session is the last level 10 session of the Nastia. But there isn't a designated premiere session.

That is partially incorrect. It is up to the meet organizer if they want to have a premier session, it has nothing to with NLC. But some meets do because of the high interest that NLC qualifying events seem to have (not all, that's why I think you see some NLC qualifiers with uniquely lower qualifying scores). I believe Presidential (orlando) this year had almost 500 L10 gymnasts competing, Buckeye had about 350 L10s. As you can imagine that high concentration of L10 gymnasts makes it attractive for college coaches to come to the meet and see potential recruits perform. My deduction is that the meet organizers, instead of having that talent spread through several different sessions and gyms, create a premier session to allow the best talent to compete at one time. It makes it interesting for attendees and helpful for college coaches who can only attend one or two sessions in the evenings due to season constraints. The times we have participated in these meets, each team is allowed no more than 4-5 athletes to compete in that session and the coach chooses who those athletes are. I am sure there are other meets that just organize the meet with L10s competing based upon age groups and #s in those groups. At the end of the day though, all L10s that competed are eligible for qualification to NLC regardless how the meet is structured.

 

[JBS]

Results are online for Buckeye… and so are the Nastia qualifiers. You can see that the Buckeye qualifiers came from 2 different sessions…

Four gymnasts clinch Nastia Liukin Cup berths over weekend

usagym.org

2023 Results

Rose Gold Gym-Session 1

www.buckeye-classic.org

Also… we competed in the second L10 session and I had 2 college coaches approach me about my daughter. She had a 9.825 on bars at this meet.

 

[Anonymous Post]

You don't get to "pick" the session you are in. Nastia Qualifiers have multiple sessions of levels 10's. Some may suggest that the premier session is the last level 10 session of the Nastia. But there isn't a designated premiere session.

You do when that’s how it’s structured. All the level 10s not in the premier session were in the other level 10 sessions. But for the premier session, coaches choose who gets to compete for the chance to go to the NLC. at our gym, that’s the way it’s been done since 2014 for any NLC qualifier they enter. All the other level 10s are in the regular level 10 sessions.

 

[Deleted member 18037]

Mostly to keep Nastias name and brand going. So she makes money.

 

[FlippinLilysMom]

That is partially incorrect. It is up to the meet organizer if they want to have a premier session, it has nothing to with NLC. But some meets do because of the high interest that NLC qualifying events seem to have (not all, that's why I think you see some NLC qualifiers with uniquely lower qualifying scores). I believe Presidential (orlando) this year had almost 500 L10 gymnasts competing, Buckeye had about 350 L10s. As you can imagine that high concentration of L10 gymnasts makes it attractive for college coaches to come to the meet and see potential recruits perform. My deduction is that the meet organizers, instead of having that talent spread through several different sessions and gyms, create a premier session to allow the best talent to compete at one time. It makes it interesting for attendees and helpful for college coaches who can only attend one or two sessions in the evenings due to season constraints. The times we have participated in these meets, each team is allowed no more than 4-5 athletes to compete in that session and the coach chooses who those athletes are. I am sure there are other meets that just organize the meet with L10s competing based upon age groups and #s in those groups. At the end of the day though, all L10s that competed are eligible for qualification to NLC regardless how the meet is structured.

This is correct. All level 10s are eligible to qualify to the NLC regardless of what session you are in. The premier session at the larger qualifiers are just a way to have the top level 10s in the same session. It's so interesting to me the difference in qualifiers. My daughter has only done 2 qualifiers and each only had one level 10 session, while other qualifiers have multiple sessions. It definitely appears to be easier to qualify at some versus others.