Women Random question about the Gaby Douglas movie

[rjb123]

In the movie, they said she went "junior elite". At the time (well, in the movie!) she looked to be pretty young maybe 12? Did she do this after level 10? I always assumed elite was something that was tested AFTER doing the JO program through 10. Is that not the case? Did she "drop out" of JO and test "junior elite"? What level can you even do that? Educate me, please!

 

[Deleted member D3987]

when you are between 11-14 you are a "junior". after 15, and this the age when you can bump to 16, you are a "senior".

you don't have to go thru the JO system to become an elite. most do though.

Gabby didn't drop out of the JO program. she moved from/thru it to the elite program.

 

[rjb123]

So she went through level 10? Thanks for the info!

 

[IreneKa]

Huh! I was thinking to myself, since she went through JO system, she must be on mymeetscores, right? So I searched and here she is! http://www.mymeetscores.com/gymnast.pl?gymnastid=132789

Looks like she was a level 9 in 2007 (11 years old?), then level 10 in 2008 and 2009, and then competed as Elite for the first time in 2010 (14 years old).

 

[rjb123]

That's interesting!! Thanks!

 

[chalkbowl]

Huh! I was thinking to myself, since she went through JO system, she must be on mymeetscores, right? So I searched and here she is! http://www.mymeetscores.com/gymnast.pl?gymnastid=132789

Looks like she was a level 9 in 2007 (11 years old?), then level 10 in 2008 and 2009, and then competed as Elite for the first time in 2010 (14 years old).

Her first international elite season was 2008, when she finished 16th at nationals. She also competed as a HOPEs athlete in at least 2007 (i'm 90% certain 2006 as well).

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[IreneKa]

Her first international elite season was 2008, when she finished 16th at nationals. She also competed as a HOPEs athlete in at least 2007 (i'm 90% certain 2006 as well).

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Interesting. So, you can be an elite, and still compete as level 10?

 

[chalkbowl]

Interesting. So, you can be an elite, and still compete as level 10?

You can be a pre-elite (aka Hopes) and still compete level 10 (or any JO level). She did not compete as an International Elite until after her 2008 level 10 season was complete. As far as her 2009 meets, she definitely competed in the "Open" session of at least 2 of them (Parkettes & Christmas City) which allows elites to compete. The other meets were also probably "Open" sessions as well, just not noted as such on My Meet Scores.

 

[Deleted member D3987]

Interesting. So, you can be an elite, and still compete as level 10?

no. once you qualify to Classics you are Elite. if you want to drop back you have to petition back. you can't do both simultaneously.

 

[rjb123]

What does "open" mean at a meet?

 

[Deleted member D3987]

sometimes it means a division of level 10's and Elites but the competition does not have an "Elite Qualifier" sanction.

these divisions are useful for clubs who have newbie level 10's and scoring between a 34 and 36. you don't want them in with the "big dogs" who are scoring upwards of 38. the "OPEN" divisions are usually for the top kids.

 

[emorymom]

They only had two actresses playing Gabby. One played her from age 7-12 but realistically doesn't look more than 10 IMO. The other played her from 14-16 but filmed it at age 20.

 

[Natasha]

The meets I've seen that do it, the Elites and/or pre-elites can compete in the "open" division in a session with L10s, L10 scoring is used, not elite scoring and they do not compete against the regular L10s for awards.

 

[Deleted member D3987]

sometimes they use FIG scoring also. depends on the meet.

 

[rjb123]

If there was an experienced level 10 going to a meet with an open division, but they had no intention of going the elite route (lets say scoring 37-38 range in 10) would they just be placed in open division or is it chosen by the coach when entering the meet? This is all very interesting!

 

[Deleted member D3987]

well, sometimes chosen by the host if it's your first time entering their meet. kinda have to prove your salt to get in the OPEN the next year

and some coaches request the OPEN because they are legends in their own mind. you won't see them there the next year.

coaches of course do chose. but from experience, when you have a weak team you don't want to enter that division. gymnastics/teams are cyclical. some years it's a good idea. and some years it's a bad idea.

 

[Seeker]

coaches of course do chose. but from experience, when you have a weak team you don't want to enter that division. gymnastics/teams are cyclical. some years it's a good idea. and some years it's a bad idea.

this is interesting to me, but for a slightly skewed reason than the original intent. What are your thoughts about an overall weak team (scoring 31-33ish) with one or two stronger gymnasts (36-38AA)? Are the stronger ones impacted by those on the lower end of the spectrum? Should the strongest go first in this case?

 

[berrisweetness]

I'm sure all the Olympians went a similar route in different ways. Then why is it when a parent wants their child to reach those same goals they get criticized for the amount of hours the child is in the gym. Also you have some coaches who will say "she has time she's still young. Or they will not move the child up until a certain age. I had a Foch tell me his girls don't start competing until 8 and he starts at level 3(old 4). Another gym where they make you work on level 3 (old 4) skills for a year after you've made the team and then Compete it the following year. Some of the kids were already 9,10 & 11 years old so that cuts their chances of getting there down. How do you find a gym that is willing to work with you for that goal and not trying to repeat for the higher scores.

 

[iwannacoach]

Then why is it when a parent wants their child to reach those same goals they get criticized for the amount of hours the child is in the gym.

I'm guessing the criticism is coming from other parent, both with and without gymnasts. That's a pretty mixed bag because there are kids with a CGM hauling them from gym to gym to find a coach that will put their child through 32 hours of rigorous training. The other end of the spectrum has coaches begging parents of kids who are "all that and a bag of chips" to add another 5 hours to their daughter's current 22.5 hour week. The middle ground? That's where you find coaches, parents, and kids who are completely on the same page with the kids getting just about all they want and can handle.

No matter how heavy or not, you'll hear criticism that should be considered for it's merits, and then ignored almost every time.