WAG Regional/National level 10 age groups

[FlippinLilysMom]

I don't think that this is a "fair" question to flippinlilysmom...she lives where she lives, in a region where the age groups aren't big and there's not as much competition in your region maybe but that doesn't mean that how her daughter may qualify to JOs is not fair. She's playing by the rules as they are via USAG so she's not doing anything wrong. If you , or any of the gymnasts in larger regions wanted to move to a smaller region,, you are free to do so but shaming someone because of their region size is not ok.

One year a gymnast from a bigger region moved into our region for 3 meets...a qualifier, states and regionals ....and she went to JOs from our region, because she played by the rules as written. She ended up moving back to her home state right after JOs so evidently that was the goal.

This comes up every single year and I really wish those of you in bigger regions who feel the need to shame the gymnasts/families/gyms qualifying out of their t

I don't think that this is a "fair" question to flippinlilysmom...she lives where she lives, in a region where the age groups aren't big and there's not as much competition in your region maybe but that doesn't mean that how her daughter may qualify to JOs is not fair. She's playing by the rules as they are via USAG so she's not doing anything wrong. If you , or any of the gymnasts in larger regions wanted to move to a smaller region,, you are free to do so but shaming someone because of their region size is not ok.

One year a gymnast from a bigger region moved into our region for 3 meets...a qualifier, states and regionals ....and she went to JOs from our region, because she played by the rules as written. She ended up moving back to her home state right after JOs so evidently that was the goal.

This comes up every single year and I really wish those of you in bigger regions who feel the need to shame the gymnasts/families/gyms qualifying out of their own regions would please stop. Girls in these smaller regions work hard and have dreams of making JOs too.

Thank you! I honestly did not realize the discrepencies between regions until this year, I just assumed that the number of gymnasts per age group were pretty similar no matter what region you are in. I have now been fully educated on how wrong I was. And yes, Lily may have a MUCH easier chance of making it to nationals than some girls in other regions but she still works her butt off every single day to reach her goals and her goal this year is making it to regionals (done), making it to nationals and qualifying to the HOPES classic meet. She may not be the best out there but these are her goals and I'm not going to lie and say that I'm not thrilled that we seem to live in a pretty small region, but we certainly didn't move here to give her a better chance. We've lived here all our lives and don't plan to leave anytime soon. And we are also very, very lucky to live so close to our gym that has amazing coaches and who I trust will help Lily to achieve all of her goals. I do completely agree that they should figure out a way to make the regions and the talent within the regions more evenly dispersed. So far her biggest competition has come from her own teammates and a few girls from another local gym. It will be interesting to see how she stacks up against all the other level 10s if she does make it to nationals.

 

[reluctant]

I don't live in a big region, nor do I have a level 10 gymnast. I certainly did not mean to shame FlippinLilysMom. I thought her announcement of her daughter's odds was a little flip though considering what other parents who are venting here are going up against. I am absolutely confident that her daughter in an amazingly accomplished gymnast who is earning her place at nationals.

 

[wandrewsjr]

Yep... It's long been suggested that each region pies its own division and then sends that group to nationals . I mean who cares if you compete against someone who is a year difference rather than a half year so long as the odds are the same to get there. But that is just a way simple remedy.... typical USAG . Region one will be leaving a dozen really good athletes at home in that division.

I think this is a really good idea that I have come around to thinking would be an easier, more likely fix than balancing the regions. Take all the kids within each Region and split them into 12 equal age groups. Using Region 1 as an example, this would mean each age group would have around 22 or 23. This is a vast improvement over one with group 37, another with 16 within Region 1. And knowing every year that you have to hit top third to go to Nationals actually sounds much more "fair" to me, and even if some Regions may have smaller groups.

 

[gymcoach34]

Top 7 go whether you have 10 or 40 in your age group, and having that 35 qual score makes sure the athletes are of a good quality no matter how many kids are in that age group. I'm not sure where the "not fair" concept comes from. The athletes cant help how many athletes are in their age groups. Its hard. Its Nationals. The bigger regions will have athletes who don't place in the top 7 be placed on teams that the smaller regions can't fill. I really think USAG needs to reconfigure the regions! In my Region, we get athletes from only 3 states-and sometimes maybe 1 or 2 athletes overall from 2 others. There are 2-3 states in our region that have no or very few L10's. I remember the days of waiting at least a week to see when your athlete was competing (instead of using pre-determined age groups) & scrambling for flights 2 weeks out (or less). No thanks!

 

[lovofu]

Every year like clockwork this same argument. Last year, I felt obligated to search the other regions Junior B qualifying to nationals score just to convince myself that Sophia would still have gone to nationals no matter where she lived. Like many have said...it's not fair but many things in life are not. I had a mom tell me it's not fair that Sophia will likely qualify due to low numbers in her age group and that it's also not fair that Sophia's older sister (HS Junior) already has scholarship offers because of her insanely high ACT and SAT scores. I just sigh....you're right, my kids are lucky and all the while I'm thinking...JEEZ they were both abandoned by their birth families, raised by a single mom who for 6 months was unemployed, had to move for work, had ankle surgery, overcame infantile paralysis but yes...you are so right...it's EASY for my girls and your poor daughter has to actually work for it...Well off my soap box now!

 

[Aussie_coach]

I don’t see that it is unfair. What truly makes in nationals is that top gymnasts from all areas of the country are competing.

Look at worlds in gymnastics, on one hand you have countries like the US, where you have so many top elites that you could field two teams and they would most likely take 1st and 2nd place. Then you have countries with gymnasts competing who would be a low level in your country because they just don’t have the facilities and the expertise. But worlds in about the best from each country competing regardless of the size of the countries or their skills.

If a gymnast happens to be in a smaller region or a smaller age group, they are lucky, and a lot of sport comes down to the luck of the draw.

 

[amiandjim]

Every year like clockwork this same argument. Last year, I felt obligated to search the other regions Junior B qualifying to nationals score just to convince myself that Sophia would still have gone to nationals no matter where she lived. Like many have said...it's not fair but many things in life are not. I had a mom tell me it's not fair that Sophia will likely qualify due to low numbers in her age group and that it's also not fair that Sophia's older sister (HS Junior) already has scholarship offers because of her insanely high ACT and SAT scores. I just sigh....you're right, my kids are lucky and all the while I'm thinking...JEEZ they were both abandoned by their birth families, raised by a single mom who for 6 months was unemployed, had to move for work, had ankle surgery, overcame infantile paralysis but yes...you are so right...it's EASY for my girls and your poor daughter has to actually work for it...Well off my soap box now!

Anyone who would argue that Sophia shouldn’t make nationals is a total nut!

 

[josie55]

Please be kind to those of us who have not been on this forum and following this topic for years. Your old news is new to others who are just trying to understand and make some sense of it. But clearly there are sensitivities all around on this topic, which is understandable. I will just say that as we all know, life is not fair, and there are many perspectives and circumstances to any situation. Regardless, I think we can all agree that any kid who makes it to JO Nationals, no matter what the age group, circumstances, coaching, setbacks, etc. is pretty amazing, worked crazy hard, and should be congratulated. And we can also agree that the same can be said about many kids who will never make it to JO Nationals.

 

[mommyof1]

Doesn't the boys' side base the age groups for Nationals on actual age (15-year-olds, 16-year-olds, etc.)? Even if the age groups vary in size, they make logical sense and it seems more fair and less arbitrary than making up new groupings each year. I wish girls' JO would require all meets to use consistent age categories based on the child's age on some specified date during the competition year (January 1, Nationals, etc.). Competing against "all the other 14-year-olds" seems more logical than competing against "a random grouping of kids with similar birthdates which may or may not be the same size as the next random grouping," even if the groups end up being different sizes.

 

[skschlag]

Yes they do, but that is flawed as well. Boys are considered the age they will be as of May 31st of the season. So you could be 13, competing as a 14 yo all year. There are peoplep that are calling for boys to do it more like girls.

 

[Flicfliclay]

Absolutely, everything in gymnastics(and life for that matter) will never be fair. But for a gymnast that has 37 kids in her age group, knows she has to have the meet of her life, does just that and rocks a high 37 all-around and doesn't get to to to Nationals, while a kid in another region has 7 kids in the same age group and gets to go with a 35...I think it's ok for that kid to feel a little frustrated. And it's Ok for the parent or coach of that gymnast to want to vent here. This site is a good place for that kind of venting.

Amen to this!!!