Parents Sandbagging

[Aussie_coach]

Hearing what you have said it sounds like in your gym leve, 1 is where they put the in between girls.

If the Level 2's are younger than the leve, 1's, they are probabaly the ones that have been talent indetified for the JO track. If the Bronze's are older, then they are probabaly the ones they have decided are too old for JO, and will be doing Exel.

Level 1 seems to be where they put the in between kids, they teach them skills, give them competition experience, watch how they go and then decide to either send them in the JO or Excel tracks.

8 is old for level 1, but it depends on what your goals are. If she wants to go elite then the average level for age 8 is level 5. But only a very small percentage of gymnasts ever go elite. To achieve this goal they basically need the full package - right body type, small for age, very strong, builds strength easily, flexible, fast muscle twitch, determined, hard working, committed, extremely capable gym and coaches etc. If even one part of the package is missing, I wouldn't worry too much about elite.

If the goal is college gymnastics, then again she is quite behind. Most would be at least level 4 by 8. But again, only a small percentage of gymnasts make it this far.

If the goal is level 10, she can still make it.

 

[jessifrostR]

Hearing what you have said it sounds like in your gym leve, 1 is where they put the in between girls.

If the Level 2's are younger than the leve, 1's, they are probabaly the ones that have been talent indetified for the JO track. If the Bronze's are older, then they are probabaly the ones they have decided are too old for JO, and will be doing Exel.

Level 1 seems to be where they put the in between kids, they teach them skills, give them competition experience, watch how they go and then decide to either send them in the JO or Excel tracks.

8 is old for level 1, but it depends on what your goals are. If she wants to go elite then the average level for age 8 is level 5. But only a very small percentage of gymnasts ever go elite. To achieve this goal they basically need the full package - right body type, small for age, very strong, builds strength easily, flexible, fast muscle twitch, determined, hard working, committed, extremely capable gym and coaches etc. If even one part of the package is missing, I wouldn't worry too much about elite.

If the goal is college gymnastics, then again she is quite behind. Most would be at least level 4 by 8. But again, only a small percentage of gymnasts make it this far.

If the goal is level 10, she can still make it.

Thank you! That is kind of what I have begun to gather just from observing the ages and levels etc even the gym manager and coaches haven't outright said it.
I dd a little research last night on our level 9s and 10s and it looks like they all started as older level 3s. Our gym has just begun to do level 1 and 2 in recent years so I looked at the meet history of our level 4 and they typically started as level 1s around 8 or 9, and ended up skipping level 2..some even skipped level 3. So I'm not sure why our gym does it this way but at least now I have a better idea of how it all works.

 

[3rd_time_around]

Hearing what you have said it sounds like in your gym leve, 1 is where they put the in between girls.

If the Level 2's are younger than the leve, 1's, they are probabaly the ones that have been talent indetified for the JO track. If the Bronze's are older, then they are probabaly the ones they have decided are too old for JO, and will be doing Exel.

Level 1 seems to be where they put the in between kids, they teach them skills, give them competition experience, watch how they go and then decide to either send them in the JO or Excel tracks.

8 is old for level 1, but it depends on what your goals are. If she wants to go elite then the average level for age 8 is level 5. But only a very small percentage of gymnasts ever go elite. To achieve this goal they basically need the full package - right body type, small for age, very strong, builds strength easily, flexible, fast muscle twitch, determined, hard working, committed, extremely capable gym and coaches etc. If even one part of the package is missing, I wouldn't worry too much about elite.

If the goal is college gymnastics, then again she is quite behind. Most would be at least level 4 by 8. But again, only a small percentage of gymnasts make it this far.

If the goal is level 10, she can still make it.

I do not agree with most of this. There is no correlation between age and level and reaching elite/college/Level 10. It stresses gymnasts and parents out to say that if they aren't a certain age in a certain level, then its too late. There are many paths, and many ways to achieve any gymnastics goals.

To the OP, I would take a wait and see approach. Or have a meeting and ask questions. If you aren't pushy or trying to force your child to move up quicker, etc. you won't be seen as "that parent," but simply a parent who is trying to understand and plan accordingly. Like I said, our Level 1 team has ages 5 - 12, and if they do well, they sometimes have the opportunity to skip a level or 2 and/or score out if they have the skills. Its a marathon journey, don't be afraid to ask questions. It's your child, your money, your time after all. You are allowed to know what the plan is for her. And most of all, enjoy the journey. I wish I could go back in time and really appreciate how amazing my OG was, because before I knew it, it was over.

 

[jessifrostR]

I do not agree with most of this. There is no correlation between age and level and reaching elite/college/Level 10. It stresses gymnasts and parents out to say that if they aren't a certain age in a certain level, then its too late. There are many paths, and many ways to achieve any gymnastics goals.

To the OP, I would take a wait and see approach. Or have a meeting and ask questions. If you aren't pushy or trying to force your child to move up quicker, etc. you won't be seen as "that parent," but simply a parent who is trying to understand and plan accordingly. Like I said, our Level 1 team has ages 5 - 12, and if they do well, they sometimes have the opportunity to skip a level or 2 and/or score out if they have the skills. Its a marathon journey, don't be afraid to ask questions. It's your child, your money, your time after all. You are allowed to know what the plan is for her. And most of all, enjoy the journey. I wish I could go back in time and really appreciate how amazing my OG was, because before I knew it, it was over.

Thank you for your your input! Our gym is apparently the best in our state. Which I had no idea until recently but they do not put girls on team until 6 at the very minimum. So they do tend to start them older and still produce quite a few level 10s so I am beginning to see that what they are doing is working. I definitely thought my daughter didn't even have a chance of team since she was almost 7 when she started at this gym with only tumbling skills. I had always thought gymnasts had to be advanced at a very young age to be successful but its been amazing to see my daughter progress so much in such a short time.
I think you are right though. I need to not be so afraid of asking her coaches what the plan for her is because that really hasn't been communicated and like you said, we spend so much money on this sport, I think we deserve to know.

 

[cassafrass]

Thank you! That is kind of what I have begun to gather just from observing the ages and levels etc even the gym manager and coaches haven't outright said it.
I dd a little research last night on our level 9s and 10s and it looks like they all started as older level 3s. Our gym has just begun to do level 1 and 2 in recent years so I looked at the meet history of our level 4 and they typically started as level 1s around 8 or 9, and ended up skipping level 2..some even skipped level 3. So I'm not sure why our gym does it this way but at least now I have a better idea of how it all works.

 

[cassafrass]

Also remember when looking at levels that there was the Great Level Change that bumped the compulsory levels down. It is very likely that the level 10s you researched that competed level 3 started before the Change. Level 2 is now the equivalent of 3. I dont think level 1 even existed as a competitive level.

 

[raenndrops]

Also remember when looking at levels that there was the Great Level Change that bumped the compulsory levels down. It is very likely that the level 10s you researched that competed level 3 started before the Change. Level 2 is now the equivalent of 3. I dont think level 1 even existed as a competitive level.

Level 1 did exist before the change. Believe it or not, it was even simpler than the current Level 1 (we used to use it in rec camp for the lowest group to do in the showcase... we used floor and beam. Then the next higher group did the old Level 2 routines. The 3rd group did modified Level 4 routines and the last group did the Level 4 routines except the back handspring).

They combined L1 and L2 when they adjusted the levels.

 

[SeaActually]

@cadybearsmommy I just PMed you.

Can you PM me as well? I tried to message you but your inbox is full. We are in region 8 as well.

 

[Ms.Pak-Man]

Level the gym competes their developmental programs (approx. lvls 1-4 and Xcel Bronze/Silver) isn’t very relevent to the big picture. Look at the skills, conditioning, and basics they are doing in practice. Remember that less than 3% of their time doing gymnastics is at a meet (based on 9 hrs a week for your avg. 8 year old competing in 6 meets/yr).