WAG The Future of Elite

[twocurlygirlz]

Speaking from experience...our family took alot of heat when Sophia decided to stay level 10 and not pursue elite after winning hopes BUT for her that last ankle injury showed her how it could all change in a second and to sacrifice it all and have it gone was daunting. I can say with 100 percent confidence that I have never seen her happier than she is right now doing College gymnastics. She is not the headliner by any means but is playing her part on a team that is doing better than they have in awhile! GO TIGERS!

For what it is worth we are just loving watching Sophia at Auburn- she is the spirit of that team and her happiness just exudes! I hope she is enjoying every single minute of it!

 

[Jenny]

I have to say... then why would someone train elite? There is literally nothing in elite gymnastics if you are not on the national team.

Now that is a very strange attitude for me to understand as someone not from the US. In other countries we mostly don't separate out elite or fig in the same way. All or most gymnasts train and compete on a fig or modified fig structure. Training or competing on the same structure as the top international gymnasts is a connection the gymnasts are proud of. They work on the same deductions and the scoring and routine construction is familiar. It's about being the best you can, internal motivation and reward of the beauty of the sport rather than external motivation and reward like being on a national squad or team or winning a million medals. If you are only training and competing for an external reward then I find that sad.

 

[lovofu]

For what it is worth we are just loving watching Sophia at Auburn- she is the spirit of that team and her happiness just exudes! I hope she is enjoying every single minute of it!

Thanks so much She is LOVING every minute!!!

 

[JBS]

Now that is a very strange attitude for me to understand as someone not from the US.

It's very hard for most to understand until they actually get to the point of qualifying into real elite gymnastics.

There seems to be this whole "elite" system in the US. There is TOPS... HOPES... the Compulsory Qualifiers... and the Elite National Qualifiers.

Name the athlete that is not in any of this?

That's correct... "elite athletes" don't do TOPS... HOPES... and they don't really "compete" at the "qualifiers"... they "qualify".

So the question is... where are all of the elite athletes competing?

The other thing to remember is that...

Hopes and TOPS program athletes are NOT classified as "Elite" athletes.

You can read it here...

Link Removed

Once you are really at the point that we were at or higher... everything becomes very very clear...

The Elite Program is designed to provide competitive experiences for athletes aspiring to be on the National Team. The National Teams (Senior and Junior) are selected from the US Championships each year. These athletes represent the United States in international competitions.

If you are really in the elite program for reasons other than what the program is actually defined for (or you aren't in the top athletes)... then most don't care... you will get little to no attention. You may actually be told to leave the program and drop back to Level 10.

As far as skills not being done in the DP program...




Now I'm not saying that the "elite path" didn't help us as a program... we are better because of it.

However... that gymnast above... she became an elite through Level 10... so it is possible.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that the elite program is NOT the primary gymnastics system in the US... the elite gymnastics program in the US is designed by definition to...

provide competitive experiences for athletes aspiring to be on the National Team.

The program as a whole pushes that vibe extremely hard as you get into it.

You basically find out that you are not getting any real "competition experience" if you are always trying to "add more" and "qualify".

 

[JBS]

The point of my post above is definitely not to push people away from the "elite path"... I'm just trying to state things that I really didn't get when we started into it.

If someone has all the facts and still wants to go at it... rock n roll! For those people that want to climb Mt. Everest even knowing that many don't make it... you have the right mindset.

 

[gym_dad32608]

The point of my post above is definitely not to push people away from the "elite path"... I'm just trying to state things that I really didn't get when we started into it.

If someone has all the facts and still wants to go at it... rock n roll! For those people that want to climb Mt. Everest even knowing that many don't make it... you have the right mindset.

Ya I gotta say I am not really following you. Although this last post makes more sense to me and is more in-line with what I have been trying to say. And I think some of the confusion is also you are going by the hard fast definition of elite (at least my interpretation of what you are saying) in other words, the girls that have qualified as elite. In my mind I view it is as more the elite path, TOPS, Hopes, elite qualification. The process of becoming elite.

Why do people climb mountains......As long as that exists, there will be an ample number of athletes wanted to attempt the climb for a variety of reasons, not just olympics.

 

[JBS]

Why do people climb mountains......As long as that exists, there will be an ample number of athletes wanted to attempt the climb for a variety of reasons, not just olympics.

Just remember... the climb will not be sold as anything other than "making the national team" when you get far enough into it.

When you're at a camp with 62 young athletes and they are asked "who wants to be on the national team" and 62 raise their hand... well... that's the experience I had. When you hear an athlete say that they really want to do college and they are told... "that's not a good reason to be here"... that's the experience I had.

Things may have changed some... but I am going by the definition for sure and so are they... 100%...

The Elite Program is designed to provide competitive experiences for athletes aspiring to be on the National Team.

Now I guess you can do it all without the camps... but the part that we gained the most from was the camps.

 

[JBS]

The mountain is steep and tall... and there could be many reasons to start climbing... but at the end of the day the goal is always the same... to make it to the top.

 

[gymgal]

Now I guess you can do it all without the camps... but the part that we gained the most from was the camps.

Not sure if you can confirm but didn't Jade Carey and Ashton Locklear come up solely through JO?

I think there are a lot of gyms out there that push their gymnasts toward elite knowing full well that the vast majority will never make the National Team. It's all about the numbers. The more you have "training elite", the greater the chance that at least a few will make it all the way. And for those who don't, they still benefit for college recruiting by name recognition, number of years doing high level skills, and the top scores in JO competitions - that is if they remain healthy enough to make it to college.

 

[JBS]

Not sure if you can confirm but didn't Jade Carey and Ashton Locklear come up solely through JO?

Not sure… anyone else know?

 

[JBS]

Here is a great article along those lines though… would love to see a more updated version of it…

The Timeline of an Elite Gymnast

This interesting article gives a rough average of where a budding elite National team member should be in her training stages.

thegymreport.weebly.com