WAG TOPS??

[Rebel]

Kim Riley posted on July 21 that her position with USAG was eliminated. I have no idea what this means for the TOPS program? Our coaches and athletes spoke very highly of Kim.

 

[Ty’s Dad]

I might be wrong but I heard Tops is done.

 

[LJL07]

I might be wrong but I heard Tops is done.

I heard the same thing.

 

[duyetanh]

I heard it also

 

[Sk8ermaiden]

One of my daughter's coaches has the theory that since USAG may well be bankrupt or not the olympic gymnastics body within the next couple years, why bother spending money on a program to develop elites down the line?

 

[FlippinLilysMom]

One of my daughter's coaches has the theory that since USAG may well be bankrupt or not the olympic gymnastics body within the next couple years, why bother spending money on a program to develop elites down the line?

Tops is a small part of the elite training program, most big elite gyms don't even do tops. It would give them more money to put into the other elite programs (like HOPES which isn't going away).

 

[Sk8ermaiden]

I think she meant further down the line. Hopes kids may be elites soon - TOPs kids are farther away from it. And if you think your company is going under...long term investment may not be a priority. Especially because as you said, a lot of elite gyms don't use it - it's meant to develop programs at less established elite gyms, yes? So not a lot of short term payoff for USAG.

 

[3rd_time_around]

One of my daughter's coaches has the theory that since USAG may well be bankrupt or not the olympic gymnastics body within the next couple years, why bother spending money on a program to develop elites down the line?

There is a fund/arbitration for payouts, USAG is not paying damages “out of pocket.”

 

[Sk8ermaiden]

They already filed chapter 11 this year didn't they? And then half the season gone, no premier events, no olympics...that had to really hurt financially.

 

[LJL07]

They already filed chapter 11 this year didn't they? And then half the season gone, no premier events, no olympics...that had to really hurt financially.

You would think!

 

[JBS]

TOPS was a great coaches education program if used in that manner. This is the direction that we need to go... education.

The good and bad thing with TOPS is that it can be used just like the compulsory program. An inexperienced coach can just follow the manual to produce greatness. You see it all the time... the champion L3/4 that then struggles in optionals... not because they don't have the physical ability to do it... but because the manual stops before that point. TOPS is the same way... you have to have real world experience as a coach to know where to go after the manual. TOPS had none of this... the teachings of the national program did not extend into TOPS at all except for maybe the A & B camps... and if you make it there for the first time ever as a coach... you're just going to be confused.

The first place where the national staff teaches beyond the manual is the DIC camps... and much of that really doesn't even make sense until you have a kid in the game of HOPES. The camp structure is not a "go once and you'll understand" system either.

The thing is... once you take a kid or two through TOPS... some DIC/DC camps... HOPES... and try driving towards the Elite program... you'll look back at that journey and say... "wow... that was a stressful struggle". You'll see how none of that is necessary... everything will seem simple... hindsight is 20/20.

There needs to be an educational program that teaches the concepts and systems of upper level gymnastics that does not require a coach to have a super talented (or any) athlete.

 

[MuggleMom]

That makes entirely too much sense....it will never happen. (I kid but not really) So many larger organizations can't get out of their own way and do the practical thing. It happens all the time at my job we work with a very large company and half the time their policies are so unnecessarily complex.

 

[lostinfog]

My main complaint for TOPS training is the gyms that are training 5-7 year olds to work for the 60sec handstand hold (5min against the wall + independent holds) and all the presses. (30+ daily) training at least 25 hours a week. It’s really tough on their wrists. Mine would have never made it past local testing and she can consistently hold about 45 seconds and do 8-10 presses on a given day and she said the hardest part is her wrists.

 

[MuggleMom]

From a conditioning standpoint it helped my DD also in the summer she uptrained more in TOPS than in her regular class so I liked that. However, I dont think there was much transparency about how it really works, most of the girls that went to testing didnt need to because they didnt have a shot and for parents that hadnt looked up requirements ahead of time or done their own research they didnt know why their kid wasnt making etc. I wish it had been more upfront with parents hey we have this extra program its a great program will help your kid but realistically most kids will not go to testing and its difficult to get past the State testing phase of the process. I always opted out of the tests and they kept asking me why and I wasnt about to pay a bunch of money when she didnt max out strength stuff and didnt have all the skills either.