WAG typical ages at different JO levels

[beachgirl]

At our State Championships 8 year old L3s are by far the largest group. At our gym almost all of the L3s will be 8 this year with a couple 9 and one 6. and our L4s are either 9 or 10.

 

[Fabulous]

Each child is unique, there is no age. My daughter did not even get offered to try team which was level 2 until she was seven years old. At eight years old she competed level 3, did level 5 at nine years old and competed level 8 at 11 years old and is now she is training and will compete Level 9 at 12 years old. Everyone told me she was starting team too late. She has worked so hard and I could not be more proud of her. Now she is ahead of everyone who told me she was starting too late. Just trust your coach.

 

[BachFlyer]

^^I strongly agree with Fabulous that there is no real set age^^

My dd started "late" too. She was 6 1/2 when she started gym. She did 6 months of rec and a year of pre-team, where she competed a few mock meets at L3-L4. While I can't say I knew how far she would go, I can say that she picked up skills very quickly at that time, and she seemed very polished compared to others at that age especially based on her experience. She was strong, flexible, and didn't seem to have much fear.
At 8 (turning 9) she competed (old)L5, then L7 at 9-10, L8 at 10-11, L9 at 11-12, and competed L9/L10 at 12-13. She was not at the "best" gym in the area, but they certainly gave her a good enough base to move. We did ultimately switch gyms before L9, when I felt that the old gym could no longer support her progress. But it was not a decision I felt needed to be made until maybe L7-L8 because her former gym had a very decent compulsory and lower optional program, and until I was relatively sure that she would stick with it, which at your dd's age is not really something you can say for sure.

My criteria has always been that she is 1) emotionally healthy, 2) physically strong, 3) progressing constantly (not necessarily "getting" new skills, but working towards them), 4) that she feels challenged and 5) whether there is still room to grow.

Also, I have some experience in this arena with my younger DD so I can safely say that Yes, horses DO wear socks. They prefer mismatched ones, occasionally in colorful patterns!

 

[LinnieC]

My daughter competed Level 3 this past year. Her team ranged from 6-13 years old. We had a large group of six year olds on our team and they typically competed against each other in their age category throughout the season (not many 6 year olds from other gyms). However, many of those 6 year olds will be repeating Level 3 again this year as they do not have kips and struggling to get over the vault table. I think *ideally* you would want your child to start as early as possible to get the most experience; however, I do not think starting early is the only determining factor of a successful "gymnastics career".

 

[EllibugGymmie]

My dd is level 2 and 4 1/2. I heard you have to be 6 to compete level 3 from other moms at our gym. So I'm assuming My dd will be level 2 next year too. All girls on her team are 5 and turning 6.