Parents Understanding mobility requirements

[Rose411]

Is it normal for the mobility to be so subjective? Where my daughter gyms, they compete starting at L2 so a few years ago she was invited to be on the L2 team. She didn’t have an amazing season but she fell in love with competition. She was held on L2 to compete a 2nd year. This proved to be a great decision by the coaches because she had a great season, and gained a ton of confidence winning all arounds and several great outcomes. Moving into L3 we assumed it would not be as good of a season being a new level. She surprised us by getting mid 35 to mid 36 AA scores almost every meet. Going into the off season she started getting all of her L4 skills, including the elusive glide Kip which she was most worried about. The skills would need a lot of work in the off season but she at least had a good start. For the summer session they place the girls in practice groups where they think they will most likely compete the following season. Going into the summer she was held again, on L3. She was told if she had a great summer she would move to 4, but otherwise stay on 3 a second year.. However, now she is not getting much opportunity to practice the new L4 skills. Are getting high 35s up to mid 36’s not high enough to move up at this low level? It is disappointing for us and we don’t understand what the score expectations are when State requirements for L3 are only 34 and L2 amd L3 are not even mandatory levels. We are leaning toward changing gym or just taking out of competition. DD is 9.5 years old. We don’t receive evaluations or feedback so it is hard to understand, and we know she is well behaved so there is not a discipline issue. When she was held on L2 we supported the coaches completely but it is hard to do it this time. We are considering moving gyms, or just taking her out of competition altogether. She absolutely loves it so we hate to break her heart but it is hard to watch the disappointment and we are really just beginning in this sport so I’m sure it will get worse. For a sport that publically and individuality scores kids, you would think it would be less subjective.

 

[kayjaybe]

At our gym, it isn’t just about the score in the previous level but about having the skills for the next level.

Sometimes when a kid says they “have” skills they either might not have the form or they say they have it because they did it once or twice in practice.

Really the only way to know is to talk to the coach or owner. I suggest making an appointment rather than just trying to catch them before or after practice. Good luck!

 

[MILgymFAM]

It’s absolutely subjective and at the discretion of the gym, outside of the minimum mobility score set by usag. Some gyms require everyone to do multiple levels, even. My DD was once evaluated by two gyms. One placed her in L3 and another in L6. I kid you not. You can usually suss out the gym’s philosophy by looking at MSO- does everyone (or almost everyone) repeat? Do they have girls in upper optionals that went through the L2/3/4 program there? Since my DD started gym SO late, there was no way we were willing to pay for levels that weren’t required, but that doesn’t mean that some people don’t start in L2/3 and do great things with a solid foundation. Personally, with a 36 in L3 and all the L4 skills? I wouldn’t be ok with a second season at L3 either, especially after two at L2. Seems like a huge money suck to me.

 

[Rose411]

At our gym, it isn’t just about the score in the previous level but about having the skills for the next level.

Sometimes when a kid says they “have” skills they either might not have the form or they say they have it because they did it once or twice in practice.

Really the only way to know is to talk to the coach or owner. I suggest making an appointment rather than just trying to catch them before or after practice. Good luck!

I totally

At our gym, it isn’t just about the score in the previous level but about having the skills for the next level.

Sometimes when a kid says they “have” skills they either might not have the form or they say they have it because they did it once or twice in practice.

Really the only way to know is to talk to the coach or owner. I suggest making an appointment rather than just trying to catch them before or after practice. Good luck

 

[Rose411]

At our gym, it isn’t just about the score in the previous level but about having the skills for the next level.

Sometimes when a kid says they “have” skills they either might not have the form or they say they have it because they did it once or twice in practice.

Really the only way to know is to talk to the coach or owner. I suggest making an appointment rather than just trying to catch them before or after practice. Good luck!

I totally agree with you about how well she has her next level skills. I would say she truly does have them but they still need a lot work. We don’t even start working on next level skills until after the season so she hasn’t had much time. I do know that she has them as well as past girls who have moved up after 1 season so it doesn’t seem to be consistent. The problem we have is that she’s not getting the opportunity now to improve them this summer. If she stays on L3 she will probably get like 37/38s this year. Why is that even necessary at L3? I guess if we had some form of formal evalution, there might be something uncovered that we are not seeing, but there is no evaluation.

 

[Rose411]

It’s absolutely subjective and at the discretion of the gym, outside of the minimum mobility score set by usag. Some gyms require everyone to do multiple levels, even. My DD was once evaluated by two gyms. One placed her in L3 and another in L6. I kid you not. You can usually suss out the gym’s philosophy by looking at MSO- does everyone (or almost everyone) repeat? Do they have girls in upper optionals that went through the L2/3/4 program there? Since my DD started gym SO late, there was no way we were willing to pay for levels that weren’t required, but that doesn’t mean that some people don’t start in L2/3 and do great things with a solid foundation. Personally, with a 36 in L3 and all the L4 skills? I wouldn’t be ok with a second season at L3 either, especially after two at L2. Seems like a huge money suck to me.

Wow - how can one gym say L3 and another L6? That is a huge discrepancy. Believe me, I am all for holding our daughter back if she is going to have to struggle and scratch events, but it feels to us that she should have had the opportunity to bump up and then make the determination in the fall. If she stays on L3 another year, she won’t have the skills any better than she does right now going into next season because they don’t practice next level skills during the comp season.

 

[MILgymFAM]

Wow - how can one gym say L3 and another L6? That is a huge discrepancy. Believe me, I am all for holding our daughter back if she is going to have to struggle and scratch events, but it feels to us that she should have had the opportunity to bump up and then make the determination in the fall. If she stays on L3 another year, she won’t have the skills any better than she does right now going into next season because they don’t practice next level skills during the comp season.

Yes, I imagine that’s especially frustrating! When the new level skills are what is in need of work, another season of no uptraining seems counterproductive. My DD had been 14 and competed Xcel bronze and gold. The first gym decided she needed to start on their L3 team (and they do two years per level, so she would’ve graduated high school at L4, best case scenario). The second gym decided on L6 and petitioned her into optionals. Now, I’m a realist and even at the time I thought she wasn’t quite ready for L6, and she wasn’t. A season of L4 then a season of L5 would have been best. We had to work within the choices given to us though, so L6 she went. It was a bit of a disaster the first go, but she’s still trucking along happily!

 

[M2Abi]

For a 9.5 y/o, I think repeating Level 3 is a waste of time, unless she truly isn't ready to compete Level 4. If I were in your situation, I would be considering other options.

 

[Rose411]

For a 9.5 y/o, I think repeating Level 3 is a waste of time, unless she truly isn't ready to compete Level 4. If I were in your situation, I would be considering other options.

The problem is DD is happy and really likes her friends and the coaches are all very good to her. I honestly would not care if she had to repeat L3 at 9.5 if she had struggled at L3 last year or if she was nowhere near her L4 skills. Since neither is the case, it’s hard to justify her repeating a lower level - she’d probably dovfrwat, but really, what does that do for her?

 

[gymnastmom05]

I think it's worth a talk with a coach and see why. I know one season our old HC wanted my DD to repeat L4 even though she had the L5 skills (and a few moved to 5 already did NOT). I was the annoying parent that time. I just needed to know why - my DD was told she had to have her BT by the end of summer training and she did....2 other girls did not and still were in the 5 group and working even more hours then my DD was allowed. I don't really consider myself a super pushy gym mom but I couldn't explain it to my 9 year old when she was asking why. I needed an answer. HC said she just thought my DD had a rough year the year before so she thought it would be nice for her to have a lower stress season. Which, if she would have spoken to me about it, we could have had a conversation about my DD, what works for her and what other circumstances were also going on during her L4 season (school was a bit a ridiculous time, consuming disaster that year - so bad that it has since had a complete overhaul due to the complaints from many many parents that year). So, once we finally had a conversation about why she was making that decision, she allowed DD to train 5 and just see how it went. Guess what, she competed 5 that season and was just as competitive (and sometimes better) as the rest of the girls on her team. I have never felt the need to be involved ever since. My DD just needed some real answers and her HC wasn't giving them to her.

That said, I know we had a few girls upset that they were probably going to repeat a level this coming season so they went to a few other gyms. They placed them in the same, repeat level as well so coaches do know what they're doing most of the time!

 

[MuggleMom]

The most frustrating part is the group you get placed in because it does impact the ability to uptrain. If you put her in the 4 group and she ends up competing 3 cause she doesnt have 4 skills solid thats one thing, but to put her in the 3 group now how is she supposed to get those skills? we have that same issue at times--the group you get in matters they try and say it doesn't and there is a lesson plan or what have you but there is usually a group at the higher end of the skill spectrum and the lower end and it impacts what skills you work on when at the gym.

I would see if she could train with the level 4 group with you stating you understand this doesn't mean she will definitely compete 4. There are some gyms that doe multiple repeats at lower levels and I think its for "winning" and not because the girls done have the next level skills. We saw one girl in our area who was getting 38+ at states (9.9 on multiple events) on level 3. Looked up her last year scores and it was her 3rd year on level 3 and she had over 38 at states the year before. There was no reason for that kid to compete level 3 again, I find it hard to believe in that amount of time she couldnt have been prepared for level 4.

 

[Rose411]

The most frustrating part is the group you get placed in because it does impact the ability to uptrain. If you put her in the 4 group and she ends up competing 3 cause she doesnt have 4 skills solid thats one thing, but to put her in the 3 group now how is she supposed to get those skills? we have that same issue at times--the group you get in matters they try and say it doesn't and there is a lesson plan or what have you but there is usually a group at the higher end of the skill spectrum and the lower end and it impacts what skills you work on when at the gym.

I would see if she could train with the level 4 group with you stating you understand this doesn't mean she will definitely compete 4. There are some gyms that doe multiple repeats at lower levels and I think its for "winning" and not because the girls done have the next level skills. We saw one girl in our area who was getting 38+ at states (9.9 on multiple events) on level 3. Looked up her last year scores and it was her 3rd year on level 3 and she had over 38 at states the year before. There was no reason for that kid to compete level 3 again, I find it hard to believe in that amount of time she couldnt have been prepared for level 4.

That is ridiculous and “gym philosophy” or not I would argue that it goes against what is posted on the USAG website - holding a kid back who is ready in order to gain a competitive advantage.

 

[Gymsy4]

Yes, completely depends on the gym. Some have specific score requirements that are high, some low. Others promote or repeat with no rhyme or reason that is evident to the parent. The training group makes a complete difference. Some training groups upskill, others only do skills for the level. Depending on the training group your kid is in they could either get the skills easily, or have no shot even if they are highly talented. It’s incredibly frustrating when you are in that situation. I would have a very hard time letting mine repeat level 3 unless it was clearly needed.

 

[jamieintexas]

I hate to repeat level 3. There are so many tricks that will never be done again. I prefer to get a child into 4 even if it is for 2 years and the first is achievement. There are more real skills and if the child clicks it is easy to switch to placement or even 5.

 

[Klaws]

Welcome to a daily dilemma in MAG. Our coaches teach several levels at once and all the boys seem to progress nicely.