Parents XCEL at lower levels, then JO

[CluelessGymMom]

Hello! My daughter is in a very small gym with small teams and only a couple of team coaches. I want to start by saying, we LOVE this gym and the coaches! An absolutely fantastic gym! The gym offers only XCEL until level 6. I've never asked why, but I imagine it is due to the size of the gym and the teams. The gym has successful level 6+ gymnasts too.

Recently, a coach from another gym said our daughter should be in JO due to her ability. Note he was not trying to get her to his gym, he lives in another state.

The questions: does it matter if a girl does XCEL until level 6? Is it hard to go JO from XCEL? I am learning from being on this board that JO seems to be higher esteemed. But my daughter trains more hours in XCEL than most other gyms at the compatible JO level train. She wants to go all the way through level 10 (her goals). XCEL won't hurt that, right?

 

[&bs]

It doesn’t matter what she is competing, what matters is the coaching she is receiving. If she is being coached in a development program that can produce competitive Level 10’s, then that is what is important.
She could be competing DP in a club that never gets gymnasts past Level 8, which wouldn’t do her any good at all.
If you look at the top gymnasts in your club and they are achieving at the level of your daughter’s goals, then as long as you are happy with her current situation, then I think you can trust the process of your current gym. If she has the ability and work ethic, she should also be able to achieve In your gym.

 

[Coach Kate]

Many gyms are actually using Xcel in place of compulsories, it's very normal. Some gyms prefer to work on the skill progressions and artistry without the confines of compulsory routines.

 

[BusyMomof2]

Xcel in lower levels will not hurt her chances to get to level 10. There are many factors that can impact that goal beyond whether she's in xcel or compulsory right now (quality of coaching, injury, burn out, losing interest, etc).

In our region, using xcel instead of compulsory is common and the xcel coaches at many gyms are the same coaches who would have been coaching compulsory.

If you are part of some of the larger gymnastics parents groups on Facebook, this is a hot topic and there are a handful of loud voices who will lecture you on this not being the right use of xcel, that your daughter will not succeed if she doesn't do level 5, etc. Ignore them.

FWIW - my 11-year old daughter started in xcel and is now L7 and is loving gymnastics more than ever while growing and obtaining new skills faster than ever. She also has the goal of getting to L10 and while she's on track, who knows what will happen!

 

[AlexandraU16]

My daughter just finished xcel silver at a gym that uses xcel in place of compulsories and I think it’s a dual edged sword. For her it is the right environment: the repetition of compulsories probably would have had her quitting the sport years ago. Starting in xcel has allowed her to thrive and uptrain- doing skills far above typical level 3-4 skillset. However I think sometimes she would have benefitted from the major emphasis compulsories puts on clean, beautiful basics, shapes, and technique. Xcel has allowed her to get away with some weaknesses (front tumbling comes to mind) that she would have had to work through in compulsory. But her coach does try to address those things and is making progress so as long as you have a coach who is keeping the full picture in mind and treating it as a developmental program I think it’s a good option.