Parents Xcel to JO (DP)

[MD_Dad]

Hello all. Another parent with a question about Xcel to JO. I've been reading through posts and lots of good info, I still have questions. My child is currently in XB (9 years old), she consistently scored in the high 36's and got a couple of 37's this season. She is competing at state later this month and we are very proud of her.
She spent 1.5 years on pre-team and then our gym started an Xcel program for the first time. It has been a good time and she enjoys it. Though she shares frustration at not practicing for skills needed to advance (like she didn't make JO because she didn't have her back hip circle - but they don't practice it) I won't pretend I know better than coaches or how to coach at all. I am capable of advocating and asking for her though.
How do you approach a gym/coaches about making the switch. Our fear is her getting pigeon holed and never getting an honest opportunity to switch over. we love our gym and they are great, the last thing we wanna do is come in too hot and be the "my kid is so great" type of parents. We just want a fact finding mission or maybe make them aware that she wants to be challenged more and we as parents are committed to the time and financial elements attached with that.
Maybe I'm a bad gym-parent for having this mentality, but my (limited) understanding is that is the final goal of all this is a scholarship, isn't making the switch to JO the necessary step? It is a huge financial and time commitment - very happy to make it, but I (maybe wrongly) feel like her being in the track that gives her the opportunity is important. and yes, not everyone's kid makes it all the way - no disappointment there, just want to give her the opportunity, all the skills, confidence, foundation of fitness, life skills and other intangibles are worth every minute and penny.

 

[Coach Kate]

Very very very few athletes receive a gymnastics scholarship, so no, that's not really the final goal for most kids who get involved with gymnastics.

What skills does your child have? Scoring well in bronze or Xcel in general does not necessarily translate to being a good fit for DP. If she isn't close to a round off back handspring, a lot of gyms are going to balk at putting a 9/10 year old in level 2.

It is a little concerning and odd to me that they weren't doing back hip circles even on preteam - that's an extremely basic skill and at the gym I worked at, was required to move out of intermediate recreational classes, after which came an advanced intermediate and an advanced level before funneling to preteam or directly to bronze or silver. If they tend to compete closer to the bare minimum requirements, it might be worth an assessment at another gym. If she had different coaching and was building more skills, there might be an easier to switch from Xcel to level 6 in a couple years.

I do think it's completely fine to ask the coach (es) what they think about her potential, progress, and her goals. They can give you better feedback and they may also be able to reveal how they approach things, as gyms all do things differently.

 

[MD_Dad]

Very very very few athletes receive a gymnastics scholarship, so no, that's not really the final goal for most kids who get involved with gymnastics.

What skills does your child have? Scoring well in bronze or Xcel in general does not necessarily translate to being a good fit for DP. If she isn't close to a round off back handspring, a lot of gyms are going to balk at putting a 9/10 year old in level 2.

It is a little concerning and odd to me that they weren't doing back hip circles even on preteam - that's an extremely basic skill and at the gym I worked at, was required to move out of intermediate recreational classes, after which came an advanced intermediate and an advanced level before funneling to preteam or directly to bronze or silver. If they tend to compete closer to the bare minimum requirements, it might be worth an assessment at another gym. If she had different coaching and was building more skills, there might be an easier to switch from Xcel to level 6 in a couple years.

I do think it's completely fine to ask the coach (es) what they think about her potential, progress, and her goals. They can give you better feedback and they may also be able to reveal how they approach things, as gyms all do things differently.

Thank you so much. I hear you, and I know tone gets lost so easily in text like this, I'm really not trying to slight or put down anyone (especially my child) and come off as "anything short of a scholarship is a failure" I see how my post can read that way and I swear, not my intention. Also, I included her scores only trying to match other posts I've seen to try and provide a point of referencne. I think I may have misspoke, the skill she doesn't have is a front hip circle? (I'm not positive of which she has, but she has one way and not the other) She does have her back handspring, sorry for not providing that upfront I'm still new and trying to learn everything.
So restarting-
My gymnast has expressed concerns that she isn't being challenged enough. and for the things she "doesn't have" they don't seem to practice those things because her team doesn't have those things, if they did - they'd all be on level 2, not XB (it feels/seems kinda circular from where I'm sitting)
Me, being ignorant, basically assume it is because of Xcel vs JO - thinking JO is the more competitive, what is done to get scholarships track.
So maybe I need a different question of how do we get her practicing skills she doesn't have nailed down yet (again, I'm no coach and the best I can do is compare things to sports I played.) I would think you'd practice a thing they "don't have yet" until they get it - like especially if that thing was what kept them from advancing or doing the other track? Again, maybe I have an inherently flawed view of it all, genuinely asking how can I best help my gymnast, like I know the gym is good, (maybe why my scholarships are attainable thoughts are skewed)

 

[NutterButter]

Many gyms don’t do as much training on new skills during meet season so if your daughter is just finishing up her season she should start learning new skills soon. Sounds like she did good as a bronze so I would expect her to move up to Silver (especially since she has a BHS already). If she doesn’t move up the. You will want to seek out other gyms. It doesn’t sound like this is the situation at your gym but I’m putting it out there just in case as repeating bronze is not the norm.

As far as moving to DP…if this is the goal for your DD I would talk to the coaches sooner rather than later and find out if it’s possible. If your gym will not allow her to change set up evaluations at other gyms. Unfortunately some gyms will say that your DD - at 9 - is too old to start in DP. My concern for you is that you say that you are at a ‘good’ gym and if your definition of good is related to them sending kids to NCAA then this could work against you. The ‘good’ gyms often have strict criteria for team selection. Just because a gym is ‘good’ doesn’t mean it will be a good fit for your DD.

Finally, some gyms compete Xcel in place of lower DP levels. This is fine. You just want to make sure as you are evaluating gyms that there is an established pathway to DP.

Now is the ideal time to ask your gym about DP and if needed, start evaluating other gyms. The competitive season is wrapping up and moveup decisions are being made as well as spots opening up. Teams often welcome new members between April - June.

 

[francienolan]

Hi @MD_Dad - I recently asked very similar questions about the XCEL vs DP/JO program.

My daughter has had a similar progression to yours: she was in rec classes, was then invited to our gym's pre-team and did that for a year, and this past year (25-26) has been on Bronze. I have had the same wonderings as you: sometimes she's bored, skill development seems very slow, is she being challenged, etc?

To that end, I have also been on a fact finding mission of my own. I have reached out to a number of gyms in our area to see about team evaluations and where they might place her in their programs. Some of the gyms in our area have XCEL in place of lower levels and then start at level 6 for DP, a few don't even have XCEL and start with level 2, etc. The gym we are at unfortunately, and this is why I've been looking around, only has XCEL and does not have DP levels.

I took my daughter this past week to a gym in the area that has a reputation as being hardcore and sends multiple girls to D1 schools out of level 10 every single year (we're in the Raleigh area, you can probably find it by googling!). My daughter is 7 and they basically told me that she is already behind: she doesn't have the skills for level 3 and their level 2 girls are only 5 and 6. This gym wasn't a possibility truly because it's about a 45 minute drive without traffic, but I was really shocked that they would consider a 7 year old to already be behind!

I think this is what parents (I've seen alot of posts about DP/XCEL) are really worried about, and I get tired of reading the response "well, it's very very hard to get a scholarship" which to me is condescending. Like you, I don't care if she ever gets to a place where she gets a scholarship, but shouldn't she be receiving the training to reach her potential?

Another example is dance - my daughter is on a competitive dance team, and believe me when I say that they give zero F's if the girls burn out (which seems to be a reason for XCEL in general?) - they practice hard, have high expectations, and have a lot of requirements. She will be traveling for dance competitions, etc, and I have no doubts that her dance program is helping her reach her dance potential.

Anyway, just my two cents!

 

[InMyGymMomEra]

If you want to switch her to DP/JO I agree now is the perfect time of year to check out other gyms! I was told at my daughter’s first gym that at 5yo she was too old to be considered for pre-team, but might be considered for Xcel Bronze at some point in the future (no guarantees, lol!). A few other gyms I emailed said she’d need to enroll in rec first before being considered for pre-team/team. Fair enough. Finally, the first gym that offered her a team trial immediately invited her to DP L1. Some might say that L1 is pretty basic and not much different from rec, but since my daughter dreams of competing it was a relief for me that she could start on the team path, and now the plan is for her to move up to L3 this summer (which had already been pretty much ruled out for her at the first gym, where she didn’t make XB). Basically what I’m saying is that looking around and trying to find the right fit for your child does not make you a crazy gym parent or stage parent. Different gyms can have very different philosophies and it might take some looking around (and willingness to drive —we literally pass our first gym on the way to our current one, lol) to find the best fit for your child to reach her potential and do what she loves!

 

[Gymnast_13]

If you want to switch her to DP/JO I agree now is the perfect time of year to check out other gyms! I was told at my daughter’s first gym that at 5yo she was too old to be considered for pre-team, but might be considered for Xcel Bronze at some point in the future (no guarantees, lol!). A few other gyms I emailed said she’d need to enroll in rec first before being considered for pre-team/team. Fair enough. Finally, the first gym that offered her a team trial immediately invited her to DP L1. Some might say that L1 is pretty basic and not much different from rec, but since my daughter dreams of competing it was a relief for me that she could start on the team path, and now the plan is for her to move up to L3 this summer (which had already been pretty much ruled out for her at the first gym, where she didn’t make XB). Basically what I’m saying is that looking around and trying to find the right fit for your child does not make you a crazy gym parent or stage parent. Different gyms can have very different philosophies and it might take some looking around (and willingness to drive —we literally pass our first gym on the way to our current one, lol) to find the best fit for your child to reach her potential and do what she loves!

Oh my Goodness!! Being told at 5 years old that you're "too old"?! That is crazy.