Parents xcel vs usaigc - what's the difference?

[Mrs. Puma]

I think that is very unfair and not in the spirit of the idea of a lower hours track. Shame on them for doubling up to bag medals and lying about hours.

I agree with you that it's not in the spirit of the idea. This is always a hotly debated topic, right?! In @Deleted member 18037 's defense though, she has said before that it's not her idea but just the way her gym does it. And in that gym's case it's low hours so it's not to clean up on medals. But again..I agree with you. I'm sure some gyms do use it that way, and though Puma Jr is doing pretty well locally so far, I assume at States (and further if she makes it) that we will run into that. I guess it's that whole "gymnastics will never be fair" thing? I don't know if there's anyway to stop it, especially since USAG and USAIGC are completely separate organizations. I personally believe that on July 31, you pick what that kid is (JO/Xcel/IGC ect) and that's it for the year, and barring bizarre circumstances, you can't change again until the following July 31. But again...so hard to monitor! I suppose I'm a hypocrite here since my kid did seven L5 meets this season and is now doing IGC Bronze, but a quick look at her JO scores will assure you that we're not cheating! Lol We changed gyms, and they placed her in Bronze because she wasn't quite ready for Silver even though she "has" all those skills. It's like that whole sandbagging thread...it's hard to monitor what is truly fair. It is great to hear a coach's perspective, thank you!

 

[MILgymFAM]

My ODD believes it should go a step farther still. Her idea is that entire gyms must declare a competition stream, be it JO, Xcel, or IGC- and be forced to stay in it for at least a whole year. In her view not only does this take care of the problem of girls competing in multi-streams, but also some girls being made to feel less than or second stream within their own gym. I'm sure it's not feasible at all, but having been to gyms that only compete one stream, the kids have generally seemed happier and less compare-y. We've been through gyms that do only JO, only Xcel, and only IGC- and every combination of the three. So this is based on personal experience.

 

[GymDad9.9]

I agree with you that it's not in the spirit of the idea. This is always a hotly debated topic, right?! In @Deleted member 18037 's defense though, she has said before that it's not her idea but just the way her gym does it. And in that gym's case it's low hours so it's not to clean up on medals. But again..I agree with you. I'm sure some gyms do use it that way, and though Puma Jr is doing pretty well locally so far, I assume at States (and further if she makes it) that we will run into that. I guess it's that whole "gymnastics will never be fair" thing? I don't know if there's anyway to stop it, especially since USAG and USAIGC are completely separate organizations. I personally believe that on July 31, you pick what that kid is (JO/Xcel/IGC ect) and that's it for the year, and barring bizarre circumstances, you can't change again until the following July 31. But again...so hard to monitor! I suppose I'm a hypocrite here since my kid did seven L5 meets this season and is now doing IGC Bronze, but a quick look at her JO scores will assure you that we're not cheating! Lol We changed gyms, and they placed her in Bronze because she wasn't quite ready for Silver even though she "has" all those skills. It's like that whole sandbagging thread...it's hard to monitor what is truly fair. It is great to hear a coach's perspective, thank you!

I know you are not cheating as far as your recent move to IGC, but do you think that someone who has a child in IGC Bronze and may have gotten bumped by your daughter think so?

I'm not advocating declaring a competition stream for a full year but I can see how perceptions can be created by moving competition streams during the course of the year. Our gym has JO and Excel and you will see Excel girls move to compulsories and lower level optionals (and sometimes vice versa) not to game the system but to provide better fits for them based on their skills levels and desire to increase hours (or decrease in those situations). Those gyms who game the Excel/JO dynamic are more pronounced and frequent in their tactics.

 

[Mrs. Puma]

My ODD believes it should go a step farther still. Her idea is that entire gyms must declare a competition stream, be it JO, Xcel, or IGC- and be forced to stay in it for at least a whole year. In her view not only does this take care of the problem of girls competing in multi-streams, but also some girls being made to feel less than or second stream within their own gym. I'm sure it's not feasible at all, but having been to gyms that only compete one stream, the kids have generally seemed happier and less compare-y. We've been through gyms that do only JO, only Xcel, and only IGC- and every combination of the three. So this is based on personal experience.

I know you are not cheating as far as your recent move to IGC, but do you think that someone who has a child in IGC Bronze and may have gotten bumped by your daughter think so?

I'm not advocating declaring a competition stream for a full year but I can see how perceptions can be created by moving competition streams during the course of the year. Our gym has JO and Excel and you will see Excel girls move to compulsories and lower level optionals (and sometimes vice versa) not to game the system but to provide better fits for them based on their skills levels and desire to increase hours (or decrease in those situations). Those gyms who game the Excel/JO dynamic are more pronounced and frequent in their tactics.

Yup. I have actually thought of that. It is what it is though I guess? Hopefully if someone took the time to figure it out that they'd also see that in seven L5 meets she only got over 32 once so hopefully they wouldn't consider her too much of a threat? Lol And so far she's gotten 34.15 and 35.00 in Bronze so I feel like that's appropriate placement. You are right though that they could find it unfair!

 

[Deleted member 18037]

This is always a hotly debated topic, right?! In @Deleted member 18037 's defense though, she has said before that it's not her idea but just the way her gym does it. And in that gym's case it's low hours.

Yep our hours are low and I really feel our gym has the girls appropriately leveled. So it's fine. If I felt my kid was leveled down for a win I wouldn't let her compete.