level "hopping" at meets!!

[Tumblequeensmom]

My DD's gym is hosting their very first meet in the next 2 weeks. . . I was reviewing the rosters of the participating gyms and noticed that TWO of the girls at her level (5) have recently completed a meet as Level 6's. They both also qualified their the L6 state meet at this competition. My question is.... WHY are they competing as L5's at our meet and is this even allowed? If it's not violating any rules, then at the very least it just seems unethical. And yes, we are having a session for L6's as well! I'm a bit perturbed by this!

-Lynn

[Geoffrey Taucer]

I'm pretty sure that once they've gotten the qualifying score at L6 at a USAG sanctioned meet, they aren't allowed to move back down to L5.

I could be wrong about that, though.

[flpflp7]

I'm pretty sure this isn't allowed & you're right it's definitely unethical. I would start by calling the gym that these girls compete with & ask them if they meant to put them in level 5. Maybe it was just a mistake filling out paper work.

[hammy]

They can switch levels as long as they haven't competed at a state meet. Once they've competed at a state meet there is no going back to the previous level unless a special petition is made (say for injury purposes and things like that). It truly is unetical (from a personal standpoint), but many gyms will do it just so that they can win.

[Tumblequeensmom]

Thanks everyone!

I think that is just terrible that they are scoring high in L6 and now they're going to switch back to L5 just to try to win our small home meet! So even if it's allowed by the rules, it's just not right!

Thanks again!

-Lynn

[lannamavity]

Coaches may want to have their athletes compete at a different level to see what they would score. Really nothing wrong with it.

The best gymnasts in a level are the ones who show up at the State Meet...period. Second year, third year, fourth...doesn't matter.

It's the world we live in. It's very "Southern California."

[Tumblequeensmom]

Hi everyone!

The update on the L6 girls competing as L5 is this: They competed as L6's after all! Our meet director did call the owner of the other gym and 1 week before the meet we got the word that they would compete as Level 6's after all. Don't know whether it was a mix up in paper work, or what, but we all thought that was the right thing to do!

On the more disappointing side, DD did not do so well at the meet. Granted, she was up at the crack of dawn and helped work the first session, and then competed the second. I dont' understand... she started off the year with a 34 something at her very first L5 meet, then at her next (sectional) meet scored a 35.6 in January. And it's been kind of a slow downhill ride since then. I guess I need to ask her coach what she thinks is going on....

She's disappointed and told me she did "horrible" yesterday. Her AA was 32.9. I don't understand.

Any ideas?

-Lynn

[hammy]

I'm glad to see that the girls ended up competing level 6. Like someone else said, a lot of kids will try a level just to see how they do. As far as your daughter's scores at the meet, perhaps she just had a bad day--everyone is entitled to a bad day. The best thing to do is make sure the kids are having fun, and to learn from the experience. When I ask my kids how their meet went, the first thing i want to hear is "I made this...or I improved on this," not "I won this...I scored this..." Gymnastics to me personally isn't necessarily always about scoring the highest score, but doing your best at the given time. Being that she was up at the crack of dawn and helped work the first session was most likely a factor weighing in on her scores. Any time I'd have a rough meet my coach would remind me "Hey, even Shannon Miller falls off beam sometimes."

[lannamavity]

Quote:
Originally Posted by hammy I'm glad to see that the girls ended up competing level 6. Like someone else said, a lot of kids will try a level just to see how they do. As far as your daughter's scores at the meet, perhaps she just had a bad day--everyone is entitled to a bad day. The best thing to do is make sure the kids are having fun, and to learn from the experience. When I ask my kids how their meet went, the first thing i want to hear is "I made this...or I improved on this," not "I won this...I scored this..." Gymnastics to me personally isn't necessarily always about scoring the highest score, but doing your best at the given time. Being that she was up at the crack of dawn and helped work the first session was most likely a factor weighing in on her scores. Any time I'd have a rough meet my coach would remind me "Hey, even Shannon Miller falls off beam sometimes."

Sadly, no one remembers who Shannon Miller is anymore.

How about "Shawn Johnson falls off the beam...a lot, actually..."

[hammy]

This is true lannamavity--my coach made that reference for me because I grew up with her. You're right--girls today would relate better to Shawn Johnson or Nastia Luikin.