Age question

Gymnasticsgirl521 · 05-23-2008, 04:18 PM

I am totally confused. I have been told for the past half of the year that DD would not be able to compete till 2009-2010 season. That she was too young to actually compete with the rest of her peers. Well I was just notified that DD will be able to compete come Jan 2009 since she will turn 6 in that year. Has anyone heard this? It was always explained to me that she had to be 6 before states. Well she misses that cut off by like 10 days. So now they are telling me that the year she turns 6 is when she can compete. So if that is right they are planning on her starting in Jan competing her Level 4's.

As you can tell my head is spinning. This was susposed to be a training year for her with level 4 and she would start competing the following season as a Level 5 for her first year. So now that plan has been thrown out the window and the new plan is on the table. Can anyone help me with all this???

Blackie6 · 05-23-2008, 05:44 PM

LOL, same thing happened to my DD last year when she went to team at 6. We were told that she probably would not compete until this year Sept (2008). I figured she had plenty of time to get used to the routines and I had plenty of time to save up some money. About July they started routines and I was told to get the warm-up and leo she was "go" for September. I'm in NJ and also don't know the "rules" about age, but she competed as a 6 and was still six for states in January and competed w/that group even though it was very small as most of the 6's had turned 7.

Get your checkbook ready and start thinking competiton! I'm sure her coaches will make sure she is ready, try not to worry. When I look back now, even though her scores were low (31's 32's), she learned alot just getting comfortable in front of people so it was all good. Good Luck!

mariposamama · 05-23-2008, 07:14 PM

I am pretty sure you just have to be 6 by the day of the competition. My DD turns 6 in July of this year and she will be competing L4. Their first competition is the end of Sept.

The states thing is the age determination, I think. They compete in the age division (the whole season) that they will be at states, so if states is in December and you turn 7 right before that, you compete in the 7 yo age group the whole year, even if you are only 6. (Don't quote me, but that is what I remember reading somewhere.)

One of the girls that moved up with my DD won't be 6 till the end of October, so she can't compete in the first competition of the season since it is in September and she won't be 6 yet.

Was that clear as mud?

It could also be a state thing, but I am pretty sure USAG rules are they have to be 6 (or whatever the age cutoff is 6 for L4, 7 for L5, etc) on the day of the competition. Otherwise girls with birthdays at the end of the calendar year could compete before the minimum age.

Here are the USAG rules. Maybe AAU rules are different. Not sure what your gym competes.

:: USA Gymnastics ::

Gymnasticsgirl521 · 05-23-2008, 07:26 PM

They way they explained it to me was she will turn 6 in 2009, so she would be able to compete Jan 2009 regardless of the birthdate. They are going to show me in the rules how it works. I am still scratching my head. She wont be 6 till May 2009 but the way it was explained to me is regardless if she turned 6 Dec 31 2009 she would still be a 2009 birth day and could compete. Can you tell I am so confused. I am ready with my check book and DD is ready. She still needs to get two elements on bars but other than that she is ready. I was just shocked when she told me this. So if this is accurate then we will miss the first two meets of the season and then be with the rest. So then she will finish the entire season before she is 6. I hope that makes sense how it was explained to me.

mariposamama · 05-23-2008, 07:36 PM

If it is USAG, I am pretty sure they are wrong. The rules clearly state they must have reached their 6th birthday to compete L4.

If it is AAU, I have no idea, but am pretty sure AAU follows USAG for the age limits

Maybe you should ask in the coaches area? They might know.

Also listing what state you are in might help as I think different states follow a little different rules for AAU, if it i AAU.

Ingymmom · 05-23-2008, 07:48 PM

Your dd would definately need to actually reach her 6th b-day before she can compete L4. I know of many gymmies that were ready but still had to wait until the day their b-day came before they could compete - it is a very strict rule... same thing for L5, she will have to reach her 7th b-day prior to competing. After that the age groups are somewhat more leniant. Next age minimum is 8 yrs old to compete L8, 9 to compete L9.

Now, an exhibition of some sort may not be out of the question...

Panda-girl's Mom · 05-23-2008, 11:00 PM

I know one girl on our team did not turn 6 until January, she had to sit out the first few meets but was able to compete after her birthday. It turned out that she did great got one of the higher scores when she competed. I think when the new year comes if your daughter's birthday is before states they compete in the next age level. My daughter started competing as a 7 year old and after January she was in the 8 year old level although she did not turn 8 until March.

Aussie_coach · 05-23-2008, 11:29 PM

Perhpas they are planning on lying about her age, that does happen.

Gymnasticsgirl521 · 05-24-2008, 05:36 AM


Quote:
Originally Posted by Aussie_coach Perhpas they are planning on lying about her age, that does happen.

I wont allow that to happen. I am a very forthcoming person and I would NEVER want them to lie just so she can compete. I swear this all has my head spinning. I don't want to tell DD that she is going to be competing and it turn out that she is going to be heart broken. I know the gym had to go through this with one other gymnast like 7 years ago. I just hate hearing two different conflicting plans. I like to have a plan and follow it. Of course one plan is from her coach and the other is from the gym owner. Her team mates were all happy when they heard that she could compete with them. She has been the "special case" in her group and I hate to say the "HOT TOPIC" of the gym with most of the people. I hate hearing rumors about what is going on with her. Some of them were doozies too. Like I said I refuse to lie about anything for her. I don't want anything to cause her problems later or get her in trouble.

Livinatthegym · 05-24-2008, 08:07 AM

Yep, the child must be 6 years old before she sets foot on the competition floor. Gyms/coaches sometimes put a younger one out there and then try to "plead ignorant" if caught.

The gym wouldn't ask you to lie. They'd do it for you.

USAG is pretty strict about this. As the sport pushes for younger and younger girls, they have to cover themselves--a lot of the training can have some negative long-term affects if begun in a very young child.