*sniff* I feel so left out. Any L4 repeaters?

[Blackie6]

I am so excited for all the new L4's joining, it is so much fun reading the posts about new girls/parents starting out and getting new skills and getting ready to compete for the first time. But, anyone here doing another L4 season? My dd was 6 and so will do another L4 season as a 7 yr old and then go right into L5 as a 7/8 yr old so we will probably be doing meets from Sept til May. Do most gymnast do a back-to-back season from L4 to L5? How hard is it?

[gym law mom]

You're a veteran now, Blackie and can give all kinds of advice. Seems like yesterday when you posted about your dd laughing her way through her 1st bar routine! Loved that story. I think you'll see a big change in your dd this season. That year of growth and just maturing a little will help her to really shine.

Our gym does a L6/7 season for selected gymnasts(usually 2nd yr. L6s). They said it was very tough since there was almost no break between the 2 seasons. They did a full L6 season, but then only 1/2 of the L7 meets. I can warn you---the parents were more than ready for that 2nd season to be over. If dd isn't quite ready, don't push the 2 seasons on her. She'll still be a young L5 come the next Sept.

[Blackie6]

LOL, I totally love that she has that awesome first meet story. I can't believe you remembered that!!!! Some how I don't feel like a "vet" yet compared to everyone else here, but the time sure does fly and I can't believe it's been a year already.

I was talking to some of the other moms last night at practice. Our DD's are the same, just turned 7, repeat L4. We would *love* if they offered us to do the L4 season and then just "train" L5 until the following year. I watched 1/2 the team go from 4 to 5 back to back this year, and I could see how hard it was for parents and children. My own dd ended up with Pneumonia right after the states and her cousin lost 2 months in the gym due to Mono so we really would rather wait. One mom even suggested to the coach we don't do as many meets as 2nd yr L4s, just the sectionals and the state to minimize the financial/stress if we had to do the L5 season, but was told we would be doing same amount of meets as last year which was about 8 (including sectionals/state). But I am excited to see how more mature and confident she will be as a repeat, we were so rushed into it last year I think we both will enjoy the experience so much more this time around.

[kristilyn73]

iIs there any reason you cant just not compete? Or only compete a meet or two?

Our gym does that, they will move some girls up at the end of a season and just compete them one or two meets to 'get their feet wet' at that level.

We also have non-competetive gymnasts. Those that dont want to compete the same level a second or third year but dont quite have the skills do to the higher lever?

Either way, Blackie - Hang in there. Take it one day at a time and trust that inner mom voice - She is the one that knows her DD and knows when its too much!

[Gymmonkeymomma]

What is the reason they want your DD to do a 2nd level 4 season? Is it because they think she is not ready for 5 or is because they want a solid level 4 team?

The Level 4 and 5 seasons overlap by a few weeks so it's possible she could have a first level 5 meet even before States. (the meet schedule is already posted on USAGNJ.com ) IMHO at this young age, that might be confusing or stressful for her. Would they take the time to train level 5 skills & routines?

Our gym so far has only done this with a Level 7 to 8 transition and it was to push the girls ahead (from their first L7 into first L8, not repeating). On the upside, they were in "competition mode" and very focused. On the downside, they did not have time to train for harder skills that would have been nice for Level 8.

[flippymonkeysmom]

She is probably going to have a blast doing level 4 again. Being a little older and having more confidence - she will do really well - which will also be really fun for you to watch. Doing back to back season is really tough though. That is a lot on the child and a lot financially for you. My dd competed level 6 this year and could have gone right into level 7 - we choose not to. She is still young and I didn't see the need for the added pressure (or cost). She did compete one meet at L7 just to get her feet wet - which was great.

I would just assess where she is at after the L4 season. If she seems really tired and burned out maybe the coaches would let her compete just a few L5 meets. As so many have said before - it's a marathon, not a sprint.

[Gymmonkeymomma]

There is a Level 5 meet at your gym in Jan 09 so that might be a good opportunity to see where your DD is for L5, if she does do another L4 season. It is a ready, set, go meet where the judges will assess each girl and critique them after the rotation. A good meet. We have been doing this one for years.

[Blackie6]

Kristilyn,

No, I won't allow her to compete unless she is ready. I saw what our previous group did at their first meet following L4 and they weren't really ready. I guess the coach threw them in just to get their feet wet and see how they would do. After that, all us stay back moms were really scared because those were our "best" L4 girls. Coach told us that she would do things a little differently w/our girls by adding more L5 skills NOW so I hope it helps. But, my DD is a creature of habit and I am not sold on how she will do L4 routines and then learn and do the L5 routines too. They have been practicing the beam stuff (dd can do the cartwheel on beam already) floor stuff (dive rolls, ROBHSBHS, front walk over, ect..) but not really the bars stuff which makes me nervous. I trust the coaches won't allow her to compete if she is not ready though.

[Blackie6]

Gymmonkey,

Our team is pretty new so the rules are changing as we are moving along. Prior to last season we didn't really have a L4, L5 or L6 team. Just what girls were left over from when the owners took over the gym about 5 yrs ago which were in the older levels. They then started focusing on re-building so last year we had a HUGE L4 team. One coach said to move all of us up to L5, but a couple were just like my DD thrown in at barely 6 and some of the 7yr olds wanted to do L4 again for maturity. We were basically the lowest scores on the team (32's-34's)not having the time to really consentrate on how well to do the skills, just getting it done and remembering the routines, LOL. I am not in a rush to push DD, I like the L4 schedule and hours just fine right now. But I wanted her to gain confidence and not feel like she did last year being rushed into it.

And breaking news........our gym is moving. We will probably not be doing as many meets as we did last year. We are only moving about 6-7 miles away, supposed to be a nicer & newer place, but a little farther "down the street" than the 1/4 mile I am used too, LOL! We are hosting a HUGE meet in Jan 09 called The Cassic For The Cure to benefit breast cancer which we are all pretty excited about, but not sure about some of the other meets. That meet we are holding in a Hotel. Maybe they will keep that Ready, Set, Go since it is so small. I worked that one last year, helped clean up the whole gym when it was over. Anyway, I am just trying to think about the L4 season right now and getting thru that again. We have a nice group of girls/parents and are pretty excited about this year now that we know what to expect.

[Blackie6]

Flippy,

Yeah, we are just trying to get thru L4 right now. I am not even stressing over the L5 stuff yet. I trust the coaches will do the right thing. They know my DD and her teamates pretty well now and I am sure they won't compete her unless she is ready. I mentioned she is a creature of habit and might need a little longer to get those new routines down after doing the L4 ones for 2 years. But, sometimes she surprises us, like doing the backwalkover on beam the other night. We think she is so little and inmature at times and then she does something that I think is way over her head. But, I have no problem just training the L5 if they allow us. My checkbook would like that I'm sure.