WAG Parents & Coaches: Mid-Season Level Move Up

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CoachMeg

Coach
We just had our first compulsory meet of the season last weekend. The girls did really well, I was actually pretty impressed! A couple falls, esp beam...but otherwise pretty good. Anyway, my main question is concerning one of our level 3s.

She's 8 years old. She got a 36.0 AA at her first meet with a lot of silly mistakes. Second highest all-around of the level 3 team (the other girl is 11 and got a 36.3 AA) and placed 3rd in her age-group. (1st on floor...with a huge .3 rebound after her back-handspring). She is the only level 3 that competed a kip in her bar routine, which she scored a 9.0. She also has a solid cartwheel on high-beam and all her tumbling. The only thing she doesn't have a lot of experience with is the table vault- but she's VERY powerful and has a lot of strength. As well as flexibility.

Right now we have our biggest gap between meets: 2 months. My question to you is, should we try moving her up to level 4? She obviously already made state at level 3 and she has all her level 4 skills. OR should we keep her as a really competitive level 3? She'd probably place high at all the rest of the meets given that she started out with a 36 and could have a decent shot at AA at state. Would this benefit the rest of her career if she got the taste of winning and scoring high? Or do you think we should give her more of a challenge at a higher level? Also...our level 4s did really well also at their first meet so while she may be one of the best in her level now, she'd probably be in the middle with the 4s.

Parents: Would you rather see your child compete at a higher level for a challenge while maybe not placing or scoring as high? Or would you rather see them compete at their normal level but score and place really high?

Coaches: Your opinion? What would you do in this situation?

Also...to the 11 year old that got .3 higher, she does not have all her level 4 skills or the bravery that this child has.

Right now I'm really leaning towards moving her up, my only concern is how she'll deal with not scoring as high or being with a group who's had more experience and practice with this level.
 
Why wasn't she a level 4 initially? If she already had the skills, why continue to train her at a level that she wasn't required to compete?

As a parent, I think I'd rather have her finish out the season as a level 3, but I say that because I also know my daughter wouldn't want to switch gears midstream - it would cause her a ton of anxiety. And if this girl is in her very first competitive season, it might be worth staying as a three where she is already proficient just so she can feel confident on that move up next season. My daughter was ready to train L4 after Xcel Bronze but the gym put her and another couple of girls on L3. Looking back, I know she would have probably scored as well at L4 as she has at L3, and I wish the gym had pushed for that instead of L3. But I wouldn't have supported a mid season move up simply because I know it would have caused confidence issues. DD is 8 as well. I think it definitely depends on the kid.
 
Parents: Would you rather see your child compete at a higher level for a challenge while maybe not placing or scoring as high? Or would you rather see them compete at their normal level but score and place really high?

Ask her. For my son, I would totally have supported a move up, and he would have welcomed it. Other children might struggle with it. But since you do have 2 months and she already has her level 4 skills, I would talk to her about it and see what she thinks. And her mom. It sounds like it would be a good move for her.
 
I'm just a parent, but you have almost exactly described my daughter. In our case, though, there is/was no mid season move up. She did continue to basically sweep L3 with small form improvements over the season and hitting mid/high 37s. Not perfect, but still eeked out high scores AA. If the coaches had, after her 36 out of the gate, invited her to move up to L4 mid season, she (and I) would have jumped on the opportunity to say goodbye to mill circle and flat-back vault and start focusing on building on the bigger L4 skills that she already had (but just needed to improve for competition). She would not have cared that she would go from best of the L3s to mid-pack L4. She knows there are girls who have been practicing L4 longer than her, including some high-scoring repeaters, and wouldn't really be phased that they would score higher than her, especially initially.

Who is to say what would have happened, but I would have valued the opportunity for her to try.

My 2 c :)
 
As a parent I would want her moved up. I would have asked for her to skip L3 altogether with the skills for L4, but that's just me. I can't see a benefit for staying in a lower, not required, level. In my head it's better to go through the lower levels as quickly as a kid can pace, realistically, and do all the skills safely. I wouldn't care about losing some edge in scoring, and neither would my DD. I would think a frank convo with the parents and the child to see how they feel about it is in order.
 
I agree ask her and her parents. Do you have one long season or two half seasons (we have both fall and spring states)? I would say if one season, and they are on board, I would want my DD moved up as several of the L3 skills (esp bars) are not seen in higher levels. I would much rather see more time spent perfecting L4 skills. If there are 2 seasons, I might consider competing L3 until fall states and assuming she continues to have success then move up to L4. Just my 2 cents as a parent of a current L3.
 
As a parent, I would want her to go to L4.
However, I think that her opinion is valuable. She may want to spend the season getting the highest scores instead of dropping down to mid-pack (or whatever it may be).
 
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I think this really is individual based on the child. Would she benefit more from a winning year or from being challenged? Every child is different. DD was in this position during xcel and she chose to be challenged. That is not necessarily what I would have chosen but it was her decision, with her coaches, and for her, it was the right one.

I think it makes a difference if this is her first year competing as well and how mature she is, etc to handle the extra challenge. She could always compete 3 to give her experience, then test out of 4 if beneficial.
 
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Ask the kids and ask the parents. Does a move up also affect her training hours/group/fees for parents? If yes, I would then leave the decision up to her parents. Does she have the opportunity for up training if she doesn't move up? If no, I would push for moving her up.
 
I actually had this talk with my daughters a few months ago. They didn't hesitate and claimed they wanted to do L4 instead of repeating L3. L3 routines are boring compared to L4. Their opinion, not mine.

And, what Gymtigermom said.
 
As a parent, I would absolutely want her to move up to 4.
As gymtigermom said, is there a big increase in hours/financial commitment that may make a difference to the parent? At our gym, the difference between 3 and 4 is pretty big, more than double the hours with spendier tuition and competition fees...
Ask the kid and parents (parents first!) :)
 
Definitely talk to the parents first. They know their DD better than anyone, and know best how she will handle the challenge of moving up and possibly not scoring as well. A very solid winning year is nothing to sneeze at, esp at 8 years old.
 
Ask her and her parents. I know my DD is one that enjoys a challenge and moving her up mid-season would work great for her. For some personalities, not scoring well at the next level might cause them confidence issues. I'm sure her parents could help you decide. But it's awesome that you are entertaining the idea!! Our gym competes 1 level for the year. It makes it difficult for the girls who wants to skip levels since it's only a very rare gymnast that they will score out.
 
Definitely talk to the parents first. They know their DD better than anyone, and know best how she will handle the challenge of moving up and possibly not scoring as well. A very solid winning year is nothing to sneeze at, esp at 8 years old.
I agree-my daughter is also an 8 year old level 3 and just scored 36 at the mock meet. At this age winning is important to her and it is keeping her confidence up. Plus she is used to her team. I'd considering scoring out of 4 and moving to 5 at the end of the season vs. A mid season move up.
 
Can she compete 3, keep up training, and score out of 4 in the spring? This is what several of our L3's are doing.
 
My kid would rather have moved up and been a mid pack L4 as opposed to "top of podium" L3. As others have stated, why stay and hang out in a non-required level just to be on top of the podium? When my dd was 8, her choice would've been to move up and work hard knowing that she will not start off on top of that podium.

Are there other circumstances?
(1) Do you have other L4's..If you move her up will she be your only L4? If so, that would be a factor. A lot of little ones would not be happy about competing alone all the time. Or will she be leaving the 11yr old as your only L3...that may make her feel guilty (which I would explain that in this sport, it's never good to make decisions about your future based on others progression....recipe for disaster)
(2) Is this kid a mentally tough kid? I mean are you asking us because you think she'd fall apart if she suddenly didn't place on the top?
(3) what are her parents like? Is it more important to them to be 1st than it is to advance? Would they fight this move?

Unless there are some major extenuating circumstances, I would move her up and have that talk with the parents STAT. Sooner they/she can prepare the better for all.
 
I should add that unless you do not have Spring States, I would consider this beginning of season....so all the more reason to move up. Is your States in December or April? That may make a big difference in the decision to move now or wait. I was assuming that you have Spring States from the comment about having 2 months til next meet.
 
Move up for the challenge, and what a great coach for really putting thought into this! My daughter has all of the level 3 skills and some 4 skills and is competing level 2. She flat out said she doesn't care about her scores and wants to "keep learning." We have gotten a bunch of excuses. I'm not happy about wasting time and lots of money on level 2 for no good reason at all other than podium placement.
 
My daughter did a mid-season move up last year. Because our coach wasn't sure how L6 would look, she started all of our new optionals at L6. When it was clear that some of our girls needed to not be competing 6, she moved a small group of them up to L7.

The gymnast was thrilled. She wasn't placing like she was at L6...not even close. But she was happy to be doing a higher level. It was a bit harder on the mother (me!). It was more fun to win! LOL If the gymnast doesn't mind taking a bit of a hit on the podium, then I say go ahead and move her up. No sense spending two years at some levels she could get through in one year...especially if she has some lofty, long term goals.
 

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