WAG Pros & Cons of Xcel program?

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I have a little girl that I used to coach who has now moved up to a competition team. She is a very athletic girl and is a very good gymnast. She was level 3 last year and they want her to move up to Xcel next year.

What are some of your experiences with the xcel program? good? bad?
 
Xcel is wonderful for what it was intended for - keeping girls in the gym when JO no longer suits them.

If a gymnast has dreams/goals of gymnastics beyond high school, i.e., college gymnastics, then Xcel is not the place to be. A college wants to see multiple years of level 10; that means getting thru the JO compulsory levels (in whatever manner) and doing JO optionals.
 
If the gym is calling it "moving UP" to Xcel, maybe this gym uses Xcel until the girls are ready to score out of L4 and L5 and insert them back into the JO stream.

If this is the case, then it would be a great move. She can do routines geared to HER strengths without having to do the same routine as thousands of other girls. It also allows them to upgrade skills as they get them competition ready and they can compete higher level skills on some events while competing what may not be as high on other events.
Example: Missing a kip can keep a girl out of L4.
My YG competed this past season at Xcel Gold. She has a long hang pullover (some people call it a baby giant in L5) from a jump to the high bar, but she just made her first ever kip on Thursday.
On beam, she is working on a cartwheel (L4 skill), but doesn't have it yet. She can do a handstand and a handstand-pivot turn instead. She is also working on a Front Tuck dismount off the end of the beam (L6+ skill).
On floor, she doesn't have a FHS to 2 feet (L4 skill), but she can do a beautiful FHS-Stepout to Roundoff. She can also do a front tuck (L5) and is working a RO-BT and RO-BHS-BLO (L7 skill).
On vault, she is one of the stronger girls on team at the FHS (only 2 girls between Xcel Gold and L4 have scored higher than her in vault... and both were on the Jr. High Team and are older. Most of the girls are 0.4 - 1.6 points lower ... AND they have had more practice. YG took time off and didn't vault for 3.5 months and only vaults once every couple weeks due to having to leave early every night). She would be stuck doing the Flatback for a 4th season if she didn't do Xcel.
 
Depends on your area, I think. Where we are Xcel is looked at as a strictly recreational type of team. In fact, that's exactly what our HC calls it "the rec team". There is no movement back and forth from Xcel to JO. Well, it's possible to drop from JO to Xcel, but I've never seen anyone go the other way on our team. So it depends what you're looking for. Both programs are great, in different ways. Find out how your team uses the Xcel program.
 

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