Parents Age grouping for optionals

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Crazy mom

Proud Parent
My DD will be 10 at start of optionals but turns 11 before end of season. Will she compete in an age range or with ten year old then 11 year olds. Thanks. Hope that makes sense.
 
She'll compete according to her birthdate. They'll have a range from one date to another and girls who have a birthdate that falls in that range will compete against one another.
 
It will depend on the meet. In general she'll be in one of the youngest groups. The ages range from 8-10 to 13 and under. My DD was the same age last year competing L7. . She was usually in the youngest or second youngest grouping at meets, especially if it was a large meet. But if we went to a smaller meet we would have groups of 13 and under and 14 and up. Be prepared for those younger groups to be TOUGH! They tend to be the hot shots of the gyms.
 
Meets will have an age range for optionals, just like they have for compulsories. Unless it is a very, very big meet, or her state meet, it is unlikely she will compete only against other kids her age.
 
Thanks that what I thought. In compulsorily it was almost all kids her exact age and of course she was the same age all season.
 
I'm a little worried about that too! My dd is 9 yrs old , competing level 7. I do know, in our state , for optionals, I believe the state agreed that age groups cannot be more than a 3 year difference. But there is a huge difference in finesse between a 9 yr old vs 12! I guess we'll find out:)
 
I'm a little worried about that too! My dd is 9 yrs old , competing level 7. I do know, in our state , for optionals, I believe the state agreed that age groups cannot be more than a 3 year difference. But there is a huge difference in finesse between a 9 yr old vs 12! I guess we'll find out:)

When my DD competed L7, the age range was typically 10 and under or 8-10. Your DD will do fine competing against 10 year olds. ;) And if she competes against 12 year olds, so be it.
 
I'm a little worried about that too! My dd is 9 yrs old , competing level 7. I do know, in our state , for optionals, I believe the state agreed that age groups cannot be more than a 3 year difference. But there is a huge difference in finesse between a 9 yr old vs 12! I guess we'll find out:)
You would be very surprised. I have seen lots of remarkable young gymnasts at the optional level - and we are not in a mega gym state/region. If she belongs at that level, she will be fine, regardless of age.
 
My DD was 10 for the whole season last year when she was a L7. I just looked and all of her meets, she was in either the "10 and under" group or just "10-year-old" group. So it appears that your DD will possibly move up to the next age bracket once she has her birthday. I've been told that in optionals, age groups are usually determined by what age you are for that meet. (Different from compulsories, where it seemed to be what age you were at the state meet.)
 
Ours was typically Junior A which was 12& under for most meets or 11& under. She was 8 at the time and I was really worried too. But you will be surprised by how well those little dynamos can do!
 
My DD will be 10 at start of optionals but turns 11 before end of season. Will she compete in an age range or with ten year old then 11 year olds. Thanks. Hope that makes sense.
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In our region it depends on Three things.
1. Does your region have regionals for level 7? if so then the age groups will be divided identical for regionals and state,
2. OR you have regionals and your region runs a state team session and your DD qualifies. Then she will be put in a larger age span group (meaning she qualified to be on the state team to represent at regionals going against all the other teams/kids).
3. If your region does not have regionals, then it's up to the state director, so who knows... I know in the past, (before regionals were offered) each year it was different.
 
Folks -

Once again, you are talking about two different things: competitive age and award groups in a specific meet. The USAG Rules and Policies are very clear (mostly) on competitive age of an athlete - an athlete is the age for the season based on the age they will be on the last day of the culminating meet for thier level in the season, whether that be state or regionals. Unless she is a level 9 or 10 and then her competitive age is determined using the State meet.

The age division (award group) for a specific meet will change for each meet depending on the number of athletes in that level in that meet. Some meets will specify actual birthday ranges for a division and some will just say all 9 year olds. It depends.

And it doesn't matter whether its compulsories or optionals.
 
Folks -

Once again, you are talking about two different things: competitive age and award groups in a specific meet. The USAG Rules and Policies are very clear (mostly) on competitive age of an athlete - an athlete is the age for the season based on the age they will be on the last day of the culminating meet for thier level in the season, whether that be state or regionals. Unless she is a level 9 or 10 and then her competitive age is determined using the State meet.

The age division (award group) for a specific meet will change for each meet depending on the number of athletes in that level in that meet. Some meets will specify actual birthday ranges for a division and some will just say all 9 year olds. It depends.

And it doesn't matter whether its compulsories or optionals.

I disagree with this. We have a girl on our team who competed as a L7 last year, and turned 12 the weekend of State. (In our state, L7's do not go to Regionals.) At a couple meets during the season, she was competing as an 11-year-old, and at the rest, she competed as a 12-year-old. We were told that the gym running the meet gets to decide what birthday cut-off to use. Sometimes, they opt to use the state meet date to determine the "age" the girl is for the meet, and sometimes, they use the date of the meet itself. This is for BOTH awards and competitive age.
 
Yes, we've had this discussion before. MeetDirector knows her stuff, but that's not necessarily the way all meets run. Apparently rules are being broken all over the place. ;)
 
Very interesting. I never knew that they were breaking rules by doing things that way. What reason would there be for a gym to decide to break those rules?
 
I disagree with this. We have a girl on our team who competed as a L7 last year, and turned 12 the weekend of State. (In our state, L7's do not go to Regionals.) At a couple meets during the season, she was competing as an 11-year-old, and at the rest, she competed as a 12-year-old. We were told that the gym running the meet gets to decide what birthday cut-off to use. Sometimes, they opt to use the state meet date to determine the "age" the girl is for the meet, and sometimes, they use the date of the meet itself. This is for BOTH awards and competitive age.


DD has a teammate whose birthday fell right after state 2 seasons ago, and right before state last season. So, when you look at her state meet scores it appears as though she competed as an 9 y/o in 2012 and as an 11 y/o in 2013. She never technically competed state as a 10 y/o.

I'm curious though, how do you know what the "competitive" age is for a meet? I've only ever seen the awards grouping birthdays listed. Aside from meeting the minimum age to compete, does the competitive actually matter for anything?
 
There are times when there are a lot of girls competing at a given level, and the awards grouping is not a range (ie: "12 and under" or "11-12 YO") but "11 YO" or "10 YO" or whatever. If this girl on our team was in the "11 YO" awards bracket, then she competed as an 11-year-old. NOT as a 12-year-old, as she should have, since her birthday was the weekend of state meet and she technically should have been classified as 12 years old all season.
 
Or it could be that the meet did birthday ranges and just called it something, right? maybe that is what happens in some of them?
 

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