Parents Moving from USAG optional levels to USAIGC

[Smartiegirl]

Has anyone ever had experience moving from USAG Lev 7+ to USAIGC? My daughter has had a back injury in the past and I'm considering the option to move her to USAIGC (gold?) so she trains less hours a week. Training Lev 8 Yurchenchos BHS BHS etc 20 hours a week in the summer just seems to be too much. I was thinking the reduction in training hours might allow her time to explore other sports as she enters high school, while allowing her to do enjoy gym longer and hopefully pain free. I would love to hear any comments good or bad.

 

[raenndrops]

It might be a good idea since USAIGC doesn't allow 20 hours of training a week.

But would it be possible to stay in USAG and just stay L7 (back issues would be a legit reason not to move any higher).

 

[Smartiegirl]

I guess I'm thinking there might be more flexibility in skills in USAIGC... however, I really know very little about that program. She wants to train new skills, she told me she wants to continue to compete, and she was a strong 7, bars are very strong. Keeping her at 7 at current gym wont reduce the hours. All USAG girls must train the AA at the gym she is at. I know this is a weird question with these facts, but none of these girls are going to the Olympics and the training is very hard on her body. For some reason I think there is flexibility in USAIGC? I noticed when I looked at state scores that gymnasts seem to scratch events more?

 

[GymnastJoy]

One of my friend's dd competes USAIGC for a similar reason (chronic injury) and loves it. She was also a strong level 7 and transitioned into Gold. I've seen her meet videos and her routines are identical to level 8. She's solid on all events. You may be seeing scratches at States due to lack of skills on that event (flipping vault) or because you can compete different levels of skills for different events. Personally, I don't know the rules, but there are girls who compete Gold but platinum on bars, for instance. May be a good fit long-term for your daughter.

 

[Smartiegirl]

Thanks Joy I was thinking that my daughter might be a Gold with a platinum bars. I think I'll call around and see how many hours of training a week local USAIGC gyms do for Gold. Our gym doesn't have a USAIGC team

 

[MILgymFAM]

One of the great things about usaigc is the flexibility. She could be different levels on different events or even compete the AA in one level and be an event specialist in a higher level at the same time. You should look into the hours though. The gym we came from had usaigc golds train 19.5 hours a week, just skirting the rules, so there may not be as much of a drop as you think.

 

[Gymmonkeymomma]

Not sure how many hours our USAIGC girls train but several former USAG girls have switched over (from level 7/8/9) in the past couple of years and I hear from parents they are happy with the less rigid schedule and at high school age, they have more flexibility to enjoy life outside of gym. My own girls both did USAIGC but in their younger years. They liked it alot.

 

[MaryA]

Just wanted to let you know we're in a similar situation. DD is starting HS in the fall and we "made" her switch from level 8 to Xcel Diamond for multiple reasons including (but not limited to) chronic back pain and wanting her to have a chance to explore other activities. We told her to try it for a year and if she really misses JO we'll let her go back, but I think that's a hard decision to make from "inside" the sport where all you know, and all you have known for as long as you can remember, is school-gymnastics-homework-sleep-repeat. Our gym doesn't compete USAGIC so I can't answer questions about that, but if you want to chat/vent/commiserate about making the decision to back off in a sport that is ultra-focussed on pushing forward, please feel free to "conversation" me.