Parents What does it take to make the team?

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GrayCatMom

Proud Parent
I've been lurking for awhile and I can't seem to understand what it takes to make the team. My DD is 8. Been in rec classes for 2 years. Has pullover, BHC, shoot thru, almost has FHC and mill circle(needs spotting but doesn't get a lot of time in rec class to work on them). Has kick up handstand on beam, cartwheel on beam. Great RO, Back walkover, has BHS on trampoline but coach won't let her try on floor by herself w/o spotting. They moved her up to what they are calling a 'preteam' class that only meets once a week for 2 1/2 hours which I know is not enough conditioning for team. They say they will be on team and compete next season. I have her in another lower class on another day to get extra time and she takes a private lesson for more time. I see some girls on the white excel team that don't have their FHC consistently. My DD has a great attitude and the coaches say she is a hard worker. What does it take to make the team? I see girls on her that are on the excel teams that don't have FHC or mill circle. Is my gym just picky?
 
Your best bet is to talk to someone at your gym. Standards for making team are so different from gym to gym. For example, there is Xcel team vs JO team. There are also different levels within each team program. For example, some gyms want their girls competing JO level 1 or 2 while other gyms will wait to start competing until JO level 4. The skills required for each of these teams/levels is quite different. Age sometimes also plays a factor. An 8 year old at some gyms may be considered a little old to join JO team (as crazy as that sounds).

I would encourage you to speak with someone at your gym who knows what the requirements are (i.e. probably not the person at the front desk). Make sure they are aware that your DD is interested in team. If you don't get all of your questions answered or if it seems like team is not in her future at this gym, then you can think about exploring your options at other gyms. However, you might be pleasantly surprised by what you hear. It sounds like you are doing all the right things in getting your DD practice time and being supportive.

Good luck!
 
Yes, definitely talk to someone who knows the process. Sounds like they have a plan for her. By the skills set she is working on, I would think they are preparing her for L3 JO. Although, 2.5 hours a week is on a low side for a pre-team.
And don't compare to Xcel. For Xcel you don't need FHC or mill circle, bronze bars routine could be just pullover, BHC, dismount. So, if Xcel is what your DD wants, she should be able to move right up there.
 
Thanks for the replies. I've told the coaches she wants to be on the team. They said that this pre team class is to polish and get them ready. I guess I'm (and DS is more so) just frustrated that it will be another year before she can compete. Is there a limit to how many can be on a team? Another mom said they are planning on adding more time once they find another coach. Unfortunately there isn't another gym close (this one is 25 minutes and the next closest is 45 minutes). Guess we will just have to play be their rules or make the drive. Or maybe she just isn't ready for team yet...
 
Thanks for the replies. I've told the coaches she wants to be on the team. They said that this pre team class is to polish and get them ready. I guess I'm (and DS is more so) just frustrated that it will be another year before she can compete. Is there a limit to how many can be on a team? Another mom said they are planning on adding more time once they find another coach. Unfortunately there isn't another gym close (this one is 25 minutes and the next closest is 45 minutes). Guess we will just have to play be their rules or make the drive. Or maybe she just isn't ready for team yet...


Be patient. Based on her skills she would only be ready for Bronze excel (if that is what you want). Or if you are patient she will likely be on JO L3. My oldest DD is turning 8 in sept and JUST made team after being in gymnastics since she was 2 and being on pre-teams since she was 5, it takes a lot of time for form with gymnastics. This is not a race, it is a marathon :)
 
Be patient. Based on her skills she would only be ready for Bronze excel (if that is what you want). Or if you are patient she will likely be on JO L3. My oldest DD is turning 8 in sept and JUST made team after being in gymnastics since she was 2 and being on pre-teams since she was 5, it takes a lot of time for form with gymnastics. This is not a race, it is a marathon :)
Thank you, tooootsie. That puts a little more perspective on it for me.
 
It could be any number of things. Perhaps they aren't comfortable adding her this late in the pre-season, perhaps they simply don't add girls at this point (our TAAF team has April tryouts and then no more add ons until the next season), perhaps it is small things like form. It could be that they don't just want to throw her into the rigor of team practice without building her up a bit. I would definitely talk to someone who has BTDT and see what they say. You may find that she stays a year on pre-team and then does fantastic at level 3 or 4 next year!
 
Thanks for the replies. I've told the coaches she wants to be on the team. They said that this pre team class is to polish and get them ready. I guess I'm (and DS is more so) just frustrated that it will be another year before she can compete. Is there a limit to how many can be on a team? Another mom said they are planning on adding more time once they find another coach. Unfortunately there isn't another gym close (this one is 25 minutes and the next closest is 45 minutes). Guess we will just have to play be their rules or make the drive. Or maybe she just isn't ready for team yet...

There is no limit to the number of gymnasts on the team, but there is a coach to gymnast ratio limit. If they are planning to add more coaches both to team and pre-team, the things might start moving faster after that.
For now I would just wait and see, if there are no other options nearby.
 
For our gym, at 8 you are too old for JO. We start competing at L4, pre team is mostly 5 year olds, a few 6 year olds, and most of the L4 team is 7/8. For Xcel, to make the bronze team, the kids need a back walkover, a BHS, although in a few cases they let kids on without one, handstand and cartwheel on beam, handstand tree fall for vault, and a pullover, back hip circle, and sole circle on bars. Our gyms requirements seem to be very different from a lot of other gyms, so ours may just be weird.
 
For our gym, at 8 you are too old for JO. We start competing at L4, pre team is mostly 5 year olds, a few 6 year olds, and most of the L4 team is 7/8. For Xcel, to make the bronze team, the kids need a back walkover, a BHS, although in a few cases they let kids on without one, handstand and cartwheel on beam, handstand tree fall for vault, and a pullover, back hip circle, and sole circle on bars. Our gyms requirements seem to be very different from a lot of other gyms, so ours may just be weird.

8 years old is too old for JO???!! oh my!
 
Yes, at some gyms, 8 is too old to start level 3 JO. They try to stick to the minimum age for competing each level. It does make it hard to get on to team if you are a late starter. There are several older threads on CB that talk about this. Luckily, most gyms don't have this attitude, but it's really hard for parents who are just starting out to tell the difference in programs.
 
Yes, at some gyms, 8 is too old to start level 3 JO. They try to stick to the minimum age for competing each level. It does make it hard to get on to team if you are a late starter. There are several older threads on CB that talk about this. Luckily, most gyms don't have this attitude, but it's really hard for parents who are just starting out to tell the difference in programs.

My dd is 7 and is now level 3. So she would be 8 when she gets to lv4. Too old???

I see some younger kids join the team and they just don't have the mental preparedness or maturity to compete at such a young age. I'm talking about 5-6 year olds on lv2 only.
 
My dd is 7 and is now level 3. So she would be 8 when she gets to lv4. Too old???

I see some younger kids join the team and they just don't have the mental preparedness or maturity to compete at such a young age. I'm talking about 5-6 year olds on lv2 only.
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I AGREE!! I have a daughter who is turning 8 on JO3 and a daughter who is turning 6 on JO3, the owners have said that they think my 6 y/o will need to repeat because of maturity. She does have the skills. At our gym most JO3's in the past have been 9-10-11 year olds, this is the YOUNGEST they have EVER had and that is with my peanut who is turning 6, one 7 y/o, 7 eight year olds, and one 9 year old.
 
do you know if your gym has both xcel AND JO? If they only have xcel, then yes, that would be odd that your dd has all those skills and is not on team, unless her form really needs work. But if the gym has a JO track as well, then I would say just be patient. It appears that she would be on preteam for the JO track and that takes time. Some gym use their preteam year to perfect the skills needed for the first competing level. That way all they have to do is work on putting the skills in routines and all the extra time is spent training the next level up. Talk with the coach to see exactly how the gym is set up for teams. That will give you a better idea of what is going on with your dd.
 
We don't compete L3 - it is considered pre team. There are 7 girls on pre team right now. 6 of them are 6, and one is 7. There are 10 kids on L4. All of them are 7. There are 6 girls on L5 - two 7 year olds, 3 8 year olds, and 1 9 year old. Both of my kids are considered too old for JO, although they did offer to let my YDD do JO this year.
 
I was talking to a mom yesterday about moving up and she said that her DD had all the skills for L3 and was hoping to be moved mid season. I nicely told her that in my 5 years at the gym, I have seen them move 2 girls mid season for obvious reasons. Mostly they want the competing team to look super polished. To make the routines look easy, and fluid with minimum effort.....this takes time.....even with plain old handstands, it takes a long time to master a proper handstand with good form. Maybe your gym is just trying to get off to a good start by making sure the girls are ready to 'take off'. Once on the team, she will move faster but the basics are soooooo important.
Have a conversation with her coach.......8 isn't too young for JO for most gyms.
 
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I AGREE!! I have a daughter who is turning 8 on JO3 and a daughter who is turning 6 on JO3, the owners have said that they think my 6 y/o will need to repeat because of maturity. She does have the skills. At our gym most JO3's in the past have been 9-10-11 year olds, this is the YOUNGEST they have EVER had and that is with my peanut who is turning 6, one 7 y/o, 7 eight year olds, and one 9 year old.

Same here. There are very few 7 year olds competing level 3 at the gyms around here and virtually no 7 year olds competing level 4 (possibly one or two at the homeschooling gym). 8 is not too old for JO around here by any means. I think there are regional differences that influence the gym's philosophy.
 
Thanks for all the great insight! It helps to have some input from people that have experience. Our gym does both JO and Excel. Her form could probably use some work on a few things because I have noticed she doesn't quite have the snap and confidence on the beam as other girls. She keep working hard. I told her if they placed her on the team before she was ready she might place last in competitions but if they waited a year and she could nail all the routines she would do a lot better at the competitions. She said that made a lot of sense and made her feel better about not getting moved to team when they moved girls up in June.
 
Our gym typically has girls that are 7-8 year olds in L3. My dd was 8 years old when she competed L4 this past year. She was the youngest on team including the L3's this past year. At states, there were only 8 kids in her age group of 7-8 year olds. Most L4 kids are 9-10 years old.
The largest age group for L3 at states is the 8 year old age group.
 
If you can take her to a competition this fall to watch, you can see the difference a polished routine vs. one that could cook a bit more......and FYI, here in the east the largest age group for L3 is 7-8 and the largest for L4 is 910.
DD was 8 for L3 last year, and was in the second youngest sage group of 5 groups, her team mate was a younger 8 and she was with the youngest of all, some 6, more 7s and young 8s. She is now in the young L4 group and she is in the youngest age division at 9.
 

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