Boys gymnastics in the UK

[Flossyduck]

I can't recall seeing any posts about the boys competitive system in the UK. I have a little man in a development squad. He's too young to compete at the moment and I'm perfectly happy watching him trying really hard and gaining confidence. He's made a sudden leap in progress in the last month and has started concentrating, pointing his toes (so cute) and looking stronger. I get way more enjoyment watching him than dd - hers is high stress and hardwork, but I'd never tell either one that!

However, some of the slightly older ones just did a competition and have another coming up and I know absolutely nothing about how the system works in the UK. Is it the same as the girls, with elite grades and club grades? What age do they start competing? Do they compete all pieces or are they phased in?

For some reason the dads seem to drop the boys off and the mums the girls. I can chat to the team mums, but I don't know the dads.

I've looked on the BG website and our regional one, but there's nothing there of any use at all!

 

[Iwannabemargo]

Well when big boy did it he competed in the Novice 2 piece along with the girls. There is a different MAG stream when they get onto the apparatus. There are boys grades etc just like the girls, we have a local club with a really good Roumanian boys coach and they just competed in the nationals.

 

[Flossyduck]

There are some mixed classes who sometimes do two piece competitions I think. I've overheard comments about those on changeovers when those classes come out. His is a boys only group and I think they do compete apparatus from the start, rather than two piece. The boys who competed recently were doing little things on p bars and rings and so on, working on their own in the run up.

He definitely does a lot of apparatus work - he dangles and swings from rings and bars and sticks his feet in a bucket hanging from the ceiling to work on pommel!

I was trying to work out how old the other boys were - my guess was about 9 but one of the mums thought younger which threw me a bit as I'm totally un-prepared for the thought of ds starting to compete!

 

[homer]

Hi
I have a boy competing in the UK. Yes they do have grades like the girls and they will do either club or elite - level 1 to level 6. They start competing in the year they turn 8. Although the first grade they take is level 1 and you have to be 9 to take that. Most of the competitions are all 6 pieces - with feet in a bucket for pommel to start with!!! There are just floor and vault competitions as well, but I don't know that much about them. How old is your son?

 

[Flossyduck]

Thanks you, that's helpful. He's six, but seven in a couple of weeks.
So does that mean that even though he would turn 8 at the end of next year, he wouldn't be able to do any grades the following year because he wouldn't turn nine until the end of it. So we're actually looking at 2016?

That's fine with me. Back to relaxing and enjoying watching him have fun.

 

[homer]

No he could compete as an 8 year old from January 2014 because he is 8 during that year. He could then take his first grade the following year(2015).
He will be a bit disadvantaged to start with because he could be in the same group as a boy who has a birthday on January 1st. 10 or 11 months at that age is fairly significant. My son has a birthday in October so is usually one of the youngest.

 

[Flossyduck]

Ok I get you. That's the same as the girls system and yes, he'll be young if he ever competes. Thank you.

 

[Iwannabemargo]

The age cut off is a bummer, especially when they are younger, P&F is 10 on Sunday, but has been competing as a 10 year old all year

 

[Gymboymum]

I'm pretty new to boys gymnastics too and I don't know if all regions are the same but in ours there are 2 piece comps (floor and vault), 4 piece competitions (floor, vault, p bars and h bar) and 6 piece competitions (as 4 piece plus rings and pommel). I think the 4 piece and 6 piece are split into U10, U12, U14 and seniors.

The boys also do RAP (regional assessment plan) grades and NDP grades.
For RAP there are 4 levels and they are not age dependant (they can start these at age 6 I think). They get either a pass, merit or distinction depending on their % score and can repeat levels if needed.

NDP grades as mentioned are split according to age on 1 Jan, the first level they do in the year they are 8 on 1st Jan, level 2 when 9 and so on.... up to level 6 and there are 2 streams - club and elite.
They stay in the one stream for the year (either club or elite) but can move between club and elite between the years.
With the NDP they compete in a regional competition and the top ones go on to represent their region in the NDP National Finals for both club and elite grades for each age level.

 

[Flossyduck]

Thank you, that's really helpful. It sounds as though there might be something he could do in the next year, for experience, and a grade of some sort the year after if he's ready.

I'm not sure what the boys enter at our club, other than that they did some sort of regional one recently and it involved the equipment not just the floor and vault. I didn't want to start asking what competitions they do, in case they think I'm pushing for him to start competing. I'm not at all, and he's not ready mentally, let alone physically yet, but I would like to know how soon they might start considering him for competitions so that I'm prepared.

He still seems so little, but I have noticed he's made a lot of progress in the last month and the coaches seem to have been encouraging him to try to neaten up his toes and legs and things on some trickier stuff, like holding himself upside down in a straight shape on rings and swing to half lever hold on p bars and so on. It just made me think that things have revolved around my dd and I never really thought about ds competing but suddenly this might be sneaking up on me!