Does your gym require a move up score?

[nevertooold]

the problem with having a set score is that you inevitably will have a kid who doesn't meet it for one reason or another, that you want to move up. Then that creates problems. I think at minimum, the kids should make it to states (or be able to, if injury came into play at a critical time or something). That's barely saying anything, so in reality they should be well beyond that. I think it's better to set the criteria of being able to do the next level routines to a reasonable standard (some standards will be different than others, based on the gym).

Agreed. We need to look at multiple factors and have the ability to make exceptions. Qualifying to states is too low a bar in our area as are usag minimums. Kids hitting those minimums cannot be competitive and it is important IMO for the girls to be able to hear their name at awards.
I wonder if a score minimum would be easier for parents to understand and accept than things like body shaping issues, performing skills to a certain proficiency, etc.

Maybe it is the easy way out, but it seems easier to say "must be scoring 36's" than "must be able to put her ribs away and flatten her hips more consistently"... What I'm getting at is that if the kids are doing all the things we want and are looking for they should be scoring in a certain range anyway, right?

 

[lhmom]

1. What is the minimum move up score? There is no minimum score
2. Are other factors taken into consideration as well? The head coach takes many factors into account and doesn't base a move on scores.
3. How would you rate your gym:
Very competitive=winning is very important and usually place in the top
4. Is your current system working well for you as a parent, your daughter, or you as a coach? I think it works well, but my DD has only been competing for a year. I have felt that her coaches have her best interests at heart, so I am comfortable with it.

 

[gymnastjaiderz1106]

Well for levels 4-6 you to score an AVERAGE of 33.00...For levels 7-10 you have to get an AVERAGE of 36.00, You then have a chart with about 15 skills on each event, that you have to pass off ALL of them!! So after season you have 2 weeks to pass off 60 new skills, to move up to the next level... My gym is not a very good at all, They have 1 optional, and 10 complusories...The coaches SUCK! I am leaving that gym after state! I wanted to leave in the middle of season, but they wouldn't give us our comp. fees back.. They are unprofessional, and just kinda boring.. Its not working for me (gymnast) or my parents, or my team mates..

 

[Muddlethru]

I am not aware of any official move up score at our gym. Sadly, it appears that move ups are determined by the loudest whinger, protester, whiner etc. We had a L7 move up to L8 with a season highest all around score of 29+. She is alittle older and wanted to stay with her group. Most of her group are now moving up to L9 but she can't becaise an AA of 34.00 is required by the USAG to move up to L9. I sometimes feel bad for the HC/owner as I think she finds it hard to do her job as best as she can because she fears disappointing parents and/or losing gy,nasts if they don't get what they want.

 

[Geoffrey Taucer]

We do move ups by skills, not by scores. This is not to say they can just chuck skills and move up -- the skills have to be done to our (the coaches') satisfaction. I don't believe in using scores as a means of evaluation.

Are other factors besides skills taken into consideration? While I would love to do things solely on the basis of skills, there have been occasions where we've kept a kid back due to age/maturity even when they had the necessary skills.

How would I rate my gym? Well, just looking at this year, it varied a lot from level to level. At some levels we were consistently on top, at some levels we were in the middle, and at some levels we were in the bottom 1/2. I'd say we averaged middle or upper-middle.
But our gym was in a bit of a transitional stage this past season -- I took over as head coach shortly before the season started Levels had already been (for the most part) decided, etc. That being the case, I can't really assess where my gym is likely to fall on this spectrum in the future as I continue to mold the program. I would consider it a bit presumptuous to try to make any predictions.

 

[MaryA]

I do generally like our gym. I think the coaches are very good and I think they genuinely care about the gymnasts. But the consistancy as far as move-ups go is nonexistant and I know it makes the parents crazy (and probably many of the gymnasts too). For example, our team has never done an entire season of Level 6 before. The girls generally did level 5, beg. prep op, intermediate prep op, score out of 6, and then level 7. When I asked the coach about this last year, she said, "Level 6 is awful. Scoring is too hard. Lots of girls quit." etc. etc. So this year my DD competed level 5. In our meeting with the coaches after the season was over, we were told that if she gets her skills, she will be competing level 6 next year, and if not she'll be competing 5 (reasonable enough) and that they plan on her group spending 2 years at 6 before moving up to 7. Quite a turn around from "Level 6 is awful." In addition, in the past, girls who have scored out of level 6 at a meet during their int. prep op season have then gone on to level 7 the following year, but this year, even though 3 or 4 girls scored out of level 6 back in October, they're going to have them spend another year at Intermediate Prep Op (even though for some of them this will be their 3rd year in IPO, they all qualified for States, and did very well). They're not planning on having level 7's at all next season. 6's and 8's, but no 7's.

I think these things happen for a number of different reasons... I think the head coach is more of a "push them through" type while the assistant head coach is more "slow and steady" so they don't always see eye-to-eye about move-ups. And I do think that the parents who make the most noise DO somehow manage to get their kids at the level they want them to be at. One of the "noisy" parents had a long discussion with me at a meet about why she thought that our gym should start competing 6, and then, low and behold, all of a sudden we're competing 6. Basically, while I do believe that the decisions about who competes at what level are NOT totally random, and actually make perfect sense (to the coaches, at least) on some level, sometimes it sure seems like the coaches have a big wheel hidden in their office that they spin to decide who is competing what. Or maybe some elaborate formula where x=level they competed last year, y=highest AA score, z=how much of a stink your mom will make if you don't move up... etc. Why does the world reward the stink-makers?

 

[pihlajat]

In Finland there is a minimum move up score of 32.00 in all compulsory levels. Finnish national gymnastics organization Svoli requires that score. You are not allowed to skip any level either. You have to start from the lowest level all the same if you are 7- or 15-years-old! The gyms don't have move up scores. If you get 32.00 your coach may say that you are now ready to move up or then she may say that maybe it would be good to stay till end of the season but they don't usually require good scores. Normally if the gymnast get 32.00 it means she is quite ready to move up. In Finland it's not necessary to compete in level B till you are able to score 36! It would be just hilarious and waste of time. If the gymnast can score 36AA it's normally because the child loves winning and doesn't want move up.

I think that this system is pretty good. But for the older gymnasts it may frustrating if they have to repeat one level over an over again and compete with little kids just because they can't do a chin up pullover on high bar... Even if you already had your kip and other higher level skills. But there is no exceptions.