I realize this topic has been covered repeatedly (I've even asked this question about a year ago!), but I'm still going to solicit some advice from the more experienced parents on this board. DD (9) is doing Xcel, and when she started a year ago she was very clear to me that she hoped to eventually move to JO. We are at a very competitive, high hours gym where they do not move kids from Xcel to JO, but last year she was new to all of it (came from the 1 hour rec class), and was very middle of the pack, so I didn't see her as ever heading down the JO path. Somewhere along the line things have really clicked for her and she had improved tremendously both with form and skills. I'm well aware that she is not the most talented kid in the gym- I'm not envisioning future scholarships or great accolades in the sport, but she is a very hard-working, very determined, and very physically strong kid who has quickly improved to the point that she feels held back by the slower pace and lower hours of the Xcel program.
At 9 our gym won't move her to JO. It would be so much easier to leave her in this Xcel program, but I have no idea if that's the right path. How the heck do you know? I feel like if she really had the talent then our gym would have picked that out and tracked her to JO (they don't seem to ever after age 7). She loves her team, her coaches, and this gym, but has been very clear that she'll move in a heartbeat to find a JO program that will work for her ("I want to do more hours, and I want to work on harder skills"). Advice?
At 9 our gym won't move her to JO. It would be so much easier to leave her in this Xcel program, but I have no idea if that's the right path. How the heck do you know? I feel like if she really had the talent then our gym would have picked that out and tracked her to JO (they don't seem to ever after age 7). She loves her team, her coaches, and this gym, but has been very clear that she'll move in a heartbeat to find a JO program that will work for her ("I want to do more hours, and I want to work on harder skills"). Advice?