Parents Age brackets

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Flicfliclay

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My daughter is a first year optional level 7. She just turned 9. Her first two meets there has been no age brackets and the youngest competing by two years age 11 was the next youngest girls.. Is this something that is common? Should I get used to it! lol it just seems odd for a 9 year old to be up against girls as old as 16 +.. she still did well, but by far would have been 1st place on most events and AA if placed into age brackets.
 
It all depends on the numbers. If there aren't enough gymnasts to justify age groups, they they compete all together. When YG was 10, she was regularly competing against 18 year olds. She was the youngest in Xcel Gold by 3 years… and there were very few 13 year olds then, so at meets where they did age groups, it was 14 and under and 15 and over.

In our most recent meet, there was a 9 year old Level 8 competing against all the other Level 8s. All the other girls were 13-17.
 
You might find at some bigger meets the younger girls scoring higher than older girls if they are talented and coming from elite gyms.
Oh yes absolutely! My daughter faired very well against older girls. I just wasn't sure if it's common for this to happen. In compulsory there were sometimes only 2-3 in an age group yet they still were in a bracket.. just was curious.
 
It is all about the numbers - number of athletes in a given level and number of dollars the meet wants to spend on awards. I have seen age groups anywhere from 20 to less than 10. I personally prefer about 12 athletes in an award group. Notice, I do not call them age groups; I do not divide groups based on specific age, rather I divide based on birthday range just the way the regionals and nationals are divided. I then give the resulting groups a name not involving a specific age.

Good Luck.
 
It is all about the numbers - number of athletes in a given level and number of dollars the meet wants to spend on awards. I have seen age groups anywhere from 20 to less than 10. I personally prefer about 12 athletes in an award group. Notice, I do not call them age groups; I do not divide groups based on specific age, rather I divide based on birthday range just the way the regionals and nationals are divided. I then give the resulting groups a name not involving a specific age.

Good Luck.
I understand that completely :)
 
It is all about the numbers - number of athletes in a given level and number of dollars the meet wants to spend on awards. I have seen age groups anywhere from 20 to less than 10. I personally prefer about 12 athletes in an award group. Notice, I do not call them age groups; I do not divide groups based on specific age, rather I divide based on birthday range just the way the regionals and nationals are divided. I then give the resulting groups a name not involving a specific age.

Good Luck.
We have recently moved to this to even out the award groups... At the higher levels, sometimes junior and senior will have the natural break based on age like 14 & under, 15 & over, but not always... Then a level has 12 scratches, unevenly distributed and your 3 groups of 12 become a group of 12, a group of 4, and a group of 9.
 
I can see the reasoning behind it for sure. I guess it was a little odd because I was so used to seeing smaller age/birthdate brackets. This was her first season as an optional so it was odd seeing her compete against such older girls. I'm guessing we will see more of it in the future and now am informed as to the why's which is nice to know!! As a parent trying to figure the ins and outs of the sport it's nice going in informed! I thank you for you kind response for sure!!
 
It is all about the numbers - number of athletes in a given level and number of dollars the meet wants to spend on awards. I have seen age groups anywhere from 20 to less than 10. I personally prefer about 12 athletes in an award group. Notice, I do not call them age groups; I do not divide groups based on specific age, rather I divide based on birthday range just the way the regionals and nationals are divided. I then give the resulting groups a name not involving a specific age.

Good Luck.
Age divisions! I wish I could change my header! Now I know they aren't "brackets" lol! I learned more from you today!! ( read in another post ) thank you!!
 
Oh yes! Since L6 my DD has competed with kids at least 2 years older (always the youngest). Even regionals last year was almost a 2 year gap (L8). This year L9 her first meet 5 year gap! 5 years!!!!!!!!!! So yes buckle in and get used to it!
 
Yeah we've been in two back to back meets with open/all age divisions.. but can't change it, so will just tell my daughter donthe best you can and have fun!!
 
My DD is fairly young for her level and since she started has been competing against kids 2 years older than her. Now at 10 it isn't as bad as it was when she was 7 against 9 and 10/11 year olds, but we just figure that is how it goes. Honestly now she doesn't even worry about who is in what group- she really just goes into each meet focusing on hitting her events and doing her best. :) The rest will work itself out. ;)
 
When DD competed L8, as an 8 year old, she was the youngest in her award group by 7 years. (Ok, so she turned 9 the next day, but I left it at 8 for a more dramatic effect.)
Ha ha! That's a huge difference! Crazy that all the girls were 15 or 16 years old! I leave out decades when I talk about my age
 
Newbie question with the opposite - older girl (9) just (hopefully) starting team lvl 3 in the fall (in preteam now). What are typical age divisions in level 3?
 
Again, this will be highly meet dependent because some gyms have a lot of younger girls and some a lot of older girls, and some meets have larger divisions than others. For an example, though, our gyms last level 3 competition had these: 8A and under, 8B, 9A, 9B-10A, and 10B and up. There were about 20 girls in each division.
 
Again, this will be highly meet dependent because some gyms have a lot of younger girls and some a lot of older girls, and some meets have larger divisions than others. For an example, though, our gyms last level 3 competition had these: 8A and under, 8B, 9A, 9B-10A, and 10B and up. There were about 20 girls in each division.

That make sense, thank you!
 

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