WAG Competing age..?

[SurpriseGymMom]

I haven't asked dds coaches, but I did ask some of the more experienced gym parents. I tried searching here but couldn't find an answer. Because some of the other parents do higher level TOPs, I think the answers might have been different.
Dd has a June birthday. Our competition season runs from January to April. Some parents have said she will be competing as a 10yo, some have said as a 9yo. She will be 9 for the entire season, but will turn 10 during 2014. Is there a cutoff date? Obviously it would probably be to her advantage especially as a first timer to compete against other 9yos rather than with 10yos... So where would I find the info? The USAG website has so much info to weed through I thought it smarter to search here but then I couldn't come up with an answer using the keywords I did.
Sorry for the probably really stupid newbie question. I know it will sort itself out before season but I am curious and don't want to bug the coaches with a silly question like that, they hae enough on their hands. thanks!

 

[gymmomtoo]

If she has a June birthday, then she will be competing as a 9 yr old for the season.

 

[SurpriseGymMom]

Thank you!

 

[GymMom67]

Is she compulsory or optional? At our compulsory meets, the host gym splits the girls up. We'll have Jr. A, B, and C, and Sr. A and B, but the girls aren't always in the same group at each meet. They'll say, if your birthday is between this date and this date, then this is your group. I guess they do it according to how many girls are signed up for that meet.

 

[SurpriseGymMom]

She's compulsory, new L4. One of the parents did say that, if there were tons and tons of kids in one or more age groups it could be split up according to birthdate. I was just confused as some parents said she'll need to compete as a 10yo since she will turn 10 during 2014.

 

[gymmomtoo]

I can't say about the rest of the country (obviously), but most meets around here have compulsories broken up by age--like 7-9 yrs, 10-11 yrs, 12+ yrs. If it's something like that, then she will be considered a 9 yr old. A meet that has a huge group of say, 9 yr olds, might break it up by birthdate, but I don't think it happens all that often.

But that's just my own experience. I'm not pretending to be an expert on everything

 

[roll123]

Our state does it that they compete the entire season based on their age at states. Currently my daughter is 8 and her b-day is June. Our states are in April so se will compete the entire season as an 8yo.
We did Go to a meet in a different state and they broke it up by birth because her friends b-day is in May and they were in different groups (but that has only happened to us once!)

 

[gymgal]

She will be listed as a 9 yr old but it will depend on the meet as to who she will compete against. If you are at a very big meet (multiple sessions per level), she will likely compete against only 9 yr olds but if it's a very small meet, the ages will be combined and you won't know until you get there what the ranges are. We have seen every combo out there: 8u, 6-10, 9-11, 9/10. We have even seen 12U and 12+ as break offs at really small meets.

In reality, it doesn't matter much. It's the luck of the draw in terms of who is at the meet. I used to drive myself crazy trying to figure it all out - and I still tend to do it at state meet. Can't help it. But in general, for in season meets, I go by the "it is what it is" mentality. If the grouping doesn't work for her this time, it's fine because there will be other meets where it will.

Btw, the way age is determined is the age of the child at the last meet of the season. For compulsory, that would be state meet. I believe they are technically supposed to compete that age the whole season (for instance, if you turn 9 two weeks before state meet, you compete as a 9 yr old the whole season) but I have been at meets where they use the child's actual age the day of each meet.

 

[thefellowsmom]

You mentioned that some of the parents you talked to have kids that do TOPS. In tops, you compete at the age you will be turning that year. So, if your dd were doing tops she would be a 10 year old.

But, for JO compulsory comps it varies a little by state. Some have the kids compete at whatever age they are at state, some by what there birthday is at the date of the meet. If your dd's birthday is in June, either way she will compete as a nine year old.

Around here, the groups are generally clumped by birthdate range. Some meets they will be JR A, some Ch C etc all depending on where her birthday falls. Sometimes she will be at the older range of the group and competing with kids who are seven when she was eight and sometimes she is with kids that are 9, but if you look at it the age groups are broken down in even birthday ranges so the kids are all within six months of each other or so.

Seems to work out well and fair. If you are looking for the rules for your specific situation I would start at your state usag site and look for the rules or handbook or something like that.

Good luck to your dd this season!

 

[JBS]

Is there a cutoff date?

Depends on your state.

Our state does it that they compete the entire season based on their age at states.

This is what we do.

 

[gymdog]

It depends on the meet, but traditionally their age at states will determine their placement. Big meets usually just basically list the birthdates and make even cutoffs, so that could potentially put her with 10 year olds, but most likely not with a June birthday. In a smaller meet, she could be in a group of 9-11 year olds.

 

[momofthreegirls]

In our state (PA), it's based on age as of the state meet. Our state meet this competitive season is in May, so however old a gymnast will be on 5/3/14 determines their age group for the entire season (November through May).

Every meet we've ever been at has used actual age numbers - for example: 8 and under, 9, 10, 11, 12+ for the awards categories. However, my friend lives two states away from here, and they never use numbers, they use Junior A, Junior B, Junior C, Senior A, Senior B, Senior C etc.

There were usually so many girls in my DD's category (8 year old as an old L4) that they did 8JR and 8SR categories.