WAG Explain Pre-team to me please

[z2akids]

I knew I would have more questions. I was reading lots about pre-team in peoples' posts, but it seems to be used in a different way than is used in our gym.

To explain our gym -

pre-team is a non-placing competitive team with 2 levels (stars 1 and stars 2). They compete L2 and L3 routines against other local clubs. The judges are sometimes the same ones we see at USAG competitions, but there is only one judge per event and scoring is done somewhat differently (as in a girl receiving a 9.0 on bars at club level would be closer to an 8.0 at USAG level). There are ribbons based on your scores, but there are no placements, either individual or team. In general our pre-team girls are pulled from rec classes and they practice 4-5 hours a week. Their competition season starts a little later than the USAG - late January - early May. Our progression is usually Stars 1 (same as the L2 routines), Stars 2 (same as the L3 routines) then L3. They do have some movement between the club pre-team and USAG with strong gymnasts moving straight from rec to USAG or from Stars to L3, but it is less usual.

It sounds a bit like I was reading in some of the Texas threads with their A and P teams.

Anyway, I am curious what others mean when they talk about pre-team.

 

[emorymom]

In the metropolitan Atlanta area, preteam is almost always a noncompeting developmental training group that trains towards the first competitive level for that club. They usually meet more than once a week, and for clubs that start competing at L4, the highest preteam level might even go 9 or more hours. The three main distinctions are: The preteam groups will be a coordinated workout more than once a week (as opposed to just signing up for multiple, independent rec classes); the preteam groups emphasize form, where the rec groups might quickly move on to higher and more fun skills; and the preteam groups work out for 2-3 hours at a time to allow time for proper flexibility and conditioning.

 

[2gymnastand1soccerplayer]

I'm my dds gym there's two preteam groups, preteam 1 and preteam 2. Preteam 1 is for the kids who have potential to do well in the sport, most of them end of scoring out of compulsories, and compete 7 when they turn 10 ( our gym has a policy you have to be at least 10 to compete 7)and move on from there. Preteam 2 is for the kids that are not ready for team, but to advanced for rec

 

[z2akids]

I'm my dds gym there's two preteam groups, preteam 1 and preteam 2. Preteam 1 is for the kids who have potential to do well in the sport, most of them end of scoring out of compulsories, and compete 7 when they turn 10 ( our gym has a policy you have to be at least 10 to compete 7)and move on from there. Preteam 2 is for the kids that are not ready for team, but to advanced for rec

So, your kids don't actually do much competing until L7? Do you feel that that hinders them when they do begin competing?

So, do the Preteam 2 kids wind up competing or is preteam just a way to help them stay in the sport? Do they ultimately compete?

 

[Committed]

Our gym has 3 pre teams (TOPS, younger, older)
The TOPS girls have 2 practices, 2x a week + an hour of conditioning 1x a week.
The older/younger groups just do 2 practices 2x a week.

None of these groups do meets and they are training for L3. A few will skip L3 (generally the Pre-TOPS and an occasional 'regular' pre team girl) and go straight to L4.

 

[2gymnastand1soccerplayer]

The kids in preteam 1 do compete but just not the same amount as the regular level team girls, they do 4-5 meets a year at level 3 or 4, where as our regular team girls do 8-10 depending on the level. Preteam 2 do compete as well but just level 1 and 2 they do 5 meets a year.

 

[z2akids]

Those who have pre-teams that compete - are your girls competing in USAG meets or is it more like our pre-teams that do club level competitions? Would they go to the same meets as the actual teams?

 

[Moxiegrl83]

Those who have pre-teams that compete - are your girls competing in USAG meets or is it more like our pre-teams that do club level competitions? Would they go to the same meets as the actual teams?

Yes they compete USAG and do the same meets as the team. Mine competed 2 last year, was considered pre-team, and had a blast. They do a lot of up training though, and focus more on the skills then routines unless a meet is right around the corner.

 

[mndl]

At our gym pre-team is training to compete new level 3, they go 6 hours a week. They learn the level 3 routines/skills plus lots of conditioning. There are also 2 lower devolpmental groups, one goes 2 1/2 hours a week and the other 3 hours a week.

 

[3rd_time_around]

Pre-team means before team. They only take a handful of girls for this level, like 8-16 max. They have potential to be on team, but aren't quite there yet. They train a year usually, 3-4 hours a week split into 2 days. They wouldn't be on pre-team if the coach didn't think they were good enough to go right to team. Some go to Lvl 1, Lvl 2 or Lvl 3 (depending on skill and age), and they don't have to try out after a year of training pre-team, they are just put on team by the coach's recommendation according to their abilities. They never compete until they are actually on the team.

 

[BlairBob]

We used to call "Pre-Team" L1-3 before the Level switch and competing these levels became more popular. Technically only L1/2 might be called Pre-Team these days and even that is ambigious because you'll L1&2 competed intra-city or inside the gym at small meets or non-sanctioned meets.

Sometimes it's used mainly as a transitionary program to get parents and kids used to the rigors of increased hours and being part of the Booster club and all that entails (basically volunteering at any hosted meets and fundraising like crab and spaghetti feeds, candy sales, script, car washes, etc).

 

[2gymkids]

Pre-team means before team. They only take a handful of girls for this level, like 8-16 max. They have potential to be on team, but aren't quite there yet. They train a year usually, 3-4 hours a week split into 2 days. They wouldn't be on pre-team if the coach didn't think they were good enough to go right to team. Some go to Lvl 1, Lvl 2 or Lvl 3 (depending on skill and age), and they don't have to try out after a year of training pre-team, they are just put on team by the coach's recommendation according to their abilities. They never compete until they are actually on the team.

This is how it works at our gym, too. Could be a year or two at this level. This year the pre-team group went three hours a week but I think that will increase next year.

 

[Becauseisaid]

What @BlairBob said.

Our pre-team prepares girls for team. The girls get used to longer training times and being expected to be more focused during those classes. We host 3 meets a year and they compete non-sanctioned during those meets. This prepares them (and their parents) for how a meet works and how to behave. Because it's non-sanctioned, the scores do tend to be higher since the judges are more gentle with the kids. Since the level changes, our pre-teams have changed to the L1/L2 (as our L3 was already competing) levels. Actually, next year even our L2s will travel and compete sanctioned. As someone on here has said before (@bogwoppit ?), this is where the heat starts getting turned up under our soon-to-be-boiled frog.

I LOVED our non-sanctioned meets when DD was pre-team. Until she started real competitions, I didn't realize how much the girls and us parents learned about how to act during those meets.

 

[mobeans]

Preteam at DD's gym means L1. They have two meets during the year that are in-house and are more like exhibitions that true judging. It is good for them to get a taste of competition as our gym competes beginning at L2

Edited to add: The hours for pre-team are two days a week, two hours per practice = 4 hours a week.