Parents How does your gym level up? Is this typical?

[TxGymMom1]

I hope your dd will get to compete 3, whether in 3A or 3P. Our gym starts all the girls in 3A and moves them to 3P as they see that the girls are scoring high enough to be competitive for placements.

Sounds fair -- how long until yours moved from A to P?

 

[curlygirls]

Mine did 3A for 4 meets before she moved to 3P, so she spent most of the season as 3A.

 

[3rd_time_around]

Our gym doesn't have a score to go by for moving up. The philosophy is to be successful at the level you'll be competing and have fun and work hard. They take scores from previous season into consideration, but they train all summer as if they are moving up. They have until something like Oct 1 to have most or all skills for the level they are aiming to compete, or they may have to repeat their level. BUT, we haven't had a compulsory gymnast repeat a level in many years. This past season, all our levels 1-4 had no repeaters and all 4 teams were undefeated. The goal is to get OUT of compulsories as soon as the gymnast is competently able to do so. If there is any repeating, our owner would rather it be on the optional level. (They do not move girls up who aren't ready just to move them up, that's not what I'm saying. But they do not hold girls back to win state or to have high scores in compulsories because the goal is for the gymnast to excel and be on the level that fits their skills. If the team and gym also benefit, that is a bonus.).

 

[TxGymMom1]

Our gym doesn't have a score to go by for moving up. The philosophy is to be successful at the level you'll be competing and have fun and work hard. They take scores from previous season into consideration, but they train all summer as if they are moving up. They have until something like Oct 1 to have most or all skills for the level they are aiming to compete, or they may have to repeat their level. BUT, we haven't had a compulsory gymnast repeat a level in many years. This past season, all our levels 1-4 had no repeaters and all 4 teams were undefeated. The goal is to get OUT of compulsories as soon as the gymnast is competently able to do so. If there is any repeating, our owner would rather it be on the optional level. (They do not move girls up who aren't ready just to move them up, that's not what I'm saying. But they do not hold girls back to win state or to have high scores in compulsories because the goal is for the gymnast to excel and be on the level that fits their skills. If the team and gym also benefit, that is a bonus.).

Wish this gym were in Texas! Sounds like you have a good one!

 

[sevenatenine2]

Some gyms compete 3A until district. 3As don't move on to North, so they move them to 3P at district so they can have the experience of competing and getting the leotard, etc.

 

[gracyomalley]

I have kids at 2 different gyms - and we are not (thankfully for so many reasons) in Texas (ex's family there - lovely people, but not my favorite state...)

Kids move up after a successful (for them) season at previous level ( no set score) AND must be safe with new skills, ready to compete a season that would be again successful (for them). Both teams are more set on keeping kids in the sport and getting them to higher level optionals then on winning. DD moved up from L6 (old) to L7 with a high score of 34, but repeated L7 despite significantly higher scores due to her fear of L8 skills....placed consistently in 3/4 events and AA, and averaged above 9s all times - but might still be a L4 in Texas (kidding - she'd have quit ages ago...and although no rocket star, she is set to to college gym if she continues her present path...) My DSs were held back by a truely disturbed coach last year - and DS the elder did place lots - but he's got a new coach and although he only competed L5 last year he has 75% of his L8 skills now in 3 months of being allowed to up-train....

Don't know what your options are in your area - but I'd love to compare the rate of kids who start gym in Texas to those who make it to upper optionals versus other areas - obviously such a competitive system would work to get the top dogs to high levels...what about the above average hard working kiddo???

 

[TxGymMom1]

I have kids at 2 different gyms - and we are not (thankfully for so many reasons) in Texas (ex's family there - lovely people, but not my favorite state...)

Kids move up after a successful (for them) season at previous level ( no set score) AND must be safe with new skills, ready to compete a season that would be again successful (for them). Both teams are more set on keeping kids in the sport and getting them to higher level optionals then on winning. DD moved up from L6 (old) to L7 with a high score of 34, but repeated L7 despite significantly higher scores due to her fear of L8 skills....placed consistently in 3/4 events and AA, and averaged above 9s all times - but might still be a L4 in Texas (kidding - she'd have quit ages ago...and although no rocket star, she is set to to college gym if she continues her present path...) My DSs were held back by a truely disturbed coach last year - and DS the elder did place lots - but he's got a new coach and although he only competed L5 last year he has 75% of his L8 skills now in 3 months of being allowed to up-train....

Don't know what your options are in your area - but I'd love to compare the rate of kids who start gym in Texas to those who make it to upper optionals versus other areas - obviously such a competitive system would work to get the top dogs to high levels...what about the above average hard working kiddo???

I wish we even had the two-gym option that you have There are NO options within a 2-hour one-way drive.
I think your comparison idea is awesome -- but would definitely leave Texas coming out with the short end of the stick. My daughter started gym when she was 3 and has always been crazy about gymnastics -- but the idea of competing another year as a level 2 is making her think about bailing. Her statement : "Mom, I placed at every meet and almost always got all 9's ... what else do they want from me"? With a 37.5 AA score at our last meet (and similar scores the entire season)... I can't imagine what else they want. Sometimes I think its about holding kids back as long as possible ...1) to place better as a team (instead of focusing on the individual) and 2) That's another year of tuition. I'm glad your kiddos are at a better place this year Wish mine wasn't soooooo bored.

"but might still be a L4 in Texas (kidding)" -- No, that would be a level 3 at our gym.

 

[gothgymmom]

At our gym, they have to have gotten atleast 1 34 aa score for the season to be able to test to move up. if they have the scores, then for the testing they need to have all the skills for that next level. They do give out a bit of a leeway for some of the children (like the highest score my dd got all season was a 33.865, and the leeway gave her a chance to test up). Thank God! lol..also thankful that she actually has her skills needed for next level so im sure she will do awesome!

 

[cbifoja]

We don't have "rules" for leveling up. Our girls are always competition ready so we don't require any score/placement combinations. They also uptrain adequately enough that most of them have their skills by the beginning of competition season. They aren't perfect so there is room to grow but they have them and can score decently with them.

We don't move girls to a level if they can't hit the skills. So no L4 but scratch bars because you can't kip.

Most of our girls know that they will move up to the next level each year. If they aren't, the coaches have been talking to the parents way before competition season even approaches. We have 5 girls repeating and all of them already know it and have known for several weeks.

 

[mndl]

At DD's gym as long as you have the skills and do them safely/properly(not perfectly, you can move up. The coaches don't believe in holding back girls, unless they truly aren't ready to compete the next level.

 

[GymMom67]

That seems like a very odd policy. We're in Texas, too. Our gym hands out move up letters in December, so right after meet season. It doesn't even have all that much to do with how they did during the season. It has more to do with the acquisition of certain skills for the next level. For instance, they have to either have their kip, or be pretty darn close to move from 3 to 4. Of course, it usually works out that the girls who acquire those skills by the time they do move ups are also the ones who did well during the season. On my DD's team, it was pretty much the same girls who made it to South State who moved up. Our gym does very well using this method.

 

[Faith]

The only reasonable reason I can think of is if they have, or are instituting, a good uptraining policy.

So a kid training level 5 or 6 skills would compete level 4. They should be able to score well from the beginning if the season as they have had the skills for a while. Tbh, I think that's more sensible than entering a kid for l4 because they scored well at L3, even though they don't have all the l4 skills.

Obviously though, I have no idea whether this is the case at your gym!

 

[munchkin3]

Sounds like florida!

Towards the end of the season, 38s are winning.
37s get podium....

The ribbon thing is AAU and gyms here do either JO or AAU.
Some gyms do AAU L1-L3 and then switch to JO.

 

[Bajanswife]

At DD's gym as long as you have the skills and do them safely/properly(not perfectly, you can move up. The coaches don't believe in holding back girls, unless they truly aren't ready to compete the next level.

Our gym is the same.

I can understand wanting mastery of a level. What I have more trouble understanding is why everyone wants it at the START of the season (unless it's just to win - then to me that's placing too much emphasis on the wrong thing). Also, don't the girls get bored, especially in compulsories? Maybe if there are tons of meets and the kid is earning medals and trophies all the time, that may be the fun in it. For us, who only compete occasionally, you have to love the sport itself. You don't get too many medals and trophies. It's hard to love a sport where you spend hours every week doing the same things over and over in order to gain a few tenths of a point at the next meet and move up a spot or two on the podium. I know that if we focused for months on perfecting skills that the gymnasts could do in their sleep, we wouldn't have much of a team left. Our kids like to be challenged.

 

[TxGymMom1]

At DD's gym as long as you have the skills and do them safely/properly(not perfectly, you can move up. The coaches don't believe in holding back girls, unless they truly aren't ready to compete the next level.

Exactly as it should be

 

[TxGymMom1]

The only reasonable reason I can think of is if they have, or are instituting, a good uptraining policy.

So a kid training level 5 or 6 skills would compete level 4. They should be able to score well from the beginning if the season as they have had the skills for a while. Tbh, I think that's more sensible than entering a kid for l4 because they scored well at L3, even though they don't have all the l4 skills.

Obviously though, I have no idea whether this is the case at your gym!

I agree uptraining is a good idea -- however our gym has NOT been doing that -- so to be told all season long that you are moving up based on your scores in level 2 -- (my DD actually does pretty well on new skills, even though her coach JUST NOW started teaching them -- but now with just a few weeks left before JO, to be told ... you MUST get all 9's on these new skills ... is not fair. Ive no doubt my daughter can do them, and master them well enough to compete throughout the season .. but ALL 9's in just a few weeks will be a STRETCH! In an advanced class, she works on level 4 skills ... so level 2 for another entire year would bore her to tears.

 

[TxGymMom1]

That seems like a very odd policy. We're in Texas, too. Our gym hands out move up letters in December, so right after meet season. It doesn't even have all that much to do with how they did during the season. It has more to do with the acquisition of certain skills for the next level. For instance, they have to either have their kip, or be pretty darn close to move from 3 to 4. Of course, it usually works out that the girls who acquire those skills by the time they do move ups are also the ones who did well during the season. On my DD's team, it was pretty much the same girls who made it to South State who moved up. Our gym does very well using this method.

This sounds similar to the policy our gym has always had prior to this year! The kip is (or was)a big qualifier for ours moving from 3 to 4.

 

[GYM0M]

I agree uptraining is a good idea -- however our gym has NOT been doing that -- so to be told all season long that you are moving up based on your scores in level 2 -- (my DD actually does pretty well on new skills, even though her coach JUST NOW started teaching them -- but now with just a few weeks left before JO, to be told ... you MUST get all 9's on these new skills ... is not fair. Ive no doubt my daughter can do them, and master them well enough to compete throughout the season .. but ALL 9's in just a few weeks will be a STRETCH! In an advanced class, she works on level 4 skills ... so level 2 for another entire year would bore her to tears.

How many hours a week does she train? I think a significant amount would be needed to pull this off. How are the other girls fairing? The other parents?

 

[TxGymMom1]

How many hours a week does she train? I think a significant amount would be needed to pull this off. How are the other girls fairing? The other parents?

Right now 6 hours per week -- starting in 10 days it will go to 9 hours per week, plus the occasional private. Of the group, she is probably fairing the best -- but that may have something to do with her having a beam (her strongest event) -- and works on floor at home. The other parents are not happy about this sudden change in mandatory move-up scores -- most do say "if" any move up, it would probably be my DD. I just don't know though ... "if" she isn't able to move up ... I can see her throwing in the towel on team -- due to how ssslllloooowwwww her coach is to teach them anything new or allow them to work on anything --- plus he has told her more than 5 times this season that she IS moving up .... but NOW says IF you get all 9's. I should mention the team is mostly comprised of girls moved from preteam that are trying for level 2 -- so the majority of the classes are focused on getting them ready.

 

[gymratmom]

No set move up scores for our gym, very much based on each individual gymnast. My daughter did not have the highest scores on level 4, was a solid 35 and didn't score all 9s in any one meet. She is moving up with a few of her teammates and goal is to do one level 5 meet in fall and hopefully 6 in the spring. There are a few girls who will repeat level 4, some of them had higher scores than my daughter. I was honestly surprised when we got the assignments, I figured she would be in the repeating group, but I assume the coaches are looking at much more than meet scores to make the determination. She is also the youngest of her group so maybe they take that into account? We do well in meets as a team, but definitely is not a huge focus for our coaches. I think they are also in the camp of getting them to optional as soon as they are ready.