Is there an age limit for USAG?

[GymDot2x]

I was always under the impression that 18 was the cutoff, but I was reading a post on here that said there is no age limit. Is this true?

 

[cher062]

I'm only a mom that trys to keep informed but I believe there are minimum age limits for levels but no maximum. I'm sure one of the coaches here will know for sure.

 

[Deleted member D3987]

yes, minimum for when you enter competition. no maximums though.

 

[Tumblequeensmom]

One of our local high school stars from the 2009-2010 season who is away at college. she is either 19 or 20 now. But came back to participate in the L9 state meet and qualified to regionals! She didn't compete at regionals, it was the same time as college finals.

 

[10.0]

There is no rule in the book as far as a age max. The issue is a lot of gyms have problems with their insurance companies either unwilling to insure or only for a large cost people over 18 which has honestly never made sense to me as an 18 year old can legally consent to possible injury/death while it is a minors parent who does for for a kid. Although some gyms do allow adults and even have adult classes and some allow adults to compete as well.

The other issue is while a returning 19/20 year old level 9 might be welcomed back onto the competition floor a brand new 18 year old competing as a level 4 might not be as much, not that that is right but there really is no age division for that and I don't know if you would be alone or competing against 12 year olds. I really like the AAU system a lot better for older people who wish to compete as they have actual divisions specifically for that.

 

[cher062]

The other part of that is once femal gymnasts hit their 20's most female gymnast are usually done with maybe the exception of college gymnastics. You don't see too many older gymnasts competing.

 

[Tumblequeensmom]

AND.... gymnastics training takes up a LOT of time to be competitive at the higher levels. Not many women going into their 20's want to spend that amount of time in a gym.

 

[cher062]

Not many women going into their 20's want to spend that amount of time in a gym.

Ok seriously how many of us want to spend time at the workout club never mind gymnastics LOL. I know its a struggle for me to drag my sorry bones and work out LOL - I don't know how my DD loves practice so much. It must be a random gene that got active.

 

[Tumblequeensmom]

Ok seriously how many of us want to spend time at the workout club never mind gymnastics LOL. I know its a struggle for me to drag my sorry bones and work out LOL

Aint that the truth?!?

 

[virginiacoach]

There is no age limit. We actually have a gymnast who will be a level ten for us next year who just turned twenty...

 

[cher062]

Our gym has a 30 yo in a rec class - didn't even know this until the recital day and she was there showing off her stuff.

 

[gymdog]

One of our local high school stars from the 2009-2010 season who is away at college. she is either 19 or 20 now. But came back to participate in the L9 state meet and qualified to regionals! She didn't compete at regionals, it was the same time as college finals.

18 at the time, technically. Same age as many of the high school seniors, just a couple months older. There are always 18 year olds competing in L9 and 10 since there are a fair amount of seniors in high school at these levels. Unless there is someone else too that I'm not thinking of. Based on virginiacoach's reply I suppose there must be. I can think of another girl who will be out of high school next year that is trying to come back and may compete. I think these are all a little different though, obviously a lot of 18-22 year olds pursue gymnastics during their college years, either NCAA or otherwise. Some of these cases are girls who decided for various reasons that they couldn't do gymnastics at an NCAA affiliated school at that point in time, but wanted to keep up their skill level for the time being.

So there is no age limit but a fair amount of gyms have trouble with the insurance unless the person is on payroll as an employee. I actually think that USAG should encourage this more and try to partner with NAIGC in sanctioned competitions, or at least reach out to college clubs separately. There are many college clubs that would like to compete more but travel is prohibitive because there are relatively few NAIGC meets since not all club teams can host. And yet tons of already organized USAG meets that are all over the place. I think there is some missed opportunity there. Something to think about for anyone hosting a big meet. You would have to start early to get the word out and give the clubs time to work it out with their rec sports department.

If someone wanted to start competing at 18 then most likely they would enter through the prep op/local rec competition stream since USAG 4 wouldn't really make sense unless it was the only option.

 

[Tumblequeensmom]

Gymdog, you definitely know who I'm talking about... .but I thought it was great since she was already in college, she came back to compete for her club for the state meet!!! I don't know of many girls who have gone away to college and then came back to do that. Good for her! It's just such a shame that due to injuries, she had to drop back to L9 for her senior year in high school. She's amazing to watch! Oh well, it's gymnastics... things happen.

 

[Tumblequeensmom]

I actually think that USAG should encourage this more and try to partner with NAIGC in sanctioned competitions, or at least reach out to college clubs separately. There are many college clubs that would like to compete more but travel is prohibitive because there are relatively few NAIGC meets since not all club teams can host. And yet tons of already organized USAG meets that are all over the place. I think there is some missed opportunity there. Something to think about for anyone hosting a big meet. You would have to start early to get the word out and give the clubs time to work it out with their rec sports department.

I definitely wish this would happen!!! I hate to see so many girls completely leave the sport when they move on to college. I really wanted to go to the NAIGC meet in Richmond this past spring. I think my own DD would have really enjoyed seeing all of these men and women compete who are NOT on college scholarships. To see that they're keeping their skills and having fun competing in college.

 

[gymdog]

I definitely wish this would happen!!! I hate to see so many girls completely leave the sport when they move on to college. I really wanted to go to the NAIGC meet in Richmond this past spring. I think my own DD would have really enjoyed seeing all of these men and women compete who are NOT on college scholarships. To see that they're keeping their skills and having fun competing in college.

Me too, unfortunately timing was bad with other gymnastics things. I think they should have sort of marketed that more to the JO clubs, I've heard from others that are nearer to that area they would have liked to go but didn't even know it was happening until too late to plan to go, or after it was over. I'm sure they could have also gotten help from parents and girls in running the meet. As someone who has been somewhat involved in both sides (mostly USAG because coaching has taken up so much of my free time, but I know a lot of people involved in NAIGC) I think both sides could really open up opportunities through outreach. I think the same of high school gymnastics - it really isn't in the best interest of the local USAG programs to fight it into the ground. For some reason, some people are bound and determined to do just that though, it's really mind boggling for me. Less gymnastics opportunities are just not in our best interest. People are more likely to put their kid in the sport and try to stay involved through high school if they see a reason to, even if their child won't be competitive in USAG level 9 and 10.

Not everyone is looking for scholarships, and many parents would be willing to support their child in developing a skill just so it would lead to a fulfilling recreational fitness opportunity as a young adult. But these opportunities need to be visible. Otherwise they're going to be in soccer. Crazy intense parents are far outweighed by people who want their kids to be exposed to a variety of things and develop skills for adulthood. Or at least, we should be encouraging people along those lines, theoretically.

 

[GikiGirl]

The 30 year old that you saw will probably be on your gym's prep op team next year

 

[nicci1999]

So you saw me there eh? But I don't recall my age being mentioned lol, Just that I was the adult( hint hint nudge nudge, I'm very vain lol!!!). Anywhos, USAG doesn't have upper age limits, though it is much less traditional to see older kids at lower levels

 

[cher062]

So you saw me there eh? But I don't recall my age being mentioned lol, Just that I was the adult( hint hint nudge nudge, I'm very vain lol!!!). Anywhos, USAG doesn't have upper age limits, though it is much less traditional to see older kids at lower levels

Your at the same gym we are ??? If so then Yes I saw you and you were great. It was my DD that told me how old - I guess all the team girls were asking and one of the girls seemed to know. I would love to be able to do that stuff but I'm a chicken I'm lucky to to a forward roll. More power to you and I can't wait until next year to see you do your stuff.