Level 8 Regional Qualifications (Region 8)

[GymDad57]

Could someone help explain how Level 8 regional qualifying works - Region 8 as an example had 319 at regionals. Rules state: All stars is 208 + plus all ties + additional 54 athletes. State team = 64 / 8 per state. As an example Lousiana had only 13 qualifiers, obviously 8 were for team, why were there only 13 in total of the 319(total) that competed. Also, what is meant by the additional 54 athletes. It is obviously weighted by the states with the most gymnast, but I am still not getting it. Your help is appreciated in advance.

 

[flippersmom]

I would suggest looking up the Region 8 site for Women's USAG. They usually have the info in their policies or on old newsletters.

 

[Tams Mom]

In Region 8 level 8 they take a certain amount of girls to Regionals. Each state reports how many level 8's they have that qualified to state meet. Then a percentage is applied. so since Florida has the most level 8's that qualify for state they get more to qualify to regionals, LA gets less because of smaller amt of girls going to their state meet. Every year each state has a different amount qualifying. Last year for NC the last girl qualifying had a higher AA score than the last girl for the previous year. I personally like the level 9 rules better, anyone with over a 34AA at the state meet qualifies for regionals.

 

[gym monkeys mom]

In Region 8 level 8 they take a certain amount of girls to Regionals. Each state reports how many level 8's they have that qualified to state meet. Then a percentage is applied. so since Florida has the most level 8's that qualify for state they get more to qualify to regionals, LA gets less because of smaller amt of girls going to their state meet. Every year each state has a different amount qualifying. Last year for NC the last girl qualifying had a higher AA score than the last girl for the previous year. I personally like the level 9 rules better, anyone with over a 34AA at the state meet qualifies for regionals.

Region 4 did it that way last year it was a mess. They went back to the score qualifing you to Regions this year for Level 8. I realize they may get too many girls but, the other way was a mess and they ended up telling girls about 1 week after state they made it to regions. I am grateful for those who volunteer their time to do all these things. I know the regional committee is a ton of work and I appreciate all they do.

 

[LemonLime]

In Region 8 level 8 they take a certain amount of girls to Regionals. Each state reports how many level 8's they have that qualified to state meet. Then a percentage is applied. so since Florida has the most level 8's that qualify for state they get more to qualify to regionals, LA gets less because of smaller amt of girls going to their state meet. Every year each state has a different amount qualifying. Last year for NC the last girl qualifying had a higher AA score than the last girl for the previous year. I personally like the level 9 rules better, anyone with over a 34AA at the state meet qualifies for regionals.

Every region is different and the above is how region 8 does it. One extra thing about region 8 is that the top 8 per state, regardless of age, compete in the "Team" division against only each other. They are divided only into juniors and seniors within the Team division.

Another glitch about region 8 is that some states report that 100% of their level 8s qualified to the state meet while others rely on each club to report. For this reason, in many years, some states will have approximately 60% of the Level 8s that show up to state qualify to regionals (they report to the region that 100% qualifed to state) while others will have approximately 45% (they rely on the clubs and some clubs fail to report). The # to regionals per state is set before the state meets occur so there is no way to base it on who actually shows up at state. They base the # of qualifiers on the # of gymnasts who have qualified to the state meet and that has to be reported to Region 8 by the individual states.

Yet another glitch about region 8 is that the number going to regionals is not based on age. The top 45AA out of 90 gymnasts (or whatever it is for your particular state) go to regionals and the others stay home - regardless of age division. It is very possible to be a state champion as a 14-17yo and not go to regionals.

The "old" rules on qualification as a Level 9 to Eastern/Westerns were the best. Each region received a percentage based on the number of confirmed entrants at regionals. A big region therefore had more kids qualify but smaller regions were not left out. It was fair to everyone becuase the percentages were the same.

The "new" rules for Level 9 are like Level 10. A flat number (6) qualifies to Easterns/Westerns. Therefore if you are in a small region - 4 or 2 - you are virtually guaranteed to go to Easterns/Westerns. If you are in a large region - 1 or 3 or 5 - you will have a very tough time. There are 16 age divisions instead of 8, but that means the smaller regions get more entrants while the bigger regions get the same. As a Level 9, if you are in a large region, where you fall into an age division will greatly impact whether you go or not.

 

[gymdog]

Region 7 is kind of similar to that (doesn't use the flat score). They set age groups (which may be different than the age groups used at the individual state meets) and then take the top 7 or 8 from each state in each age group, with two alternates for the state team (who compete on two all-star teams). Then the bigger states have a couple other alternates, because WV and DE don't usually have enough level 8s to fill all their state teams, so based on some calculations someone does somewhere after the state meets, gymnastics from NJ, MD, PA, and VA fill those teams. So there's a state team plus two all star teams at every age group, but they're kind of random. I can't remember if at the end they somehow declare one state an ultimate winner.