Most competitive age bracket

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That may not be the right title for this thread but I was wondering which age bracket has the most girl's in it? I would guess this isn't the most competitive but the bracket that you see with the most athletes. From what I hear, the 8 yeard old bracket is usually the most full.
 
It depends on the level of the gymnast usually once you get to optionals the really good hot shots are in the youngest group. They sometimes are just amazing.

I was glad this year DD was a Level 7 and 13 and that age is not the prime one so she more chances at medals.
 
When I go back and look at the old scores there are so many girls in my dd's age bracket, however I don't do the same for other ages so it could all be the same.
 
Depends on the level and it can vary alot from year to year. My gymmie was in the 12yo age group for L8(which was not the youngest group) and it was very tough. Thing is there is nothing she can do to change her age and just did her best. Worrying too much about age groups and other things totally out of the gymnast's control(like who is judging, how is the equipment set up, what event do we start on) can drive everyone bonkers. Learn the routines, work hard at perfecting them and then just go and have a great time.
 
Here in GB the in age grade 14 and 13's usually have the most competitors (age 8 for in age 14 and 9 for 13) in my region there can be up to 80 if not more competitors in these 2 grades. After that competitor numbers decrease.
 
It's all relative, really.

All a gymnast can do is compete what they practice.
That reminds me of a favorite quote:
[FONT=Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif]I'm a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work, the more I have of it.
-Thomas Jefferson

[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif]And all a parent can do is watch, wait and worry. I have never worried about the competition - its a waste of energy. I only worry about my dd's weak spots and about the little accidents that inevitably happen at meets.
[/FONT]
 
I think it is safe to say that there are the most gymnasts in Level 4. I think there is a chart on the USAG site some where that shows how many gymnasts by level, but I don't know if that is broken down by age groups in each level.

Some meets have different age groupings too. When our gymmie was a level 4 she competed in many different age groupings, such as: 9-10, 10, 10 young/10/10 old, 10 - 11
 
I think our most full is ages 8-10. Those are usually the really full ones, but it depends on the levels. I think 8-10 would be for compulsary, and once you get to optionals 12-14 is pretty full.
 
Here is is the 10-12 year olds at about L5 . At the meets all girls are divided into blocks of 17-30 gymnasts reagardless of age, so the competition groups arn't huge. But in Quebec this year I believe there were 350 in P2 tyro (10-12), yet only 250 in P2 Novice (13-15). They never break it down by age more than the two year split.

The groups at levels above that are never as large.
 
I think it is safe to say that there are the most gymnasts in Level 4. I think there is a chart on the USAG site some where that shows how many gymnasts by level, but I don't know if that is broken down by age groups in each level.

Some meets have different age groupings too. When our gymmie was a level 4 she competed in many different age groupings, such as: 9-10, 10, 10 young/10/10 old, 10 - 11

Thanks this is more the answer I was looking for. I am not "worried" about when she competes but more so what is the typical ratio.
 
This chart on the USAG website shows how many gymnasts compete per level.

Level 4 is the largest, followed by Level 5. Level 6 has roughly half the gymnasts as Level 5. From Level 6 on, less and less gymnasts compete as the levels progress.
 
Gymgramma,

The reason you see different age brackets at meets depends on the proportion of entries per level/age. The basic idea is to divide the meet into sessions/levels/age groups in a way that is as fair as possible to all competitors so that each age group is approximately the same size.

I have done age group setup for a number of meets that we have hosted and the number of girls in each group is detemined after all of the entries are in. Most score-keeping software will do suggested age divisions for you, and then you can make any modifications you might want.

The first step is to separate them by level. The next step is to divide the levels into sessions, again always trying to keep the sessions the same size. Generally I try to put the lower levels at the beginning of the meet but sometimes the numbers just don't work. That's why you may see L4s on Fiday and L6 on Sunday or one group of optionals on Saturday and all the others on Sunday. The division of age groups within each level is then determined by the number of entries, again trying to keep the groups approximately the same size. Sometimes you will need to create multiple groups of the same age just to keep the numbers even. Often there will be fewer older entries in the compulsories and/or younger optionals so you end up combining ages to again get an similiar sized group.

In the end it never ends up exactly like you planned it. There are always late additions and scratches, etc., so you do the best you can.

Does this make sense?
 
I think the compulsory levels have the most girls with L4 having the most because that is where most start out. By the time the get to L6 alot of girls have quit. When they go to the Optionals and its time to pay money for chorographers etc then you loose more.
As far as age goes it can vary from year to year. Just thinking back to meets I would guess L4 the most are in the 6 - 8 range becasue that is usually when most gyms start them at L4. L5 seems to be more 8 - 10 and L6 seems to be more 10 -12. Don't know about the optionals but the L9 - 10 regionals I went to seems to have more girls 12 - 15. This is total just my opionion from what I have seen of course no real data to back this up.
 
Here in New Zealand we do not have age groupings for any of our levels - My 9yr old DD competes with girls from aged anywhere from 7 to 15 (level 4). Its the same in MAG. Our level 4 (equivalent to USAG Level 5/6) has the highest number of gymnasts - mostly aged 9, 10 or 11.
 
Sportyspice - just to clarify, Level four in NZ/Aus is probably easier than level 4 in the states at the basic level. It's when you start adding all the extra bonus skills (which really have no place in a development system) that it turns out like USA level 6.

Also Canterbury has been splitting their gymnasts by age for a few years and now at level four by training hours (under 12 and over 12 hours). I wouldn't be surprised if these changes filter through, a few powerful people down there who make stupid decisions. Such as changing the judging rules in the middle of Nationals to screw over Auckland gymnasts. They also pushed for competition numbers which initially cost the regions thousands of dollars. Can you guess which club? it's the one that spent the regional money going out to dinners prior to the GSNZ regional merge thus pissing off the CEO.

From what I have seen age divisions are a great way to acknowledge more kids, their will never be a completely fair way though as people have mentioned before you have kids not medaling who score well above others.
 
That makes complete sense! TY
I think the compulsory levels have the most girls with L4 having the most because that is where most start out. By the time the get to L6 alot of girls have quit. When they go to the Optionals and its time to pay money for chorographers etc then you loose more.
As far as age goes it can vary from year to year. Just thinking back to meets I would guess L4 the most are in the 6 - 8 range becasue that is usually when most gyms start them at L4. L5 seems to be more 8 - 10 and L6 seems to be more 10 -12. Don't know about the optionals but the L9 - 10 regionals I went to seems to have more girls 12 - 15. This is total just my opionion from what I have seen of course no real data to back this up.
 
Sportyspice - just to clarify, Level four in NZ/Aus is probably easier than level 4 in the states at the basic level. It's when you start adding all the extra bonus skills (which really have no place in a development system) that it turns out like USA level 6.



.

Level 4 in Australia/ New Zealand in not easier that level 4 in the USA even at the most basic level. Even when you take out all the bonus skills, a level 4 must at least be able to do.

Vault - Handspring flat back over the vault table to mats the same height as the table. On at least a setting on 1.

Bars - Squat on and jump to high bar, 2 connected glide swings, long hang pullover on high bar, dismount from high bar.

Beam - 135 degree split leap, straight jump connected to a 135 degree split jump.

Floor - 2 x 180 full split leaps, full turn on 1 foot, jump full turn.

As well as the base skills expected in the USA like handstand on beam etc.
 
Pineapple Lump, you seem to be very informed on NZ Gym politics! Is that what made you defect over the ditch? My DD is a new Level 4 who hasn't competed in the Sth Island yet (registered for Christchurch Classic Comp in mid July). Why do they bother using age brackets down there when our Nationals Competition doesn't use them? I anticipate that this will split our team as DD is 9 and team mates are 10 and 11.

Thanks for your clarification, Aussie Coach - most of our level 4s add bonuses, would you know what the equivalent US level would be for my DD?

Bars - Bonuses are kip cast to 45, clear hip circle

Beam- Press to handstand mount, BWO, cartwheel.

Floor - RO + 3 flicflacs, backwards roll to handstand, half turn, FHS+Ftuck
 
Thanks for your clarification, Aussie Coach - most of our level 4s add bonuses, would you know what the equivalent US level would be for my DD?

Bars - Bonuses are kip cast to 45, clear hip circle

Beam- Press to handstand mount, BWO, cartwheel.

Floor - RO + 3 flicflacs, backwards roll to handstand, half turn, FHS+Ftuck

I know I'm not the one you asked, but I can give some rough answers.

Bars: If you mean Kip cast to 45 from handstand, that would be about a USAG L6 skill (they must cast 30 degrees above horiz.) If you mean kip cast 45 from bar, USAG L5s must cast to horiz.
Clear hip is USAG L6

Beam: Press to handstand mount is an optional mount used by girls L7 and above
BWO is USAG L6
Cartwheel is USAG L5

Floor: RO + 3 flic-clacs is about L5 (they do RO + 2 flic flacs)
Backroll to handstand is required for L5 and L6
Half turn is L4 (they have a full turn in L5 and 6)
FHS + Front tuck is a solid L7 pass.

If your daughter can do a flyaway off the bars and a RO +BHS + back tuck on floor, she'd be something like a USAG L6, working on some L7 skills.
 
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