WAG Question about different competitive programs

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MILgymFAM

Proud Parent
I didn't want to hijack the switching gyms thread, but it got me curious.

All this talk of Xcel vs JO has me wondering- why Xcel and not usaigc? Usaigc seems to be shrinking pretty quickly (at least where we live) while Xcel is growing like wildflowers, and I'm wondering why one program thrives and another doesn't.

They both offer the same fundamental thing- lower hours, all optional levels, uneven skilled gymnasts welcomed. They both say, hey you..you can be a gymnast and still have a life!

For gyms just trying to make themselves look good (as was suggested for Xcel users) outside of JO, usaigc seems to offer more than Xcel. They offer the opportunity to have normal girls, at the lowest levels, carry the title of national or world champion. I know from experience that that makes many parents starry eyed, even if the title is fairly meaningless.

Right now usaigc is holding their worlds in Florida and I have seen fb posts from parents that are effusive in their happiness that their copper kid (roughly L3) qualified to worlds. They are mostly clueless, but it absolutely drives revenue. Since there isn't any direct mobility from Xcel to JO anyway, I guess I wonder why more gyms don't take this path.
 
Is it mainly because XCEL and JO both live under USAG? Does that make it simpler somehow for gyms to handle memberships, or coach training, or meet hosting, use the same judges, or...?

I don't have any actual insight here, just postulating..

You raise an interesting point about Xcel not having 'Worlds' and such for low levels. I'm sure that is quite a carrot for many kids and parents. On the flip side, I also hear coaches and parents talk about how it's too much to ask parents of Xcel Silver kids (equivalent to level 3/4) to travel several states away to Regionals (apparently a good number opt not to attend States and Regionals even if they make it) and perhaps Regionals should start at Gold, etc.

The supposed lower time and cost commitment vs. opportunities/expectations for broader/more competition is an interesting tradeoff...
 
This is a good question...there are a couple gyms around here that do IGC, but they also do JO and Xcel. I'm not sure how they decide who does which. I believe in you can compete a level up or down on one or two events? Like a Silver competing Gold bars? I'm not 100% sure on this, but that sounds like a good idea for a lot of kids.
 
Kind of hilarious to host a "worlds" when the only participants are Americans. Shouldn't laugh but that is bonkers.

Call it nationals, because that is what it really is.

But Xcel just is easier to manage side by side with JO.
 
Kind of hilarious to host a "worlds" when the only participants are Americans. Shouldn't laugh but that is bonkers.

Call it nationals, because that is what it really is.

But Xcel just is easier to manage side by side with JO.

While I think it's a bit silly to have any nationals or worlds for the lowest levels, it's not just the US. It's also Great Britain/Wales, South Africa, Canada, and Bermuda. Not a huge number of clubs, but 20 international clubs are represented.

Why is it easier? Just as a simplicity of only belonging to one headlined program?
 
This is a good question...there are a couple gyms around here that do IGC, but they also do JO and Xcel. I'm not sure how they decide who does which. I believe in you can compete a level up or down on one or two events? Like a Silver competing Gold bars? I'm not 100% sure on this, but that sounds like a good idea for a lot of kids.
Yes, they can compete at different levels. They can even compete the AA at one level and then be an event specialist on the next level. Combine that with an all optional program and you have the most flexibility of all the programs. IMO, of course.
 
Is it mainly because XCEL and JO both live under USAG? Does that make it simpler somehow for gyms to handle memberships, or coach training, or meet hosting, use the same judges, or...?

I don't have any actual insight here, just postulating..

You raise an interesting point about Xcel not having 'Worlds' and such for low levels. I'm sure that is quite a carrot for many kids and parents. On the flip side, I also hear coaches and parents talk about how it's too much to ask parents of Xcel Silver kids (equivalent to level 3/4) to travel several states away to Regionals (apparently a good number opt not to attend States and Regionals even if they make it) and perhaps Regionals should start at Gold, etc.

The supposed lower time and cost commitment vs. opportunities/expectations for broader/more competition is an interesting tradeoff...
That's a good point too. At every gym that we've been to for Xcel (and my YDDs t&t gym) parents just cannot be pursuaded that the big travel meets are worth it. They've always been poorly attended in out experience. On the flip side, the one gym that we were associated with that did usaigc had great participation levels at travel meets. I really do think it's how it's sold to parents, ie the ability to say little Suzy won at worlds or is a world champion has a LOT of appeal for certain parents.
 
Memberships all going through one body. If the do both a USAG program and the USAIGC one, then that is two memberships.

Still laughing at "worlds". Sorry.

No need for sorry- I get it. The gym that my girls started with competes IGC. I have a big place in my heart for them, as do my girls. They lit the fire, so to speak. I remember when my ODD told me that her best friend was a team gymnast where my YDD did rec. At the time I knew nothing at all about any of the competitive streams. When my DD told me that her friend was the world champion on bars, I went with "oh how cool!", and then I immediately looked up the program. My curiously was piqued. I found out that she was the world champion on bars...for the silver level...for her age group...in usaigc. I found out what usag was, and the difference between the two. I quickly found out what xcel was when my ODD was invited to team- where xcel was also used as the "lesser" program. I came to realize that the team moms (the IGC team moms) were really convinced of where their kids where going, and equally convinced that the Xcel girls were- for the most part- not as good. It caused enough headaches and animosity that the gym dropped Xcel to focus on IGC.

My DD was set to transition from Xcel to IGC when we moved away. She looked forward to it and was incredibly disappointed to find out that the closest IGC to our new home was hours and hours away. Looking back, I remember how hung up kids and parents alike were on the arbitrary titles. I think it's a hook that can be pretty effective, even if it seems silly from the outside. My DD has now competed in Xcel and JO, and seen IGC up close and personal, and to this day I think she would still choose IGC over the other two if given the choice. It may be just the gym where we came from, but the flexibility..the whole person approach..the cool opportunities for travel...the balanced number of hours (it wasn't nearly as low as all of our Xcel experiences or as high as our JO ones)- all that makes it a decent middle path for a girl who's never ever going to make it to the top of the sport anyway.

But still, I see the silliness of worlds.. I do.
 
Could another reason that gyms choose Xcel over usaigc be that because Xcel is under the USAG umbrella, the meets can be held simultaneously with JO meets, making attendance at meets larger?
 
We are in an IGC heavy state. Old gym was USAG or nothing, but new gym, and most gyms here, offer IGC for reasons similar to Ecel. Since new gym is, well new, I have no idea what IGC is about. One of the big names gyms here runs an Xcel program and rumors are they were trying to get the gyms to shift, but that seems to have fallen flat.
 
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USAG is the main gymnastics organization so it would follow that gyms would gravitate more toward a USAG program over another organization. and since Prep-op was well established in many states and a few regions prior to USAG nationalizing it as xcel, it already had a big following in those areas.
 
We have done JO, Xcel, IGC.

Our gym likes compulsories and optional experience. They liked JO and XCel because it was one membership fee. But then they rules changed a bit. So back to IGC we went. So this year we paid 2 membership fees. As did the gym I'm sure.

I think IGC added a couple of countries this year............. not sure which.

For me personally, I like the optional routine opportunity for my girl, because she likes it.

It really doesn't matter what intials are involved. Really there are excellent gymmies in all the programs. JO, XCel and IGC.

The National thing for IGC not a big fan. We elected not to participate (my kid qualified). Its not a elimination type qualifiation. So if you meet a min score you can pay a ton of money and go to Nationals. And as with any org and gymnastics you better be good or you won't do well. My kids first year at a higher level IGC Silver, kind of like a level 5-7 (which cover a broad range of skills). She did OK and if she went to Nationals she would get trounced, so no, we will stay home this year. And its not about winning, I could care less but a flight, coaches fees, meals, hotels, can't even enjoy Disney because you need to practice to get trounced, yeah no. We can do that cheaper and close to home :D. And we actually went to Disney instead. :cool: Now next year with her skills sharper we will see. :rolleyes: because its just a cool experience.

Kind of hilarious to host a "worlds" when the only participants are Americans. Shouldn't laugh but that is bonkers.

There are not huge amounts of other countries participating, but it is not just US. And actually its called Nationals, at least in our gym.
 
I wanted to add, what I do love about IGC. There is a max score to move up.

You score 38 2x in a season, you must move to the next level.

The skills are varied within the level so you can add difficulty so if you are scoring exceptional with less difficult skills, you up your skills. If you have maxed out on the skills and scoring great to the next level you must go.

Again I love this.
 

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