WAG typical ages at different JO levels

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Orangesoda

Proud Parent
I'm pretty new to this whole gymnastics scene, so I'm hoping to gain some generalities regarding my daughter's trajectory within the sport. I know as parents, we all want to believe our kids are exceptional (and they are of course), but I guess I'm trying to figure out if mine is exceptional at gymnastics. Can this judgement be made when a child is very young? How much is training and how much is talent? Hopefully this wont be viewed as some kind of "brag" or whatever - i mean, my kid is still working on cartwheels, so i know i'm FAR from holding any bragging rights!! Like I said, I just wondering if I can gauge where we're headed based on where we're at NOW. Are we ahead of the curve or behind? Our story:

My daughter started a little rec class in our town when she'd just turned 4 years old. After the first class they placed her in an invite class(twice a week) and she continued there for about 10 months, when I pulled her out and we started at a different (more well-known) gym 45 minutes from our home. She's been placed into their competitive track and after having been there a month, was just moved up into a more advanced class this past week. She'll be 5 september 30. We do two hours of gymnastics a week. She seems to have pretty typical skills for a 4 year old - cartweel, handstand, pullover, front and back rolls, just started kicking over a bridge once in awhile (yes, i know these are to be done sparingly), casting on bar, back hip circle with spot....you get the picture. I've noticed that her form is quite a bit better than most of the kids in her class - legs always straight, toes pointed, etc.

I guess I'm a little paranoid that I'm going to miss some opportunity if I don't get her the proper training in these younger years, especially if this is going to be her "thing" AND especially as I read about 6 and 7 year olds being "too old" for this or that. Do I just need to sit back and trust in the system? If she's good, will it just happen for her, and if she's not good enough will she just get weeded out? Will she be level 3 by the time she's 6?! Do horses have SOCKS!!? I'm overwhelmed. Does anyone have wisdom to impart on a newbie? Thanks. I really don't go around talking about myself (and my kids) all the time. I swear.
 
Do I just need to sit back and trust in the system? If she's good, will it just happen for her, and if she's not good enough will she just get weeded out? Will she be level 3 by the time she's 6?! Do horses have SOCKS!!? I'm overwhelmed. Does anyone have wisdom to impart on a newbie? Thanks. I really don't go around talking about myself (and my kids) all the time. I swear.


I am mom of two "too old" gymnasts, so my story is probably different. But one of their teammates was with them in rec (90 minutes once a week) when she was 5 and half I believe. Back then, she had about the same skills you described (probably not pullover). She was invited to pre-team soon afterwards (90 minutes twice a week) and as a 6 years old, she started L3 training (9 hours per week total). Half year later, she had all L3 skills and did quite well as L3. Now she is 7 and getting ready for L4.

About this "If she's good, will it just happen for her, and if she's not good enough will she just get weeded out?" No, it won't just happen for her. She needs to be in good program and have good coaches. And, while I don't expect my daughters to go elite, I think they still can enjoy competitive gymnastics, face their challenges and see how far they can go. There is no need for 'weeding out'.
 
Ages are all over the map. Both of my gymmies moved up to the equivalent of L3 at the age of 6... but there were girls as old as 13 on their same level just in our gym. At our District Championship Meet (11 teams),
L3 had
ages 6-7 = 11
age 8 = 14
age 9 = 22
age 10 = 27
age 11 = 18
age 12 = 14
ages 13 & over = 9
So the median age in our district is 10 years old at L3... but we also have 10 year olds at L4, L5, and L6.
 
At our State Championship, 8 years old were the largest L3 group, 9 years the second largest and these two age groups combined counted for almost 1/3 of all L3 gymnasts there.
Hope it does make sense... it is too late...
 
In most cases I think 4 years-old is too early to tell whether a kid will be exceptional at anything. But even if your DD isn't exceptional she can still have a wonderful gymnastics "career". Even L10 has many girls who do not have exceptional talent, but work exceptionally hard. And there are exceptionally talented girls sitting at home because they quit when things got hard.

Our gym has 10 year olds training level 9 and level 3, and everything in between. Some of the best girls now are not the ones that showed the most promise as little ones, and a few of the little ones favored to be spectacular have fizzled out. My DD got a late start, but has more than caught up with the girls who started at 3 or 4. Sometimes I wonder where DD would be if she had had an early start. BUT had she started early she might already be burned out, or have over-use injuries.

It sounds like you are at a good gym, so I would just trust their process. It seems like the cream has a way of floating to the top, even for "older" girls starting in rec. Your very young DD is already part of the team system, so I would just relax. She may not even like gymnastics next week! At this age (well, any age....) she should be having fun and just be excited to go to " ja-nastics"'
 
Enjoy her gymnastics right now and it sounds like she is just fine where she is....the best thing you can do to 'help her gymnastics' is don't stress out!!!! There will be plenty of time for competitions, and skills etc.....just make sure you have the right frame of mind to be a gymnasts' parent. The last thing you should do is put her in a high octane program too young. Good luck.
 
Hi! Personally I don't think you can always tell the great gymnasts from an early age. We always joke at our gym that it isn't always the best skilled you see last in this sport just the most stubborn.

My daughter was a lot like yours. We started at gym A in mommy and me and my daughter just fell in love with the sport from there. When she was 3 she was getting bored in those general tots classes so we started looking for another option and found our current gym. We switched there and they immediately put her in their advanced tots class (kinda like a pre-team for 3-5 year olds, less play more real gymnastics). She did this class for about 8 months and was moved up to the "old" level 2 team. She was 4 for that competition year. Last year the gym got a head new coach and switched over to xcel. She competed bronze and did well. She is borderline bronze and silver this year (I am hoping for bronze again!)

Our gym has several different groups of girls. In my daughters group, which is all younger girls (5-8) that train with the head coach for 9 hours a week, the goal isn't about winning titles at the lower levels. The goal is to get them to 7 quickly.

Then we have the same age group that are on a slightly different path. They train with the assistant coaches for 4 hours a week and are taking the more traditional route to level 7.

My point is a lot of it is finding the right gym/coach/program for your gymnast to grow in. Just keep encouraging her and keep it fun. You will be amazed with what she can do!!
 
[QUOTE="happychaos, post: 324032, member: 10474"

It sounds like you are at a good gym, so I would just trust their process. It seems like the cream has a way of floating to the top, even for "older" girls starting in rec. Your very young DD is already part of the team system, so I would just relax. She may not even like gymnastics next week! At this age (well, any age....) she should be having fun and just be excited to go to " ja-nastics"'[/QUOTE]
 
What I have read about on CB does not follow what I have seen in real life. There are zero 6 yr olds doing level 3 at our gym. Actually, there are zero 6 yr olds doing level 3 at any of the gyms around here unless you count 1 or 2 at a homeschooling gym. There were 6 yr olds competing level 1 around here. There were even 8 and 9 yr olds competing level 1. I think it just depends on where you live. I know the feeling though bc when I first started reading posts here I thought my older DD (now 7 and on team) must be way behind. I also have a 4 yr old doing pre team. She's having a lot of fun. This sport is crazy, but my girls seem to love it! "Ja nastics". :). Too cute!
 
It's hard to know at such a young age. My DD started mommy & me at around 2 1/2 to 3. I remember the coaches talking about her form and saying it wouldn't be long & she would be on preteam. She was 3 1/2 I think when invited onto the 3-5 year old preteam, she was there 6 months before they said she needed to move to the 5-7 year old preteam. And 4 1/2 when they asked her to start training old level 3 (new level 2) training 6 hours per week. She had just turned 5 when she competed her first meet. She competed new level 3 (old level 4) last year 9 hours a week and is 6 training to compete new level 4 going 12 hours a week now. She also was in TOPS for those 2 years which helped her strength also. Her age isn't typically in our area and she's the youngest on her team and typically at the meets we attend. Is it training or natural ability? It's both, I believe, but mostly it's her determination and work ethic. She will work herself to death trying to achieve a skill. That's not her dad & I encouraging her, just her personality. Also, there are other girls on her team that I believe have more natural ability but maybe don't work as hard or don't seem as determined. I wouldn't say she's ahead of the curve though. Who knows if or when she might get stuck on a skill or level and have to repeat? Or get burned out & want to quit? Who knows? I trust the coaches at this point to help make the decisions for where she belongs. They've been right so far! I'd say that for you too. I remember how I felt though when we had just started and I wondered the same thing, was there something I should be doing for her? Were we doing everything right if that was going to be her thing? I don't know that we have done everything we should have but we have done everything the coaches have told us to do. I'm praying she has a long and fun gymnastics career, she really loves it right now, but really who knows at even 6? Good luck to you and your little gymmie and I hope she continues to love it & blossom in this sport.
 
Also, I would say the age ranges are all over the place. On level 1 I know there's 5 & 6 year olds & same ages on level 2 & 3 but also older girls on all 3 teams. On level 4, my DD is 6 and the rest are 8-12. I think every area is different though. While my DD is young for her level here, I think her age may the norm in other regions. It's really hard to think just in terms of age for levels when all these girls are different. And for example, we had a 10 year old come in as a brand new gymnast last year and competed level 3. She scored super high and this fall is supposed to score of 4 and go to 5 and honestly, I can see her going all the way really fast, very talented girl with no fear. There's just no hurry, in my opinion. Good luck!
 
I thought you had to be 7 to compete
4 by USAG rules?

4 yo for L1
5 yo for L2
6 yo for L3
7 yo for L4-7
8 yo for L8-9
9 yo for L10
 
I'm definitely not an expert on this subject, but I can relate to the questions. :) My dd has only been on a team for a couple of months now, but at the gym she goes to there seems to be an air of mystery about how people even get invited to team.

My dd was in regular preschool class for a couple of months and then was invited to an advanced preschool class where she stood for a long while. Then when she was 5 1/2 and about to start Kindergarten, she moved to an advanced 5-6 year old class. A couple of months later she was invited to something called training group which increased her hours from 1 a week to 4 a week (2x2) and focused very heavily on conditioning and good form. We were told that after being in this class for 4-5 months we would be told what path the gym thought was best for each girl (USAG, rec team or rec). My dd was invited to be on the level 2 USAG team at the end of the that class. She was a little under 6 1/2 at that point and she's one of the youngest on the team. Most seem to be 7 or close to it.

Up until the training group, being on team was never mentioned or discussed. In fact, there was really never any discussion about where things were going with any of the other classes. I know a lot of parents were frustrated about that. I honestly wasn't sure I even wanted her to be on the team (just because of the age and time commitments), so I never asked what the "plan" was. But I know others did ask and were never really answered. Some left the gym and some just kept on I guess. What's interesting to me is that of all the people she had in her earlier invitation only classes, none of them ended up on the team with her. About 2/3 of the girls in the training group did move on and become the level 2 team. I guess that was the closest our gym has to a preteam, although they never called it that.

Anyway, at her gym, 6-7 seems to be the average age for level 2 and 7-8 for level 3.

It seems like if your dd is already on the competitive track at a popular gym and has been moved to a more advanced class already that she is probably right where she needs to be.
 
My daughter was one of the few on team that did not start in a mommy and me or preschool class. At 5 1/2 she begged me to let her do a rec class. Just after she turned six they invited her to team (old level 3). Last year she competed current level 3, but uptrained an additional day a week. She tested out of level four during one meet and was moved to level 5 this summer. After a week of that they moved her to level 6/7 (will need to test it of 5). She just turned 8.

That said, while we are at a big gym her training group is small. She's the youngest of them with four girls who are 9, one 10, and two 11.

The level 5 team is primarily 8-9 year olds (one 7 yr old and one or two older) and level 4 is mostly 7-8 yr olds.

Or gym typically has one of the youngest teams at competitions. It's just how they have developed their program model. I'm certain there are other successful gyms out there that don't move young gymnasts as fast. Personally my daughter likes the push to try harder things (other than beam-her nemesis), so has really enjoyed the jump in levels this summer.
 
Or gym typically has one of the youngest teams at competitions. It's just how they have developed their program model. I'm certain there are other successful gyms out there that don't move young gymnasts as fast. Personally my daughter likes the push to try harder things (other than beam-her nemesis), so has really enjoyed the jump in levels this summer.

Sounds like our gym and my daughter! :)

We go to some meets and our young girls make up about 75% (or more) of the youngest award group! We do xcel and they only reason I want her to repeat Bronze and not compete Silver is that darn beam! She needs to build some confidence on it because her issue is all mental!
 
Ages in our area are all over the place. Pea has been in the largest (and in my opinion) most competitive age groups. She was 8 for old L4, 9 old L5 and 10 new L5. We are at a smaller gym, so our training groups have a bigger age spread (current L5 group has 8 to 12 year olds.) But the goal of our gym is not hot-shot elite kids, it's 'working your program' and getting into college. Kids in rec classes get pulled based on observation for pre-team where they spend a year doing about 6 hours a week. I do know that our gym is very apprehensive about verbalizing a 'path to team.' They seem to feel like that is making parents a guarantee, and they really hate dealing with parents;)
 
I agree that it's a lot about gym philosophy. DDs gym doesn't have any type of "hot shot" preschool program. The earliest a child can get into pre team is 5.5yo.

Last year, there were a handful of 6yo Level 3s.
This year, (looking at the roster) I don't think there is a single 6yo Level 3.
 

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