WAG YouTube/instagram fame and NCAA

[gymmomx2]

A different perspective. Whitney seems like a happy, lovely girl who takes all the attention in stride. It's kinda weird how much they video her, particularly her practices, but people love it so whatever. I'll disagree with the bolded statement above. She's likely the 3rd best level 9 at her gym in Georgia. And this is a gym that has coached an elite (Megan Skaggs) so they no how to get the most out of their athletes. She might make it to NCAA gymnastics or might not, but based on what I've seen I'd say it isn't likely. So why not ride this horse as far as it will go and have fun with it. I'd be shocked if she qualified Hopes much less elite.

Now I'm off to view the 2 sisters. I've never heard of them so I'm curious now.

She already qualified for Hopes I think. Also she seems on track to be L10 before high school so her changes at NCAA are probably pretty good if she stays healthy (which is a big IF for all these young high level optionals).

 

[gasrgoose]

She did qualify on the compulsory portion but I don't see where she has competed to optional portion. She's a beautiful gymnast and lovely girl I wish nothing but the best for her. But I'm realistic and have watched a decent amount of her gymnastics. The compulsory routines are easy for her, she's very precise and there was never a question of her making the compulsory score. But if you watch her videos and compare to others you will see that the difficulty level is not there yet. She very well may surprise me and I'd love to see it. If she has competed the optional portion and scored a 48.00 please let me know at which meet. Her level 9 team mate qualified junior elite in Greensboro this past weekend, but her gym did not post any info about Whitney attending.

 

[GymDad9.9]

I had written earlier about Lavar Ball seeking to brand his three basketball playing boys. This just came out about it.

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/18901427/lavar-ball-seeks-combined-1-billion-shoe-deal-three-sons

 

[SMH]

I had written earlier about Lavar Ball seeking to brand his three basketball playing boys. This just came out about it.

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/18901427/lavar-ball-seeks-combined-1-billion-shoe-deal-three-sons

Oh, only 1 billion

 

[gymdog]

She did qualify on the compulsory portion but I don't see where she has competed to optional portion. She's a beautiful gymnast and lovely girl I wish nothing but the best for her. But I'm realistic and have watched a decent amount of her gymnastics. The compulsory routines are easy for her, she's very precise and there was never a question of her making the compulsory score. But if you watch her videos and compare to others you will see that the difficulty level is not there yet. She very well may surprise me and I'd love to see it. If she has competed the optional portion and scored a 48.00 please let me know at which meet. Her level 9 team mate qualified junior elite in Greensboro this past weekend, but her gym did not post any info about Whitney attending.

She also has a chance at NCAA like any 12 year old level 9. Even better because of two magic words: bars specialist.

She could pretty much be on second tier or Ivy teams now, so, if she were to continue gymnastics for 5 years I don't see why she wouldn't have any options then.

 

[ladybird]

Thank you for saying this. What the pp said made me think that if Whitney has difficulty getting into NCAA then my kid certainly has zero chance!

 

[gymmom42]

Ladybird, I thought the same!! We compete against Whitney frequently and she is a beautiful gymnast! How can it be unlikely for her to get into NCAA at 12 years old level 9.

 

[gymdog]

It's uncertain for any 12 year old I guess, in that respect, but the kid is tough and with her bars technique doesn't seems to be positioned much worse off than most 12 year olds.

 

[coachmolly]

I think it's an issue that will be addressed more in the years to come as it becomes increasingly popular. Though I'm sure for the time being there are plenty of loopholes they can find- and I'm sure through their Youtube/IG ventures they would have the money for a pretty good lawyer should any problems arise.
I think the Bratayley family could possibly get around it as the gymnastics is a small part of their social media business. I think it's probably the most well known and interesting to those of us in the gym world, but I think their business extends far beyond the gym stuff- and I'm guessing that's where the real money is? They probably realized they could dip into the gymnastics market in addition to their other stuff and took advantage. But it absolutely is murky territory as the daughter's gymnastics skill are a big part of what brings in followers, meet attendees, leotard buyers, etc. In my mind, it's pretty clear they are using the daughter's athletic abilities for monetary gain which would be a breach of NCAA eligibility rules, but I also have a hard time imagining they haven't at least looked into that aspect of things at least a little?
While I'm amazed that families would choose that as a way to make a living (and a way to live!), I think I'm more amazed in that situation that the gym/coach have jumped on board to get their piece of the pie in the whole ordeal. I guess they figure why not, so maybe it annoys me more than it should.

I use Youtube almost entirely for watching gymnastics- meets, coaching videos, training videos, etc. so these channels are always recommended to me. Every once in a while I will click on one to see what it's all about and almost always I find myself irritated. But to each their own I suppose.

 

[gasrgoose]

To clarify, the post I responded to referred to her as an excellent NCAA prospect and aiming for elite. I read that to mean a super six NCAA team or in that neighborhood. And if you look around at meets there are plenty of gymnasts her age that are currently performing better at level 9. That is just what i see. My point is that her YouTube fame has people saying things about her that would never be said about a gymnast with similar ability, potential and scoring history. Honestly it is unfair to her but I guess that's up to her parents since they put her in the public.

I think it is unlikely she will qualify Hopes and less likely that she would be an elite gymnast, but I've been wrong before. She might be an NCAA gymnast and even at a Super 6 school. But to say that now based on what she has done is IMO a response to her fame not her gymnastics.

 

[ascarter1]

Eh this is all going to be so much easier if I just do this:

Family 1 (two gymnast daughters, travel around touring, film basically every day of their lives) is called Bratayley on YouTube. Elder daughter is a level 9, younger daughter not sure, 3 or 4 I think. They do gymnastics for fun, not sure the elder girl would be suited to NCAA-style gymnastics as her technique still needs work. I only watch their meet videos when they come up so I have no idea what most of their content consists of. They have lots of young fans who think these two girls are angels as far as I can tell.

Family 2's (slightly smaller) channel is called Whitney Bjerken, after their eldest daughter. They post meet videos, some random home-video-type things, and lots of actually quite interesting films of Whitney's gym training. Sidenote: if you're a parent looking to see how higher-level optionalst train, take a look at some of her workout videos, it's quite astonishing. Anyway, she's extremely talented and is aiming for elite. She'd be excellent at NCAA assuming no injuries and/or burnout, but she's been struggling with problems on an off for a while now so hope things work out for her! She's the one who's being doing some modelling. Whitney also has many young fans who think she's an angel.

Not providing links as this may count as advertising, though if this info is out of line please let me know and I'll get rid of it. Just thought some clarity for the confused would help

It took me forever to figure out who everyone was talking about, so thank you for clarifying! My dd met Whitney last year at regionals. She was in the session before my daughter. She was sweet, pretty humble from what I remember.

Anyway, thanks for clarifying, I was in the dark during most of this thread.

 

[LilAdultTumbler]

But to say that now based on what she has done is IMO a response to her fame not her gymnastics.

I love watching gymnastics meets online, but I do get annoyed all "X-Child is Future Olympian" videos I see in my suggested Youtube feed. Those girls (while still good gymnasts in their own right) are not even close to a level where they would be to Olympic bound. But I remind themselves that the people making these videos are most likely 10 years old girls that have no concept of how difficult it is to be an Olympian.

With social media and YouTube these days we live in a world where ANYONE has the opportunity to be famous. While this brings fans it brings cyber-bulling and lots of hate. I'm glad I grew up in the 90's and way I contacted my friends was calling their house phone or passing notes in class.

 

[Seeker]

To clarify, the post I responded to referred to her as an excellent NCAA prospect and aiming for elite. I read that to mean a super six NCAA team or in that neighborhood. And if you look around at meets there are plenty of gymnasts her age that are currently performing better at level 9. That is just what i see. My point is that her YouTube fame has people saying things about her that would never be said about a gymnast with similar ability, potential and scoring history. Honestly it is unfair to her but I guess that's up to her parents since they put her in the public.

I think it is unlikely she will qualify Hopes and less likely that she would be an elite gymnast, but I've been wrong before. She might be an NCAA gymnast and even at a Super 6 school. But to say that now based on what she has done is IMO a response to her fame not her gymnastics.

My dd is same age/same level and has competed against her several times. I tend to agree with all of the assessments offered in this thread. She is a good little gymnast and has the same potential as any 12-yr old L9, but it's still a long way until college and a lot can happen. My dd has placed higher than her in the AA, but they've traded placements on events here and there.

I think that most competent L9's could do reasonably well in Hopes, particularly if the optional routines were well constructed. That doesn't mean I think my dd would be a great Elite, it just means that if a gymnast has solid L9 skills and has a few extras in her bag of tricks, they're well positioned to do okay at the Hopes/Elite compulsory level. I don't think it's really about what they can do now, it's about showing competence and what more they're capable of learning. The Jr/Sr Elite skills are way, way harder. My dd has zero interest in that, thankfully (I don't think I could handle it!).

 

[gymdog]

To clarify, the post I responded to referred to her as an excellent NCAA prospect and aiming for elite. I read that to mean a super six NCAA team or in that neighborhood. And if you look around at meets there are plenty of gymnasts her age that are currently performing better at level 9. That is just what i see. My point is that her YouTube fame has people saying things about her that would never be said about a gymnast with similar ability, potential and scoring history. Honestly it is unfair to her but I guess that's up to her parents since they put her in the public.

I think it is unlikely she will qualify Hopes and less likely that she would be an elite gymnast, but I've been wrong before. She might be an NCAA gymnast and even at a Super 6 school. But to say that now based on what she has done is IMO a response to her fame not her gymnastics.

She is good. I'm not sure if you're a gymnastics coach, probably not? She may not be Simone Biles, but yeah, she is definitely pretty good and certainly better than average level 9 particularly for a first year. I don't really care about her fame or videos, I have just seen her meet videos and she has a good bar routine. Maybe good enough to be a super six bars specialist in five years. Maybe even enough to be an elite bars specialist, who knows. She needs a shaposh, jaeger (seen on her channel she can do a gienger, eh...but hopefully will train a jaeger too at least), and a full twisting double. I'm sure her coaches know that in the elite world bars and beam would likely be her limit (think Ashton). No one said anything about super six, you said NCAA and from what you've seen its not likely. Not sure why you would say that. I'm not her coach or her fan but she has a lot of potential on bars. There is a lot more out there than super six and either way, the bars specialist pool when you're looking for 10.0 execution potential isn't that deep.

 

[Flyaway]

Ironically, I just saw that Bratayley is featured on the cover of Inside Gymnastics's April issue.

 

[emorymom]

Just a comment -- the reason the IG/twitter accounts say "parent run" is for two reasons and probably none of them have to do with the NCAA.

1) Most have TOS that don't allow children on the site under the legal age of internet adulthood. In the U.S. that means age 13. If the child is obviously doing business, the provider will typically ask the parent or manager to make an adult managed or parent managed blurb in the profile rather than shut it down.

2) I have been told it cuts down somewhat on inappropriate messages from adults who are looking for children or teens to ah, "talk" to.

I think the older kids' parents know they have blown NCAA Div 1 amateurism but don't care because it's a rational decision. I think most of the little ones' parents haven't even considered it. I would think they would be the most likely to be forgiven by NCAA anyway.

 

[gasrgoose]

She is good. I'm not sure if you're a gymnastics coach, probably not? She may not be Simone Biles, but yeah, she is definitely pretty good and certainly better than average level 9 particularly for a first year. I don't really care about her fame or videos, I have just seen her meet videos and she has a good bar routine. Maybe good enough to be a super six bars specialist in five years. Maybe even enough to be an elite bars specialist, who knows. She needs a shaposh, jaeger (seen on her channel she can do a gienger, eh...but hopefully will train a jaeger too at least), and a full twisting double. I'm sure her coaches know that in the elite world bars and beam would likely be her limit (think Ashton). No one said anything about super six, you said NCAA and from what you've seen its not likely. Not sure why you would say that. I'm not her coach or her fan but she has a lot of potential on bars. There is a lot more out there than super six and either way, the bars specialist pool when you're looking for 10.0 execution potential isn't that deep.

I've seen where she struggles and think that the struggles will get much more difficult at level 10. But as you've pointed out I'm not a coach, I'm just someone who pays attention. She is at a great gym with superior coaching so if there's a way they will find it. By all accounts she's willing to put in the work, so maybe it works out for her....

 

[jenjean70]

I started following both of those gymnasts and many others before they got really big right after my son started competing in gymnastics. I would scour the internet looking for videos of competitions (before he competed) to get an idea about how competitions ran. I would also watch some of the higher level stuff to see what to expect. I've always loved women's gymnastics so I would watch women's and men's gymnastics. I have a You Tube channel and we started making a little bit of $ this year when a video from the twins' birthday party a few years ago blew up. My channel is mainly about my kids sports although I plan on adding to it soon...I teach so I use play lists I've created in my classroom and I plan on making videos for my class in the near future. I don't know if my son will be able to get a scholarship for gymnastics especially since there are so few men's programs left- OR if he will want to compete in college- but I would hate it if he couldn't because we had a family channel that made a few hundred $......

 

[jenjean70]

I think it's an issue that will be addressed more in the years to come as it becomes increasingly popular. Though I'm sure for the time being there are plenty of loopholes they can find- and I'm sure through their Youtube/IG ventures they would have the money for a pretty good lawyer should any problems arise.
I think the Bratayley family could possibly get around it as the gymnastics is a small part of their social media business. I think it's probably the most well known and interesting to those of us in the gym world, but I think their business extends far beyond the gym stuff- and I'm guessing that's where the real money is? They probably realized they could dip into the gymnastics market in addition to their other stuff and took advantage. But it absolutely is murky territory as the daughter's gymnastics skill are a big part of what brings in followers, meet attendees, leotard buyers, etc. In my mind, it's pretty clear they are using the daughter's athletic abilities for monetary gain which would be a breach of NCAA eligibility rules, but I also have a hard time imagining they haven't at least looked into that aspect of things at least a little?
While I'm amazed that families would choose that as a way to make a living (and a way to live!), I think I'm more amazed in that situation that the gym/coach have jumped on board to get their piece of the pie in the whole ordeal. I guess they figure why not, so maybe it annoys me more than it should.

I use Youtube almost entirely for watching gymnastics- meets, coaching videos, training videos, etc. so these channels are always recommended to me. Every once in a while I will click on one to see what it's all about and almost always I find myself irritated. But to each their own I suppose.

I watched her "AcroAnnie" channel when she was little and her mom filmed her doing giants in their house on this little bar at age 6....I thought she was amazing and would have thought she would be a better bar worker now based on that video. It just goes to show you that just because you are a tiny phenom doesn't mean that you will always be a phenom.

 

[sce]

I think it is unlikely she will qualify Hopes and less likely that she would be an elite gymnast, but I've been wrong before. She might be an NCAA gymnast and even at a Super 6 school. But to say that now based on what she has done is IMO a response to her fame not her gymnastics.

Not necessarily a response to her game as much as being easily impressed by higher level gymnastics. People who watch my sons videos say that he must be going to the Olympics. He's not famous and he he's not super impressive, but to the untrained eye ...

I think that is part of why these kids become famous. Less than knowledgeable people become impressed by them and share with others. It grows from there.