Hi, I am new to the forums and am not a gymnastic guru by any means. My daughter has been in gymnastics for about 5 years starting with tumbling and working her way up to level 4 gymnastics. Last year was our first year of her going to competitions and I was caught off guard by her whole team doing achievement, while all the other teams at the events did placement. The HC's told us he just wanted everyone to have time to adjust to competitions before putting them on the spot to actually compete. That and the fact that our team dwarfed any other team at the meets. We had I believe 31 girls in our level 4 group, where most teams showed up with maybe 10 total.
Well now it is the second year of competition and the level 5 skills moved down, so most of the girls, my DD included, stayed at level 4. A little frustrating for everyone, but it happens. We again have 30+ girls in our level 4 team. Some of our old ones quit, some went to other gyms, a few moved down from 5, then a handful joined from other gyms. This year the HC decided to split them into 4A and 4P though. The only girls who were put on 4P are the old 5's and the girls that came over from other gyms after last season. The HC said they were already doing placement at their old gyms and are used to it. All the girls from our existing 4A team have to wait until the season starts to score a 9.5 on a single event or a 35 all around in order to be moved to the 4P group. The HC said he doesn't want the girls to be in P unless they have a chance of placing, so as to not upset them.
I am really frustrated with the setup at this point. My daughter really likes gymnastics and I could care less were she places in meets as long as she is having fun, trying her best, and learn some life lessons. But putting her in a 2nd year of achievement is not acceptable. A life lesson isn't you get credit for just showing up or we will take it easy on you if we don't think you can handle real work. With the achievements last year she walked out of every meet with a nice set of ribbons and a medal like the other 30 girls on her team. To me, she didn't know what she did better, worse, or the same as others. She didn't know how she would rank against anyone else, nor have a drive to work harder to overcome something.
So I finally get to my question. Am I just not seeing things the right way and achievement is a good thing? Or is the gym's HC leading us down the wrong path?
Well now it is the second year of competition and the level 5 skills moved down, so most of the girls, my DD included, stayed at level 4. A little frustrating for everyone, but it happens. We again have 30+ girls in our level 4 team. Some of our old ones quit, some went to other gyms, a few moved down from 5, then a handful joined from other gyms. This year the HC decided to split them into 4A and 4P though. The only girls who were put on 4P are the old 5's and the girls that came over from other gyms after last season. The HC said they were already doing placement at their old gyms and are used to it. All the girls from our existing 4A team have to wait until the season starts to score a 9.5 on a single event or a 35 all around in order to be moved to the 4P group. The HC said he doesn't want the girls to be in P unless they have a chance of placing, so as to not upset them.
I am really frustrated with the setup at this point. My daughter really likes gymnastics and I could care less were she places in meets as long as she is having fun, trying her best, and learn some life lessons. But putting her in a 2nd year of achievement is not acceptable. A life lesson isn't you get credit for just showing up or we will take it easy on you if we don't think you can handle real work. With the achievements last year she walked out of every meet with a nice set of ribbons and a medal like the other 30 girls on her team. To me, she didn't know what she did better, worse, or the same as others. She didn't know how she would rank against anyone else, nor have a drive to work harder to overcome something.
So I finally get to my question. Am I just not seeing things the right way and achievement is a good thing? Or is the gym's HC leading us down the wrong path?