WAG What level to compete these two girls?

[coachmolly]

With what you added about her current skill set, it does sound like scoring out of 5 and competing 6 might be a bit of a stretch at this point, but you never know what might "click" for a kid over the course of summer uptraining. If all the kids work out in the same group, just give her the opportunity to train for 6. Present the mom and gymnast with the list of skills she needs and if August comes and the skills aren't there, the mom won't have a leg to stand on because she knew the expectations from the start.

 

[BarCoach]

Perfect CoachMolly! Will do the same for both kids.

 

[emorymom]

She is going to get crushed on bars, so which is better: getting to compete a higher level and feeling like she's no good when she scores poorly or telling her now she's not ready but letting her compete a level she'll be successful at? I think the thing I struggle with is her age. If she was any other kid, she'd compete 4 again.

Look, if she's persisted to this far as a mediocre gymnast your main concern should be what maximum level is safe; second concern should be getting her the training hours she wants to get as far as she wants. Kids that engage in level play for the purpose of winning aren't learning the right lessons from meets and many are going to drop out because they're in it for the wrong reason and not go as far as this kid. Remember that she is still there in the gym and many a shiny tike has won and quit before ever learning a kip.

I also think she's old enough to be part of the discussion.

Did I mention that age group swimming is better than gymnastics? LOL not in this thread, but one reason it's better is that every two years, you have a birthday that shunts you to the bottom of your new age group again and you get your butt kicked to the Arctic and have to start working your way up. But your coach does not suggest you quit or only swim summer league because that's where you can be "successful."

 

[beamer]

My daughter is the older gymnast you describe.

As a 12-year-old she competed 6 this year, without monster casts or a backward skill on beam. Did she kick butt at L6? No. It was the usual array of mid-8s, scoring wise, but she had an absolute blast with her own routines that showed off her strengths and downplayed her weaknesses (farewell back extension roll!!). Her coaches worked with her throughout the year to find success for her. Not for the gym or for them personally: I assure you there is no glory in bringing a kid to meets who is doing the bare minimum to meet the standards.

But there are plenty of other girls in DDs gym who can bring on the glory. I am grateful to her coaches for not ever suggesting she be moved to the less rigorous track because she is not a high-performing gymnast and for working with her to make her gymnastics experience overwhelmingly positive.

I have two other points. First, I am sure the mother of this 12-year-old who is balking at having her daughter be shunted to Xcel is not balking for the sake of her own ego. My guess is she is trying to protect her kid from the disappointment and hurt feelings that would result. Although disappointment and hurt feelings are a fact of life, so are moms whose evolutionary instinct is to protect from that. Happy belated Mother's Day CB moms!

Second, if the OP coaches at an everyday sorta gym (in other words not any gym in California or an elite gym) then I say let gymnasts who are on the JO track make the decision to move to Xcel on their own, without being forced to go.

Mine has not made the decision yet. But she may by the time high school rolls around. Or she may just finish her gymnastics career as a JO L8.

I do know one thing. If her coaches told her at the end of last summer that she couldn't compete L6 because her cast was not vertical and she could not do a BWO or BHS on beam and that, subsequently, she would be moved to the Xcel team? She would have quit. My kid would have lost the sport she loved and the gym would have lost a great kid and a family that participates fully in the gym culture and pays all its bills on time.

 

[BarCoach]

Thank you for that perspective, Beamer. The hard part is going to be getting her scored out of level 5. Also hard to explain the two younger girls who did better than her but will be repeating level 4.

 

[gracyomalley]

Thank you for that perspective, Beamer. The hard part is going to be getting her scored out of level 5. Also hard to explain the two younger girls who did better than her but will be repeating level 4.

Just for perspective, my DD has been the "younger kid who did better but repeated" and has no problem with the idea that "I have lots of years to get to L10, so and so doesn't....I can take my time to polish..." The important thing is her coach always talks to her about doing what is best FOR HER - and then she knows that the coach is doing the same with the other girls. Unless they are really young, it will be fine if your gym culture supports doing what is best for each kid....just means you have to be honest with kids and parents that you will take each kids individual needs into consideration. This works great with smaller gyms, although I can imagine it wouldn't if you have 15 kids in each level!

 

[beamer]

I know what you mean BarCoach.

I am sure there has been grumbling from other parents that my DD has been moved up when younger, more talented girls have stayed behind, repeated, or not skipped levels. It is the nature of the beast and I just let the gym handle the grousing if there is any.

(Though I did have serious guilt at one meet in which my DD, with her bare minimum stuck beam routine, out-scored her same-age teammate whose routine was chock full of difficulty but who fell on her BHS. I apologized to teammate's mom.)

I do think it all equals out in the end, though this is a hard concept to explain to parents: "Suzie may be moving to L7 this year with the bare minimum routines and 34s because she is 13 and is a hard worker and dedicated to her sport. Your more talented 36-scoring little Janie is staying at L5 but will probably surpass Suzie in both level and skills within the next couple years."

But I don't envy you coaches who have to deal with all this deciding and telling. It gives me the scary shivers, actually.

 

[BarCoach]

Thanks to all for so many perspectives and opinions. Will have to go over everything again, talk to my boss and coworkers and then we'll just make the best decision we can.

 

[3LittleGymmies]

Here is my opinion, from a parent's perspective. My daughter had a great season in old 4, scoring mostly 37's-38's. She just finished new 4, and her high was just under a 36... but it was because of her FHS vault. It just hasn't clicked for her yet. So even though she was scoring 9's or high 8's on almost everything, those 7's were dragging her AA way down. Her new coaches (we just switched gyms) are deciding if she should go to 5 or 6. She has all of the floor for 6, the FHS vault will click when it clicks, she has a BWO on beam - a BHS with a barely there spot - and the cartwheel (or is it a round off?) tuck dismount. She has the bars in pieces and just needs to put it all together (not a cast handstand yet but 3/4 and she has all summer). So in her case, I can see how competing 4 again wouldn't really be "fair" even though her AA's weren't that high. I know she would rather do 6 over 5, but the decision is ultimately up to the coaches. They have mentioned that if she did 5, she could probably skip 6... so it may very well even out in that case. But I keep hearing that 6 is judged easier than 5, so the whole thing just has me confused. I think she would ultimately be fine with either, but not repeating 4 and I think I would have a hard time accepting her need to repeat it, too.

 

[LizzieLac]

My 2 cents:

Levels should be determined by what skills a child has competently, what uptraining they can do safely, level of work ethic, and what goals he/she is trying to reach. I understand that age can be factor when you consider outside distractions or interests and time available to be in the sport. However, I don't think "moving someone up" because they are "older" is really the right approach either. All of these things interelate and need to be looked at that way.