WAG What to expect at Level 10

[Muddlethru]

or being moved to 10 "for their Sr year" without the required skills of the level. When you pair these girls with the girls who have been 10s for years, they get killed unfortunately...

I wondered about this. We have a few L9 girls who are either on their first or second year, even third, in L9 who have not made nationals and some just made regionals. Our coach is leaning on having them repeat L9 again hoping they can put Eastern nationals in their resume. I think the coach feels the likelihood of any of the girls making nationals in one or two years is slim. Assuming though they get the L10 skills or most of them by comp season (which is still 6 months away), but maybe still not consistent enough or well enough to make nationals, and for purposes of college gymnastics, what would you do

1) for the current juniors, would you have them spend their last year in L9 and make it to nationals or move up to L10 and have a not so good year?

2) for current sophomores, would you have them do one more year at L9 so they can go to nationals or risk spending two years in L10 and not having nationals at all?

I feel they should all move to L10. I think there are no guarantees at either level. And I think reaching L10 means more to colleges or even just to the gymnast.

 

[bookworm]

I

1) for the current juniors, would you have them spend their last year in L9 and make it to nationals or move up to L10 and have a not so good year?

2) for current sophomores, would you have them do one more year at L9 so they can go to nationals or risk spending two years in L10 and not having nationals at all?

3. I feel they should all move to L10. I think there are no guarantees at either level. And I think reaching L10 means more to colleges or even just to the gymnast.

Point 1. No I would not move up a Level 9 to 10 to "have a not so good year" ...leave them at 9 where they will at least look decent...and in terms of college gymnastics, if they realistically can't be a competitive 10, they'll be looking at D 2 and D3 schools anyway, and they take 9s...

Point 2. i'd keep them 9 and hope they get to Easterns or westerns....2 years in level 10 doing lousy is a looong 2 years...

Point 3. No I don't think they should "all move to L10" ...Level 10 is not a longevity prize; it is a level that requires big skills and those in the level should have those skills. Level 10 does mean a lot to colleges but colleges also know who's a" lousy 10 in name only" ...I have been in 2 gyms where Srs were moved to 10 bc they were Srs and let me tell you , it was awful...for the gymnast herself (who in both gyms barely scored a 32 ALL YEAR!) and for the other legitimate 10s they compete with ...it's a very awkward situation for all involved..the Sr who's doing lousy (and knows it) and the other 10s on the team who don't want to seem boastful of their good scores but basically have to tone it down because of gymnast who should have remained a 9....I don't see the gymnast having a good feeling about her performance at all...

 

[LMV]

Actually, my daughter did not have a great L9 season. It started of pretty decent. It seemed like she was progressing nicely. However, she had an overuse injury by mid Feb. This sidelined her progress and she was not able to have any regular practice leading up to regionals.

They were considering moving her up to L10 last season but because we were new to the gym and she only competed two L9 meets the previous season, they had her repeat L9. I guess, barring any injuries this season, if she repeated again L9, she could potentially have a really great season. She is on the younger side, so she'll still have many years in L10.

But I think repeating another year of L9 does not ensure a more prepared L10 season. Our current gym only practices skills applicable to the current season. Last summer, my daughter was doing many L10 skills that she could consistently do 7 out of 10. She was very upset when they removed it from her routines at the very first meet because they wanted her to use skills she did 10 times out of 10 and she did not need those other skills in her L9 routine (I also have been in gymnastics long enough to know 10 out of 10 at practice does not equate to 10 out of 10 during meets and 7 out of 10 during practice could still produce a hit at all the meets). I see the rationale but at the same time I also saw how this did not help her prepare for L10. There is no up training at all during the season. So throughout the entire L9 season, she was only allowed to practice her L10 skills if she had extra time during practice, which was very rare if not non existent. So, she again just started doing them this month. Her beam skills were again brought down to the low beam. So, honestly, don't see how repeating L9 will benefit her except she may make nationals. But I hear college coaches do not even look at L9. I think she could be ready for L10 and scoring a 35AA is something to aspire for towards the end of the season. Does moving to L10 make sense?

Our daughters' gym likes the girls to have 10.0 start values on at least three events before they start competing L10. This does allow them to move up even with a weaker event (as long as it isn't disabling) and allows for their head coach to look at the big picture and make the decision he thinks is best for the individual girl. The L9/L10 training groups are usually combined so it often really just comes down to what level they compete. They also do a fair amount of continuing to train through the season until they get into the championship (state/regionals/nationals) portion so repeating L9 doesn't set them up for stagnation and if things click well there is always the, albeit rare, potential to move to L10 midseason As for what your daughter should do, I think if she wants to move to L10, she has good start values on all events, and coaches agree that this is best for her, then she should go for it. If one of those pieces is missing then I think it may be time to take a step back and try to reach an educated consensus. How would she feel about competing L9 again? How would she feel about have a relatively low scoring year as a L10?

Good Luck to your daughter!