Parents Xcel level question

[jessimee]

Hoping to get some feedback here...my 10 year old is currently competing in Xcel Silver. She (from my inexperienced eye) looks like she is probably at the bottom of the group skill-wise. There was some talk about having her be in the bronze group, but the coaches decided it would be better socially for her to be in silver, because of the ages of the girls. She has done one meet, and got one place--4th on beam. I am worried that she will always be at the bottom of the group, if she continues on this path. Next year most of the girls will move to gold and who knows what will happen--either she will be left with the younger girls (now bronze) or be moved up and be at the bottom still. Should I be pushing for her to be placed with her skill group and deal with any social awkwardness that might be there or get her privates and extra practices to help her get her skills up so she can stay with her age group?

 

[M2Abi]

Encourage her to try her best and don't worry about her results. At the end of the season, ask her what she would prefer to do. She may not have a say, but find out what's important to her. When my dd was on the edge of moving up or not, she wanted to move up and learn more difficult skills, even knowing that meant she would likely not be on the podium.

 

[CLgym]

Is your DD happy and having fun with her gymnastics? If so, then don't worry about the results right now (it's hard, I know!). You can re-evaluate the situation when level placements are made by the gym for next season (for us, that is August).

If it helps, I am in a pretty similar situation. My DD (age 9) went from Xcel Bronze to JO L4 (gym switch) to JO L6. On the other hand, most of the girls on her team are close in age but competed JO L2 and L3, followed by two years at L4, or one year at L4 + one year at L5. They are simply more experienced and skilled in a lot of ways. At meets, my DD is pretty middle of the pack -- with the exception of bars (her best event) where she has managed 1st or 2nd place in the last 3 meets. Sometimes bars is her only medal. Sometimes she squeaks into a medal spot on beam or AA (mostly thanks to a high bars score). I've sometimes wonder if she should repeat a level to "catch up" -- but she loves her teammates; she has fun at practice AND at the meets, regardless of how few medals are hanging around her neck at the end of the day. So I am going with the flow, and trying very hard not to compare her to teammates.

Oh, and if you want to do a private lesson and your gym allows them, I don't see any harm in scheduling one if there is a particular skill or event your DD is struggling with. Sometimes a little extra attention can help an area of weakness.

One more thought -- because there are fewer Xcel divisions then JO levels, you might find that girls spend more than one season in a division. In other words, there might be a few girls who do a second year of Silver.... One more reason to wait and see.

 

[Pirouette]

My dd14 started in gymnastics as a 6th grader (pre-team), did Silver as a 7th grader, and is currently in her 2nd year of Gold as a 9th grader. She is older than every member of her level (13 other girls) by 2 years or more, and always has been. She's also much taller than them (she's 5'8"). And it really doesn't bother her. She gets to be a leader, someone the other girls look up to, despite the fact that she is far from the best gymnast on the team. There have been meets where she has walked away with zero medals. It's hard sometimes. She keeps a brave face so the other girls can learn from her that it's about becoming a better gymnast, not necessarily being on the podium.

Wait and see what happens -- I didn't expect DD to stick with it this long, but she really loves the sport and her teammates, and continues to grow and improve. Yours will, too.

 

[Eleven sol]

It really depends on your gymnast’s personality. My DD really enjoys learning more cool tricks and being with same-age peers. She enjoys practice and gymnastics more when she is challenged. She doesn’t really love the repetition and detail that makes for super high scores. She has come to terms with the fact that she sometimes walks away with zero medals, particularly in her first year at an xcel level. We focus on what she has done well and how she has improved relative to herself. Not medaling is just part of the sport for some kids. It’s rougher for some kids than others, and so that’s where the individuality for the decision making comes in. But as long as they are improving and excited to go to practice, I wouldn’t worry too much. I do think they learn more when the level is a bit of a stretch and they have lots of kids at a higher level to watch and learn from,