OT: for those with little gymnasts

[zoemurr]

My DS is going to start level 4 soon. He will be 8 in July

What ages are usually in this level? Is there an age range they need to be to compete? How long from the time they start a level to when they compete? If they are in a competition, is there recognition for everyone, or just the top 3 in each area?

Thanks.. not totally sure yet how involved we want to be in this, but he sure is fun to watch.

 

[Dani C]

My ex-gymnast is a girl so it is a little different, but the age range in any level can vary. For instance, you can have children from around 6 years old through 17 years old all competing at the same level. I don't remember about the boys placings, but for the girls it is often divided by age group within the level. The competitions are determined by the coach, they will know when he is ready.

I thought this might be helpful for you:

Men's Junior Olympic Program Overview (From the USA Gymnastics Website)

The Men’s Junior Olympic Age Group Competition Program provides training and competitive opportunities for beginner to elite gymnasts from ages 5 to 18.

The Junior Olympic Program is organized into 10 different levels of training or competition. Each level has multiple age groups and opportunities for participation and competition. Competition is carried out at the local, state, regional and national levels through USA Gymnastics sanctioned invitational meets and championship level meets. For Levels IX and X, the season culminates at the Men’s Junior Olympic National Championships held in May of each year. For elite level athletes, the culminating event is the USA Gymnastics National Championships.

The Junior Olympic Age Group Program is organized into the following three areas:

A. Basic Skills Achievement Program (BSAP)
The Basic Skills Achievement Program (BSAP) covers Levels I, II and III and is designed to help advance a gymnast from the day he enters the gym until he is prepared to participate in the Age Group Competition Program and the National Team Program. It was conceived as the entry-level of an overall skill and competitive development system. The program includes many of the skills from the entry-level competitive routines, preparing the gymnast for the Age Group Competition Program.

B. Age Group Competition Program
The Junior Olympic Age Group Competition Program consists of seven levels. The first three levels, IV through VI, continue the BSAP's progressions from simple to more complex movements. The intermediate level, VII, encourages the transition from compulsory to optional routines at an appropriate age. These routines require a specified level of difficulty but instead of imposing the FIG combination requirements they require event specific skills. These skills provide logical bridges between the lower and higher level routines. The advanced levels, VIII, IX and X require the gymnast to fulfill most FIG requirements.

C. Junior National Team Program
The Junior National Team Program provides for the identification and selection of our elite junior athletes. The program includes the Junior Development Team selected through the Future Stars Program, the Junior National Team and the Junior Elite Team. The program objectives are to:


1. Simplify the competitive path for our junior athletes and elevate the importance of successful competition;
2. Create an educational evaluation system that emphasizes international competitiveness;
3. Involve the personal coaches in overall program planning and organization as well as individualized athlete planning and;
4. Educate the coaching community in the basic principals of coaching and the development of the elite athlete.

 

[Tam1067]

Hi! My DS just finished his first competitive season as a level 4. He's now training for level 5.

He turned 10 in February, but there were level 4 kids as young as about 6. At meets, the boys are grouped by age, but the ages vary, so sometimes, there might be a 10 and up group whereas at another meet, there's an 8 and up group. The younger ages also vary. I think the groupings depend on how many kids are in each meet. So a big meet might have a 7 year old group whereas a smaller meet might combine the 7 and unders together. I hope I'm making sense!

The boys complete alongside but not against kids of other ages. So you might have a 7 year old do his routine and then a 10 year old do his routine, but the rankings are separated by age. Again, though, those age groups vary depending on the meet. All the boys in level 4 will do the exact same routine, though, regardless of their age. They have required moves and optional (or bonus) moves which give them extra points.

Recognition varies as well. I think at all of our meets, all the boys were recognized in some manner, but the particulars vary. My DS got ribbons, medals, and trophies for participating. Then there are prizes for placing well in the age group, but these prizes vary. And, some meets do the prizes for the top 10, others for the top 5. It just depends.

The season runs from December until March. In our region, level 4s can go to the state meet, but that's as far as they go (and they ALL get to go if they've been competing in qualifying meets during the season). Higher competitive levels can then move on to regional meets which include the best gymnasts from the various states, but a level 4 does not have that opportunity.

Be prepared to travel a bit too. We often drove an hour or more to meets and stayed overnight once because the meet was two hours away, and we had to be there really early in the morning. The meets are almost always on weekends, but the times vary. You can plan on spending half a day or so at each meet, or about 3-4 hours at each one.

Also, at least around here, once the boy starts the season in an age bracket or a level, he does not move up. So my DS was 9 when he started and then turned 10 before it was over, but he stayed grouped as a 9 year old in the meets. I've been told the girls are different in this way, but I'm not sure.

Have fun! Competitive gymnastics has been both emotionally and physically tough on my little guy (he was crying tonight after practice because he got upset at his coach), but it's good too.

 

[zoemurr]

one more thing.. about how many boys usually compete against each other at a meet? Were you expected to go to every meet that your center decided to go to?

My little guy is quite talented but very shy, so we're not sure how it will go.

 

[Dani C]

The number competing can vary alot depending on the meet. For instance, we have been to small meets with around 6-7 children in the age division and level and to some very large ones with several sessions for each level and age division (such as state meets and those that are multi-state meets such as the Arnold Classic in Ohio or the Sand Dollar/Whitlow at the Disney Wide World of Sports). Generally there are alot less boys than girls in these meets, but still the number varies (for instance it appears that there were 18 8yr old boys in the Whitlow meet at level 4 this past January).

We were never expected to attend all the meets that our gym competed in, but we were encouraged to do as many as we could (and always those held at our home gym).

I hope your little guy has a blast in gymnastics as it is really so good for them.

 

[Tam1067]

one more thing.. about how many boys usually compete against each other at a meet? Were you expected to go to every meet that your center decided to go to?

My little guy is quite talented but very shy, so we're not sure how it will go.

Hi again,

Generally, at the meets we were at, there were probably up to at least 50 and up to about 100 or so boys. These were level 4s of varying ages.

If your guy is really timid, he does need to be prepared for the intensity of the meets. The number of other boys was not the issue for my DS. It was the judges (he said they glared at him, though the truth was they were just business-like ) and the crowd. There are lots of people in the stands. Now the good thing is that there are always six events happening simulataneously, so even though there's only one kid on the p-bars at a time, while he's doing his routine, there are other kids (on other teams) doing their routines on the other equipment.

We were not required to go to any meet, though we had the opportunity to attend. We made it to all of them, but some kids on the team did not, and that was okay too.

Please ask me if you have more questions. Feel free to PM me too! I was overwhelmed last season because I had no idea what was going on!