All-Star How Do You Gym Shop For A Certian Level?

[FlexyTumblerMom]

I get what she's asking - I think - her CP is level 4 (has all skills), but she's worried that her current gym, and any new gym she looks at, won't have enough other level 4 athletes to make a competitive level 4 team and her CP will be stuck/committed on a level 3 or 2/4.2 team in spite of having level 4 skills.

My thoughts about the matter are you need to really do your research and know what REAL level 4 skills look like - so when your CP goes to a tryout or does a trial class she and you can recognize/count how many kids can really do the skills needed solidly. You can also look a team up and see exactly what teams they had last year and how they did - usually if they have multiple level 5's and a large level 4 and a 3, they likely will have a 4 cause they have large numbers of kids w/ higher level tumbling. However, if they have one small 5 and then drop right to 3 or 4.2, or 4 is their highest, there is a risk there will be no 4.

Another strategy is to be just flat out honest and say "my CP wants to be on a level 4 team - will you have one for her age?". Of course, I would only go to that extreme if your CPs level 4 skills are solid - like standing tuck that never even steps forward, front tuck stepout to a REAL layout, and possilby a single running full - along w/ proven level 4 stunting skills (flying, basing or backspotting level 4 for a full season).

 

[amy1k]

I never, ever considered counting how many kids have skills.

If my kid was 11, I'd be ok with her being on a level lower than her skills. There are no youth or junior 4 teams here and 11 is pretty young for a senior team. I'd take her to a gym where she'd be happy and learn, that was a positive place that had obvious potential for growth.

(My opinion may be biased right now because every single kid who turned 10 in the last year at our gym is ready to be on s4 this year, according to their parents)

 

[SL&AM]

I never, ever considered counting how many kids have skills.

If my kid was 11, I'd be ok with her being on a level lower than her skills. There are no youth or junior 4 teams here and 11 is pretty young for a senior team. I'd take her to a gym where she'd be happy and learn, that was a positive place that had obvious potential for growth.

(My opinion may be biased right now because every single kid who turned 10 in the last year at our gym is ready to be on s4 this year, according to their parents)

You made me laugh and spit my coke out.

 

[MissCongeniality]

I never, ever considered counting how many kids have skills.

If my kid was 11, I'd be ok with her being on a level lower than her skills. There are no youth or junior 4 teams here and 11 is pretty young for a senior team. I'd take her to a gym where she'd be happy and learn, that was a positive place that had obvious potential for growth.

(My opinion may be biased right now because every single kid who turned 10 in the last year at our gym is ready to be on s4 this year, according to their parents)

Well of course...Everyone knows if you're on the Senior 4 at 10 (flying, of course) you are automatically on the Worlds team at 12.

 

[Just-a-Mom]

See also: If the only option is Senior 4, is she coachable enough for a Senior level team?

What I mean by that is that the caliber of critique may be different from say Youth 3/Junior 3 to Senior 4.

I am not saying that senior coaches are ripping kids new ones every time they make a mistake, but the expectation is that kids will take critique the first time given without crying/whining/completely falling apart.

Just to clarify for everyone, the op didn't say anything about senior 4. She said *level* 4.

(I have no idea what skills her daughter does and doesn't have - if she only has the tumbling, then maybe she's not ready for a level 4 team.)

But if she has all the skills, what's wrong with wanting to find a gym with a level appropriate team? I know for a fact most parents would not want to keep their kid in a gym that did not have level appropriate teams for their child. I don't think there's anything wrong with wanting to look for a gym with a higher level team.

This is not the first child to outgrow her gym. Shopping for a gym that tells you way early that they will for sure put her on a level 4 is probably not the best idea - but nothing wrong with looking for a gym that at least has a team for her to aim for. What's the point of staying at a gym that you can't go any further with?

It's not like it's December. It's April. This is the time of year she SHOULD be looking.

 

[amy1k]

You're right. I'm judging this post based on personal experience and that's not fair.

 

[badgergal]

along w/ proven level 4 stunting skills (flying, basing or backspotting level 4 for a full season).

This may be a dumb question but I will ask it. How does a kid have proven level X stunting skills for a season if they aren't on that level team? At CPs gym they only work stunting skills for their current team level and literally there will be one week between her last comp and tryouts. They do offer tumbling above your team level, but there is no opportunity to do different level stunts except maybe at an open gym.

 

[ilikebigbows]

This may be a dumb question but I will ask it. How does a kid have proven level X stunting skills for a season if they aren't on that level team? At CPs gym they only work stunting skills for their current team level and literally there will be one week between her last comp and tryouts. They do offer tumbling above your team level, but there is no opportunity to do different level stunts except maybe at an open gym.

I think a lot of it comes with the willingness to come into the gym and work on your skills to prepare for the next level. That doesn't always mean paying for privates/classes (which can be incredibly helpful), but maybe some cost-free options like coming to open gyms or even asking the gym owner if there if a time that the gym isn't super busy where a stunt group can come in and work on their own. Then again, that is not always an option -- from what I have seen, coaches are able to look at their mastery, strength and technique at their current level and determine whether they are ready to move up. Stunting is much more quickly and easily taught, for the most part, than tumbling is.

 

[badgergal]

I think a lot of it comes with the willingness to come into the gym and work on your skills to prepare for the next level. That doesn't always mean paying for privates/classes (which can be incredibly helpful), but maybe some cost-free options like coming to open gyms or even asking the gym owner if there if a time that the gym isn't super busy where a stunt group can come in and work on their own. Then again, that is not always an option -- from what I have seen, coaches are able to look at their mastery, strength and technique at their current level and determine whether they are ready to move up. Stunting is much more quickly and easily taught, for the most part, than tumbling is.

Good points. My CP loves open gyms but they are mostly full of the younger kids in the program and not many that she could stunt with. Unfortunately the senior aged kids are a rarity at our open gyms so she usually just tumbles. I love the idea of a clinic or something but the opportunity has just not presented itself maybe I just need to ask the question. Thanks for the feedback

 

[retiredl5cheer]

This may be a dumb question but I will ask it. How does a kid have proven level X stunting skills for a season if they aren't on that level team? At CPs gym they only work stunting skills for their current team level and literally there will be one week between her last comp and tryouts. They do offer tumbling above your team level, but there is no opportunity to do different level stunts except maybe at an open gym.

Most coaches can look at an athlete's current stunting skills and have a decent idea of whether they'd succeed in stunting at the next level. For example, if the athlete is a very strong L3 stunter, they could probably learn to stunt L4 pretty easily. If the athlete is only a mediocre or poor L3 stunter, they definitely won't be ready for L4.

 

[quitthedrama]

I'm with @Just-a-Mom on this one. I'm going to assume the OP has done her homework and knows what skills her CP has. I do agree that safety and experience coaching is the most important, but there is nothing wrong with an athlete wanting to be challenged, and lord knows we pay enough money and spend enough time that being on a team beneath a skill level just seems like a waste, no matter how many jackets and trophies that team may win (my CP lived this, and changing gyms was the best decision for her). I would suggest going to multiple open gyms over the next few weeks and tryout at a few gyms. I would also recommend going with the largest gym within your commuting area, as they tend to have more team options, and it's true what they say - big gyms are big for a reason. The more research you can do ahead of time on each gym you are considering, the better.

 

[klynn64]

Just to clarify for everyone, the op didn't say anything about senior 4. She said *level* 4.

(I have no idea what skills her daughter does and doesn't have - if she only has the tumbling, then maybe she's not ready for a level 4 team.)

But if she has all the skills, what's wrong with wanting to find a gym with a level appropriate team? I know for a fact most parents would not want to keep their kid in a gym that did not have level appropriate teams for their child. I don't think there's anything wrong with wanting to look for a gym with a higher level team.

This is not the first child to outgrow her gym. Shopping for a gym that tells you way early that they will for sure put her on a level 4 is probably not the best idea - but nothing wrong with looking for a gym that at least has a team for her to aim for. What's the point of staying at a gym that you can't go any further with?

It's not like it's December. It's April. This is the time of year she SHOULD be looking.

I think the problem is the term "gym shopping". It sounds too much like "gym hopping". Just kidding.

 

[Just-a-Mom]

- along w/ proven level 4 stunting skills (flying, basing or backspotting level 4 for a full season).

Most coaches can look at an athlete's current stunting skills and have a decent idea of whether they'd succeed in stunting at the next level. For example, if the athlete is a very strong L3 stunter, they could probably learn to stunt L4 pretty easily. If the athlete is only a mediocre or poor L3 stunter, they definitely won't be ready for L4.

This makes sense, but I'm with @badgergal on this - it still wouldn't be "proven level 4 stunting skills for an entire season" - I'm baffled as to how one would prove that "for an entire season" without being on a level 4 team.

So I don't think that's a reasonable requirement - that before you're "ready" for a level, you have to have been on that level proving yourself for an entire season?

 

[FlexyTumblerMom]

This makes sense, but I'm with @badgergal on this - it still wouldn't be "proven level 4 stunting skills for an entire season" - I'm baffled as to how one would prove that "for an entire season" without being on a level 4 team.

So I don't think that's a reasonable requirement - that before you're "ready" for a level, you have to have been on that level proving yourself for an entire season?

I was saying that you'd need to have that before actually outright saying to a potential new gym that you wanted Level 4 - if you didn't have that, along w/ all the tumbling, you should never say anything like "I want level 4" or you're gonna look like a SM who thinks your kid is better than she is. You really need to be the real deal when it comes to skills and stunting experience before you can start actually saying specific levels. I think the OP's CP was on a level 4 team this past year.

 

[wallflower]

Thanks so much for your replies. She has flown level 3 Jr in the past right know she is on a level 2 youth and is board. She is not flying this year, she has had a major growth spurt the last couple years, she went from being the shortest girl in her school class to one of the taller girl. She will more then likely look like a teen before she is 13yrs. Her brother stands 5 4 at the age of 14yrs, I can't image she will be taller then him, but it's possible. Her flying days may be a part of the past, she did learn how to do a twist up over the summer, in her privates they mainly concentrate on her tumbling. The gym in our town closed and we merged with the other gym. Their where 7 girls and it was going to be a level 1 team. Her tumble coaches and the gym owner (whom does the placements) are three different people then their are the two coaches for her squad. The two coaches she tumbles with in class and the one she does privates with (who also teaches the class), sad to say they are leaving at the end of the month. I asked them and they said yes, they would place her on a level four and told me of a gym, sad to say it's over an hour away and we are not ready for that kind of drive. If they where going to a closer gym I would follow them, but they aren't. I am assuming they are being honest I wanted them to be honest with me. As for the gym owner, she is very much for keeping them on teams that go with their age and not skill level. As for the level four team that the gym currently has, all I know is that 1/2 the team drives abt an hour, they followed that coach from a different gym. The owner said that coach will be teaching a tumble class next season, she said nothing about him coaching. We live in a rural area and most of the gyms I am eyeing are in rural area (the largest is in a town of 50,000) with no level 4 (the coach and kids drive to our gym). If we ever do a level 5, if I am lucky that will be a hour and half drive. It doesn't have to be a Sr age team, and I would consider a level 3 if level 4 isn't possible. I've also considered taking a year off and just tumble. Really what I truly want is a stable coach, in the last three years, she has had five tumble coaches, due to the unstably of our local gym before it closed down. DD did want to quite a couple of coaches back, due to this. I wanted to cry when her current tumble coaches said they where leaving and DD isn't happy either. When ever the coaches change, she goes from working on her full back to handsprings thus she regresses and loses what ever full skills she has learned. Also, other gyms are doing tryouts before our current gym is. The earliest I've seen is this weekend, ours is next month. We have one more comp. at the end of this month. Sorry if this is long, again for grammar errors and hope it's understandable.