Mini 1 Vs Tiny 1 Skills

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May 14, 2017
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Providing all things equal and both age groups have the level appropriate tumbling skills is there a difference other than age between the 2 groups? Is all about which age group the gym can field or is one more beneficial and competitive than the other? Would you have a preference if your child was eligible for both divisions and already spent a season in M1 would T1 be a step down or a lateral move?


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I do think going from mini 1 to tiny 1 would be seen as a step down for many people. The age ranges aren't much different but this would be like a junior/senior age athlete moving from a senior 3 to a junior 3. I know many girls and parents that would see that as a disappointment.

However, from a coaches pov...no. The skills are the same and tiny may only be easier to compete in because the age range is a bit younger.
 
For me it would depend on WHY the move happened. Was there no tiny team available for the child last year and they were moved up to mini, or were both available last year and they were placed up anyway? Also, does the kid have all the skills for level 1? If the gym is fielding tiny and mini, and the kid doesn't have all level 1 skills, then the obvious choice is to put them on tiny.


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Generally speaking, routines in the Mini division are a bit faster paced and have more involved skills across the score sheet than Tiny, primarily because of the age brackets. Even though they are both level 1, it is much more difficult to put together the same routine that the average Mini team can do with a group of kids who are 3-6 years old. With the Mini division, much of the team will be 7+ years of age, so their skill set and strength will be more advanced and therefore skills can be more difficult.
As far as "eligible", I'm not sure if you are referring to age eligible or skill eligible. Also, a child who is still Tiny age eligible may have a hard time focusing during the longer practices and keeping up with a faster pace even if the skills for the team are there.
 
A little more background. The gym didn't have a Tiny team last year so my then 5 year old was placed on the mini team they were able to make. Most kids were 7/8 so she was the youngest. She had no problem keeping up and made some great friends. She has level 2 tumbling skills haven't been an issue either year. She is extremely mature for her age and most of her friends are a year or two older than her anyway. For whatever reason the gym seems to really want to make a tiny team this year (last year was the first year in many years they weren't able to form one) and since my daughter is still age eligible and experienced put her on it. I worry she will be get bored with the slower pace and attention span of the other kids. About half of the other kids have all the level 1 tumbling skills and the other half have some, but not all yet. I think they are going to have a Y1 and a Tiny 1 this next season (we are still in workout groups). I have no doubt she could handle a Y1 just fine. What is the best way to approach the gym about this? We love our gym and really don't want to leave. I mentioned on here the other day we do have a Y2 offer from another gym though. What is the best way to approach the gym/coaches if they do want her on a tiny team? I get the gym wants to build strong teams, but I also want my athlete to continue to grow each year and do what's best for her and I'm not sold that a tiny team is it.


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Your kid is the one with the tumbling block right? She isn't throwing her level two tumbling right now? Would they let her cross over and do both T1 and Y1? That might be the best solution. That young and with the tumbling block I would not push her to level 2.


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Yes she has the block. Getting better, but still not there yet. I still agree Y2 wouldn't be the best choice for her too. They have mentioned her double teaming. I'm a little nervous about going from 6 hours a week to 10 hours a week if she does double team just because of her age. I do think she could handle it though.


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With the new age grid for competitive T1 teams (5 and 6 years only), I think T1 is going to be the new M1. As a coach, I'd be very unwilling to put your 6 year old on a Y1 team for a couple of reasons.

1. If the team is a true youth team with 5th and 6th graders, your little one would be considerably younger. Being in kindergarten on a mini team that caps at 2nd or 3rd grade is one thing. Being in 1st grads on a youth team that caps at 6th or 7th grade is another. I know 6th and 7th graders can and should be respectful around little ones, but it's just not fun for either party involved. The 6th grader doesn't want to hang with the 1st grader, and the 1st grader is going to be left out of birthday parties, etc. for the 6th grader.

2. Y1 is going to be even more fast-paced than M1. The routine gets faster, the skills get harder, and the pressure increases exponentially. Your daughter may be able to "keep up," but will she thrive? Or will she barely hold on or potentially hold the team back? I want all of my athletes to be a member of a team on which they can thrive.

3. Let them be little. At the end of the day, she's 6. There's plenty of time to be on a mini or youth team. The chance to be on a team with her peers is so valuable, and as an experienced veteran, she has the opportunity to shine on a T1.
 
In your daughter's case, I'd be looking for a mini team. I have had my kids on mini, youth, and tiny. The biggest difference I saw between mini and tiny was the actual routine. Most of the tiny teams had very basic dance and very little tumbling. My six year old son was on tiny last year. He was fine, because he had no tumbling at the beginning (could do a cartwheel by the end!), but my daughter at that age had her bhs and would have been very bored. Also, he was the oldest on the team (August birthday), so he got annoyed with the younger kids sometimes, enough so that he's probably not going to return this year. We didn't have a mini team last year and he was far too small and inexperienced for youth. He would have had to have flown, lol. My daughter's first year was age 6 and she was on a mini team. It was a fantastic experience!!! I loved mini!!!! The routines were much more difficult than tiny and she learned so much! She's young enough this year, she could still cross down to mini and if they needed her to cover for a comp, I'd happily lend her out. I just loved everything about mini. Youth is a whole different ball of wax, lol.
 
I feel like there's a huge range of what a Tiny team can do. Our gym had a Tiny Prep Level 1 and two girls had BWO and it seemed super short. Stunts weren't very difficult and the dance was very easy.
Then I watch other gyms where they had a Tiny Level 1 and it was crazy. Everyone had tumbling, they did great stunts, an actual pyramid. I think it's really what the gym is able to teach the girls to do..
 
I feel like there's a huge range of what a Tiny team can do. Our gym had a Tiny Prep Level 1 and two girls had BWO and it seemed super short. Stunts weren't very difficult and the dance was very easy.
Then I watch other gyms where they had a Tiny Level 1 and it was crazy. Everyone had tumbling, they did great stunts, an actual pyramid. I think it's really what the gym is able to teach the girls to do..

I feel like Tiny is going to change a lot with the change to the age grid. There will probably still be a big range with slower paced routines vs more advanced but the maturity differences between a 3yo and a 5yo are pretty significant.
 
I feel like Tiny is going to change a lot with the change to the age grid. There will probably still be a big range with slower paced routines vs more advanced but the maturity differences between a 3yo and a 5yo are pretty significant.
This. For those of you who are parents and aren't necessarily privy to age brackets and rules, the Tiny division just changed from fetus-6 year olds to 5-6 year olds ONLY. I really think it's going to make a huge difference.
 
I'm just speaking from the coaches perspective and in generalizations, coming fresh off a weekend of explaining to parents why their child dropped down an age group (we added 4 additional teams this coming year) or why we won't move their 8 year up to youth or 11 year up to jr/sr team -

We set up the teams to be successful as possible, which means maxing out the top of the age group. Ex: we didn't offer Tiny or Mini team last year and we had everyone 11 and under on Youth 1. This year we now offer Tiny, Mini and Youth - all mini aged eligible athletes will be one Mini's.... even if they were on youth last year.

We want athletes to be successful as possible. We know their potential/strengths/weaknesses and what type of routine we envision for the coming year. The skills overall may be the same across the age divisions, however with increased age we expect increased muscle strength (harder stunts) and better memory retention (harder, faster choreography). It is very likely that while she was great at a Mini 1 routine, she is not ready for the caliber of skills seen in Youth 1.

This is the part that may come off rude and I apologize if it does (I'm in no way trying to say that coaches know the kids better than their parents) - coaches see athletes differently than parents. We ONLY see the kids in the cheerleading setting so that is all we know. We aren't biased and we don't have outside experience with the athletes. Which means, if in practice your kid goofs off or is talking a lot or acts their actual age... that's what we know. It doesn't matter how focused or intelligent they are at school or at home with their siblings/friends. Over and over and over again, I've seen parents say their kids are "mature for their age" or prefer to only spend time with older kids yet their kid is actually age-appropriate or it's their kid that is distracting the team...

The example I always give to parents - your child doesn't like to be with the younger ones but you want me to make an exception and make her the younger one on a different team... it's no different on that team. The 14 year old doesn't want to be with the 8 year-old anymore than the 8 year-old doesn't want to be with 5 year-olds.
 
I didn't realIze T1 was changed to be 5/6 year olds only. My understanding is the gym is doing away with Mini teams all together this year. Will have Tiny and then jump to youth at our particular location. I still feel like Mini is the best place for her, but that doesn't seem to be an option at this point. I totally see where youth aged kids won't want to be with my 6 year old. She did practice with the Tiny age the other day and spent a lot of time sitting and waiting while everyone else was learning the basics and she wasn't happy about that. It doesn't help she is the size of an 8/9 year old and looked like a giant out there. I get both sides of Tiny vs bumping up to youth. I hate Mini isn't an option this year.


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I didn't realIze T1 was changed to be 5/6 year olds only. My understanding is the gym is doing away with Mini teams all together this year. Will have Tiny and then jump to youth at our particular location. I still feel like Mini is the best place for her, but that doesn't seem to be an option at this point. I totally see where youth aged kids won't want to be with my 6 year old. She did practice with the Tiny age the other day and spent a lot of time sitting and waiting while everyone else was learning the basics and she wasn't happy about that. It doesn't help she is the size of an 8/9 year old and looked like a giant out there. I get both sides of Tiny vs bumping up to youth. I hate Mini isn't an option this year.


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Mini kinda became a smaller division when they increased the tiny age to 6 and under. I feel like mini could have been increased from 8 and under to 9 and under, youth to 12 and under, junior to 15 and under. Nice 3 year intervals. But that's another discussion.

I hope she has a good season anyway and that the tiny team will be as good as they can be! I know what you mean though. I like mini, my CP was on it for 2 seasons, as a 6 year old and 8 year old. In between she was on youth.
 
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