In Women’s Artistic Gymnastics, there are two seasons of competition in the year. In the early part of the year (Feb-May) are Grades and in the later part of the year (Sept- Nov) are the Voluntary Levels. There may also be other Invitational competitions throughout the year as well.

When it comes to competition, trust your coach! By all means, feel free to ask why your daughter is doing the grade or level that they are, but remember the coach has experience here and is seeing things in the gym that you don’t or can’t see. 

The pathways in gymnastics are flexible and allow for gymnasts to move around them at a pace that suits their development. The route they start on may not be the route they continue on, and coaches want to give them their best shot at a long and successful career.

The Levels / Grades system starts in the year that your daughter turns 8. Even if they are still 7 when they do the competition, as long as they turn 8 in that calendar year (not school year) they can compete. Competitions can be In Age or Out of Age. In Age is based on the year that your daughter is a set age for a grade or level. Out of Age means that your daughter is at least one year older than those who are In Age. In levels, the girls compete on 4 pieces of apparatus - vault, bars, beam and floor. Grades have the addition of Range & Conditioning (R&C) which focuses on passive and active flexibility, strength and balance.

After the Olympics, the Code of Points is reviewed and updated by the FIG. Following this, British Gymnastics, regions and counties will review and update the rules for grades, levels and county competitions. They may also make some minor changes each year and clarify the rules.

Competitions will usually be held at New College, Leicester.

Gymnasts may also go to 'Invitationals' which are privately organised competitions which do not qualify to any Regional or National competitions. These are great for experience and for learning to have fun competing with a bit less pressure. E.g. Amber Valley Ninja Cup & Hannah Whelan Invitational.

The grades routes are flexible and allow for movement between routes. You can move across the routes at the coach’s discretion. 

For example, a gymnast who has passed Regional Grade 3 could do National Grade 3 the year after. A pass at National Grade 3 would require the gymnast to do at least Regional grade 2 if she moved back across to Regional Grades.

The Compulsory Grade route requires a pass at Compulsory 3, many gymnasts do this grade out of age. Most Regions offer a comp 3 ‘retake’ around November time to allow gymnasts to catch up if they’d failed the grade in April or wish to join the route without waiting a whole year.

Feel free to ask your coaches for clarification if you are unsure about your child’s grade route and what they think their long term plan will be. However, do think carefully about how you phrase such questions in front of your daughter. If possible, a 1:1 conversation between you and the coach is a great first step, to make sure if your daughter asks questions at home you have the answers.

Children worry about their parents’ opinion more than you may realise. Any sniff of the idea that mum or dad are disappointed that they aren’t doing the same grade as their team-mates can manifest as massive insecurities, so positivity and celebrating any achievements at all is incredibly key when discussing this!

Just remember - for 80-90% of children their age, what your daughter can do would be absolutely impossible, both physically and mentally. Sometimes they need reminding just how much they have achieved to be competing in this demanding sport.

At this county competition the gymnasts need to achieve a set mark for a Pass / Distinction. There are no ribbons for apparatus placings and no National opportunities for this competition however this competition will tell us which route gymnasts should take next, regional or national.

Club Grade 6 & 5 are the beginning of either the Regional or National Grade pathway. Gymnasts must be 8 or 9 in the year to compete in these grades.

Grade 6 is all about shapes. You’ll see lots of straight jumps, splits and levers in this grade. It can be hard to imagine how on earth the judges will separate the gymnasts scores at first, but once you get to the competition the different levels of preparation at this level will be very clear.

Grade 6 arguably has the widest range of gymnasts competing. Newbies to the sport can pick up the skills relatively quickly and gymnasts from all routes will be using it as competition experience. It’s a great learning experience but very rarely indicates how a gymnast’s career is going to pan out. The key for this often first competition, for parents, is to be very calm. Encourage your daughter to have fun and do their best without worrying where they come.

Grade 5 builds on these skills, adding in details like their first ‘a’ dismount on bars, round off on floor and a vault that passes through handstand. By this stage some gymnasts may take another route so the field will be less crowded.

It will also be emerging to coaches (but not necessarily parents) which gymnasts will move on to National or Regional Grades from here.

At this County competition the gymnasts need to achieve a set mark for a Pass / Distinction. There are no ribbons for apparatus placings and no National opportunities for this route.

The R&C for Regional Grades 4-1 is the same set routine. The skills are easier here than in the National Grades and allows for the gymnasts who do not have the higher skill level to have their chance to shine.

Many routines have options at the higher Regional Grades, allowing coaches to play to their gymnast’s strengths even more. This route is so valuable because it provides that extra level of competition to keep gymnasts in the sport longer and allows slow burners a chance to develop.

Typically, gymnasts doing these grades are 2-3 years out of age. An important thing to remember here is that yes, it is a lot more unlikely that these gymnasts will qualify to the British Championships, but that doesn’t make their achievements any less valid. To be regional champion of their grade is no less fantastic than to be British champion at a National Level or Grade. Gymnasts will also be entered into the new Classic Challenge competition at zinc, copper and bronze level, working toward silver and gold.

National Grades are harder than Regional Grades and sit underneath the Compulsory Grades in terms of difficulty. The R&C for National Grades 4-1 is the same set routine.

The National Route is difficult due to the rate of progression. By 10, the gymnasts will be working in two grips on bars, twisting somersaults on floor and linking backward elements on beam. The sheer pace of learning drops and the competition has thinned out a lot.

At this competition the gymnasts need to achieve a set mark for a Pass / Distinction. The top 5 medallists will automatically become a team of four, plus travelling reserve, representing their Region at the NDP (National Development Pathway) National finals. There is no other selection process for the team and gymnasts cannot qualify individually to these finals. There are no ribbons for apparatus placings.

Like Regional Grades, there is a first year of age eligibility for each grade. (In age) and the grades can also be taken out of age. For National 4 this is the year they turn 10, and subsequent grades add a year, eg. 11 for Grade 3, 12 for Grade 2 etc. The gymnasts competing the grade in age will not be separated in any way from the girls who are out of age when it comes to picking the top 5 to represent the region. 

Gymnasts must achieve a qualifying score at National Grade 1 to qualify for the Challenge Cup. The Challenge cup presents an opportunity for gymnasts to become an elite gymnast and qualify for the British championships! (This is the overall goal for A Squad gymnasts)!

Voluntary routines are constructed around 4 requirements on each piece and are a modified version of FIG rules. These are the rules our senior team GB gymnasts have to follow at events like the Olympic Games. Whilst the difference in difficulty required is obviously very great between these gymnasts and the girls competing Copper level in regional competitions, the routine construction is actually pretty similar!

‘Composition Requirements’ are the foundation of a routine. These are the skills or family of skills that a gymnast must fulfil during the routine. Each requirement fulfilled is worth 0.5, up to a maximum of 2 marks if all 4 are checked off. After that, the gymnast’s top 8 skills (often 5 on bars for younger / lower level gymnasts) are counted and their ‘Difficulty Value’ added to the composition requirements to produce a start score, along with any relevant bonuses. On various apparatus, there are other things to take into account, such as dismount must be counted or acro vs dance skills in the routine construction.

Every skill gymnasts can do is listed in the FIG code of points and assigned a difficulty value. An ‘A’ skill contributes 0.1 to the score, a ‘B’ skill 0.2. This continues all the way up to ‘I’ which is Simone Biles level stuff! At lower levels, there may be some elements which are not in the code of points, but listed in the permitted uncoded skills section (such as a forward roll on beam) which are given 0.1 value for that competition only.

The key take-away for all levels is that where they can, coaches construct your daughter’s routine based on what they can do safely and cleanly. The most important thing you can bear in mind as a parent is that gymnastics is also judged on execution as well as difficulty and coaches weigh up each skill against how it will be judged. They will often ask for the opinions of other members of the coaching team or qualified judges.

A conversation that is had regularly by coaches and parents all over the country is why is my child not competing *skill* when they can do it. There are a variety of answers to this. Most common amongst them is that yes, that skill is worth 0.2, but we can see at least 0.5 in deductions on it. 0.3 knee bend, 0.1 flexed feet, 0.1 hip angle quickly add up to make the skill not worth doing just yet! Whereas the ‘A’ skill that they competed last year is only carrying a 0.1 deduction the majority of times they perform it. It doesn’t mean we have given up on the new skill, or are purposefully holding your child back, they just aren’t ready yet.Some skills also have frustratingly close difficulty considering how tricky they are for little ones to learn. The body tension, spatial awareness and technique required to do a straight back on floor only earns the gymnast 0.1 as it is an ‘A’ skill. After all that hard work, she only gains what she would have for a tuck back, and the potential deductions are endless. Most careful coaches will leave that tuck back in until the straight back has no head chuck on take off, no loss of body tension (that banana shape is not popular with judges) and is high and controlled.Competition prep is endless repetitions and any bad technique will be absolutely hammered by the time that competition season is over.

As always, it is important that if you have questions about your daughter’s level or routines to speak to your coach. 

Communication is key, and we can’t always anticipate what you may have questions about.

Your child’s coach will choose their level / grade based on what they are achieving with consistency in the gym and what fits the long term plan for your child. It is not unusual at all to repeat a level, sometimes several times. There will still be progression - she can compete harder routines the following year and/or aim to beat her score. The levels framework allows for this flexibility and there is no point moving up a level if she cannot fulfil the requirements, which most of us view as the bare minimum.

There is sometimes a ‘must move up’ score, when a gymnast scores above a certain number and cannot compete at this level again. The logic here is that if she is doing so well at this level this year, she should be able to compete at the next level the following year. Staying down at this point would just be medal chasing and not useful for the gymnast’s progression.

Gymnasts must have the following kit for every training session:

Short Sleeved Leotard

Shorts or leggings over leotard

Socks

Handguards & Long Wristbands - when they have achieved an upstart on the chalk bar, coaches will let parents know when it’s time to purchase handguards

Loops & Gloves

Chalk

Drawstring bag for chalk

COMPETITION KIT

GK Long Sleeve Competition Leotard

GK Competition Leggings

GK Competition Jacket - bring into the gym to get embroidered.

OLGC Bag (any colour) - can be used for training and competition

We hope this has answered any questions you may have with your child being in the squad. If you have any questions please email amara@oadbygymnastics.co.uk.

Gymnasts will be assessed on all apparatus plus a range and conditioning routine similar to grades. Apparatus testing will be based on the gymnasts current level / grade they are at. E.g: if a gymnast is working at copper level, they will be assessed on the copper routines.