make Level 6 easier?

JBS kicked off a good discussion thread on Chalk Bucket — Why the huge drop off between 5 and 6?

Many girls in the States never make the transition from Level 5 to Level 6.

Why?

A parent (Sharks3376) suggests:

… three main reasons for girls to never make it to level 6.

The number 1 reason girls either repeated or quit before level 6 was because of BARS. Either it was a complete inability to generate enough swing/strength to do the high casting skills and clear hip or it was fear of the flyaway.

The number 2 reason girls quit (every one of these was middle school age or older) was because of schoolwork issues. Basically not being able to do the level 6 hours and keep their grades high.

The number 3 reason was because of beam fears and every time it was a complete block on the bwo.

Read and comment here.

Perhaps Level 6 Bars and Beam should be slightly easier to keep kids in longer. Ideally we’d have a linear drop-out rate, I would think.

Dropping out due to fear of gymnastics is worst case. Kids should look back at their gymnastics career with fondness, not dread. I was an awful gymnast but have only good memories of those years.