Parent's Guide to USA Gymnastics Women's Development Program Ages 4+ 2026-27

From Level 4 up, she moves up one level at a time by scoring the mobility score (an all-around total) at a live USA Gymnastics sanctioned meet. Levels 1-3 have no mobility score.

Things to know:

• She can switch back and forth between Levels 5 and 6.
• She can compete at most two State Championships in a competitive year (August 1 to July 31), one per season.
• USA Gymnastics can't require a gymnast to move up. She should show proficiency at her current level first, then move up when it's safe. Repeating a level just to win is against the spirit of the program.
• Dropping back a level is limited and usually needs a petition from her coach, for example for injury or illness.
• Gymnasts coming from Xcel or another program enter the Development Program at Level 4 or below.

Yes. USA Gymnastics member clubs must give parents and guardians access to practice and training sessions, for both recreational classes and team programs.

• Access can be through seating areas, in-person viewing, closed-circuit broadcast or similar.
• Every session must be viewable by the club's parents. If space is tight, the club may schedule which parents watch when, but some parents must be able to view both recreational and team training at all times.
• Parents of athletes under 8 or with a disability shouldn't be excluded from watching their child's training without just cause.
• Clubs may set viewing rules, such as not interrupting training unless you have a legitimate concern about misconduct.
• A club can't bar a specific parent without just cause. If it does because of a parent's conduct, it must set a reasonable time limit to regain access (no more than 30 days) and offer another way to view, such as a designee you approve.

Yes. Under the USA Gymnastics Safety & Response Policy, every individual training session between an adult and a minor athlete must meet all three of these:

1. It's observable and interruptible (another adult can see in and walk in). Closed-circuit or web-based viewing doesn't count.
2. You've given advance written consent, renewed at least once a year. You can withdraw it at any time.
3. The athlete's parent or guardian must be allowed to attend.

Limited exceptions apply, for example when the coach is also the athlete's parent (dual relationship), close-in-age situations, or emergencies.

After one warning, each attire infraction costs 0.20.

Allowed

• Full-sleeve or sleeveless leotards, with the leg cut below the hipbone
• Unitards (ankle or short length)
• Tights (capri length or longer) or shorts, under or over the leotard, in black, matching or skin tone, with no embellishments
• Gymnastics footwear
• Bra straps that are black, matching, skin tone or clear
• Stud earrings in any part of the ear

Not allowed

• Backless or racerback leotards, unless the open area is filled with mesh or skin-tone fabric
• Spaghetti straps, bare midriffs, T-shirts, boxer or loose shorts, tennis shoes
• Any piercing other than ear studs
• Deliberately exposed underwear

Also

• Hair secured away from her face so it doesn't block her view of the apparatus.
• Clean attire, and a leotard or team warm-ups for march-in and awards.
• No hard, non-removable cast in warm-ups or competition.
• She must arrive early for warm-up and know her schedule and lineup.

• Stay in the public area. Spectators may not enter the field of play. Only competing gymnasts, their coaches and meet staff are allowed there.
• No flash photography during warm-ups or competition. It can endanger the athletes.
• No drones during warm-ups or competition.
• If the meet says so, don't bring food or drinks into the spectator area.
• Don't disturb the meet, the competitors or the officials. The Meet Director may ask anyone causing problems to leave.

Prohibited at every USA Gymnastics sanctioned event:

• Smoking and vaping, including e-cigarettes
• Weapons of any kind, including stun guns
• Clothing that promotes drugs or alcohol, is vulgar or obscene, or distracts from the competition

Gymnasts must eat and drink outside the competition area (water is allowed), change only in designated areas, and stay in the field of play or their assigned spectator space during the event.

Your child's coach. Coaches are required to tell gymnasts and parents to bring concerns to them, and only the coach can act on a score:

• The coach may submit a score inquiry to the Meet Director or Meet Referee within 5 minutes of the squad finishing that event. There's no fee.
• An inquiry is a second look. The score can stay the same, go up or go down.
• The coach can also request a video review for specific things, such as whether a skill was credited, a fall on a bar release, or a landing on the feet first. Judgment calls like the height of a cast or amplitude of a leap can't be reviewed.

Score questions go through the coach, not to the judges. Even coaches may not approach a judge directly, and spectators may not disturb the competitors or officials. Gymnasts are expected to accept their score without criticism or comment.

Coaches must also keep you informed of all competitive requirements and your gymnast's rights and obligations.

Minimum medical coverage at sanctioned meets:

At an in-gym meet where every athlete is from the host club, medical coverage is recommended but not required. Once athletes from another club take part, the coverage above is required.

After an injury

• After a serious injury, the medical provider works with the coach and you to decide whether she can return without significant risk of further injury.
• If she needed a medical assessment, she may finish her routine and continue in the same session once medically cleared, and may get a 30-second touch warm-up.
• If she can't do some events, she presents to the Chief Judge and touches the apparatus to get a zero, which keeps her in the meet. She stays eligible for awards on events she completed.
• Gymnasts may not warm up or compete in a hard, non-removable cast.
• Pushing an athlete back into training too early after a serious injury, without medical clearance, is physical misconduct under the SafeSport Code.

Age groups

• At invitationals and qualifiers below State, the Meet Director sets age divisions and publishes them in the meet information.
• At State-run meets, the state either sets age groups for the whole season (with age taken from the last day of the season's championship) or splits each meet's athletes into roughly equal groups by birth date.
• If a gymnast competes in the wrong age division, her scores don't count for awards, but can still count for mobility.
• Published results may not include her date of birth.

Minimum awards, Levels 5-10 (Meet Directors may give more, but not fewer):

For Levels 1-4, the state committee decides whether awards are for achievement, placement or both.

Ties: tied gymnasts are announced as tied, and duplicate awards are strongly recommended. Without duplicates, the all-around tie goes to the higher single-event score (then second-highest, then third, then Chief Judge scores, then a coin flip), and an event tie goes to the higher all-around. The next place is skipped. Remaining tied gymnasts should be mailed a duplicate award within one month, free.

To compete, your gymnast must:

• Hold a current USA Gymnastics Athlete membership, valid August 1 to July 31 (mid-season registrations also end July 31). Memberships are non-refundable and non-transferable.
• Be affiliated with a USA Gymnastics member club and be coached by a Competitive Coach from that club (except in an emergency).
• Be pre-registered for each meet through the Meet Reservation system. Anyone who can't be verified as a current member can't compete.

Free SafeSport courses from the U.S. Center for SafeSport:

Coaches (including recreational coaches), club staff, judges, meet directors and other adults with regular contact with minor athletes must complete SafeSport training and a background screening. Background screenings must be refreshed every two years.

• Report suspected abuse to local authorities (law enforcement or child protective services).
• Also report it to USA Gymnastics (a Safety and Response Report) or the U.S. Center for SafeSport.
• Every USA Gymnastics member who witnesses abuse, including the Meet Director at a meet, must immediately report it to local authorities and submit a Safety and Response Report. Coaches and club staff are mandatory reporters.

Practices at member clubs that protect your child:

• Closed-door meetings between adults and minor athletes aren't allowed at any event or facility under USA Gymnastics jurisdiction.
• One-on-one training sessions must be observable and interruptible, need your advance written consent (renewed at least yearly), and you must be allowed to attend.
• Allowing an athlete to return to training too early after a serious injury, without medical clearance, counts as physical misconduct under the SafeSport Code.