What is TOPS anyway?
So I've been asked many times what TOPS gymnastics testing is all about so I figured I would share what I know. TOPS stands for Talent Opportunity Program and is a program designed to help USA Gymnastics spot young talented gymnasts early and get them to the ranch for the national coaching staff to start working with the girls and their coaches. Here is the official USA Gymnastics explanation of the program:
TOPs (Talent Opportunity Program), is a talent search and educational program for female gymnasts ages 7-10 and their coaches. During the months of June and July gymnasts age 7-10 are evaluated on physical abilities at the state or regional level. These dates are set by your State TOP manager in conjunction with the National TOP Manager.
From there, athletes are invited to participate in the National TOP test that is conducted in the month of October where they will be evaluated on the same physical abilities tests along with some basic gymnastics skills. Select athletes are then invited to participate in the National TOP Training camp which takes place in December of each year.
This year there were over 3500 tests taken at the state/regional level for the first phase of TOPS evaluations. 100 8 year olds 100 9 year olds and 100 10 year olds are chosen to participate in the National TOP test at the National Training Center at the Karolyi Ranch in Huntsville, TX. At this stage Jaz was lucky enough to be named one of the top 100 9 year olds this year. In October we traveled to Texas for the two day national test. The 300 girls who are invited take a skills test one day and a physical abilities test on the other. Based on their age each test counts for a 50/50, 60/40 or 70/30 split to come up with the total score. This creates a level playing field for the different age groups. From these 300 girls the top 50 girls regardless of age are named to the TOPS A Team and the next 60 are named to the TOPS B Team. Each team will return in December for a TOPS A or a TOPS B training camp with the national coaching staff.
During our trip for the National test Jaz didn't do her best but we had a great time. She trained so hard all summer for these tests that Jaz not at her best was still pretty great! Our goal was to have fun and enjoy being at the ranch again and we definitely accomplished that. In the weeks that followed we were hoping for maybe making the B team if we got lucky but when the list came out..... Jazzy's name was on the A Team list! What a wonderful surprise! So proud of her. She's headed back to the ranch in December for her week long training camp with coach JJ and the national coaching staff. It will be exciting for her to be a returning camper this year.
Next year at age 10 will be her last year that she's eligible for the TOPS program but what happens after that? Well there are two things that can happen, the HOPES program and Development Camps. The natural progression after TOPS is a program called HOPES. I don't know a ton about this yet but its kind of like a Pre-Elite program where girls can try to qualify for HOPES competitions which would allow her to compete against other girls that are on the Elite gymnastics path. The HOPES program runs in conjunction with her normal JO Levels from 3-10 (Jaz will be a level 8 this year). There are only a few HOPES qualifying meets and a HOPES Championship at the end of the year. I believe this program runs from 10-13 year olds.
So the holy grail of gymnastics at Jazzy's age is to be invited to a national Developmental Camp. These are camps that you can only attend by being invited by Valeri Liukin who has replaced Marta Karolyi this year as the head of USA Gymnastics. You must be invited by Valeri or Kim Riley or by recommendation of the National Coaching staff I believe. At any rate it is an rare honor to be invited. Valeri is looking for young gymnasts from the TOPS program or from National JO competitions. There are two types of development camps, one being called Development Invite Camp which has I think 4 camps per year and is completely paid for by the family and this is two steps below the USA National Team. The other type is not so cleverly named Development Camp which is filled with girls who have come through the Development Invite Camp path and there are I believe 6 of these per year. Some of this camp is paid for by USA Gymnastics. This is the camp where the National Team members are chosen from. I believe the National team is made up of 20 or so girls. International Junior competitions are not an option for Jaz until she is 13 or 14 I don't think so Development Camp is as high as she can go right now. Come on Valeri... spot this little spark plug at TOPS A Camp and shoot her an invite!
I may not have all the details right but for the most part this is the overview of Jazzy's short term goals and options. The sky is the limit for this little bundle of energy.
