Is it a failure to not progress? If you are trying are trying to progress, than the answer is YES (which in this sport, I would say the goal of most people is that they are trying to progress). However, there are many ways to measure progress, which is where I think many people get frustrated in this sport. Some parents only look at rogress by what team their child makes, which is a very innacurate measure. We had some parents say "why did my daughter go from a junior 2 to a youth 3?" Well, we did not have a youth 2 last year and your daughter was a level 2 athlete, this year we had enough to make a more age appropriate team for your (let's say 9 year old) child that still suits her current (and now progressed level). They still don't always grasp the separation between age and level. Some parents this year asked us why their child is on junior level 3 for a second year in a row. Our response was "Your child was able to barely make junior 3 last year with solid jumps to back handspring and a low round-off tuck. This year your child made junior level 3 with jumps to series back-handsprings and a front-walkover round-off bhs tuck." In both cases, the child has progressed. This sport has so many factors to be considered, some children will progress in tumbling much quicker than stunting, or will progress in skills but not the learning ability, endurance or maturity needed to move up a level. Some kids may come from a less than par gym and spend their first year re-learning many of their skills and have to repeat a level. Did that child progress? Absolutely. It is failure not to progress, but we have to eliminate the closed-mind definition of progress.
