A gymnast in the USAG Developmental Program is required to compete on all four women’s events and must complete certain requirements on each event on a given level before advancing to the next.
The Developmental Program at Blaze is broken down into levels (2-10) and offers some of the strongest, most challenging competition at each level. Athletes competing at levels 2-5 compete compulsory routines. Each child competes the same exact routines on each apparatus and uses the same floor routine music. Athletes competing at level 6 and above compete Optional routines. Each gymnast competes their own unique routine on each apparatus and can choose their own floor routine music, though there are still requirements regarding what types of elements and skills must be included at each level.
The Developmental Program is a highly demanding program requiring a lot of time and dedication. Due to the levels of precision and difficulty required to execute routines, Developmental Program gymnasts will typically train between 6 and 30 plus hours per week. Former Blaze gymnasts competing in this program have gone on to compete at the college level at such institutions as UCONN, Gannon University, University of Delaware, Brown University, Simpson College, and Penn State.