NY TOPS Program

  • The purpose of the TOPS National Program is to build the physical abilities and technically sound fundamentals for our athletes of the future. While strength and flexibility continue to develop, the athletes will learn the compulsory routines which contain many of the root skills required for elite level development. Form, execution, and shapes will be the primary focus of this program. This is the beginning of the path for an elite athlete, TOPS-HOPES/ DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM-ELITE.  Whether an athlete chooses the elite path or the Development Program path, the TOPS program will assist in developing a well-prepared athlete as she moves forward.

Physical Abilities will be evaluated in the fall of each year, starting in September, 2022 and running through mid-November. USA Gymnastics will conduct the Physical Abilities evaluations virtually.  Physical Abilities will be evaluated and based on the results, a minimum qualification score will be determined. Athletes achieving the minimum score or higher will be eligible to compete TOPS routines during the winter competition season, from January through April of each year. In an effort to provide as many qualification opportunities as possible, TOPS competition sessions will be incorporated in invitationals across the country.  Registration for testing is done on the Group Processing page of USAGYM.com.  Virtual Physical Abilities testing will take place on :

    • September 16
    • September 30
    • October 14
    • October 21
    • November 11
      • These are all Saturday’s. We will hold 4 testings each day all EST 9AM, 11AM, 2PM and 4PM. There will be a maximum of 60 athletes per session to help the testing stay within the 2 hour time frame.
      • All sanctions are open and available now to register. Sanctions will close the Monday before the testing.
      • Flexibility has been removed from the virtual physical abilities in the fall, we will be testing it at National Testing but it will be different than the flexibility from the previous year we are working on a video to put up on the website.

Age determination: The TOPS age determination date will follow the age determination date of the Elite track.  The age will be determined by the age of the athlete on December 31 of the year for National Skills Testing. For the upcoming season (2023/2024), athletes Born in 2014 are considered 10 years old, athletes born in 2015 are considered 9 years old, and athletes born in 2016 will be considered 8 years old.

Skill Testing will be done at Elite Qualifying competitions across the country.  To register for the skills testing you MUST already have passed the Physical Abilities testing.  You will be allowed to register for multiple Skills testing meets.  You will be notified of placement into the teams based off the national averages at the end of the testing season

Click HERE to access the TOPS routines. Videos will be added at a later date.TOPS competitions may not be conducted after April 30 of each year. At the conclusion of the TOPS competition season, scores will be evaluated and a minimum qualification score for TOPS National Testing will be determined. Athletes achieving the minimum score or higher will be invited to attend TOPS National testing.

TOPS National testing will be conducted as it has been in the past, sometime in the early part of June of each year. 8-10 year old athletes will be invited to perform and be evaluated on Physical Abilities and TOPS routines. Based on the results, athletes will qualify to the TOPS A and TOPS B teams and will be invited to TOPS camps, which will take place in July or August of each year, depending on the calendar and the schedule each year.


TOPS Qualifying Invitationals

Please submit any Questions/Issues with regards to TOPS matters by completing the below form. Your first point of contact should be someone from your gym, and we would appreciate that this form is filled out and completed by a coach/owner of a gym.

NY State TOPS Manager:

Barry Coss
131 Despatch Drive
East Rochester, NY 14445