TLDR summary: My kid will be 11 soon. She is competing level 6, has all her level 7 skills. Sweet, brave, coachable kid. "Elite" coach at our gym approached me to ask about moving my kid into the HOPES training group. Kid is waaaaaaay behind the others in the group at this point. And really she is not the kid that historically anyone would have picked out for that path, but over the past 18 months, she has sort of come into herself as a gymnast. Is it worth trying? With her current level/age, could she even have a chance of qualifying?
Background: This past summer our gym brought two new coaches in who have trained many HOPES gymnasts and maybe a few junior elite (?) in the past. They have a small group of 13-14 y/o kids in a HOPES training group that have all qualified for classics (?) this season. They have a very small group of 11-12 y/o kids in a HOPES training group as well, but the only ones who have competed and qualified thus far have been with the coaches for years and followed them with their move to our gym. Finally, they have a TOPS training group of about 3-4 kids, all aged 8-9 y/o.
My kid will be 11 this month and is a level 6, competing all level 7 skills, except her beam series (she has it but always goes a few seconds over time when she includes it and coaches don't want to change her choreography right now). She is a super happy and sweet kid, very coachable per every coach she'd ever worked with, and picks up skills IMO at a reasonable pace. She's rarely the first to get new skills, but she seems to make consistent forward progress pretty evenly across upgrades. Even after surgery from a gym injury this summer, not a particularly mental block prone kid that I can tell. Usually scores between 37-38. BUT, not a kid that anyone, including her very proud and biased mama, would think belongs in an elite-goal training group!
Question: The main HOPES coach found me in the parking lot at pick up yesterday and asked if we could schedule a time to talk about transitioning my kid into the younger HOPES training group. The middle-ground transition training group that includes the 11-12 y/o from our gym and the little ones training TOPS is the group my kid would join. The hours are the exact same as what she currently does.
The two girls who came with the coaches to our gym are nearly a year older than my kid and are already competing level 9 and 10 respectively. The two newer kids in the group who are from our gym originally are 8 months older than my kid (competing level 8) and just over a year older (competing level 9). The two from our gym I have known for years and you could always tell that this was their thing, so to speak. Gorgeous form, quick with skills, super strong, fearless, etc.
Would you consider this for your kid if she was interested? With her being so far off from where the others in her age group are, would it even be possible for a kid to gain enough skills in just two years to be able to compete 13-14 HOPES (that is what the coach said is the goal, not to try for 11-12)? Even with really kind coaches, would you think it would result in a tough situation for the kid should they decide they did not want to do it after trying it? What questions would you ask at the meeting? For those whose kids have done this, when did they begin this trajectory? For anyone whose kids began on the "older" side (ie nearly 11), did they enjoy it? Has it been/ was it worth it for them? Manageable for you? NB - We both work full time, although hubs works 80% from home and has some flexibility, and we have 2 other kids who are both competitive athletes on travel teams, so we are for sure outnumbered. We are fortunate enough to be able to afford the training and travel and we live <10 minutes from the gym, so it is convenient.
Thanks!
Background: This past summer our gym brought two new coaches in who have trained many HOPES gymnasts and maybe a few junior elite (?) in the past. They have a small group of 13-14 y/o kids in a HOPES training group that have all qualified for classics (?) this season. They have a very small group of 11-12 y/o kids in a HOPES training group as well, but the only ones who have competed and qualified thus far have been with the coaches for years and followed them with their move to our gym. Finally, they have a TOPS training group of about 3-4 kids, all aged 8-9 y/o.
My kid will be 11 this month and is a level 6, competing all level 7 skills, except her beam series (she has it but always goes a few seconds over time when she includes it and coaches don't want to change her choreography right now). She is a super happy and sweet kid, very coachable per every coach she'd ever worked with, and picks up skills IMO at a reasonable pace. She's rarely the first to get new skills, but she seems to make consistent forward progress pretty evenly across upgrades. Even after surgery from a gym injury this summer, not a particularly mental block prone kid that I can tell. Usually scores between 37-38. BUT, not a kid that anyone, including her very proud and biased mama, would think belongs in an elite-goal training group!
Question: The main HOPES coach found me in the parking lot at pick up yesterday and asked if we could schedule a time to talk about transitioning my kid into the younger HOPES training group. The middle-ground transition training group that includes the 11-12 y/o from our gym and the little ones training TOPS is the group my kid would join. The hours are the exact same as what she currently does.
The two girls who came with the coaches to our gym are nearly a year older than my kid and are already competing level 9 and 10 respectively. The two newer kids in the group who are from our gym originally are 8 months older than my kid (competing level 8) and just over a year older (competing level 9). The two from our gym I have known for years and you could always tell that this was their thing, so to speak. Gorgeous form, quick with skills, super strong, fearless, etc.
Would you consider this for your kid if she was interested? With her being so far off from where the others in her age group are, would it even be possible for a kid to gain enough skills in just two years to be able to compete 13-14 HOPES (that is what the coach said is the goal, not to try for 11-12)? Even with really kind coaches, would you think it would result in a tough situation for the kid should they decide they did not want to do it after trying it? What questions would you ask at the meeting? For those whose kids have done this, when did they begin this trajectory? For anyone whose kids began on the "older" side (ie nearly 11), did they enjoy it? Has it been/ was it worth it for them? Manageable for you? NB - We both work full time, although hubs works 80% from home and has some flexibility, and we have 2 other kids who are both competitive athletes on travel teams, so we are for sure outnumbered. We are fortunate enough to be able to afford the training and travel and we live <10 minutes from the gym, so it is convenient.
Thanks!