Hi parents,
I'm fairly certain I need to change gyms to help DD to reach her goals. She's 12 years old training for L5 this upcoming season and eventually wants to be a L10. I've always resisted putting pressure on her to make her an elite gymnast and explained to her what they go through. She was the one who brought up the L10 goal, so I told her I'd support her since I thought it was a good goal to strive for. Maybe my expectations are wildly off, but I've always suspected she'd be a better optional gymnast than compulsory. My instincts were confirmed when one of her coaches told me that earlier this spring. We had one setback last year when she broke her hand early in the season and was out for 8 weeks, but she recovered quickly and finished the season's L4 state meet with decent scores (above 35AA).
Problem is kiddo loves her gym and friends. We've stuck with the gym for years through the ups and downs to avoid grass is greener syndrome. Long story, but they lost some experienced coaches since the pandemic, and it's clear now that is has lead to a weakening of their JO program. I've talked to management who has said they are trying to hire more coaches, but haven't turned up the right candidates. Has anyone ever had to change gyms if your kid didn't want to, and how did you approach it with them? I don't want to force an ultimatum, but I'm not sure what else to do. I'm actually sad we've come to this point because they're some really lovely girls and parents at our gym. I know I'm not the only frustrated parent at our gym.
I'm fairly certain I need to change gyms to help DD to reach her goals. She's 12 years old training for L5 this upcoming season and eventually wants to be a L10. I've always resisted putting pressure on her to make her an elite gymnast and explained to her what they go through. She was the one who brought up the L10 goal, so I told her I'd support her since I thought it was a good goal to strive for. Maybe my expectations are wildly off, but I've always suspected she'd be a better optional gymnast than compulsory. My instincts were confirmed when one of her coaches told me that earlier this spring. We had one setback last year when she broke her hand early in the season and was out for 8 weeks, but she recovered quickly and finished the season's L4 state meet with decent scores (above 35AA).
Problem is kiddo loves her gym and friends. We've stuck with the gym for years through the ups and downs to avoid grass is greener syndrome. Long story, but they lost some experienced coaches since the pandemic, and it's clear now that is has lead to a weakening of their JO program. I've talked to management who has said they are trying to hire more coaches, but haven't turned up the right candidates. Has anyone ever had to change gyms if your kid didn't want to, and how did you approach it with them? I don't want to force an ultimatum, but I'm not sure what else to do. I'm actually sad we've come to this point because they're some really lovely girls and parents at our gym. I know I'm not the only frustrated parent at our gym.