J
JennyJones
Hello, I have been on this forum for a few months...some of my previous posts were "reality check on switching gyms", and possibly moving to a "tumbling exhibition" team instead of doing a formal gymnastics program. We tried two different gyms but both of them had a "Russian" focus with Russian coaches and it was too punitive with many raised voices and lots of discipline.
Well...we finally found the right fit, we joined a program which is competitive, but considered recreational gymnastics. I don't know if this is "preop" or what, but it's been wonderful. My DD used to go 4 days per week for 4 hours and pay thousands in tuition and meet fees. This new program is through a recreation center (where we receive in-district rates) and she can go 2.5 hours either two or three days per week. She used to be in compulsory level 6 in USAG, but now she is in "optional 1" in this new league. She LOVES it! She loves having her own music and own routines. The other girls are actually quite good, because many of them came from USAG but couldn't take the hours. My DD was very good in USAG, won two meets with over 75 kids in all ages, so I was really torn about taking her out. But even though she goes fewer hours, they are teaching high level skills and if we want to supplement with privates, the cost is about 1/3 of what we used to pay. It's a nice gym with state of the art equipment.
The coaching at the new gym in this new league is great and my dd gets lots of attention and now can't wait to go to gymnastics (previously there were lots of tears and "I don't want to go" because she had extremely strict coaching and she wanted more time to play.)
I was so hesitant to switch out of the USAG league, but if you're not going to the olympics...does it really matter? If anyone else is struggling with finding a balance in life...check out one of these leagues. We couldn't be happier.
Well...we finally found the right fit, we joined a program which is competitive, but considered recreational gymnastics. I don't know if this is "preop" or what, but it's been wonderful. My DD used to go 4 days per week for 4 hours and pay thousands in tuition and meet fees. This new program is through a recreation center (where we receive in-district rates) and she can go 2.5 hours either two or three days per week. She used to be in compulsory level 6 in USAG, but now she is in "optional 1" in this new league. She LOVES it! She loves having her own music and own routines. The other girls are actually quite good, because many of them came from USAG but couldn't take the hours. My DD was very good in USAG, won two meets with over 75 kids in all ages, so I was really torn about taking her out. But even though she goes fewer hours, they are teaching high level skills and if we want to supplement with privates, the cost is about 1/3 of what we used to pay. It's a nice gym with state of the art equipment.
The coaching at the new gym in this new league is great and my dd gets lots of attention and now can't wait to go to gymnastics (previously there were lots of tears and "I don't want to go" because she had extremely strict coaching and she wanted more time to play.)
I was so hesitant to switch out of the USAG league, but if you're not going to the olympics...does it really matter? If anyone else is struggling with finding a balance in life...check out one of these leagues. We couldn't be happier.