A
Anonymous (f635)
So, situation: My daughter is currently at a gym she loves but they would like for her to repeat Level 2.
Backstory: She has been doing gymnastics for 5 years (started at rec and spent 2 years on pre-team at another gym). She joined her current gym team this year at 7yrs old and competed Level 2 this season. This was her first year competing and upon joining the new gym her forms was really bad and it took a few months to get her to the level of the other girls in strength.
She just completed states and her coach just informed me that she would have to repeat level 2 due to her form on bars. Throughout the season, she’s placed above 9s in every event and was consistently around a 36/37 AA. To be fair, she is not perfect and has areas of opportunity with her shaping in all events. At every meet she was pretty middle of the crowd at awards (always between 5-6th place AA). Repeating is pretty common at her gym and the coach believes if she repeats L2 her form will improve and she will build more confidence from higher L2 scores. 3 girls on her current team have repeated and this has been the case. All of them typically placing 1st or 2nd with 38+ AA. She has been up training and already have a clean ROBHS and all level 3 requirements.
My concern is, she is in the second grade, has just turned 8yrs old and I fear she will be held back from progressing with her age group (She is currently one of the older girls on the L2 team and will be even older next year). The gym is known for putting “older girls” in Xcel and not being open to them ever moving to optional from there.
Her gym is the only gym within an hour drive that has a track record of producing college athletes but I am willing to travel to get my daughter the best training for her potential. I just don’t want to fail her by staying in a situation too long where she is not growing. (I did that at her last gym and truly regret it). i don’t want her goals of higher level gymnastics being shattered. I asked what she would like to do and she said “stay and show that she is good enough” but as a mom I’m not sure they haven’t wrote her off already. Her dad wants her to quit all together (but that’s another story lol)so he is no help …I am just so confused. She loves gymnastics and I just want to set her up for long term success.
Question: should I explore other gyms in the area to evaluate her skills and possibly move or should I allow her to repeat level 2?
Backstory: She has been doing gymnastics for 5 years (started at rec and spent 2 years on pre-team at another gym). She joined her current gym team this year at 7yrs old and competed Level 2 this season. This was her first year competing and upon joining the new gym her forms was really bad and it took a few months to get her to the level of the other girls in strength.
She just completed states and her coach just informed me that she would have to repeat level 2 due to her form on bars. Throughout the season, she’s placed above 9s in every event and was consistently around a 36/37 AA. To be fair, she is not perfect and has areas of opportunity with her shaping in all events. At every meet she was pretty middle of the crowd at awards (always between 5-6th place AA). Repeating is pretty common at her gym and the coach believes if she repeats L2 her form will improve and she will build more confidence from higher L2 scores. 3 girls on her current team have repeated and this has been the case. All of them typically placing 1st or 2nd with 38+ AA. She has been up training and already have a clean ROBHS and all level 3 requirements.
My concern is, she is in the second grade, has just turned 8yrs old and I fear she will be held back from progressing with her age group (She is currently one of the older girls on the L2 team and will be even older next year). The gym is known for putting “older girls” in Xcel and not being open to them ever moving to optional from there.
Her gym is the only gym within an hour drive that has a track record of producing college athletes but I am willing to travel to get my daughter the best training for her potential. I just don’t want to fail her by staying in a situation too long where she is not growing. (I did that at her last gym and truly regret it). i don’t want her goals of higher level gymnastics being shattered. I asked what she would like to do and she said “stay and show that she is good enough” but as a mom I’m not sure they haven’t wrote her off already. Her dad wants her to quit all together (but that’s another story lol)so he is no help …I am just so confused. She loves gymnastics and I just want to set her up for long term success.
Question: should I explore other gyms in the area to evaluate her skills and possibly move or should I allow her to repeat level 2?