dani4
Proud Parent
My older daughter is 6 years old and has been in gymnastics since 3 1/2. She's been in a "pre-pre-team" class of sorts since she was 4 1/2. It's self-selected (anyone can sign their daughter up if they are the right age) though I have seen coaches have conversations with parents that "maybe rec would be better."
The class my daughter is in, and has been in for the last 1.5 years, is a beginner level, once per week. The next level up meets twice per week, and is still pre-level 1 (level 1 is the "real" pre-team, the way my gym works). My daughter is the oldest in the class- it is listed for 4 & 5 year olds, but she has not yet been kicked out or moved up. I spoke to her coach one year ago who said that she would benefit from staying in the class for another year (new session registration & potential move-ups happen every ~4 months). But she was happy with my daughter's progress, and said she was doing fine.
I know that my daughter is not a natural at gymnastics. She's long and lanky. Less coordinated than average, and not super flexible. Some fear issues. But she is strong and has endurance, and she has HEART. She loves gym. She is not bothered by the fact that she towers over the other girls in her class, and that she's the oldest by a year. She listens to her coach and does her best to follow directions. She has a positive attitude and is friendly with everyone- I think she adds something just by being there, but that could just be my mama bias .
I have noticed extremely positive changes over the last year and a half. When she first joined this class she was one of the youngest, and she was clearly not able to do everything... there was a lot of flopping around, and she was afraid to walk across the beam without holding her coach's hand. In fact, the first few times the coach practically had to support her whole body up there because she was shaking with fear!
But now she does everything, and I can see that's she's really trying! She has made so much progress, but I'm not sure if she's there yet, and I'm not sure if she'll ever be there. DD has been with the same coach now since December, and in the last few weeks her coach has been saying a lot of positive things. It all started when DD was in a jog-a-thon at school- she jogged every day at recess for the whole recess, for 2 weeks, and then did the second-most laps in the whole kindergarten at her jog-a-thon (not fast, she is not a fast runner, but the girl can keep going when she is motivated). That first Saturday at gymnastics class coach called out to me during the water break "DD got stronger this week- she really did!" And then later she said she got faster too... and it has carried through to the weeks since then. I think there was a bit of a reality-check for DD, like she realized what real effort feels like, and she suddenly figured out that it makes a difference and it is fun to do things better. Ever since then, it seems like DD is doing better.
Coaches will be making their recommendations for the next session soon, and I wonder what will happen. I would really like to see DD moved up. She wants to be on the team. At the last registration I checked in with her to see if she would rather do rec. That was before this sudden surge of energy & motivation, and I thought she might have more fun just learning skills without the constant conditioning & toe-pointing & body shaping. But she insisted that she loved her class- all the kids and the coach and the hard work, and she said she wants to be on team someday, so she wants to stay. I'm still not sure this is going to be possible, and I also believe it's possible that when/if she does move up she may realize it's not what she thought it would be and it's not what she really wants. She is not a competitive kid... I suspect she's after the camaraderie of being on a team rather than the actual sport. But whatever, different things motivate different people, right?
At the rate she's going, I think she might compete level 3 when she's 9. Maybe. Maybe never. And I am TOTALLY ok with that... I think it's awesome that she's doing gymnastics and learning so much about her body.
So the reason for my long-winded post: does this sound familiar to anyone? Has anyone had a kid start young (3-4 years old) and not show much promise but have tenacity and take FOREVER and then finally someday make the team? Is that possible? I don't feel that it matters if it is possible, because what matters is now and things are good now, and if she ends up in rec after this session she'll probably still love gymnastics. But me, I like to think ahead to the possible.
And on the opposite end of the spectrum, there is my 4 year old, a naturally gifted athlete who is finally back to saying "I want gymnastics every day" - I had posted a couple of months ago about how she was refusing to go to class. Kids!
The class my daughter is in, and has been in for the last 1.5 years, is a beginner level, once per week. The next level up meets twice per week, and is still pre-level 1 (level 1 is the "real" pre-team, the way my gym works). My daughter is the oldest in the class- it is listed for 4 & 5 year olds, but she has not yet been kicked out or moved up. I spoke to her coach one year ago who said that she would benefit from staying in the class for another year (new session registration & potential move-ups happen every ~4 months). But she was happy with my daughter's progress, and said she was doing fine.
I know that my daughter is not a natural at gymnastics. She's long and lanky. Less coordinated than average, and not super flexible. Some fear issues. But she is strong and has endurance, and she has HEART. She loves gym. She is not bothered by the fact that she towers over the other girls in her class, and that she's the oldest by a year. She listens to her coach and does her best to follow directions. She has a positive attitude and is friendly with everyone- I think she adds something just by being there, but that could just be my mama bias .
I have noticed extremely positive changes over the last year and a half. When she first joined this class she was one of the youngest, and she was clearly not able to do everything... there was a lot of flopping around, and she was afraid to walk across the beam without holding her coach's hand. In fact, the first few times the coach practically had to support her whole body up there because she was shaking with fear!
But now she does everything, and I can see that's she's really trying! She has made so much progress, but I'm not sure if she's there yet, and I'm not sure if she'll ever be there. DD has been with the same coach now since December, and in the last few weeks her coach has been saying a lot of positive things. It all started when DD was in a jog-a-thon at school- she jogged every day at recess for the whole recess, for 2 weeks, and then did the second-most laps in the whole kindergarten at her jog-a-thon (not fast, she is not a fast runner, but the girl can keep going when she is motivated). That first Saturday at gymnastics class coach called out to me during the water break "DD got stronger this week- she really did!" And then later she said she got faster too... and it has carried through to the weeks since then. I think there was a bit of a reality-check for DD, like she realized what real effort feels like, and she suddenly figured out that it makes a difference and it is fun to do things better. Ever since then, it seems like DD is doing better.
Coaches will be making their recommendations for the next session soon, and I wonder what will happen. I would really like to see DD moved up. She wants to be on the team. At the last registration I checked in with her to see if she would rather do rec. That was before this sudden surge of energy & motivation, and I thought she might have more fun just learning skills without the constant conditioning & toe-pointing & body shaping. But she insisted that she loved her class- all the kids and the coach and the hard work, and she said she wants to be on team someday, so she wants to stay. I'm still not sure this is going to be possible, and I also believe it's possible that when/if she does move up she may realize it's not what she thought it would be and it's not what she really wants. She is not a competitive kid... I suspect she's after the camaraderie of being on a team rather than the actual sport. But whatever, different things motivate different people, right?
At the rate she's going, I think she might compete level 3 when she's 9. Maybe. Maybe never. And I am TOTALLY ok with that... I think it's awesome that she's doing gymnastics and learning so much about her body.
So the reason for my long-winded post: does this sound familiar to anyone? Has anyone had a kid start young (3-4 years old) and not show much promise but have tenacity and take FOREVER and then finally someday make the team? Is that possible? I don't feel that it matters if it is possible, because what matters is now and things are good now, and if she ends up in rec after this session she'll probably still love gymnastics. But me, I like to think ahead to the possible.
And on the opposite end of the spectrum, there is my 4 year old, a naturally gifted athlete who is finally back to saying "I want gymnastics every day" - I had posted a couple of months ago about how she was refusing to go to class. Kids!