For Parents another alternative for those quitting gymnastics

[e'smum]

Rock climbing! my gymmie is going through something right now and i'm not sure if she will continue once our exhibition meet is over. we pulled her out of the small high performance group she was in and she seems to have perked up/become excited about the gym again. she's also racking up her lvl 7 skills. but she feels pigeonholed into gymnastics (although she has NO desire to do any other sports) so we are going to try some fun things out and expand her horizons (she's decided to take either flute, clarinet or strings at school next year as well).

but today we tried rock climbing. she did very well, of course. and we had a belay instructor (who mentioned their rock climbing team and said my gymmie did very well) so all 3 of my kids could climb but my gymmie preferred the free climb area. it's mental and physical. she loved solving the "problems" and worked hard at trying to get up and over an overhang area but she's still too small (she's 10 and still in size 7/8 clothing!). she can't wait to go back. this is also something she can just go in and do for an hour or so with my husband (who used to bolder a lot).

there are teams that require less time than gymnastics and they compete. we have 2 good gyms near us. i don't think this is something my dd would pursue, i am hopeful we still have gymnastics years ahead of us, but it's a good alternative sport for someone to consider if they are transitioning out of gymnastics. just throwing it out there.

 

[mariposa]

Definitely something I've thought my daughter would like to do when she is done with gym. There's nothing close to us, but a 30 minute drive and there is a place with a team. Great suggestion!

 

[RTT2]

I have a friend who's DD switched over to climbing after level 7 and is now climbs competitively at age 14. She's at a gym in the Boston area with a travel team and is doing extremely well. Seems like a great sport to transition to.

 

[OzZee]

Great sport.
Though like all sports not necessarily a lot less hours but you can make of it what you want from once in a while, once a week, to 6 times a week training.
Never too small just some things are more challenging for little ones (and conversely some things are harder for tall people) . Check out Ashima Shiraishi and esp what she could climb as a little kid!!

 

[gymgal]

DD has loved rock climbing since she first did it at a local fair several years ago. She climbs anywhere there is one set up - cruise, amusement parks, etc, and we have a couple climbing centers near us that she has gone too. I never realized there are clubs and competitive teams for this though. How do they compete? time? route? teamwork? curious.

 

[LindyHopper]

Haven't read most posts in this thread yet.
My 2nd DD (age 8 and wears a size 6)
is in her first season on a climbing team. She loves it. She was only ever a rec gymnast. Her first day of climbing, she said "yay! I don't have to point my toes anymore!"

My oldest daughter is my competitive gymmie, she enjoys going climbing for fun, and really loves when her dad belays her on the 60-70 foot rope in the climbing gym.

The whole family enjoys the climbing gym.

 

[e'smum]

I have a friend who's DD switched over to climbing after level 7 and is now climbs competitively at age 14. She's at a gym in the Boston area with a travel team and is doing extremely well. Seems like a great sport to transition to.

curious which one. that's where we are and both gyms near us that compete are in Boston. one is Central Rock gym (we tried this one in a suburb, not the boston one) and the other is Rock Spot which has various locations but the one closest to us is technically in boston but is really in a neighboring town next to us.

 

[e'smum]

Great sport.
Though like all sports not necessarily a lot less hours but you can make of it what you want from once in a while, once a week, to 6 times a week training.
Never too small just some things are more challenging for little ones (and conversely some things are harder for tall people) . Check out Ashima Shiraishi and esp what she could climb as a little kid!!

i was curious and looked at one gym's team hours (i don't think it's something my dd would ever do) but it's a 3 day/3 hours each day commitment. right now my dd is at the gym 5 days/week. so to me, that is less. unlike gymnastics though, you can go in to these rock gyms and climb/practice on your off days so you can rack up the hours if that is what you want. one must have a lot of self motivation to do that.

we're not looking to compete but it's something fun for my gymmie to do when she wants to do something other than gymnastics.

 

[e'smum]

DD has loved rock climbing since she first did it at a local fair several years ago. She climbs anywhere there is one set up - cruise, amusement parks, etc, and we have a couple climbing centers near us that she has gone too. I never realized there are clubs and competitive teams for this though. How do they compete? time? route? teamwork? curious.

i have no idea how they compete. i was asking my husband that too. maybe next time we go in i'll ask b/c i have no clue how that would even work.

 

[RTT2]

curious which one. that's where we are and both gyms near us that compete are in Boston. one is Central Rock gym (we tried this one in a suburb, not the boston one) and the other is Rock Spot which has various locations but the one closest to us is technically in boston but is really in a neighboring town next to us.

Central Rock Watertown. DH and I used to do a lot of outdoor climbing pre-kids, and also went to Boston Rock and Central Rock in Everett-both nice gyms, but I don't know about their kids climbing programs. DH was pretty big into trad climbing, which was a little terrifying and risky, but indoor climbing is safe and great exercise!

 

[LindyHopper]

How do they compete? time? route? teamwork? curious.

There is bouldering, sport climbing, and speed climbing.

Sport and speed are both belayed and competed late winter into early spring.

Bouldering is more free climbing above crashmats. The routes aren't much more than 10 feet in height--probably more of what the OP describes her daughter enjoying. The competitive season for bouldering is late summer into early

For speed climbing, the climbing route is well known, and practiced for the whole season for competitions. Each climber cimbs the route twice on competition. Whoever is the fastest wins. We are talking 10 seconds up a 40 foot wall.

For sport climbing (and I think bouldering too) each climber has 5 min each for 4 routes (total of 20 min of potential climbing with breaks in between.)

It is broken down by age group and male /female (each group gets their own 4 routes) Each route is given a max point value. Each hold on the route is worth so many points. You get the total of points up to the highest hold you reach within the 5 minutes. They add your points for the four routes together. Whoever has the most points wins.

I know there are team competitions as well, but I don't know how those are scored.

That's what I have learned so far... we're only about 3 months in. Little Bit won't begin competing until this upcoming bouldering season. At 8, she'll be in the youngest age division, where she will be until around age 11.

Hope that helps.

 

[LindyHopper]

Oh, and it will be an Olympic sport in 2020

 

[OzZee]

Not sure what format the competitions in the US use as there are several different ones.
Lead (top rope usually for younger kids, then they go to lead - i.e. The rope is attached to the belayer and the climber, the climber clips in as they go up. ) competitions usually 2 set qualifier routes then a finals route.
Boulder - qualifiers various formats depending on size, time etc. so could be a set time e.g. 2 hours to get best results on say 6 set climbs. Finals often World Cup format which is 5 on 5 off over the set routes.
Speed is set as above .

Age groups are in a 2 year grouping e.g. Youth C - turning 12-13, youth b - 14-15 up to juniors 18-19. Before going to opens (though Youth a and juniors can compete opens)
That's the IFSC set age groups and all major comps follow them , but smaller comps may have there own age groupings esp if the comp is mainly aimed at adults so only a small youth entry.

The seasons thing has changed a bit here due to the format for Tokyo Olympics so Youth now has one 3 event nationals. Rather than separate lead and Boulder nationals.

Re training times - to whoever said about going other times - here every competitive climber climbs outside a class situation . Many don't use the group classes at all and most have private coaching.
So at a competitive level they wouldn't be doing much different hours to gym. Though sessions are often shorter (well unless it's hanging around outdoors climbing with friends).

 

[e'smum]

Central Rock Watertown. DH and I used to do a lot of outdoor climbing pre-kids, and also went to Boston Rock and Central Rock in Everett-both nice gyms, but I don't know about their kids climbing programs. DH was pretty big into trad climbing, which was a little terrifying and risky, but indoor climbing is safe and great exercise!

we went to the one in Randolph. it's huge and clean. and it's close to our house - huge plus. haha. i'm still healing from an injury but i want to try the free climb walls eventually. they have nice thick pads at the bottom of the walls.

 

[e'smum]

Oh, and it will be an Olympic sport in 2020

wow - that's cool! it's a mental sport for sure and i'm sure core strength comes into play as well. it's like a real life puzzle. only you are the puzzle piece and the end game is up.

 

[Flyaway]

I would love to introduce my gymmie to rock climbing, just recreationally. I bet she would LOVE it.

 

[profmom]

I believe DD will be a co-founder of a club at her high school next fall.

Oh, BTW, just in case any parent out there has ambitions -- climbing with a belay is awesome. Bouldering is fun, too, but let's just say that hyperextending a 50+ year old joint doesn't feel good if you happen to land badly.

 

[wallinbl]

My gymnast loves going to the local climbing gym. We have one that's quite nice, and she keeps asking to get a membership, and I have to remind her that she doesn't have enough time in her schedule to make a membership make financial sense.

She has managed to scale some of the difficult climbs entirely without the use of feet/legs.

Oh, BTW, just in case any parent out there has ambitions -- climbing with a belay is awesome. Bouldering is fun, too, but let's just say that hyperextending a 50+ year old joint doesn't feel good if you happen to land badly.

I love the bouldering side. In the local gym, at least, there's a lot more variety and creativity on that side, especially requiring lateral movement and/or leaps.

 

[e'smum]

I believe DD will be a co-founder of a club at her high school next fall.

Oh, BTW, just in case any parent out there has ambitions -- climbing with a belay is awesome. Bouldering is fun, too, but let's just say that hyperextending a 50+ year old joint doesn't feel good if you happen to land badly.

i'm terrified of heights! i am not sure i could go as high as my kids did. lol .

 

[mommyof1]

i'm terrified of heights! i am not sure i could go as high as my kids did. lol .

I never thought I was afraid of heights until I looked down while climbing! As long as you keep looking up the wall, it's fine. It's also better after you've fallen a few times and really trust the belay.