WAG Can an athlete compete without being affiliated with a gym?

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PeanutsMom

Proud Parent
With our new gym situation, I was wondering if an athlete could compete without officially being affiliated with a gym? If my DD keeps her level 7 skills and uses various open gyms in the area to just stay current and not try to upgrade until we find a new home, can I enter her into meets as an individual without a gym? It would just be a couple meets to keep her competition ready and likely would only be for this one season as we are actively looking to relocate for work and other quality of life reasons. There are not a lot of options here, but some small gyms without real competitive teams have open gym a couple times a week and she could use these times to keep current on her existing skills. For what its worth, I coached XCEL bronze one season when the gym needed a coach to step in and I can renew my USAG professional membership and retake the SafeSport Training so I can be on the floor with her.

Any advice would be great.
 
You can compete without a gym but not without a certified coach. My daughter competed all by her lonesome once, but another gym unofficially adopted her and took her to the meet.
So a certified coach meaning SafeSport complete, USAG Professional member? that is all I had to do to coach XCEL for one season.
 
In the big picture, would this really be worthwhile? Without coaching, she will not be able to perform at her best. For some kids, performing below potential at meets is a real self-esteem killer. It seems like it would just prolong the pain of leaving her last gym.

I would have her make a clean break from gymnastics, with no open gyms for a while. The summer is a good time to try out other sports. Diving and pole vault are especially great for gymnasts. If you do end up moving, she can go back to gymnastics then. You might not even have to wait until next season; many gyms will accept midseason transfers due to a move even if they don't otherwise take new kids during the season.
 
So a certified coach meaning SafeSport complete, USAG Professional member? that is all I had to do to coach XCEL for one season.
Yes that is what it means and I do believe you could register her and take her- though I’m told the new meet management system wants a club to tie registrations to. My friend’s daughter was actually independent for awhile and practiced only at open gyms. She didn’t burn down the podium at meets or anything but it was a way for her to stay in the sport for a period when there were no other options. I agree that a full on break might be better for a variety of reasons, but my friend’s daughter doesn’t regret taking a different track- and my daughter has never regretted her weird and varied path. You know your kid best.
 
In the big picture, would this really be worthwhile? Without coaching, she will not be able to perform at her best. For some kids, performing below potential at meets is a real self-esteem killer. It seems like it would just prolong the pain of leaving her last gym.

I would have her make a clean break from gymnastics, with no open gyms for a while. The summer is a good time to try out other sports. Diving and pole vault are especially great for gymnasts. If you do end up moving, she can go back to gymnastics then. You might not even have to wait until next season; many gyms will accept midseason transfers due to a move even if they don't otherwise take new kids during the season.
She wants to keep her skills up at least to where they are. she understands she may not "upgrade" this season, but she was coaching herself for the entirety of last season as well. If we keep the same routines and she just works on consistency, I think she would do well enough at her current level as an independent. Again, we are trying to relocate to another area, so this may or may not come to fruition, but anything to keep her in the sport she loves in a positive way is currently under discussion.
 
I'm going through this right now. Our area has some unsanctioned meets for excel and JO for girls but not boys. I asked USA gymnastics and they said I would need to be a club member gym to enter sanctioned meets. That would entail paying fees to register as club member and getting the insurance requirements on my home plus me being a USAG member which I am. So far the only insurance company that is able to do that quoted me 1100 per yr.
 
Thankfully we were able to find another gym. I didn't even know this one existed as they opened in 2019 and was closed most of 2020. They survived (thank goodness for us) and she is doing well there.

I'm going through this right now. Our area has some unsanctioned meets for excel and JO for girls but not boys. I asked USA gymnastics and they said I would need to be a club member gym to enter sanctioned meets. That would entail paying fees to register as club member and getting the insurance requirements on my home plus me being a USAG member which I am. So far the only insurance company that is able to do that quoted me 1100 per yr.
 

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