Anon delusional parents - come on already

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Ok sorry sometimes this just needs to be said. How is it possible with all the ability to see upper level 9/10 gymnasts on youtube, Instagram, meetscores, etc that parents can be so delusional to think their kid is getting a D1 spot when they are so not in that talent pool. Why are coaches so willing to tell parents what they want to hear when it affects the life of a child.

Sorry but come on parents do your research!!! Check out gymdivas look at all the kids NOT getting spots, look at the ones who are and see how they are scoring. Look at gyms scores compared to others. Look at your region to see if kids are scouted there. Does your gym have college connections. Parents willing to sacrifice for something so not happening I don’t understand the willingness to put on blinders Or maybe the stupidity of not understanding. This sports requires so much sacrifice for everyone but where is the parent responsibility to be in reality with it all. Sorry just makes me mad especially when a child seems to have no input.

I say this as a parent of a level 10 kid that is talented but not THAT talented. we did our research accepted the reality a few years ago and shifted goals to enjoy the sport without blinders on knowing there was an end game that to some means there is no reason to do it. ok rant done but just had to vent after watching a kid pulled from a gym that she loved placed in one that is actually inferior cause the parent is just crazy. DO YOUR RESEARCH as a parent take the blinders off and look at your child in reality. You as a parent owe that to your kid.
 
I guess that is one of the major reasons that ChalkBucket is here. To be a little more realistic voice.

The fact of the matter is... if you don't make it to L10 until senior year of high school... then you win Nationals... someone will have a spot for you... however... most spots will have already been given out.

Walk ons are recruited spots too.

Most college gymnasts are multi year L10's that score very well.

Division 3 is cool... but lets face it... there aren't many teams.
 
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I find it interesting how many more girls are part of the recruiting services than available spots. Or when people sign up (presumably paying a lot of $$$) as a hs sophomore, level 8/9. Sure, it’s possible, but also a lot of work and mindshare for a somewhat unrealistic goal. Mine is a sophomore, third year L10 who scores reasonably well and is part of a club that sends seniors to college, and even she (and I) know it may or may not happen for her. Getting a spot on a college team is HARD!
 
I think partly because of the financial commitment and partly because of the huge time commitment so many parents want something out of gymnastics beyond just the experience of their child enjoying it and gaining so much through the sport along the way. So, a DI scholarship becomes the holy grail. I've seen a lot of parents get very caught up in early success- they truly believe winning L4 States means their kid is on the path to a scholarship if not elite level gymnastics, and they feel like there isn't any point if the kid isn't going to gain something tangible from all those years of dedication. A senior multi year 10 at my daughter's gym has not gotten any DI offers and mentioned that she will be taking out loans to pay the full cost for her education- parents can't afford to help her at all. I don't know if all along they were expecting a full ride or what, but all of those years of paying tuition, meet fees, comp leos, PT, spending on travel meets would have been a nice chunk of $$ for college.
 
Athletic scholarships are cool but academic scholarships are based.
In other words, if you need a scholarship, there are plenty of ways to do it. Your child is probably good at something else, too.
 
Or when people sign up (presumably paying a lot of $$$) as a hs sophomore, level 8/9. Sure, it’s possible, but also a lot of work and mindshare for a somewhat unrealistic goal.
Exactly this. Like signing up for a recruiter is going to solve everything. So many high scoring multi year level 10 girls don’t even get a spot. Your sophomore in high school level 9 getting there just not realistic.
 
The family in the op does sound really sad especially when the child's wishes are not taken into consideration. However, I have to say that in general, if a gymnast has good L10 routines in at least two events, never close the door to the possibility of D1. So many things happen in those last couple of years. Many moves occur and while a scholarship may not be there for college freshman year, one often opens later if you are a big contributor to the team. There are many lower D1s that have trouble filling spots with gymnasts they REALLY want and then have to go down the list. We know of "average" talent gymnasts who didn't become L10 until their jr/sr year but exploded in L10, made it to nationals and earned spots (some with scholarships) on D1. You just never know what opportunities will open up at just the right times.
 
I totally agree. I know a family that has gone from gym to gym looking for the gym that will keep moving their kid up even though she’s not able or ready. She’s Insisting her 16 yr old level xxx WILL be on a D1 team. Always blames the gym they left.
 
One of the kids(and her mom) on DD’s team (XCEL Gold) truly believes that she is going on a full ride through UCLA to compete vault. Vault is about her worst event, and at the first Gold meet a few weeks ago she scored a mid 7. The girl is also 12/13 ish and shouldn’t have been on Gold in the first place (missing a pass, always misses cartwheel and turn on beam, doesn’t have kip at all, inconsistent casts and squat ons ). I hate to see the parents supporting her dreams only for them to be crushed. Why would any good parent think that’s acceptable?
 
Idk, I understand what you are saying but it just comes across as judgy to me. Unless I have direct personal knowledge of a family and their decision process, who am I to judge the decisions that they make? Maybe they did understand that the chance of it happening is ultra slim, but still made a decision to move? Its their life, they will have to live with it. Trust me I know, I will readily admit that I have spent plenty of time snickering at those L4 parents who are just certain they will be playing the hats on the table game come signing day. But I have also been around long enough to appreciate the desire, the investment, the emotion, the fleeting time with my own child and yes sometimes the miracle stories involved with this sport. Everyone can choose their own path. As mentioned above I have now seen girls who are 1 year L10, no nationals get a partial scholarship to top 10 D1 school. And now with NIL, I am not sure walk-ons are just as valuable. So I am really trying to spend more time just enjoying and focusing on the rapidly dwindling time I have with my little one and less concerned about the decisions others make.
 
Weird thread and a nasty vibe. OP should have had the guts to post it under their own name.

I just, last week, talked to a D1 coach who signed a one year level 10 and a multi year level 9 in the last cycle. The 9 is an event specialist.

Most likely the OP knows more than this coach though. She was just an assistant coach of the year many times before getting promoted to head coach.

The chance of any kid getting a D1 spot is low but for every, “if you’re not XXX by YYY then ZZZ” some parent spouts off about, there are multiple counter examples.
 
Ok sorry sometimes this just needs to be said. How is it possible with all the ability to see upper level 9/10 gymnasts on youtube, Instagram, meetscores, etc that parents can be so delusional to think their kid is getting a D1 spot when they are so not in that talent pool. Why are coaches so willing to tell parents what they want to hear when it affects the life of a child.

Sorry but come on parents do your research!!! Check out gymdivas look at all the kids NOT getting spots, look at the ones who are and see how they are scoring. Look at gyms scores compared to others. Look at your region to see if kids are scouted there. Does your gym have college connections. Parents willing to sacrifice for something so not happening I don’t understand the willingness to put on blinders Or maybe the stupidity of not understanding. This sports requires so much sacrifice for everyone but where is the parent responsibility to be in reality with it all. Sorry just makes me mad especially when a child seems to have no input.

I say this as a parent of a level 10 kid that is talented but not THAT talented. we did our research accepted the reality a few years ago and shifted goals to enjoy the sport without blinders on knowing there was an end game that to some means there is no reason to do it. ok rant done but just had to vent after watching a kid pulled from a gym that she loved placed in one that is actually inferior cause the parent is just crazy. DO YOUR RESEARCH as a parent take the blinders off and look at your child in reality. You as a parent owe that to your kid.
Very Smart move! As much as I love this sport, there is more to life than it!...:)
 
Weird thread and a nasty vibe. OP should have had the guts to post it under their own name.

I just, last week, talked to a D1 coach who signed a one year level 10 and a multi year level 9 in the last cycle. The 9 is an event specialist.

Most likely the OP knows more than this coach though. She was just an assistant coach of the year many times before getting promoted to head coach.

The chance of any kid getting a D1 spot is low but for every, “if you’re not XXX by YYY then ZZZ” some parent spouts off about, there are multiple counter examples.
OP here. Not a nasty post at all. After 11 years have seen so many kids dragged from gym to gym chasing rainbows at the expense of the child. Are there exceptions to the rules absolutely and good for them but those are exceptions to the case more than the norm. I don’t discount any kid or family for hanging in there. My point is know what you are doing as a parent too many parents are just uninformed about the reality of it all.
 
The fact of the matter is that each gymnast has a purpose on a college team. If they are on a college team... they were recruited to fill a position or a future position... there is a plan for them. Even if they are just a backup... there is a plan for the athlete.
 
... shouldn’t have been on Gold in the first place (missing a pass, always misses cartwheel and turn on beam, doesn’t have kip at all, inconsistent casts and squat ons ).
Xcel Gold doesn't require a kip.
If they always miss their cartwheel, then the coach should suggest a different acro skill.
Maybe they just need to do their full turn differently. I have seen some girls do their full turn where they start and end it facing the judge. I have also seen girls who do a heel snap full turn. As for casts, I was watching a COLLEGE meet this past weekend and several of the gymnasts had "inconsistent casts."
 
This is why Chalkbucket is so funny. Someone gives an example of a 12/13 y/o Xcel Gold who doesn't score particularly well and says that her plans to earn a full ride on a top D1 team (UCLA) are unrealistic. And then someone chooses to argue the point. It makes one wonder if there is any statement that can be made here that someone will not choose to counter. But it does keep CB entertaining :)

I think the OP made a fair statement: parents should educate themselves on what it takes to make a college team, just as we should educate ourselves on many other things that have to do with our kids.
 
I agree that there are some delusional parents out there and I do feel bad for the gymnasts in those cases. I do think it's a little strange to get riled up about it. I mean I think it's true, but it's just not something that I personally worry about, other than to maybe occasionally roll my eyes when I read a comment in a facebook group. lol

I do think it is incredibly hard to get on a top 10/20 D1 team. But I do personally know many more average scoring level 10s that have made it onto lower ranked D1 teams. My daughter's gym has a pretty good record of having gymnasts compete in college, most with scholarships. But what is true is that they really don't have many gymnasts on the team that haven't reached level 10 by 9th grade, 10th grade at the latest.
 
I think partly because of the financial commitment and partly because of the huge time commitment so many parents want something out of gymnastics beyond just the experience of their child enjoying it and gaining so much through the sport along the way. So, a DI scholarship becomes the holy grail. I've seen a lot of parents get very caught up in early success- they truly believe winning L4 States means their kid is on the path to a scholarship if not elite level gymnastics, and they feel like there isn't any point if the kid isn't going to gain something tangible from all those years of dedication. A senior multi year 10 at my daughter's gym has not gotten any DI offers and mentioned that she will be taking out loans to pay the full cost for her education- parents can't afford to help her at all. I don't know if all along they were expecting a full ride or what, but all of those years of paying tuition, meet fees, comp leos, PT, spending on travel meets would have been a nice chunk of $$ for college.
I’ve heard a lot of other sports will give level 10 gymnastcs and even some level 9 gymnasts full rides. Look at Rowing, Acro-tumbling, diving, pole vault… Level 10 gymnasts have the physical strength and skill set to excel in many sports outside of gymnastics. I know a level 9 that switched to diving her senior year without any experience and it’s getting scholarship offers.
 
The family in the op does sound really sad especially when the child's wishes are not taken into consideration. However, I have to say that in general, if a gymnast has good L10 routines in at least two events, never close the door to the possibility of D1. So many things happen in those last couple of years. Many moves occur and while a scholarship may not be there for college freshman year, one often opens later if you are a big contributor to the team. There are many lower D1s that have trouble filling spots with gymnasts they REALLY want and then have to go down the list. We know of "average" talent gymnasts who didn't become L10 until their jr/sr year but exploded in L10, made it to nationals and earned spots (some with scholarships) on D1. You just never know what opportunities will open up at just the right times.
Also gymnastics is a rough sport on the body… I know more injured level 10s than healthy level 10s. But maybe that’s a bad sign for our current gym.
 
People don’t necessarily do any research. If they haven’t been involved in gymnastics themselves they may feel the gym will take care or it or USAG or someone else.

We find that most parents do have some type of unrealistic expectations about something. Like how long it takes to learn specific skills, how quickly kids should progress, how each training session should be run. Most of these are small and if they share how they are feeling we can usually help them understand.

But some parents will have big unrealistic expectations and we have to work hard to help manage those expectations without totally destroying dreams.

But this is not limited to the gym. Most kids can’t get straight A’s just for working hard, toddlers don’t naturally know how to share, children wont always be perfectly well behaved, not every child can focus as well as others etc etc.

This is a product of society.
 

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