Parents Leaving a gym and intending to return?

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JumpingQueen

Proud Parent
I posted here recently that my daughter has the choice to repeat preteam at her current gym, which we love, or move to another gym in our area where she could join their team and start competing. I was on board to stay but they've just let us know there will be a bunch of program and coaching changes on the pre team and now I have no confidence that it's still the best place for her. While I don't love the other gym, I feel for the next year or two it would be a better option than keeping her where she is, given these changes. In a nutshell they are reducing hours, and I really really don't love the coach.

The problem is we love our current gym, they have a great team program, produce elite gymnasts, etc, so my dream scenario would be to move back in a year or two once she can make the team. Is that a crazy idea? Would they never take us back? Should we just put up with the changes and coach and accept that it'll be a not great year? Just writing that makes me not want to keep her where it won't be great for her. She desperately wants to compete but that's not a huge factor for me (but it is for her, lol).

Any advice?
 
What program changes besides reduced hours are being made? What specifically is it that makes you think your gymnast will not succeed in this pre team program? Are most of their high level gymnasts ‘home grown’ from pre team up, or do they come in from other gyms?
 
What program changes besides reduced hours are being made? What specifically is it that makes you think your gymnast will not succeed in this pre team program? Are most of their high level gymnasts ‘home grown’ from pre team up, or do they come in from other gyms?

Previously the pre team was practicing with the team girls and had team coaches. Now the pre team is with the rec kids with a rec coach who I'm really really not excited about. I'm wondering if she would benefit from being in a group with kids who have been on a team and will be competing vs all new kids completely new to pre team (more like rec). It's feeling like a step back for her and that's what I'm concerned about. All of her other pre team friends are making team or quitting so we are the only one in this predicament (it's typically two years and my daughter is finishing up her first).

I'd say 50-75% of the high level gymnasts are homegrown and the rest come from either out of state or, if local, the other gym we are considering.
 
The problem is we love our current gym, they have a great team program, produce elite gymnasts, etc, so my dream scenario would be to move back in a year or two once she can make the team. Is that a crazy idea? Would they never take us back? Should we just put up with the changes and coach and accept that it'll be a not great year? Just writing that makes me not want to keep her where it won't be great for her. She desperately wants to compete but that's not a huge factor for me (but it is for her, lol).

Any advice?

I think this is the big question. For many reasons. The current gym may not take her back based on principle. She left for another gym. Or perhaps they will feel that the training at the other gym is not up to par and that her form has suffered and now she isn't team material in their eyes. My younger DD just finished competing her first season (L2) and the program is seriously on their SIXTH coach in this one season. All the coaches are established at the gym, but just sort of keep rotating through ever since the two initial coaches moved. In my head I was panicked about how she would ever progress through to the next level (I'm still feeling that way! My ODD had the owners for her coaches at L2!) but I really think that the head coaches/owners have a plan and won't compromise an entire year of gymnasts. I feel like every gym will go through strange transitions and they tend to happen at the lower levels more often. If you trust the HC and owners and they have a good track record, then they probably have a solid plan and I'd likely just stay the course.
 
The problem is we love our current gym, they have a great team program, produce elite gymnasts, etc,

If the above is true about your current gym, I can't imagine that they would make changes that would be detrimental to their pre-team (aka feeder to the great team and elite program). If you want your dd to be on THIS team, moving to a different gym's program isn't going to help you.
 
Yeah I agree with Flyaway. It's a chance that you could take but they may or may not take her back or in a year or two she may not meet their requirements anymore. My guess is they know what they're doing and decided it would be in the best interest of the current preteam kids. I would at least give the new system a try until September before you make a final decision. If in September you find it terrible then maybe a long term switch is in your best interest.
 
I coach preteam and compulsories. We have had gymnasts leave for “the other gym” (our main competitor in town), mainly when the parents didn’t agree with our level/training group choices for their kids.

If I was faced with your exact scenario as a coach, I would be hesitant to take that gymnast back in a year or two, completely honestly. I know enough about our “the other gym” to know they don’t emphasize the same basics and conditioning that we do, and I wouldn’t want to put a kid on team that I suspected had missed out on that, KWIM?

If I was faced with your exact scenario as a parent, I would feel the way you do too, though. Your DD already went through one year of preteam practicing with the team kids. There are obviously plenty of things she would still be challenged by and I wouldn’t necessarily worry too much about the new, upcoming kids as that usually is a great opportunity to step up and be “the big kid”, get lots of demonstration time etc. It does sound a little concerning that the hours are going down, but if they are used efficiently it would still be ok. Depends on how much as well, going from 7hrs to 6hrs with more access to events wouldn’t be a loss (I am doing this with my kids this year!) because time training could be spent better but going from 5-6hrs to 3 or something would have much more impact. Training with the team vs by themselves also could be a numbers/accessibility issue, bigger teams need more space and your gym might be at capacity where things needed to be switched around for efficiency. A rec coach coming up *could* be an issue, unless this is a coach who has been training for stepping up for a while. Training WITH a rec group also sounds a little off.

Honestly, as a parent, the worst thing is that feeling of your kid somehow being left behind or “the bar being moved”.
In your case I might ask to meet with whoever is in charge of the preteam program and ask what the plan is. Your DD isn’t ready for team, that’s ok, but what is the plan for keeping her interest this year with these (seemingly scaled back) changes?

In the end if this is where you want her to be on team.... I would stay and roll with the changes this year, hypothetically she should move to team next year right?
 
As others have said, it is unlikely the gym would make a desicions that would negatively i,pact their own gymnasts. The pre team is their future!

Moving the pre team kids away from working withnthe other team kids and closer to working with the rec kids might lead to better training not worse training. Perhaps when they train with team they are just an afterthought, withnthe emphasis going on the team kids, but when they train with rec they will be the major focus. Pre team is very different to team, they don't have to worry about a season, routines etc. This new set up may better suit their development, somthey can focus more on the skills and strength needed for the team.

Drop in hours might also not be a bad thing, perhaps they are finding that he kids are getting too tired withnthe longer hours and are not as productive at the end, thus practising bad and sloppy habits. Perhaps the kids are more prone to injury if the session goes past a certain length, perhaps the kids are burning out by doing too much too early, peaking too young can also be disasters in gymnastics.
 
My dd trained pre-team on the class side of the gym, and it was fine. They were very good by the time teams were selected, some even skipped a level. It is mainly for safety, as the preteam kids are much younger for the most part, and also for lack of room on the team side.
 
We have had girls skip pre-comp and go straight to STEP 1, since they had all the required skills and could do them nicely, were conditioned and had a good work ethic. Could that be an option if she already has the skills and shaping for your lowest level at team? Might be better than leaving with the intention of coming back, since it shows commitment, puts aside problems from both gyms, and either way you'll end up 'skipping' pre-team.
 
Perhaps if you went to the other gym your experience would be different from ours. I would hope so. I know that our previous gym was so angry that we would not even consider going back there and I am sure they would not take us back, either. Not that we would ever want to go back there...

If you are in a place with good coaching and proven results it is probably better to just wait it out. Your opinion of the coach may change.
 
All of her other pre team friends are making team or quitting so we are the only one in this predicament (it's typically two years and my daughter is finishing up her first).

As a parent, this would be of concern to me - especially if you feel the changes you mentioned are a step back for her. It's hard to be in the "in-between" spot for sure. But, given she would likely be the most advanced pre-team member (after having already done it for a year), I think it's in her best interest to at least inquire about the plan they have for her this coming year. Best of luck to her!
 
I agree with Mom2G&D that it might be a good idea to inquire about the changes to your pre-team program. There must be a rationale for the changes, and I'd be curious what it is. Our first gym moved it's pre-team program into the rec gym shortly after we left; It is my understanding that the new pre-team program feeds multiple teams now (JO A and B teams, Xcel, etc.). Do you have a sense of why the gym is implementing these changes?

I remember your first post, and think this will be your DD's third year of pre-team (although maybe the first year of pre-team was at a different gym?). Would you feel comfortable asking if your DD is still on track for the JO team (assuming that is where she wants to be)? If the answer to that question is yes, then I would probably stay the course. Your DD is still quite young (7 years old?) as I recall, so plenty of time.

As a side note: We left a "better" gym (very high scoring + multiple Div.1 scholarships at big schools) because my DD seemed stuck in an Xcel track there and wanted to try JO. This "better" gym was much closer to home too. In the back of my head, I always thought we might try to go back later on, assuming my DD was successful in JO. We left on good terms. But after two years at a new gym, I can't imagine we will ever go back. DD is very happy where she is at. New gym has a wider range of scores, and by external measure might not be considered as "good". But I've learned that the "better" gym isn't always better. Most important is finding a good fit and good coaching. If we had stayed at the "better" gym, my DD would probably now be competing on its JO "B team" (albeit 1-2 levels lower) but I still don't regret the move at all. Not saying you should jump ship!! Just a reminder that a gym "producing elite gymnasts" is not automatically better for every child.

Good luck. I think your plan to try the new pre-team for a few months is a great idea! Tell us how it goes...
 
I agree with Mom2G&D that it might be a good idea to inquire about the changes to your pre-team program. There must be a rationale for the changes, and I'd be curious what it is. Our first gym moved it's pre-team program into the rec gym shortly after we left; It is my understanding that the new pre-team program feeds multiple teams now (JO A and B teams, Xcel, etc.). Do you have a sense of why the gym is implementing these changes?

I remember your first post, and think this will be your DD's third year of pre-team (although maybe the first year of pre-team was at a different gym?). Would you feel comfortable asking if your DD is still on track for the JO team (assuming that is where she wants to be)? If the answer to that question is yes, then I would probably stay the course. Your DD is still quite young (7 years old?) as I recall, so plenty of time.

As a side note: We left a "better" gym (very high scoring + multiple Div.1 scholarships at big schools) because my DD seemed stuck in an Xcel track there and wanted to try JO. This "better" gym was much closer to home too. In the back of my head, I always thought we might try to go back later on, assuming my DD was successful in JO. We left on good terms. But after two years at a new gym, I can't imagine we will ever go back. DD is very happy where she is at. New gym has a wider range of scores, and by external measure might not be considered as "good". But I've learned that the "better" gym isn't always better. Most important is finding a good fit and good coaching. If we had stayed at the "better" gym, my DD would probably now be competing on its JO "B team" (albeit 1-2 levels lower) but I still don't regret the move at all. Not saying you should jump ship!! Just a reminder that a gym "producing elite gymnasts" is not automatically better for every child.

Good luck. I think your plan to try the new pre-team for a few months is a great idea! Tell us how it goes...

This is such a good perspective, thank you! Sounds like your daughter is in a great place. And good memory, yes! She's 7, almost 8 though, if that makes a difference. So she'll be 9 by the time she completes. They made these changes because some coaches left and there is a major space and timing issue (not enough space and hours for what seems like 500 gymnasts). So it's not like it was clearly in the best interest of the program or the gymnasts. at her first gym before we relocated they put her in what they called a "developmental program" but was only 2 hours a week. It wasn't a very serious gym, but yes this will be her third year.

So I asked her coach what the plan for her is and he said again that she could compete at another gym right now (little does he know we actually got her evaluated and he was right) but he doesn't think thats best for her. She has the bare minimum of the level three skills (everything accept that darn front hip circle, she can't do it to save her life) but apparently at our gym they like them to do more. Which, btw, I thought the point was everyone competes exactly the same thing. anyway he said after another year of pre team the goal is for her to compete level Jo 3, training 4. How she can do that in a team of brand new kids, I have no idea. I'm trying not to be all cgm but if you ask me she's exactly on par with the girls making the team but they happen to be older. I'm going to assume I have some mom goggles on though and our coach knows what's best.

To the person that said to ask what she wants, I can't tell. She loved when they were gushing over her at the other gym and saying how talented she is and that they want her on their level 3 team. I feel like they would love getting a girl from our gym and she loved that they were really building her up. And she also really wants to compete. But I know she loves her gym and she likes that it's more "serious". Truthfully when I straight out asked she said she wanted to do both.
 
We have had girls skip pre-comp and go straight to STEP 1, since they had all the required skills and could do them nicely, were conditioned and had a good work ethic. Could that be an option if she already has the skills and shaping for your lowest level at team? Might be better than leaving with the intention of coming back, since it shows commitment, puts aside problems from both gyms, and either way you'll end up 'skipping' pre-team.

Hm, i don't know what step 1 means. Do you mean compete at a lower level? I asked this and they said no. I wish!
 
Hm, i don't know what step 1 means. Do you mean compete at a lower level? I asked this and they said no. I wish!
Steps are pretty much our versions of levels here in NZ, step 1 is about equivalent to USAG 1, and step 10 has the same requirements as USAG 10. Too bad you can't do a lower level :(
 
A 9 yo competing level 3 seems to me to be on the older side for a gym that produces elites, unless their elites are on a very different path from the beginning. If the elites are on a different path from the beginning, presumably with different coaching, then I’m not sure if their success necessarily translates to the rest of the gym. Does the current gym produce many D1 gymnasts as well who are not elites or former elites?

What about the other gym? What makes you say you don’t love that gym?

It’s clear that you are worried that your kid might get lost in the shuffle at the current gym, especially with the coaching and program changes, and I would probably be concerned about that as well. If your dd truly has the same skills as the other girls who got moved up, I would worry that there is something else keeping her back in their eyes, and that there is the possibility that she won’t be offered a spot on team next year either, especially because it sounds like she is the only one they have on track to compete JO 3 next year, if preteam is a 2 year program and she is the only one in that year. Maybe next year, they’ll decide not to compete level 3 at all, especially with just 1.

There is a gym I know that has competed both level 5 and 6 for the past few years, which unusual (most gyms compete one or the other, not both). But then one year, they competed 6 only, because they only had 2 kids that would have been in 5, and they didn’t have the coaching capacity to deal with that. 1 of the kids did 6 and the other repeated 4, where they happened to have much bigger numbers on team. Both of those kids would have met their criteria for 5, but they just didn’t do 5 that year due to numbers.

Knowing more about the other gym may provide better advice.
 
Reading your comments it seems you want your daughter happy, wonderful. I possibly get the impression you want her to move but are worried the new gym is not the caliber of the current gym. I think @suebee hit on some valid points. If the elite track gymnasts have a different set of coaches then the track your DD is on and the elite track may never come together. My suggestion is you take her where you think she will be happy and what gym fits her best. You have to decide she is too young to be able to see consequences and how they affect the future. I know it is hard DD changed gyms. The thought of changing kept me awake for months. I knew it was time and it took too long for me to move her. For some perspective, my DD is 11 and doing well but if she were to decide she wanted more if she wanted that elite track I would not hesitate to move her asap.
 
A 9 yo competing level 3 seems to me to be on the older side for a gym that produces elites, unless their elites are on a very different path from the beginning. If the elites are on a different path from the beginning, presumably with different coaching, then I’m not sure if their success necessarily translates to the rest of the gym. Does the current gym produce many D1 gymnasts as well who are not elites or former elites?

What about the other gym? What makes you say you don’t love that gym?

It’s clear that you are worried that your kid might get lost in the shuffle at the current gym, especially with the coaching and program changes, and I would probably be concerned about that as well. If your dd truly has the same skills as the other girls who got moved up, I would worry that there is something else keeping her back in their eyes, and that there is the possibility that she won’t be offered a spot on team next year either, especially because it sounds like she is the only one they have on track to compete JO 3 next year, if preteam is a 2 year program and she is the only one in that year. Maybe next year, they’ll decide not to compete level 3 at all, especially with just 1.

There is a gym I know that has competed both level 5 and 6 for the past few years, which unusual (most gyms compete one or the other, not both). But then one year, they competed 6 only, because they only had 2 kids that would have been in 5, and they didn’t have the coaching capacity to deal with that. 1 of the kids did 6 and the other repeated 4, where they happened to have much bigger numbers on team. Both of those kids would have met their criteria for 5, but they just didn’t do 5 that year due to numbers.

Knowing more about the other gym may provide better advice.

These are all great questions and points. Yes there are always d1 gymnasts and elites. The other gym is fine, but there are very few gymnasts over level 5 and it's just very low scoring overall. It's just not as serious of a gym. Also it's further. Lol
 

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