Parents, what do you wish you knew then that you know now?

[gymmomof1]

Those are all great ideas! I wish I had gotten hair training. I've gotten much better over the years though. If I was at your gym, I could teach the "cool stuff to do with your daughter's hair if you can't French braid" portion of the class!

Lol I'd go to your class . This year I attempted to do a bun and almost every meet her coach at some point would have to do it over lol. Next year I think we will just stick with the ponytail.

 

[Natasha]

I loved reading what everyone wrote. I would just add that I think all parents should have Doc Ali’s Top 10 Parents Code of Points. It can be found in the Parents Forum.

The first thing that gets e-mailed out to our parents in the fall is her video talk for parents and we have a permanent link on our BC website to a couple of parent resources including Doc Ali. Thankfully it doesn't take the Crazy Gym parents long to figure out this really is not the gym for them.

 

[SuperGirlmlm]

Exactly what bog said, exactly that. Also, after a disappointing meet, be cheerful. She's probably mad at herself and didn't contribute as much as she wanted to her team.

 

[serenity's Momma]

don't judge progress by scores or comparing to other gymnasts. Your gymnast should be having FUN first if ribbons and medals and trophies come there way that is a bonus.
s this is a 12 month commitment and as they move forward they will need to be dedicated and supportive of their children. Competitive gymnastics will affect not only your gymnast but your whole family as the time commitments are great as well as the financial commitments. There will be "fun events" that may need to be pass by in order to do practice or meets.

Let them know that they are encouraged to cheer on other girls.
We have a lot of those who think that their child is the only one that matters.
Girls need encouragement from all sources not just friends family and coaches.

 

[LiveLaughTumble047]

Finally, kips are hard. So are mushroom circles. Really, really, really hard.

^^So true if I had a penny for every kip I did until I got them I'd never have to work a day in my life, but finally getting the kip is one of the best feelings ever!