Anon Preteam

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Anonymous (a542)

My daughter, just made 4 within the week, just started preteam. The other girls are older than her and all have been in this class awhile. Skill wise they are much more advanced than her. My daughter is just coming out of an advanced preschool rec class and a lot of this stuff just wasn't taught. Not to mention she is barely 4 and they are learning level 2/3 skills with the track to compete level 3 at 6.

Is it normal for the new girls to be so far behind? I know its going to take time to learn but the other girls are type climbing, doing pullovers and forward hip circles, level 2 vaults, ect. My poor baby is not lol.

She is completely happy with the class and begging to go back. So she definitely staying. In a few months she will be on par with the others. Especially being that she has 2 years before level 3.
 
Some of the girls at our gym start pre-team at 5 turning 6 and go to Level 3 team in a couple of months. Some girls start pre-team at 8 and stay on it until they are 10. Does your gym compete level 2 or 3? Are you done with the school year yet? Depending on your answers, it is possible that some of these girls are about to move up to team.

4 is really young for preteam and many programs have feeder programs to pre-team for girls that age. It sounds like your gym doesn’t. It’s hard to predict how long it will take your daughter to get the skills you see other girls doing, but it might be way longer than months!

At many gyms that offer pre-team, you won’t see a lot of skill acquisition and it will be focused on strength, conditioning and shapes. Even girls who appear to have Level 3 skills might not get moved up this season if their shapes and strength don’t meet your gym’s standards.

The coaches wouldn’t have moved your daughter up if they don’t have a plan for her. They will modify drills for the new girls to build toward what you’re seeing the other girls doing. Like you said, for DP Level 3, your daughter won’t be eligible for meets until age 6 anyway and has plenty of time to work on things in pre-team. Some kids really like the fussiness of pre-team, and some miss learning skills fast like they did in rec, but it sounds like your daughter is having fun!
 
Some of the girls at our gym start pre-team at 5 turning 6 and go to Level 3 team in a couple of months. Some girls start pre-team at 8 and stay on it until they are 10. Does your gym compete level 2 or 3? Are you done with the school year yet? Depending on your answers, it is possible that some of these girls are about to move up to team.

4 is really young for preteam and many programs have feeder programs to pre-team for girls that age. It sounds like your gym doesn’t. It’s hard to predict how long it will take your daughter to get the skills you see other girls doing, but it might be way longer than months!

At many gyms that offer pre-team, you won’t see a lot of skill acquisition and it will be focused on strength, conditioning and shapes. Even girls who appear to have Level 3 skills might not get moved up this season if their shapes and strength don’t meet your gym’s standards.

The coaches wouldn’t have moved your daughter up if they don’t have a plan for her. They will modify drills for the new girls to build toward what you’re seeing the other girls doing. Like you said, for DP Level 3, your daughter won’t be eligible for meets until age 6 anyway and has plenty of time to work on things in pre-team. Some kids really like the fussiness of pre-team, and some miss learning skills fast like they did in rec, but it sounds like your daughter is having fun!
Thanks for replying.

So our gym competes at level 3 but they also have Bronze. This class is the feeder to DP. This week was the first week everyone throughout the gym moved up. A few girls in my daughter's advanced rec class went to Bronze. Another when to this class with her but shes been out this week. The plan for my daughter, as of now, is to compete at either 5, bronze or 6 DP. This class also doubles as the TOPs feeder and has the DP coaches teaching it.

She is driving me crazy with how much she loves this new class lol. I was just shocked to see how advanced all the girls are. But like you said, her coaches see something in her. I know the DP coaches were watching her in the rec classes also. I probably just dont know what I'm talking about.
 
Thanks for replying.

So our gym competes at level 3 but they also have Bronze. This class is the feeder to DP. This week was the first week everyone throughout the gym moved up. A few girls in my daughter's advanced rec class went to Bronze. Another when to this class with her but shes been out this week. The plan for my daughter, as of now, is to compete at either 5, bronze or 6 DP. This class also doubles as the TOPs feeder and has the DP coaches teaching it.

She is driving me crazy with how much she loves this new class lol. I was just shocked to see how advanced all the girls are. But like you said, her coaches see something in her. I know the DP coaches were watching her in the rec classes also. I probably just dont know what I'm talking about.

That’s great! She’s exactly where she needs to be. The coaches will take her slow and see something in her that makes it worth it for her and for them. It will be a long, boring slog, but if she’s like mine, the first competition season will be such a joyful payoff for all of those preteam years spent waiting for a turn! Your daughter is young enough that you should stick around for practice if you can. Read lots of books and wear headphones whenever possible if you stay for practice so other preteam parents won’t try to gossip with you. Don’t get caught up in age/level chatter, parent drama, or move ups speculation. And good luck to your daughter!
 
That’s great! She’s exactly where she needs to be. The coaches will take her slow and see something in her that makes it worth it for her and for them. It will be a long, boring slog, but if she’s like mine, the first competition season will be such a joyful payoff for all of those preteam years spent waiting for a turn! Your daughter is young enough that you should stick around for practice if you can. Read lots of books and wear headphones whenever possible if you stay for practice so other preteam parents won’t try to gossip with you. Don’t get caught up in age/level chatter, parent drama, or move ups speculation. And good luck to your daughter!
Yes, i still stay for all practices. She's only 4. Honestly, i only talk to one "team" mom and that's because our daughter's a re good friends. I don't know anyone else so that's a good thing lol
 
She is only 4 so does not need to catch up in a couple of months. The coaches must see something, so let her have fun and don't worry about the skills or strength yet!
 
She is only 4 so does not need to catch up in a couple of months. The coaches must see something, so let her have fun and don't worry about the skills or strength yet!
This is a class of 4 and 5 year olds, so definitely her peers. I was just shocked to see the difference in skill level and kinda that she was recommended. At 6, these girls will compete level 3
 
Yes, some of them will compete level 3 at 6.

But some of them will quit in 3 months when they are old enough to tell their parents they don’t want to be there. Some will change programs when they hit kindergarten and are too tired to stay focused or regulated at practice. Some you’ll never see again because they’ll be switched to a daytime program and be on Level 6 by 2nd grade. Some will get stuck for a year because they freeze the first time they have to do a routine on the high beam or can’t memorize more than 4 counts of the floor routine.

I get caught up in the comparison game so I understand your anxiety, but your daughter will acquire skills at a pace that matches her own strength, coordination, and her coaches’ attention. All you can do is feed her, get her to practice, and maybe buy her a new leotard that makes her feel like the team girls.
 
Yes, some of them will compete level 3 at 6.

But some of them will quit in 3 months when they are old enough to tell their parents they don’t want to be there. Some will change programs when they hit kindergarten and are too tired to stay focused or regulated at practice. Some you’ll never see again because they’ll be switched to a daytime program and be on Level 6 by 2nd grade. Some will get stuck for a year because they freeze the first time they have to do a routine on the high beam or can’t memorize more than 4 counts of the floor routine.

I get caught up in the comparison game so I understand your anxiety, but your daughter will acquire skills at a pace that matches her own strength, coordination, and her coaches’ attention. All you can do is feed her, get her to practice, and maybe buy her a new leotard that makes her feel like the team girls.
I completely agree. Again, i just didn't realize there would be such a difference in skills. I didn't realize that was normal.

I'm not concerned she's behind. I know her and i know she will catch up. I didn't think she would have so much to catch up on.

We were just told they will have their own practice leos too lol
 
Remember the gym is going to teach each gymnast the skills they need, they don't have to figure out how to do them on their own. So if you see another gymnast doing something yours can't don't feel like you have to go buy a beam, trampoline, and bar just to get them caught up, the gym will be training them.

One of the traps new parents fall into is thinking their child is behind, they are not behind and they will get there but do so at their own pace which is appropriate for their ability.
 
My daughter, just made 4 within the week, just started preteam. The other girls are older than her and all have been in this class awhile. Skill wise they are much more advanced than her. My daughter is just coming out of an advanced preschool rec class and a lot of this stuff just wasn't taught. Not to mention she is barely 4 and they are learning level 2/3 skills with the track to compete level 3 at 6.

Is it normal for the new girls to be so far behind? I know its going to take time to learn but the other girls are type climbing, doing pullovers and forward hip circles, level 2 vaults, ect. My poor baby is not lol.

She is completely happy with the class and begging to go back. So she definitely staying. In a few months she will be on par with the others. Especially being that she has 2 years before level 3.
My daughter was put on pre-team for a few months at the age of 4 and hadn’t done rec classes more than 3 months. She competed level 2 right after she turned 5 and competed level 3 at the age of 6. Pre-team was in my opinion like a rec class and also learning level 2 skills which were so simplistic that it’s right up a 4 year olds alley. I would give it a little more time before going backwards. Every gym is different in their plans to move gymnasts up. We learned this when we joined a new gym mid level 3 season. All the kids were older on her team, average age was 9 and some of them were as old as 12. The pre team kids at our gym are around 7-8 years old. I think it’s a little ridiculous to start them so late especially if some have college aspirations but our gym also has several girls that get scholarships to D1 schools so I try not to question the process. The entire season my daughter seemed behind in comparison to the rest of the team who had level 4,5 and 6 skills. Being with them has motivated her and I also see she’s more focused at the new gym with the older and more advanced girls. At the old gym the girls were younger and they played around a lot. At your daughters age she has lots of time but I wouldn’t go back to the rec class if it were me.
 

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