WAG 12 year old Gymnast

[gymmom123456]

Hi All,

My DD(12) is currently enrolled in an intermediate class at a pretty good club. She has been taking classes there for a year or so, and intermediate is the equivalent of 3/4ish. She really wants to be on the competitive team, and has all skills for bronze and most for silver (missing squat on on bars, and bwo and rbhs on floor.) she could most likely learn these (silver practices 9h/week) this has been her dream for a while. She REALLY loves gymnastics and would continue doing it recreationally if she didn’t make team. She had her best friend (9) move up to silver from intermediate rec this year. Same skill level, but has squat on. We had some incidents of bullying with a coach who left and is coming back. DD struggles with severe OCD and Tourette’s Syndrome. Her previous coach did not even invite her to do tryouts. This is fine by me, but she really wants to compete. The gym tends to be younger, 5-7 year old xcel bronze, 9 and under xcel silver. There are girls who were in level 3 in 2018 competing gold this year. The Xcel program in other states seem to have older girls. We are looking at other gyms but none of them are convenient. Any advice?

 

[gymgal]

How far out are the other gyms? If you or your dd is not comfortable being in the same gym with that coach who is coming back, I would move her. Beyond that, I likely would also look to move to a gym that has a wider range of ages for their teams.

 

[gymmom123456]

How far out are the other gyms? If you or your dd is not comfortable being in the same gym with that coach who is coming back, I would move her. Beyond that, I likely would also look to move to a gym that has a wider range of ages for their teams.

Yes, this is what we are looking into. The other gyms are 20-40 minutes away. Do you think that getting her a tryout at that gym, she could possibly make bronze or silver? I’d it helps, she is a very sweet girl and takes corrections quickly. I worry that she will be “too old”, though. Her goal is not upper optionals, she wants to go as far as she can with the time she has left in the sport. I look back and think that I should have put her in gymnastics when she was younger. She was constantly on the monkey bars and doing pull up pull overs.

 

[Coach Kate]

Yes, this is what we are looking into. The other gyms are 20-40 minutes away. Do you think that getting her a tryout at that gym, she could possibly make bronze or silver? I’d it helps, she is a very sweet girl and takes corrections quickly. I worry that she will be “too old”, though. Her goal is not upper optionals, she wants to go as far as she can with the time she has left in the sport. I look back and think that I should have put her in gymnastics when she was younger. She was constantly on the monkey bars and doing pull up pull overs.

A gym that's the right fit for you will not worry about her age. Our gym has brand new Xcel silvers who are freshmen in high school! They worked their way through our rec program, and sure, it took awhile, but they earned their invitations to team. They have teammates who turned 9 this summer. Our gold team is a similar age range - we have one who just turned 9, and another who is 16. It does make it a lot for the coaches, as for state and regionals, we end up with kids in every session! We had five sessions of silver over two days last year, and then four sessions of gold on the next day! I was definitely pooped after that.

 

[gymmom123456]

A gym that's the right fit for you will not worry about her age. Our gym has brand new Xcel silvers who are freshmen in high school! They worked their way through our rec program, and sure, it took awhile, but they earned their invitations to team. They have teammates who turned 9 this summer. Our gold team is a similar age range - we have one who just turned 9, and another who is 16. It does make it a lot for the coaches, as for state and regionals, we end up with kids in every session! We had five sessions of silver over two days last year, and then four sessions of gold on the next day! I was definitely pooped after that.

Thank you, Coach Kate! We are looking at other options. DD and I are looking at a few different gyms. Let’s call the one we are at gym a. We have been there for a year and liked it, but she really wants to compete. We are looking into gym B, which is a similar distance away but seems to also lean towards younger. Gym C is 30-40 mins away, and so is Gym D. But C and D might not work for our family. (Younger DD who is 7, not interested in team right now) And me and my ex are divorced, so that poses another scheduling challenge. What level do you think she could make with these skills?

Floor: Half turn, Full turn, handstand, cartwheel, round off , hs bridge kickover,backbend kickover, bwo with light spot, fwo with spot, front limber. Front tuck on rod floor, fhs with spot.split leap.

Vault: Fhs over mat stack, hs flat back, fhs with spot

Beam: half turn, pivot, tuck, straight, split jumps in different combinations, hs, side hs, side hs twist, working cartwheel, swing to push-up mount, walks

Bars: Pull over, kip with spot, working squat on (SOOO close), close to mill circle, back hip circle, cast to horizontal, undershoot dismount, tap swings, half turn dismount, tap swing to flat back drill in pit, glide swings

Flexibility and strength: can hold handstand against wall for 1 min, close to middle splits, semi close to right leg, has left leg

What level would she make?(xcel)assuming all with good form.

Thank you!

 

[gymgal]

With her skills, she should have no problem with bronze. Possibly silver. The bigger question is whether they would place a new-to-the-gym person on team midway through the training season. they may choose to place her on a preteam or keep in a high level rec with intentions to invite to team next season

 

[gymmom123456]

With her skills, she should have no problem with bronze. Possibly silver. The bigger question is whether they would place a new-to-the-gym person on team midway through the training season. they may choose to place her on a preteam or keep in a high level rec with intentions to invite to team next season

Yes, that sounds reasonable. She just wants to compete and have fun. Do you think the gym would let her train in pre team this year and compete silver next year?

 

[GymAir]

Thank you, Coach Kate! We are looking at other options. DD and I are looking at a few different gyms. Let’s call the one we are at gym a. We have been there for a year and liked it, but she really wants to compete. We are looking into gym B, which is a similar distance away but seems to also lean towards younger. Gym C is 30-40 mins away, and so is Gym D. But C and D might not work for our family. (Younger DD who is 7, not interested in team right now) And me and my ex are divorced, so that poses another scheduling challenge. What level do you think she could make with these skills?

Floor: Half turn, Full turn, handstand, cartwheel, round off , hs bridge kickover,backbend kickover, bwo with light spot, fwo with spot, front limber. Front tuck on rod floor, fhs with spot.split leap.

Vault: Fhs over mat stack, hs flat back, fhs with spot

Beam: half turn, pivot, tuck, straight, split jumps in different combinations, hs, side hs, side hs twist, working cartwheel, swing to push-up mount, walks

Bars: Pull over, kip with spot, working squat on (SOOO close), close to mill circle, back hip circle, cast to horizontal, undershoot dismount, tap swings, half turn dismount, tap swing to flat back drill in pit, glide swings

Flexibility and strength: can hold handstand against wall for 1 min, close to middle splits, semi close to right leg, has left leg

What level would she make?(xcel)assuming all with good form.

Thank you!

I would put her on silver. You are right at the last minute where a gym might still consider a placement on team.

 

[TheXcelMom]

You may be able to try out to go right into an Xcel Bronze/Silver team without preteam or rec. Call the second gym and ask for a tryout. Some will assess her in half an hour, some will ask her to join for a full practice. My daughter's gym required her to spend a full week in their practices but that's very unusual (but heck, it was free)

Good luck!

 

[RTT2]

I definitely don't think 12 is too old to start Xcel, and I hope you find a good program that will work for her. How is her OCD in the gym? My son has OCD (his is contamination OCD) and gymnastics has been great- it's surprising to me how much the OCD behaviors shut off in the gym and during competition. Finding coaches who will understand and will be compassionate about a kid who struggles with a mental health issue may also be key in selecting the right gym for her. Good luck- I really hope you find a great fit for your daughter!

 

[gymmom123456]

I definitely don't think 12 is too old to start Xcel, and I hope you find a good program that will work for her. How is her OCD in the gym? My son has OCD (his is contamination OCD) and gymnastics has been great- it's surprising to me how much the OCD behaviors shut off in the gym and during competition. Finding coaches who will understand and will be compassionate about a kid who struggles with a mental health issue may also be key in selecting the right gym for her. Good luck- I really hope you find a great fit for your daughter!

Thank you all so much for the positive replies! We emailed a gym and will be calling the others this week. Her OCD is very severe, contamination ocd and also pretty much every other OCD behavior you can think of. It interferes with stress of perfectionism and feeling the need to do things 6 times, but she is on medication which helps. It does not seem to interfere too much.

 

[RTT2]

Thank you all so much for the positive replies! We emailed a gym and will be calling the others this week. Her OCD is very severe, contamination ocd and also pretty much every other OCD behavior you can think of. It interferes with stress of perfectionism and feeling the need to do things 6 times, but she is on medication which helps. It does not seem to interfere too much.

OCD is so hard. We have had very good results with NOCD therapy- huge improvements in some of the most severe OCD behaviors.

 

[gymmom123456]

OCD is so hard. We have had very good results with NOCD therapy- huge improvements in some of the most severe OCD behaviors.

She does exposure therapy and medication.

 

[Coach Kate]

Thank you, Coach Kate! We are looking at other options. DD and I are looking at a few different gyms. Let’s call the one we are at gym a. We have been there for a year and liked it, but she really wants to compete. We are looking into gym B, which is a similar distance away but seems to also lean towards younger. Gym C is 30-40 mins away, and so is Gym D. But C and D might not work for our family. (Younger DD who is 7, not interested in team right now) And me and my ex are divorced, so that poses another scheduling challenge. What level do you think she could make with these skills?

Floor: Half turn, Full turn, handstand, cartwheel, round off , hs bridge kickover,backbend kickover, bwo with light spot, fwo with spot, front limber. Front tuck on rod floor, fhs with spot.split leap.

Vault: Fhs over mat stack, hs flat back, fhs with spot

Beam: half turn, pivot, tuck, straight, split jumps in different combinations, hs, side hs, side hs twist, working cartwheel, swing to push-up mount, walks

Bars: Pull over, kip with spot, working squat on (SOOO close), close to mill circle, back hip circle, cast to horizontal, undershoot dismount, tap swings, half turn dismount, tap swing to flat back drill in pit, glide swings

Flexibility and strength: can hold handstand against wall for 1 min, close to middle splits, semi close to right leg, has left leg

What level would she make?(xcel)assuming all with good form.

Thank you!

At our gym, with good form and a good attitude, those skills would make silver for sure, but we don't do bronze. I will warn you that we do our invites to team at the end of May and require commitments.by June 1st. If we have any spots open, we will look into inquiries we have from other gyms, but it's a big if. This year, we were full at that point, save a couple spots on gold.

 

[gymmom123456]

At our gym, with good form and a good attitude, those skills would make silver for sure, but we don't do bronze. I will warn you that we do our invites to team at the end of May and require commitments.by June 1st. If we have any spots open, we will look into inquiries we have from other gyms, but it's a big if. This year, we were full at that point, save a couple spots on gold.

Yes, that is our worry. I wonder if the gym would put her in rec/ pre team and compete next year?

 

[Coach Kate]

Yes, that is our worry. I wonder if the gym would put her in rec/ pre team and compete next year?

That is likely what we would do.We also have a junior high/high school class that is taught by our Xcel team director, and she is really good about tailoring the class to the individual athletes' needs. Some are there to play or just exercise, some do high school gym, and others would like to be on our Xcel team one day. Honestly, something like that might end up being even better than preteam - I know at our gym, that would be the best fit since your daughter already has most of the skills we hone in our preteam. But you could definitely inquire at different gyms about what options they have. Some gyms might have space, but you will want to do it ASAP, as they're sizing and ordering leos, paying comp fees, and getting floor routines done right now.

 

[Flipsrus]

Hi All,

My DD(12) is currently enrolled in an intermediate class at a pretty good club. She has been taking classes there for a year or so, and intermediate is the equivalent of 3/4ish. She really wants to be on the competitive team, and has all skills for bronze and most for silver (missing squat on on bars, and bwo and rbhs on floor.) she could most likely learn these (silver practices 9h/week) this has been her dream for a while. She REALLY loves gymnastics and would continue doing it recreationally if she didn’t make team. She had her best friend (9) move up to silver from intermediate rec this year. Same skill level, but has squat on. We had some incidents of bullying with a coach who left and is coming back. DD struggles with severe OCD and Tourette’s Syndrome. Her previous coach did not even invite her to do tryouts. This is fine by me, but she really wants to compete. The gym tends to be younger, 5-7 year old xcel bronze, 9 and under xcel silver. There are girls who were in level 3 in 2018 competing gold this year. The Xcel program in other states seem to have older girls. We are looking at other gyms but none of them are convenient. Any advice?

I would find a new gym. With her skills she could compete silver now and is close for gold

 

[gymmom123456]

thanks for the replies! looking for new gyms