- Nov 19, 2016
- 256
- 297
Hello. I just thought I would post a little bit about how my daughter is doing after stepping away from competitive gymnastics at the end of July. I haven't posted a ton here but have always appreciated the feedback when I have- and have benefitted immensely from just reading posts over the years. My daughter got a late start to competitive gymnastics- starting as a 10 1/2 year old. She turned 15 right before bowing out. She competed Level 3 and 4, scored out of 5, and ended up doing 2 years at Level 6 (a combination of Covid and mental blocks prevented Level 7.) She also had some serious health issues that kept her training extremely limited for about 6 months during Level 4. She really loved so much of gym but honestly the emotional/mental strain of mental blocks along with a challenging relationship with one of her coaches brought an end to her competitive time. She knew she would likely quit some time during high school so it wasn't a major surprise. She had a very good final regional meet so that was a nice way to finish. While she was definitely sad to walk away, she has done well. She has been doing Crossfit a couple times a week which she really likes. She has also been doing a ballet class which she also likes. She is coaching about 5 hours a week at her gym which allows her to stay connected to gymnastics and she was also hired to teach some backyard gymnastic classes! She is liking having the extra time with friends and enough time to do homework with less stress. I am thankful for the perseverance, commitment, and ability to push herself that she got from gymnastics. I am also thankful that I found this board near the beginning which helped keep me from being too obsessed, kept me advocating for her, reminded me to make sure she kept up other things outside of gym, and made me resist the urge to freak out about time away from the gym for things like vacations and birthday parties of friends. I will continue to pop on from time to time. I have to admit it is nice to not have to stress about whether she is in a good place mentally for meets and just to have her around more- and to spend less driving to and from the gym. Good luck to you all!