Parents 6 year old on preteam

[Teammom]

Does anybody have (or had) a six year old gymnast that didn’t want to do any gymnastics at home? I do not encourage gymnastics at home by the way!! I’m just talking about cartwheels & kickovers in the yard. Most of her little friends (not on preteam) constantly want to practice in their yards at home. My DD preteam is only 1 x week on Monday afternoons, so it’s not like she’s in the gym all the time. I think she likes gymnastics, but not like the other girls. She’s on preateam and talks “when I move to level 3”. It’s the next step for her.

Could she eventually “love” the sport? Is it ok that she doen’t Eat, breath, sleep gymnastics?

 

[amiandjim]

My daughter was in pre-team at 4, team at 5. It wasn’t until she turned 7 or 8 that she started to truly, truly love th sport and practice all the time!

 

[Deleted member 18037]

My daughter has never wanted to "do" gymnastics at home once she started doing gymnastics................. Aside from the cartwheel around the house phase but no not really

Her and the gymmies will do gym when they are together. She never does gym, in front or with her non gymmie friends. I think she doesn't want to show them up.

And I wouldn't say she loves gymnastics. She likes it alot. There is nothing else she would prefer But if she had to do more then she currently does she would likely have quit.

She is L7 heading to 8 without living and breathing it.

 

[Teammom]

Ok! I didn’t know there were other gymnasts out there who did absolutely beg and love to do it everyday!! Good to know. Maybe she does have a future in this sport! She won’t compete until level 3 or 4. So she has at least 1.5-2 years before she can compete. IF she can hold out and continue, I think she might actually enjoy the competition side.

 

[NutterButter]

Ok! I didn’t know there were other gymnasts out there who did absolutely beg and love to do it everyday!! Good to know. Maybe she does have a future in this sport! She won’t compete until level 3 or 4. So she has at least 1.5-2 years before she can compete. IF she can hold out and continue, I think she might actually enjoy the competition side.

Competition season is so short and goes by so quickly...it's a ton of training for what amounts to 5-7 days of the year to show their stuff. Maybe you can put her in some other activities to see if she has a passion for anything else. Preteam hours are still pretty low and you can probably swing another activity or two. It will get harder to do this when she is L3 or L4 depending on the number of hours your gym trains.

I don't necessarily think she has to have the same passion for gymnastics that you notice in others and as a PP said she may soon realize that it's her 'thing'. But, I've seen the other side where kids that don't have the passion stick with it for several years because it's all they know (and I'm not even sure they can articulate that they don't have passion because they were never asked the question). You can just tell that some aren't in love with it. It's in their body language and how they talk about the sport. And some absolutely light up when talking about subjects that they are passionate about, but not so much on gymnastics. Again, I don't think the lack of passion is a problem but something to be mindful of when you suddenly find that your kid is training 15 hours a week. It will happen sooner than you realize.

 

[NutterButter]

She is L7 heading to 8 without living and breathing it.

Yes, but your DD is at a gym with low hours where she has time to do other activities. From what you've shared here, your gyms hours are equivalent to what Xcel trains at many gyms. The average for L7/L8 is around 16-20 hours/week which makes it harder to do other activities.

OP - if you find down the road that your DD likes, but doesn't love gymnastics, Xcel may be another option for her to continue in the sport.

 

[Deleted member 18037]

Yes, but your DD is at a gym with low hours where she has time to do other activities. From what you've shared here, your gyms hours are equivalent to what Xcel trains at many gyms. The average for L7/L8 is around 16-20 hours/week which makes it harder to do other activities.

OP - if you find down the road that your DD likes, but doesn't love gymnastics, Xcel may be another option for her to continue in the sport.

Yes that is why it works for my kid. You don't have to be all gym all the time to do gym.

 

[NutterButter]

Yes that is why it works for my kid. You don't have to be all gym all the time to do gym.

Yes I agree and I'm glad it works for your DD!

Your gym is truly in the minority regarding hours. For most in L8 it is all gym, all the time. And for those who don't want that and don't live in your town, Xcel is a great option.

 

[Taxidriver]

Who knows, all kids are different she may come to one day and absolutely love gym, she may just enjoy gym and like to continue or it might not be her sport.
Does she do any other activities or sports? If so what is her interest in them vs gym.
I know as a kid people would think I didn’t really enjoy things because my enjoyment wasn’t obvious.
As a parent you can’t make her fall in love with a sport (you can however make them stop loving a sport by applying too much pressure and expectation).
I wouldn’t worry too much just let her continue and be your guide but if gym isn’t her sport it’s a great foundation for all other sports.

 

[Mish]

My DD is 10 and repeating lv 6 due to many injuries. She has been pretty successful along the way without living and breathing it. In lv 3 she wanted to do things around the house all of the time, now not so much. She will do gym stuff if she is hanging out with her teammates, but if not, she does not do anything around the house. My house isn't really big enough for anything she could do at this point aside from a handstand here and there. She is constantly on her pull up bar though.

OP, don't get wrapped up by the littles who live and breathe it. Many of them will not be in the sport a year from now, and please do not go by the instagymmies who seem to know nothing else but where they want to compete in college by age 5. Your dd should always be wanting more time in the gym, they do not need it constantly at home. The higher hours come soon enough! Enjoy!

 

[Sk8ermaiden]

We were in a similar position, at a very competitive JO gym. And when the time came that she was 6 years old and looking toward 9 hours a week (and giving up all her other sports), she said no way. She wanted to do gym, but not to the exclusion of everything else. So we eventually switched to a gym that does Xcel (at 8 yo, she's doing 8 hours a week), and later transitions to optionals. The thought being that (if she stays in gym, which is a big if for any kid) she could stay there for lower hour optionals, or if she got very serious, we could transfer back to a higher-hours gym.

She's starting to get the bug though. The bigger tricks are starting to come along and it makes her very excited for gym, all the time.

 

[Gymmonkeymomma]

My DD was on preteam at 5, team at 6.... never one to do cartwheels or anything outside of gym, she is now 17 in her 5th year of L10, heading off to do college gymnastics. She always considered it "showing off" to do stuff outside of gym and would not even when asked. She loves gymnastics.

 

[Teammom]

Here’s another question...what level does your gym start competing at? My gym is level 3. I wish it was level 2 so she could get some competition experience.

 

[John]

Level 3

 

[ProvB]

My DD did 6 meets as a JO1 last year and is doing 8 as a JO2 this year. It’s very common in our area including travel meets for lower compulsories.

 

[M2Abi]

Our gym starts competing at Level 3. There are no competitions in our state for Level 1 or 2. Some gyms in our area don't compete until Level 4.