Parents Advice regarding incorporating other activities

[CuriousCate]

of course - 1st post and i put in in the wrong section! Cut and paste it to parent forum!

Hi all! this is my first post here -yay!!
I wanted to ask your opinion on your gymmie doing other activities while doing competitive gymnastics.
My kiddo is 6 1/2 years old and is now training level 3 which requires 10 hours a week of practice (two 3 hours days and one 4 hour day - all after school). She loves gymnastics but also loves soccer. She's been playing on the same team for 3 years and all but one child will now be moving to the Development Program (ADP) for soccer - this requires 2 nights a weeks of one hour practice and one 1 hours game on a Saturday. My DD really wants to move with her team and I certainly feel that age 6 is way too young to rule anything out! The problem is that then she'd be at the gym M-W-F and soccer T-R-Sa which just seems nuts.
How have you all handled this balance for your little ones?
Thanks in advance!

 

[skschlag]

If you're family and she want to do it, then give it a try. Soccer seasons are generally short, so you should have an idea of how it will work. 1 hour a night on T/TH would be just enough to get some of the energy out and still have lots of family time. When my DS was 6/7, he still wrestled and played soccer. He dropped wrestling after he was 6, and soccer a season later. But it was his decision and he has never regretted it. This sport takes a lot of time and sacrifice anyway, so if it doesn't conflict adn you and she can handle it then let her try

 

[emorymom]

Mine were homeschooled (mainly for other reasons but also generally so they could have interesting experiences like being on sports teams, choir, dance, basically doing all they wanted to try) at that age and did not have any trouble with the schedule you describe. But they were home schooled, so there was still free time and no homework struggles at 8:30pm.

So at 12 my daughter is still doing 2 sports very seriously (to general population) or one sport seriously and gymnastics half-seriously (in a gym sense, 9hrs/week), and the way it would continue to happen is she stays homeschooled or does a school (at some point) for elite athletes / professional kids where they dismiss early instead of having P.E. and such.

 

[Madden3]

I strongly recommend yes to two sports now and just see how it goes. Yes, a child being at practice 6 days a week is crazy and will feel crazy. It may be too crazy, and then you have to make a choice. But if she continues with gym, it will be gym practice every day relatively soon. When they are little and gym is not yet everyday, that is the time to explore other sports IMO. How lucky the two sports are on different days so you can do this!

My point is it only gets harder to explore other sports. Because as the child ages, both gym hours and academic responsibilities increase. I am currently trying to figure out how to get my 10 year old gymnast who also loves baseball started in Little League and it is nearly impossible.

My kids are also homeschooled, so that is not the problem. If we could do gym in the morning he could do another sport easily! But this is not possible. So the problem is the conflicting schedules and fitting practices/games for two sports in at the times practices and games are held.

Also do not get me started on aerobic exercise and how overall lacking this is in gymnastics given the time they spend on the sport. A sport where the kids are running around the whole time will be an excellent balance.

 

[rosiekat]

My son was in a similar situation (and age) last year. There were times he had something every single day. For *him* this was a good thing, as he's a super physical, high-energy kid. When he has down time, he usually gets into trouble, so structured and frequent activity is great for him. It is stressful on family, so you do have to consider that. However, the soccer games were just kind of fun for all of us. Although you didn't ask about gym hours, I will say that at that age, 4 hours would have been too much for DS. I do know people who have talked with the gym and had the time cut down some (like from 10 hours to 9 hours) for that kid in that year. Even 3 hours seems long for that age to me. But again, I openly acknowledge you didn't ask about that. The longest night DS had last year was the day where he had school (of course) then 2 hours of gym and then 1-1.5 hours of soccer, and that was tough for him just in terms of getting late/sleepy, although his physical energy was still fine. (It was funny in his first game, when no one had seen him "fresh" yet, and how everyone was amazed at how fast and agile he was. We had to remind them that although he was still fast and agile at practice, that was after school and 2 hours of gym!)

So, I think my thoughts are that as long as your DD and your family cope with it, it can be completely fine. But I'd definitely keep my eyes peeled for signs of over-business and be mentally prepared to adjust accordingly - even my DS needs the occasional day where he can do nothing at all and just stare at TV and Legos.

 

[CuriousCate]

Also do not get me started on aerobic exercise and how overall lacking this is in gymnastics given the time they spend on the sport. A sport where the kids are running around the whole time will be an excellent balance.

I totally agree! my 6 year old iss in the gym 10 hours a week but doesn't even always break a sweat. but 45 minutes of soccer practice and she's panting and drenched!