Anyone else have very little competition?

[Bajanswife]

It's kind of tough being the only gym in our entire country. It makes for very little competition experience for the gymnasts, and the coaches have to work harder to keep on top of what judges are looking for and how the deductions are taken. We have to fly everywhere we compete, and because of the time and cost, we only get to compete 3, maybe 4 times a year! We all need current passports, and for the U.S./Puerto Rico competitions, expensive visas! But our owner and Head Coach is determined that we keep up with all the other USAG gymnasts, so we just work hard to achieve and then maintain the standards of the other teams competing USAG. I don't think we do too badly - we always come home with lots of medals and trophies.

My DD is 7 and has only been to one real Level 3 competition - Trinidad Nationals earlier this month. In September she will be training in Level 4, and may only get to compete about 3 times in that level. Our gymnasts have the skills - they just lack the competition experience.

I guess it's not all bad, though. Our team is the National Team by default. When our gymnasts leave the country to compete, they are representing their country. That's a big deal for our gymnasts, and as they walk through the departure lounge as a group, dressed in their Barbados team outfits, they are proud as punch! In a country the size of the U.S., for example, very few make it onto the U.S. National Team, due to sheer numbers.

Anyone else have difficulty competing as often as they would like, because of location or other factors? How do you keep current?

 

[cher062]

It's kind of tough being the only gym in our entire country. It makes for very little competition experience for the gymnasts, and the coaches have to work harder to keep on top of what judges are looking for and how the deductions are taken. We have to fly everywhere we compete, and because of the time and cost, we only get to compete 3, maybe 4 times a year! We all need current passports, and for the U.S./Puerto Rico competitions, expensive visas! But our owner and Head Coach is determined that we keep up with all the other USAG gymnasts, so we just work hard to achieve and then maintain the standards of the other teams competing USAG. I don't think we do too badly - we always come home with lots of medals and trophies.

My DD is 7 and has only been to one real Level 3 competition - Trinidad Nationals earlier this month. In September she will be training in Level 4, and may only get to compete about 3 times in that level. Our gymnasts have the skills - they just lack the competition experience.

I guess it's not all bad, though. Our team is the National Team by default. When our gymnasts leave the country to compete, they are representing their country. That's a big deal for our gymnasts, and as they walk through the departure lounge as a group, dressed in their Barbados team outfits, they are proud as punch! In a country the size of the U.S., for example, very few make it onto the U.S. National Team, due to sheer numbers.

Anyone else have difficulty competing as often as they would like, because of location or other factors? How do you keep current?

Where are you located?

boy that sounds like a good business opportunity waiting for someone to open a gym so there would be at least 2.

 

[bogwoppit]

In Quebec, and most of Canada, girls do 3 meets a year. If they qualify for Provincials they get to do a fourth, but that doesn't happen very often!

I know what you mean about comp ready, so much work to get ready for so few meets, but without enough experience to do a great job.

But it's all we've got, so we have learned to be haoppy with it!

 

[Bajanswife]

Where are you located?

boy that sounds like a good business opportunity waiting for someone to open a gym so there would be at least 2.

Go for it - we would welcome another gym!

We are on the tiny island of Barbados (in the Caribbean) - 166 square miles, population about 270K. As you can imagine, it costs a lot more to get gym equipment shipped here, and local coaches aren't easy to find.

This summer a Trinidad club is trying to come and train with us for a couple of weeks. We've also had occasional acrobats and gym coaches pass through and train at the gym for short periods. Our Head Coach welcomes such visits. We often have sports teams come from the U.S., Canada or England to swim, play soccer etc. here as a summer camp activity. I see no reason why some gym clubs couldn't organize cooperative gym camps here. The issue would be finding reasonable accomodations. I wonder what happens to our university residence apartments during summer break, and whether they are available to be rented?

Bogwoppit, I'm glad we aren't the only ones with lack of competition! It seems like in the U.S. there are so many opportunities to drive around to all sorts of meets in the area. We can't even drive to one!

 

[GymMommy]

Our level 3s don't compete at all. Our state (NY) has just started having "fun" competitions for level 3s, but most gyms around here don't compete at that level.

Our particular gym didn't compete level 4 at all until 2 years ago. The first year, they only competed once or twice, but now they compete about once a month from Dec through May.

Competition experience definitely becomes more important as they get into the higher levels. I'm not sure I'd be too worried about her lack of experience just yet. Hopefully, you'll find more/easier competition soon! It must be quite a bonding experience for the girls to get to travel together like that! And like you said, they ARE the national team!

Good luck!

 

[All Chalked Up]

In Nova Scotia, Canada, the girls and guys at my gym compete all over our province and sometimes out of province. Most usually go to meets until they qualify for Provincials, though the Level Ones ( level 4 or 5 in American levels) qualify automatically, in my province anyways.

 

[hawaii_gymnast]

In Quebec, and most of Canada, girls do 3 meets a year. If they qualify for Provincials they get to do a fourth, but that doesn't happen very often!

I know what you mean about comp ready, so much work to get ready for so few meets, but without enough experience to do a great job.

But it's all we've got, so we have learned to be haoppy with it!

Well in Alberta, Canada, we compete in many competitions it just depends on your club, we go to almost all the invitationals and then zones and often provincials depending on the age and level catagoery, because for provincials the top 12 go and often there are only 15 people competiting

 

[cher062]

Go for it - we would welcome another gym!

LOL I wish I had the money to do something like that.

We often have sports teams come from the U.S., Canada or England to swim, play soccer etc. here as a summer camp activity. I see no reason why some gym clubs couldn't organize cooperative gym camps here. The issue would be finding reasonable accomodations. I wonder what happens to our university residence apartments during summer break, and whether they are available to be rented?

My DD goes to gym camp at a college in the summer. They stay at the dorms and are fed by the college. the only thing they need money wise is vending machine money and money to buy things at the camp store. Other than that they really don't need any of that. God I would love for my DD to go to where you are for a summer overnight camp. Of course I would have to rent a bungalow near by just to enjoy the beaches and fun

 

[CoachGoofy]

It's not quite like your experience, but there are very few T&T clubs in our area. So we drive all over the region to compete with the same few teams, until regionals, when we drive much further to compete with a few more teams (and then nationals, when we fly to compete with a whole lot of people).

Fortunately the internet (for drills) & the compulsory skills have made keeping current a lot easier.

 

[Pickle's Mom]

It does seem like a business opportunity. Barbados is not a long flight from either Florida or Texas where there are loads of gymnastics clubs. It seems like an enterprising travel agent could build up some sort of invitational event package. I know our optional go to a meet in Hawaii and there are probably dozens and dozens of meets that are closer to us every year that they could go to. But they have a great time.

Very few gyms in our area compete L3 either. L4 is standard now though.