Parents Daughter not picked for pre-squad in only local competitive gym - what next?

[New2this]

For context we’re in the U.K. She loves gymnastics and started toddler classes at 18 months old at the only other local (but non-competitive) gym. In September she switched to the competitive gym, just before turning 5 in December. I would have switched her sooner due to issues with the first gym, but didn’t know the competitive gym even existed as they don’t advertise.

Found out this week she hasn’t been picked for the new pre-squad. The staff admitted the biggest factor in deciding was age (all the chosen ones are 3-4, with the exception of a 6 year old). Their skill levels are similar to my daughters (very low level, not graded), though being a little older my daughter is better at listening and staying focused during class, also she always wants to be there whereas the little ones regularly don’t and will act out.

It just seems a shame that it seems my daughter’s chances of competing are effectively over at age just 5. I don’t mean to sounds dramatic, but obviously the plan is that the pre-squad will feed into the older competitive squad. They will have extra training sessions and my daughter will never be able to keep up while just doing recreational gym classes. Even if I put her in extra rec classes, they’re shorter and obviously different, and won’t have the same outcome. Also their strong focus on age makes me think her chances are pretty much over already, even if she were to make huge improvements.

I accept their decision, I’m not going to demand she be let in, but is there anything I can do to give her a chance in the future? As I said, this is the only competitive gym in my area so we can’t switch. Due to personal circumstances we cannot move areas either. I’m also limited in what I can personally do to help as I know little about gymnastics (though I’m willing to learn).

I do plan to talk to the gym about this, but obviously want to be careful about how I come across, so any advice about how to approach them would be appreciated too. I don’t want drama, I just want to understand what I can do to help my daughter achieve what she wants.

 

[Dahlialover]

I don’t think you should assume that your child will fall hopelessly behind because she wasn’t selected at age 5. My kid didn’t do any kind of rec gymnastics or pre-team. At 7-years-old, he was a competitive swimmer and a talented backyard trampolinist. I took him in for his first rec class and they put him on the team right away. One year later, he’s one of the top 8-year-olds competing in our region of the US. He’s passed all the kids who have been taking classes since preschool.

Hopefully, if your daughter sticks with it, the coaches will recognize her potential and give her an opportunity. 5-years-old is far too young to determine a child’s potential and I would hope that they would have the wisdom to know this. In the meantime, sign her up for swimming and dance. Those things will allow her to build the skills and the strength she needs to succeed in gymnastics. That will hopefully help her get recognized at the gym. She may end up preferring those sports and that could also solve your problem.

Good Luck!

 

[NutterButter]

The post above is really more geared toward towards a kid in the US. We have some UK members who will hopefully weigh in. @Jenny - any advice for this mum?

 

[AnotherGymDad]

I don't have much in the way of advice but I do have a lot of both empathy and sympathy. From my experience the whole set-up in the UK is dreadfully designed for actually developing little gymnasts and keeping them engaged with the sport. You're either on 45 minutes a week of recreational or one of the chosen few who makes it into a development squad when you're no older than six and there is absolutely nothing in between. God forbid you don't realise you're interested in the sport until you're 7 or 8. We were told at one point that if we were serious about our daughter's "career" we should have had her in a gym when she was 3 or 4 years old - smack in the middle of the pandemic when everything was shut. And now she's on the cusp of being "too old" because she's two years behind kids who have been doing intense strength and conditioning since before they were five.

We're lucky in that there are a handful of competitive gyms within driving distance of our house and there are couple of open trials she'll be going along to next month - slightly better prepared than when she last tried out last year and we discovered everyone else had been drilled for months to be ready by parents who knew more about how the system works.

What's most lucky of all is that she adores the recreational program she's on and is only dimly aware that competitive gymnastics is actually a thing (mainly from watching My Perfect Landing on Netflix) so she's going to keep on bouncing and bending and tumbling no matter what. Getting into a squad would simply be the icing on the cake, a chance to do more of what she loves so much.

It just feels very frustrating and frankly kind of unfair that kids' futures in the sport are effectively capped at such a young age. And it strikes me as extremely short-sighted of British Gymnastics to allow this to happen - if nothing else, the whole "if you didn't start at 4, forget it" approach is guaranteed to lead to talented young athletes being missed and never fulfilling their potential.

 

[rd7]

"Anothergymdad" , I am in the UK and in our county and region we have many options that are "in between". There is no need for a gymnast to start at 3-4 years old to be successful. That isn't just our club, there are several in the area that offer different levels of training and competition.

I understand that you may have had a bad experience with a club and that there are "elite" clubs that will only consider young children or high level gymnasts but that is not reflective of the many options there are in the UK.

Good luck to your daughter in her trials, maybe you could come back and let us know the outcome?

 

[rd7]

@New2this I'm sorry to hear that your daughter wasn't picked for pre-squad and absolutely ask the coaches what she can do to work towards her goals.
In the meantime are there other options, such as trampolining, tumbling etc? Or gyms that aren't so competitive but have floor and vault squads, or GFA squads that you are unaware of? If not how about acrobatic or freestyle dance, cheerleading, diving?

 

[Gym_momma]

I wouldn't give up hope if she loves it. I would try to increase the frequency of her rec classes but then also seek other ways to help her improve. Perhaps there are Acro/tumbling classes she could take at. Dance or cheer studio? Could you buy a beam and bar to use at home? If she loves gymnastics and has a passion for it, you can find ways for her to develop even if it's outside the gym for now.

 

[AnotherGymDad]

Good luck to your daughter in her trials, maybe you could come back and let us know the outcome?

No joy, sadly. It's both a blessing and a curse but both of the competitive gyms within range of our home are VERY competitive and so have a very high bar for entry and no shortage of applicants. There's plenty of recreational options around but as I said before she'd really love to do more than just 45 minutes a week - and I just can't find any way to make it happen for her. It's just so all or nothing. We tell our children that if they work hard and do their best then they can achieve their dreams but in this sport (certainly where we live) it feels like a lie - if your parents don't push you in front of the right coach at a young enough age, all the effort in the world won't help as you'll be too far behind. And as a parent it's kind of heartbreaking to try and explain to your still-not-seven-year-old that she's "too old" to be a gymnast! Anyway, rant over.

 

[HopefulGymnast]

Just wondering, if there's plenty of rec options around, wouldn't it be possible just to put her in multiple rec classes? It may not get her in the comp groups, but at least she'll have more than 45 min a week.

 

[ckpn]

I don't have much in the way of advice but I do have a lot of both empathy and sympathy. From my experience the whole set-up in the UK is dreadfully designed for actually developing little gymnasts and keeping them engaged with the sport. You're either on 45 minutes a week of recreational or one of the chosen few who makes it into a development squad when you're no older than six and there is absolutely nothing in between. God forbid you don't realise you're interested in the sport until you're 7 or 8. We were told at one point that if we were serious about our daughter's "career" we should have had her in a gym when she was 3 or 4 years old - smack in the middle of the pandemic when everything was shut. And now she's on the cusp of being "too old" because she's two years behind kids who have been doing intense strength and conditioning since before they were five.

We're lucky in that there are a handful of competitive gyms within driving distance of our house and there are couple of open trials she'll be going along to next month - slightly better prepared than when she last tried out last year and we discovered everyone else had been drilled for months to be ready by parents who knew more about how the system works.

What's most lucky of all is that she adores the recreational program she's on and is only dimly aware that competitive gymnastics is actually a thing (mainly from watching My Perfect Landing on Netflix) so she's going to keep on bouncing and bending and tumbling no matter what. Getting into a squad would simply be the icing on the cake, a chance to do more of what she loves so much.

It just feels very frustrating and frankly kind of unfair that kids' futures in the sport are effectively capped at such a young age. And it strikes me as extremely short-sighted of British Gymnastics to allow this to happen - if nothing else, the whole "if you didn't start at 4, forget it" approach is guaranteed to lead to talented young athletes being missed and never fulfilling their potential.

Totally agree with you! As a mom AND competative coach in the US, this is just so gross on top of missing so many talented children, starting babies that young and PUSHING them hard thru the system often ends in a lot of burnt out gymnasts! Also… say you’re a level 10 at 12… you still have FOUR YEARS MINIMUM before you could ever be on an Olympic team… SIMONE BILES did not even start gym until she went on a field trip at 6 years old! If nothing else, that should open the eyes of gymnastics in the uk I’m so sorry!!


I would go to the team coordinator and just ask what this means for your sweet girl. Does not being chosen now mean she will never be allowed on the team? Or if they see that she is making progress will they move her to the competative team? Things like that. Good luck, mama!!

 

[rd7]

@AnotherGymDad , have you considered trampolining? They are often looking for enthusiastic members for their squads. Or competitive cheer leading or diving?

 

[Funtumble]

Given im in the USA but I dint start till I was 8 I did one year of class 1 of bronze 2 of silver and now im Gold. You dont need to start at 5. All the kids in my group in fact are my grade or a little older. I got delayed when I was about to start competing because the gyms near me werent accepting new people so I had to wait till the pandemic dided down to get into my current gym.

 

[Juddz]

No joy, sadly. It's both a blessing and a curse but both of the competitive gyms within range of our home are VERY competitive and so have a very high bar for entry and no shortage of applicants. There's plenty of recreational options around but as I said before she'd really love to do more than just 45 minutes a week - and I just can't find any way to make it happen for her. It's just so all or nothing. We tell our children that if they work hard and do their best then they can achieve their dreams but in this sport (certainly where we live) it feels like a lie - if your parents don't push you in front of the right coach at a young enough age, all the effort in the world won't help as you'll be too far behind. And as a parent it's kind of heartbreaking to try and explain to your still-not-seven-year-old that she's "too old" to be a gymnast! Anyway, rant over.

Hi, don’t give up hope! I would go with what other posters are saying try and get her in more than one rec class or one rec class and trampoline/tumbling. You could even try cheerleading, acro dance or rhythmic gymnastics alongside. The skills are quite transferable between sports. If they can see she’s working hard she might get pulled onto squad anyway. People leave and drop out of squads get burnt out etc lots of things can happen. Very few make it to the Olympics so for most it’s just the love of the sport! I can assure you she hasn’t missed the boat on anything!
I started gymnastics as a 36 years old. I’ve picked up loads of skills. Including box and side splits, front and back somersaults etc to name a few. Last year me another lady where the first two people from our city to go to British adult competition and compete. We learnt the routines and off we went. My friend picked up a medal. We had very little gymnastics background. It’s never too late. I did do another sport to a higher level as a child. I think once you get the Co-ordination and muscle memory it never leaves you.

 

[Loopy]

Surely there must be other options. I'm in Australia, but my daughter started rec gym at 6. After a term (about 10 weeks) they asked her to try out for the development squad but she didn't get in as "she wasn't strong enough". But they put her in a more advanced rec class instead.
She did 2 years in that class then was able to try out for the team. However at that point we actually switched gyms and she tried out and got into the team at that one but we couldn't do as I couldn't get her to training on some of the days due to work, working part time and couldn't change what days until my youngest started school). That one had leveled rec classes so she did the level she would have been doing in a rec class instead. And joined the team the next year when I was able to change my work to school hours. And then covid hit - so everything was delayed by a year, and her gym stopped having a competitive team so we had to change gyms again, and she didn't actually start competing until she was 10 nearly 11. But she still did well - she got state champion in her age group for her level that year.

Her current gym has a development squad where they start little but they also take kids from the rec classes that are older.

Can she not work hard and try again next year? You said they took a 6 year old. Put some work into developing strength and flexibility - this can be done at home, because a lot of its about this and not what skills they currently have. Do some similar sports like cheer or tumbling to help improve her skills.