Parents DD Not on Team

[gymnastca25]

I am curious what you would like to happen. You only have 2 choices:
1. stay where you are in rec or 2. find another gym. There are no other answers. Any gym can do what they want for their selection process for team. You don't want her to stay in rec yet you don't want to drive to another gym.

 

[Faith]

If you really can't travel then you have to:

Book an appointment with HC to discuss if, why, how and when your DD might make team. Push for reasons why- tell them you don't care if they feel mean, you need to know.

If they still can't give you an acceptable reason, you need to discuss with your DD and lay it on the line- rec gym at current gym, or team at local gym 2. Or a completely different sport or activity.

If they give you an acceptable reason- i.e you say she's very flexible- maybe she's hypermobile and they think that will lead to injury with the demands of team. Or maybe she's just not as good as you think (which is what I mean when you ask them to be honest)- then rec might be the best place for her.

Although some gyms' idea of "rec" isn't- There's a gym here where "rec" is basically anyone not fast-tracked for elite. "rec" still trains 15-20 hours a week and competes high level- up to L10, just not elite. If your DD is at L5 doing "rec", it sounds like a pretty high achievement. How many hours does she do? Does she compete?

 

[1fish2fish]

I would wait and see what the different class she is going into (from your first post) is like before thinking about another placement. Also, asking for more classes might be good. If she desires more training, but doesn't want pit foam in her eyes, maybe adding another day for a semester will help her decide her goals.

 

[jellybean]

Are there other programs at the gym, I.e. A competitive cheer team, etc.? If they are strict on height, they are probably strict on skills, too. Is the one skill that's on/off a lvl 4 gateway skill, like a kip??

No, its that back tuck. She has it but every once and a while (not very often though) she throws her head back. They have rec cheer classes but no competitive.

 

[profmom]

Being able to do skills is not the only thing that makes a team gymnast. Again, you won't know what the issue is at your current gym unless they will talk to you, but if you want your DD to have a possibility of being on a team, it's not happening at this gym.

 

[jellybean]

How tall is your DD? I have never heard of a gym having a specific height limit, but many gyms will knock a gymnast back from the team if they are too tall.

It's possible that they don't want too much of a height variance between the kids in the tram so they don't have to constantly change heights and setting of equipment, this is a poor reason, but it may be their reason.

Also how tall are the coaches? Often coaches are ex gymnasts, and gymnasts do tend to be on the shorter side, perhaps they feel they don't spot her safely if she gets to tall.

Her age may also play a factor, is she starting to go through puberty, or looking like she is about too? Girls bodies go through a very intense period of change from about the age of 11-13 and they are at their most vulnerable for injuries.

This is why teams will often prefer to take younger girls, making the transition from a low number of hours in a less intense training program of a rec class to a significantly increased number of hours and significantly increased level of intensity can exacerbate that issue and lead to many injuries.

DD is really not that tall, and a few of the coaches are a little short but they easily spot her all the time. No I do not think she is going through puberty soon. A few of DDs friends got invited, one of her 10yr old friends got invited to level three because she really wasn't tall. But the didn't have front hip, mill circle, ROBHS, or the dismount for beam. I don't understand, is it coaches favorite maybe?

 

[jellybean]

If you really can't travel then you have to:

Book an appointment with HC to discuss if, why, how and when your DD might make team. Push for reasons why- tell them you don't care if they feel mean, you need to know.

If they still can't give you an acceptable reason, you need to discuss with your DD and lay it on the line- rec gym at current gym, or team at local gym 2. Or a completely different sport or activity.

If they give you an acceptable reason- i.e you say she's very flexible- maybe she's hypermobile and they think that will lead to injury with the demands of team. Or maybe she's just not as good as you think (which is what I mean when you ask them to be honest)- then rec might be the best place for her.

Although some gyms' idea of "rec" isn't- There's a gym here where "rec" is basically anyone not fast-tracked for elite. "rec" still trains 15-20 hours a week and competes high level- up to L10, just not elite. If your DD is at L5 doing "rec", it sounds like a pretty high achievement. How many hours does she do? Does she compete?

They have rec classes level 1-4 and teams level 2-7/8. She doesn't compete and she tells me thats what she wants do. She only trains 3.00 hours a week and she is never tired or worn out after practice ( she has lvl3 practice on wed. and fri.)

 

[GYM0M]

They have rec classes level 1-4 and teams level 2-7/8. She doesn't compete and she tells me thats what she wants do. She only trains 3.00 hours a week and she is never tired or worn out after practice ( she has lvl3 practice on wed. and fri.)

To me, this is very telling and shines a bit of light on your dreary situation. In our gym, our coaches train two levels ahead. While they (the L3 team) may have the majority of L5 skills, they are not polished enough for competition. If there is a similar strategy in your current gym, she may be asked to join the L4 team after a full year of L4 rec classes. I'm not saying that it's my opinion that your current gym is the best fit for your dd, but if it's your only option.....Basically, she can wait or move.

 

[jellybean]

To me, this is very telling and shines a bit of light on your dreary situation. In our gym, our coaches train two levels ahead. While they (the L3 team) may have the majority of L5 skills, they are not polished enough for competition. If there is a similar strategy in your current gym, she may be asked to join the L4 team after a full year of L4 rec classes. I'm not saying that it's my opinion that your current gym is the best fit for your dd, but if it's your only option.....Basically, she can wait or move.

Yea we are hoping she will be asked for l4 classes because she just did testing yesterday, but we don't know yet. (testing only for moving to a higher level, not team)

 

[Iwannabemargo]

if you want a fuller opinion then you can post a video of her skills, that way the knowledgeable coaches on here can let you know if there is something particular she needs to work on

 

[Deleted member 14190]

if you want a fuller opinion then you can post a video of her skills, that way the knowledgeable coaches on here can let you know if there is something particular she needs to work on

Yes , her bars floor and beam .

 

[Flyaway]

if you want a fuller opinion then you can post a video of her skills, that way the knowledgeable coaches on here can let you know if there is something particular she needs to work on

I agree. Call me a skeptic, but I'm hesitant to take the op at face value. I know a year ago I watched my dd prepare for level 3, thinking she was the greatest little gymnast. Now a year later I see how much room she had for improvement! Our parent glasses can be a bit rosy I think. Maybe that's not the case here, but I'm guessing it's probably a combo of this (gymnast truly doesn't meet skill requirements for upper level team), gym policy (gymnast is too tall for lower level team) and coach-parent communication issues.

 

[jellybean]

We are not allowed to record the gym,( I know it's crazy) and she has room for improvement, but coaches have told me she was around level 5( like at 2 camps for instance) but i can try to find an older video before they made that stupid rule? Would an older video work from a year or two ago?

 

[l.c.o]

Would an older video work from a year or two ago?

Well I probably have no business replying here but I'd say it'll help determine how your daughter was 1-2 years ago.

And back to original topic, gymnastics is a huge, sometimes overwhelming commitment for the whole family. Driving to practice is only the start. You block off entire weekends (don't know competition times until 1-2 weeks before), and drive around the state for meets.... And travel around the country at higher levels. There's often also volunteer requirements and fundraising....

I hesitated to let my son also join team. Just my daughter on team was/is a huge commitment... And this means more days to drive in, separate booster club, etc. In the end we let DS follow his (current) dream and he'll compete his first season this year.

We've driven upwards of an hour each way to practice. It's awful. Then 30 minutes and yep! That sucked too. But we did it as DD is/was so passionate about it, and we want her to be able to pursue her dreams as best we can.

Thankfully, the kids gym is currently only 15 minutes from home, so that's an improvement. But when your kid goes 5 days per week, it's still a lot.

We spend a LOT of time driving, and the kids often eat (healthfully) on the go.

 

[NMNorskie]

Ive been thinking but my and my husb. both work full days 5 days a week and the thirty minute drive is just hard. We drive about 10 minutes. The one gym i like and DD also does she feels like she will be with younger girls because she always sees level 9 and 10s on the website. The facility is three stories ( ones preschool though) and it's just huge. Its just a very hard drive, plus dropping her off, going home & cooking, going back, then bringing her home is 2 hours of driving her to and from gym.

If you are forming judgments about other gyms based on their websites, stop. I help manage my gym's website, and the photos are outdated. Professional photography is expensive, so gyms don't do it every year. That means that the photos your looking at on most websites are outdated. Each year's team is different, so while there may have been a bunch of smaller kids on a particular level one year, this year's team might look very different. It's also important to note that gymnasts tend to be on the small side, so they might look much younger than they are. My 10-year-old is constantly asked, "Are you in second grade?" She's in fifth grade. She's just tiny. (Side note: Adults, stop commenting on children's body size! If one more adult says, "Wow, you look so little!" to my poor kid, I'm going to scream. You'd never say, "Wow, you're so big!" to a larger kid. Why would you need to comment on any other person's body size? STOP.)

You mentioned that one gym has a vault that ends in the pit. At our gym, it ends in the pit sometimes, and sometimes they put a platform thingy over it so it doesn't. It depends on what they're working on, and who's using it.

You can't judge from photos on a website. You have to visit in person.

 

[strawberries]

I would actually say a bad/outdated/unappealing website is a good sign. It means they are focused on their real business...gymnastics. Great coaches are seldom fantastic marketers, photographers or graphic design artists.

 

[NMNorskie]

I would actually say a bad/outdated/unappealing website is a good sign. It means they are focused on their real business...gymnastics. Great coaches are seldom fantastic marketers, photographers or graphic design artists.

That's a great point. My gym isn't so great at fooling with HTML, but they're awesome at keeping my kid safe and happy while helping her progress. If I'd judged them by their website, I would have missed out on a great gym that has been the perfect fit for our family.

 

[MILgymFAM]

(Side note: Adults, stop commenting on children's body size! If one more adult says, "Wow, you look so little!" to my poor kid, I'm going to scream. You'd never say, "Wow, you're so big!" to a larger kid. Why would you need to comment on any other person's body size? STOP.)

This, for sure! Although, to be honest, my younger daughter does actually get those opposite comments. "Wow, you're so big! You're only 11?!" Or, when it's someone who is particularly tactless (and yes, this has happened), "Wow, you're so big!! Why aren't you tiny like your sister?" Sometimes people are flat out awful.

 

[z2akids]

It is important to keep in mind that a child "having" a skill and thst skill being competition ready (or even close) are two entirely different things.

I distinctly remember sitting at one of DD's practices at the end of summer after she was moved up to Level 3. There was a mom there watching her rec kid and commenting in quite a derogatory manner about how her child could do all of the skills are girls were working on and lots more. The intermediate rec class at DD's gym works on skills at a different progression - they work cartwheels on beam, but not many handstands or turns. They work FHS on floor, squat on on bars and a few other skills that are beyond the L3 routine. But, while this child could do a bHS on the tramp, it wasn't ready for floor. Sure, she could do a cartwheel on the beam, but her cartwheel would not have passed muster on team. Same as many of her other skills. She "had" them, but 2 years later she has just made team this year for Level 3 and still has a long way to go to be competition ready.

 

[NMNorskie]

This, for sure! Although, to be honest, my younger daughter does actually get those opposite comments. "Wow, you're so big! You're only 11?!" Or, when it's someone who is particularly tactless (and yes, this has happened), "Wow, you're so big!! Why aren't you tiny like your sister?" Sometimes people are flat out awful.

What is wrong with people??