Parents Did your child compete before ready or wait?

[billise]

Thanks for all of the responses. I've got to say that I'm turning into a CGM about my daughter not moving up. I've now taken to viewing level 3 bar routines on youtube -and I have to say that more than half of them look a lot like my DD on the skills -struggling a bit to get all the way around on the skills and even falling on some -this is exactly where my DD is with the skills now but Aug is a long way off. I wish they'd let her keep trying and make a decision later on -particularly as we aren't at a super competitive gym.

Nooooo!!! Don't become a CGM yet, it's way too early in your DD's career for that

In all seriousness though, be careful of comparing you DD to others, especially those you see on YouTube. You don't know what region those girls are in, what program their in or their gyms philosophy. It will only spell frustration for you

 

[gymhorsemom]

Did the coach say never or not now.

I can you tell our coaches are reluctant to say for sure our kids will move up until end of July beginning of August. Because there are far too many CGPs who when told its possible take it as gospel and then get ticked if it doesn't happen. So they would rather keep lower until ready to say now.

I don't know actually. I took the letter that said these are the hours that pre team will be practicing this summer and we look forward to your continued participation in our pre team as that's it, no team this fall. In June the girls move into separate groups so my DD won't have the opportunity to learn the routines, etc so there is no chance to move up after that. Between now and June, I just don't know -maybe she could still move up?

 

[trampolinemom]

I'm all for waiting untill ready. Both my sons started trampolining 1,5 year ago in a low level gym in our village. Trampolining competitions here start twice a year, one individual and synchronised competition series and one team competition series. After a few months of practice both my sons were asked to compete for our village gym. This gym has mixed lessons for rec and team together. The atmosphere is far more rec.

Meanwhile my youngest son was doing so well and wanted more out of it that (after consulting with the village gym) we moved him to a competitive gym where he was put into pre team. So while my youngest one had more skills and better execution, it was my oldest one who went to compete this season for our village gym. (both gyms are in the same competition).

Oldest son had a very rough season in which he nearly allways ended last. After this he didn't want to compete anymore and this is still the case. From what I can see now, about now (a year later) he is at the point in which he can compete well (say place in the upper half of the competition) But.. he doesn't want to anymore.

Youngest son started training seriously in pre team at other gym. Started (team)competition half a year later and ended up with his team 2nd, 1st and 1st out of 16 teams in the competition. He then went for dutch nationals and his team came 2nd there. He was one of the best performing team members. This all made him very confident.

Long story short with what I know now I think it's good to start competing when everything is ready, polished and in place and not earlier than that.

 

[IreneKa]

I don't know actually. I took the letter that said these are the hours that pre team will be practicing this summer and we look forward to your continued participation in our pre team as that's it, no team this fall. In June the girls move into separate groups so my DD won't have the opportunity to learn the routines, etc so there is no chance to move up after that. Between now and June, I just don't know -maybe she could still move up?

Is there a way to talk to the coaches? Catch them after class, or schedule a meeting? You are not automatically CGM for asking questions. It's okay to want some clarifications on the process. Ask them if the decision is final, or if she still has a chance, and if there is anything you can do to help her, privates or whatever.

 

[Ali'sMom]

Ask them if the decision is final, or if she still has a chance, and if there is anything you can do to help her, privates or whatever.

THIS

 

[Deleted member 18037]

Bottom line is there is no sense in getting crazy about something, without actually having a discussion with people involved. And that would include the coach.

Again, last year, I thought my daughter should of been L4 (before I knew about the dang kip).
After having a conversation with coaches, it of course made sense. And she didn't make a kip until Jan (and we are not talking nice and consistent yet). Our season is over in Feb.

 

[SignHere]

I know there are a lot of parents on this board who bash on coaches making a decision about what level a gym it will compete months before a competition season, but I will put in my 2 cents.

DD has been in 2 gyms. Gym #1: the coaches liked "to give the girls enough time to get the skills " necessary to compete a level. Usually, decisions about level were made about 2 months prior to the first meet. However, one year, DD did not know until the week before her first meet know which level she was competing. The skills were safe, but usually not polished. And the routines were not polished or confident either. Granted, HC's goal was to have everything ultimately ready by States, but it made the season really stressful.

Gym #2 decides the level the girls are competing 5-6 months before the start of meet season. This gives them time to polish the skills and routines prior to competition season. Then during competition season (7 months) they devote a large amount of time to training skills for the next level. So the girls are actually competing easier skills than they are training.

Guess which is less stressful for my DD?

 

[billise]

I know there are a lot of parents on this board who bash on coaches making a decision about what level a gym it will compete months before a competition season, but I will put in my 2 cents.

DD has been in 2 gyms. Gym #1: the coaches liked "to give the girls enough time to get the skills " necessary to compete a level. Usually, decisions about level were made about 2 months prior to the first meet. However, one year, DD did not know until the week before her first meet know which level she was competing. The skills were safe, but usually not polished. And the routines were not polished or confident either. Granted, HC's goal was to have everything ultimately ready by States, but it made the season really stressful.

Gym #2 decides the level the girls are competing 5-6 months before the start of meet season. This gives them time to polish the skills and routines prior to competition season. Then during competition season (7 months) they devote a large amount of time to training skills for the next level. So the girls are actually competing easier skills than they are training.

Guess which is less stressful for my DD?

This is why I hate to see people angry with the coaches. If a gyms philosophy doesn't work for you it doesn't make the philosophy wrong, it just means it doesn't work for you. My DD has been at 2 gyms with 2 very different philosophies on compulsory gymnastics. We have had a wonderful experience at both gyms I think largely because we went into it knowing that the gyms philosophy is what it is and we need to either get on board with it or find another gym. I know for some people finding another gym may not be an option but for most that's not the case. Parents need to let the coaches do their job as outlined by the gym. If we as parents don't understand the outline it's fine to ask questions to get some clarity but we need to stop trying to get the gyms to alter their philosophy for our kid.

 

[billise]

Bravo to SignHere for finding a gym that works for her DD!

 

[SignHere]

Bravo to SignHere for finding a gym that works for her DD!

Billsie, EXACTLY. I don't think either philosophy is wrong, because at Gym 1, a lot of girls really moved up through the levels and were happy about it. However, my DD is a generally anxious child who likes to get to meets at least 45 minutes early, for example, so she was a little stressed about Gym 1. She really likes competing "easy" skills. And it makes competitions a lot less stressful for her to know that she is doing skills in her routines that are 1-2 levels below the skills she is training in the gym.

 

[gymhorsemom]

This is why I hate to see people angry with the coaches. If a gyms philosophy doesn't work for you it doesn't make the philosophy wrong, it just means it doesn't work for you. My DD has been at 2 gyms with 2 very different philosophies on compulsory gymnastics. We have had a wonderful experience at both gyms I think largely because we went into it knowing that the gyms philosophy is what it is and we need to either get on board with it or find another gym. I know for some people finding another gym may not be an option but for most that's not the case. Parents need to let the coaches do their job as outlined by the gym. If we as parents don't understand the outline it's fine to ask questions to get some clarity but we need to stop trying to get the gyms to alter their philosophy for our kid.

I totally agree. I do get a little irritated that I really don't know what the philosophy of our gym is though. Is this something I should be able to understand as a parent of a preteamer? I guess they decide who goes to team in March -but then again I don't know if this is final or not. Also, I hear through the grapevine that our gym is one of the least competitive in the area -they don't provide a lot of hours so there's not much up training and the girls don't tend to score very well. So it surprises me that they make the team decisions so early. This will be the coaches first season at the gym -so I think that's part of the confusion -no one really knows what the gym/coaches philosophy is. The gym has been through a lot of coaching changes in the past couple of years. I just wish I had a better understanding of it all.

 

[billise]

Gym can be VERY confusing for a new gym parent but you are in the right place. CB is a wealth of information. My DD started rec gym when she was 4, moved to preteam at age 5, level 3 team at age 6, gym change and one season of only training level 3 at age 7. Next season she will compete level 3 again at age 8 and I still feel like I have soooo much to learn

It may be difficult for your gym to fully articulate their "philosophy" because it's not always cut and dry. Time and observation will make that clearer but I understand that you are itching to go so, what your gym should definitely be able to articulate to you is their plan for your daughter. Start with asking them if there is still a chance that she'll be able to compete. If yes, then what are the contingencies? If no, what is holding her back? Coaches should be able to give you some concrete answers about what they are wanting to see.

Team scores at the compulsory levels are not always a good indication of the quality of the gym but they could be. How do their optionals score? Do their optionals come up through their compulsory program?

 

[billise]

When I took DD to our new gym the head of the compulsory program evaluated her. He made it clear that DD would NOT be competing level 3 during the upcoming (fall 2014) season. He then told me the specific areas where she needed to improve in order to compete level 3 the next season (fall 2015). He told me that he would inform DD's direct coaches of the areas that needed the most attention and they would be working with her on those areas over the course of the next year in the hope of having her ready for level 3 competition in fall 2015. He made no promises about when she would compete but he had a clear plan for her. Because she had competed level 3 the previous year I could have looked around for a gym that would allow her to compete level 3 again right away but this gym was clear and specific about their plan for my DD which made me feel good about her LONG TERM future with them.