WAG Dressing during practice

[sce]

Puberty the age where girls become self conscious about their changing bodies. Coincidence I think not. If bar shorts keeps in the sport it seems simple thing.
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I really think it is a conincidence. I’ve known a lot of girls to quit in middle school and high school. None of them cared about being made to wear a leo and shorts or not shorts. They quit because of other interests, fear issues, injuries etc.

 

[JessSyd]

I have never seen a formal dress code at my daughter's gym, but the unspoken rule seems to be that you come dressed appropriately for gymnastics. This means leotard, crop top, gym shorts or sports leggings.

Many of the older gymnasts go straight to the gym from school and on occasion someone forgets to pack their gym clothes in the morning or they leave their gym bag at school or on the bus and there are issues. The gym handles it by having a bag of spares (variously sized leotards, shorts and leggings donated over the years). A girl can choose a spare, wear it for training then take it home and wash it. This is how anyone turning up not dressed to train is dealt with. If they do not like wearing a shared leotard, they are less likely to forget or dress inappropriately next time.

Not that dressing inappropriately is a big problem in the gym. The girls want to train so they dress ready to train.

A gym near us got a new head coach who banned gym shorts a couple of years ago. After some protesting from girls and parents they had a big exodus of higher level girls who did not want to train without their shorts on a regular basis. A few girls just decided it was time to call it a day. My daughter's gym ended up with a few of the girls who changed. They made their choice and changed to a gym with a dress policy that suited their needs. The original gym has since quietly dropped the ban. Possibly as it turned out to be a poor commercial decision for them.

 

[John]

Ok I hate to ask but I have too. My DD dies not wear underwear but does wear a sports bra. She thinks underwear hanging out is funny and has laughed with teammates about it in the car on the way home. Of course I direct them that everyone is different and to not laugh. If anything ask the teammate why she wears them and learn something.

What side of the fence are you on with your DD's underwear with Leo issue?

 

[MILgymFAM]

Ok I hate to ask but I have too. My DD dies not wear underwear but does wear a sports bra. She thinks underwear hanging out is funny and has laughed with teammates about it in the car on the way home. Of course I direct them that everyone is different and to not laugh. If anything ask the teammate why she wears them and learn something.

What side of the fence are you on with your DD's underwear with Leo issue?

One of my DDs doesn’t ever and one does on her time of the month. They don’t show though as they’re very well cut for leos.

 

[Sk8ermaiden]

At our old gym, the pre team was half and half, but once you are level 3ish, you have to wear the GK-style briefs, per the rules.

At our new gym, I think most girls do not. I think the underwear hanging out is weird, but usually by team-age the girls who prefer it have figured out which kinds actually work.

 

[John]

I dread hormones and periods. I do most of the clothes shopping etc with DD. Buying bras and underwear was uncomfortable at first but I said hell someone has to do it.

Body hair also scarey. Lol.

 

[Jard.the.gymnast]

Ok I hate to ask but I have too. My DD dies not wear underwear but does wear a sports bra. She thinks underwear hanging out is funny and has laughed with teammates about it in the car on the way home. Of course I direct them that everyone is different and to not laugh. If anything ask the teammate why she wears them and learn something.

What side of the fence are you on with your DD's underwear with Leo issue?

For practice, well i wear shorts so it isn't much of an issue. For competition I use butt glue, which I probably also would do if I weren't allowed to wear shorts in practice.

 

[raenndrops]

Ok I hate to ask but I have too. My DD dies not wear underwear but does wear a sports bra. She thinks underwear hanging out is funny and has laughed with teammates about it in the car on the way home. Of course I direct them that everyone is different and to not laugh. If anything ask the teammate why she wears them and learn something.

What side of the fence are you on with your DD's underwear with Leo issue?

When they were little, both gymmies wore biketards so undies were fine. That was WHY we went with biketards.
When OG moved up to team, it wasn't long until she decided biketards were for babies, lol.
She started wearing leotards with shorts. Her sister was still wearing biketards until after she was on team too.
For her competition leotard, we happened to have bought some undies (Hanes Sporty Bikinis... But they later changed the design so they no longer work) that were perfect for the leotard - same color in case they somehow showed, which they never did. She wore the other colors with her practice leotards. It went like that until she decided undies were passé, lol. It helped that the team leotards had the built in liners.
Now they are in the "no undies" camp.

 

[suebee]

When dd was 5 and in her first year competing, the coach told parents that girls could not wear underwear under their comp leos. I think at that point, most kids stopped wearing underwear to practice too.

I have no idea if older kids wear underwear under their leos (definitely doesn't show if they do) but I would venture to guess that at dd's gym, the younger girls do not wear underwear with their leos, at practice or at meets.

 

[BachFlyer]

Ugh. I'm sorry but that is just so uncomfortable to me. I can't afford to buy my kid 30 leos so she wears the same 5 or 6 over and over again. Underwear helps improve the longevity! What about "during that time"? Not to mention if things get out of place during a floor routine My dd wears thin/seamless high-cut, flesh toned underwear.

 

[John]

I tried to get DD to wear underwear it just seemed like the right thing, but she refused. We have a long underwear history going back 6.5 years. Many hours and mornings of tears and drama just to get dressed. I have the privilege of saying I have literally purchased every cut of underwear available for a girl.

 

[Iwannabemargo]

no undies for mine.

She will be 14 soon ( where the heck did that time go) and has been in gym since she was 6, has never worn pants under her leo. She now wears crop tops because she feels self conscious about the booblettes, but when I suggested pants she was horrified, but then she does have a billion leotards as she gets all my prototypes.

 

[twinmomma]

DD has never worn undies with her leo. It irks me when I see a little rec girl with a leo and a pair of underwear that a) are too big and b) are cut totally wrong for the leo. Why are we ok with their underwear hanging out?
I expect in the next year or so that DD will start wearing them when it's that time of the month and I will buy her appropriately cut ones for her leos but for practice it's mostly shorts over her leo so it's not a huge issue except comps.

 

[coachmolly]

Molly, for the most part we agree. Yes, it's easier to just say wear a Leo. It sounds like the reasonable dress code your gym has just needs to be enforced. If it says no loose clothing then be clear, a loose overlay is loose. Your owner or head coach needs to lay out clear guidelines, perhaps sending an email to families and implement consequences, simple skills only, no spots or up training. No need to change the rule because the powers that be are not enforcing the one in place. Schools often do the same thing. It's not the parents fault that the gym is not enforcing its own policy. When families loosely interpret the rule, clamly and consistently set your boundary and stick to it.

I totally agree, HC is definitely not great at enforcing anything. Fortunately for me, I work with the little guys and the problems are relatively small (like clothing). Now that we have teens (we didn't for a while) and she is coaching them directly, I think she's starting to see the bigger problems that arise from not enforcing policies. I'm really not that bothered by the clothing issue, and most of my kids are great and wear what they are supposed to or correct things when asked, just saying I can see why a gym would go to the extreme with a dress code if they've had this issue in the past.

I also make a point to compliment a kid when they come in with a new leo or appropriate shorts/shirt set- whether it's the newest, most blinged out, expensive GK leo or from the discount rack at Wal Mart. I don't want gym dress codes to make a kid feel left out, excluded, or less than. And I give out leos for prizes fairly frequently to ensure that all kids have at least 1 trendy, name brand leo. I remember coming into practice once as a 10 year old super excited about my new leo (GK) and all my coach said was "It's too big." That's pretty devastating stuff for a 10 year old kid, especially one who's quiet and struggles to fit in as is. And it's totally not at all what gymnastics should be about.

 

[amiandjim]

I tried to get DD to wear underwear it just seemed like the right thing, but she refused. We have a long underwear history going back 6.5 years. Many hours and mornings of tears and drama just to get dressed. I have the privilege of saying I have literally purchased every cut of underwear available for a girl.

Oh I hear you on this one! And then we buy more (of her choosing) and she will still only wear the old ones! Do you have sock drama also?? Sorry for the off topic post, it just made me feel better we aren’t the only ones with underwear drama. FWIW, DD has never worn undies under her leo. And they can’t wear wear shorts at our gym.

 

[John]

Oh yes we have sock Drama. Have had it for years as well. The current sock must be an ankle sock. It must not be too tall bit it also must clear the top of the shoe. Current brands that will be worn are puma and reebok.

I love flip flop or slide weather. Oh Yea uggs to practice reduces the sock issues.

 

[amiandjim]

Oh yes we have sock Drama. Have had it for years as well. The current sock must be an ankle sock. It must not be too tall bit it also must clear the top of the shoe. Current brands that will be worn are puma and reebok.

I love flip flop or slide weather. Oh Yea uggs to practice reduces the sock issues.

Flip flops are the best! We are currently in a phase in which she wears her socks inside out bc apparently they have “fewer bumps”

 

[raenndrops]

Flip flops are the best! We are currently in a phase in which she wears her socks inside out bc apparently they have “fewer bumps”

Last 2 practices, I picked YG up to take her to practice ... and she was wearing ankle socks and CARRYING her shoes! I was just impressed that her socks matched.

 

[amiandjim]

Last 2 practices, I picked YG up to take her to practice ... and she was wearing ankle socks and CARRYING her shoes! I was just impressed that her socks matched.

Mine would live her entire life barefoot if she could...I guess we really are from Kentucky now!

 

[Jard.the.gymnast]

Mine would live her entire life barefoot if she could...I guess we really are from Kentucky now!

I feel like you are not a real gymnast until you like working out barefoot or just on socks more than with shoes... Lol