Parents Experienced Parents.. Id love your advice! San Diego area a plus!

[CAKE]

Thank you l.c.o for taking time to write such a thoughtful response.

The gym with a very successful larger program.. I should probably start referring to it that way... said maybe she could come to preteam if she proved her maturity and she is scared straight, lol. She has been on her best behavior. But she is barely 6. her birthday was 8 days ago! So I have no idea.. Id like to believe that it will all work out and she will end up on preteam, but it depends on how she connects to the coaching. My hope is that after a month or so they can see both of them clearly, but in talking to a couple of the other gyms it sounded like they were placing their teams by the end of June.. Im already on the tail end of it... I know they will probably take the girls later, but the didnt sound excited about it,

I think at the other places she would just go to preteam like everywhere we evaled at.. but I wont know until we actually get there in a few weeks. We will see after we get there and they do some classes at a couple other gyms. We were told by other gyms she did eval at that she would likely compete level 3 this year, she is very uneven in her skills development.. Im unsure.. but im almost positive she would be ready for level 3 by the end of this year so I think she would fit well in the ages/levels typical in that program.

I just picked a bad time to move because people want their teams in place by now or very very soon so we are just going to have to try programs much quicker than Id prefer. At first the larger gym seemed like a no brainer but seeing the girls anxiety building is giving me pause.

HOWEVER. In 6 weeks, she has gotten her Kip, ROBHSBT and FHS W/rebound.. Nobody lets her try or even drills those skills at her current gym because they do not uptrain. She got all of them in 1 hour a week private lessons and is not allowed to do them during her training at the current gym. I believe in her ability to make up it up to level 4.. all she is missing is vault and who knows? she has never even had a spotted try!! she only hits her long hang kip 50% of the time and her backwardroll extension to handstand is weak but there.. she has work, but UGH.. she is so close I think she may rise under the pressure of being the oldest on her team she has all the level 3 skills no problem.



Thank you for your feedback. We just have to try the gyms... there is no way to over think this huh? It just has to feel right... Let's hope the answer appears clear quickly!

 

[Anna's_Mom]

I'm in north San Diego county and my DD has been doing gym for about 10 years now -- though not all competitively. Ironically, she just decided that she is retiring as she moves on to high school, but that doesn't change that I have seen (and heard) the gyms around the area, and DD has been with two different programs over the years. Please feel free to PM me and I will happily give you my impressions of some of the options in the area.

I agree that, around here, what looks like an hour on paper is often a 2-3 hour drive, depending on the time of day. If you aren't used to SoCal freeways, this won't make sense until you have been here for a while, but is definitely something to take into consideration. Also, few school districts in the area will excuse elementary school kids early for gym, though middle and high schools have options for subbing gym for regular PE class, so don't count on being able to bend a school schedule to fit in a long drive before practice time.

Both the programs we have been part of take a monthly fee for practice tuition plus a fee for meet participation (plus leo etc. costs). The meet fee includes the actual registration cost of the meet plus coach time and expenses. In both of the programs we've been directly involved in, this was offered either as a lump sum payment at the beginning of the season or in a 2 or 3 payment option for those us without unlimited cash flow. I have never heard of it being refundable if you leave. My DD has a broken wrist that will keep her from the last two competitions but we aren't getting any of that money back. We generally have signed a contract that we won't quit or switch gyms during the competitive season, with obvious exceptions for moving/injury/etc.

Uptraining seems to vary greatly from gym to gym, as does coaching style and approach to things like conditioning.

As I said, I'd be happy to give my observations on specific options in a private message if you think that would help. Also, welcome to San Diego area -- I've lived here for 25 years, so feel free to ask if you are looking for other info as well as gyms!

 

[CAKE]

Thanks Anna,

We are moving back and come back often, so I know about the traffic everyone! I promise! Thank you for your concern but you are highlighting my least favorite thing about moving back besides the housing prices and I prefer not to dwell and just make lemons.. we school on the road, listen to books on tape.. have amazing trio singing sessions..

Im not looking forward to the traffic but everywhere worth paying for is 30 minutes for me. Ive learned to check meet scores now to see if my time and money investment will be well spent


I showed my girls a picture of some of the coaches at the larger gym smiling. It helped them come up with a goal. If they can get coach to smile like his facebook photos they'll feel more satisfied than when they got their back tucks My youngest seeing the coach as a human was huge. LOL.


I am going to message you but I had a talk with our private lessons coach and asked her to give it to me straight about what level she feels like the girls should be training at and their possibilities moving forward. I trust her assessment that when they get to know the girls there shouldnt be any problems she also told me to take them to the larger gym and watch them fly. Im overthinking this because my oldest looked at the meet scores for the larger gym online and was simultanously awed and scared of not being "good enough"... This is where I get to coach.. happy to give the gymnastics coaching back over to the professionals and Im going to work on getting her some confidence to believe in herself and be kind to herself as she works on making her dreams a reality.


They have to atleast try and work through their fear I think.. I am going to have them try multiple gyms... but they are getting a little less intimidated after their coach told them where she would pick.