"Fast Tracked"???

[hannahsmom]

I saw this same phrase used some in the thread re: TOPS and I've been wondering about that for a little while. I recently had a meeting with the HC/Owner of my dd's gym. She's been having some issues with a coach and I thought we needed another meeting. In that meeting, he told us that if we could "get her to focus" (she's only 6! haha) that they would be able "to fast track" her. What exactly is "fast track"? I want my dd to be the best she can be, but I don't know that I necessarily want elite to be a goal. If that's what he's talking about, am I wrong for not wanting that as a goal? When she gets older, if she chooses that for her goal, I will support her, but I don't feel comfortable with making that decision at this age. I just want her to have fun and enjoy gymnastics until she's really old enough to decide what she wants. So, is this "fast track" going down a road I'm not necessarily wanting at this point or is that just his way of saying she might skip level 4 or something like that?

 

[Optionals United]

fast track at my gym is when hand picked 6-10 year olds are placed in a small class to facous on moving them up to optinals.so like they will compete one meet each level.they usally dont compete at the big meets we just have a judge come in score them because one of my coaches is a meet director it counts as a meet. you cant skip a level but they will always be training the levels ahead of them.like a girl had a casthandstand before she had a kip and they were working on bhs on beam when working on level 5.this class doesnt nessicsarily meen she is going to the olympics it is givnig her the chance to get as far as she wants to go when she is still you and has no fear,because when you get older the more you think about will go wrong!i hope this helps!!!

 

[Billy]

"Fast track" is such a broad (and overused, IMO) term. It can mean different things to different coaches and at different gyms. Some gyms fast track and don't have the girls compete at all while they train. They just go for harder and harder skills without actually competing anything at the lower levels. My daughter would hate that. Her favorite thing is learning new skills but she loves going to meets and getting to compete. She needs the positive reinforcement and recognition. At other gyms, fast track can just mean skipping a level, or doing one level in the spring and the next level in the fall or something like that. I really think you need more information before deciding what's best for your daughter. I think you should ask the HC what he means by "fast track." With a clearer picture of his plans, you can better determine if that will work for your daughter.

As for elite, I wouldn't worry about that just yet. Even if they are training her with that goal in mind, she will still have a lot of gymnastics to do before she gets there and it can (and should) still be fun.

 

[bogwoppit]

ITA with Shawn, you should ask the coach what "fast track" means at your gym. It is such an over used term and you should be sure whatever it means is the right fit for your child and you.

 

[Billy]

Quick question, what does ITA mean? I've seen that on a couple threads but don't know what it means.

 

[bogwoppit]

I totally agree! ITA

 

[mariposa]

Like Shawn said, it can mean many things. At DDs old gym, fast tracked just meant that you were kind of being watched and trained by the optional coaches and that you wouldn't stay with the same group, you would move faster than most, etc. They also started a Hot Shots group that was to be fast tracked, they were separate from the regular team, trained together and moved along the fast tract together, didn't train with the regular team girls. My DD was invited to do that but I wasn't so sure about it and kept her regular team and we left that gym soon after for other issues anyway.

I would ask the HC if you are wondering how they do it there. And I wouldn't worry about her focus issues. I think they are completely age related and normal.

 

[starmaker]

fast track at my gym is when hand picked 6-10 year olds are placed in a small class to facous on moving them up to optinals.so like they will compete one meet each level.they usally dont compete at the big meets we just have a judge come in score them because one of my coaches is a meet director it counts as a meet. you cant skip a level but they will always be training the levels ahead of them.like a girl had a casthandstand before she had a kip and they were working on bhs on beam when working on level 5.this class doesnt nessicsarily meen she is going to the olympics it is givnig her the chance to get as far as she wants to go when she is still you and has no fear,because when you get older the more you think about will go wrong!i hope this helps!!!

This is very similar as to how our gym does "fast track". They basically uptrain them and teach as many upper level skills as possible with the hopes of acquiring it quickly. Most of the girls are fearless and strong. Our gym host several inhouse mobility meets throughout the year to give girls the chance of scoring out and compete the next level. Our girls have skills one to two levels their current competing level. They may skills on one event but not the other. My dd loves this type of training. There is something new to do and boredom never sets in. She goes at a comftable pace. If she is not ready to throw a certain skill she can always opt out...no pressure! The goal of course being to get them into optionals as quickly as possible. For some the goal may be elite but for us it's keep her progressing and enjoying the sport. And like Shawn said she loves aquiring new skills but she also loves to compete. She gets the best of both!!

 

[Optionals United]

yeah i agree with starmaker. but it is different at all gyms so i would ask HC to see wat it is like at your gym. your dd may not want to be pushed like this.also see wat the main goal for the fasttrack program is at your gym. ares is to get young girls in to optinals when they are still fearless. also they will most likey be going more hours than regualar team.hope this helps!1

 

[Aussie_coach]

In gymnastics you don't always have the option of saying "I'll wait and see what my daughter wants to do and then decide". Because it must begin young, generally if parents wait until their DD says "I've decided I want to aim for the olympics". It's usually too late to go down that road.

To some degree a parent has to read their child at this age to see if there is a possibility of this being a future goal. Things to look for in your child is.
1. Very energetic
2. Just can't get enough gymnastics, does it at home a lot
3. Loves going to the gym for each class and doesn't want to go home
4. Talented - small body, strong, flexible, learns skills quickly
5. A very passionate driven kid who never lets anything stop her.

If your daughter has these characteristics she may be ideal for elite gymnastics and may choose it later on.

Getting her on the elite track now doesn't mean she will go elite it means when she is older and ready to decide she will have options. Lets say she makes the decision at 10 years old if she has been fast tracked from 6 she will probably be in the position to choose to go elite, or if she doesn't want that it won't be too late to follow one of many other paths like trying for a college scholarship, or just enjoying competitive gymnastics, or switching to another gymsport like trampoline, tumbling, acro or even stopping altogether. All those will be her options.

However, if she gets to 10 years old and what has been said is "take your time to get to the higher levels" and she chooses to go elite it won't even be an option.

Remember you can ALWAYS move to an easier stream but its very hard to move up to a harder stream.

 

[hannahsmom]

Thanks Aussie_Coach. I never looked at it that way. And yes, she does have all of those qualities. I guess I just worry about the pressure at such a young age. Guess I'll just have to make sure exactly what he meant by "fast tracked" and go from there. Thanks again!

 

[Billy]

Great post, Aussie! That helped clarify a few things for me with regards to my daughter, too. Thank you!!!

 

[socko]

I disagree a bit with Aussie Coach's statement that if by age 10 if your daughter hasn't decided to do elite, then it won't be an option....look at kayla Williams, the World Vault Champion who did not "go elite" until this year when she was 16 yo. The way Marta and company beats them up, I personally think it was a smart move on Kayla's part...she moved to elite on her terms. That said, what I think Aussie coach is referencing is that you can't figure that your daughter will do 1-2 years per level and make it to the higher levels in a timely fashion.

My daughter was Level 8 at 8 yo; 9 at 9 yo and 10 at 10yo ...and remains a 10 now. She loves gymnastics and continues to make progress and yes , she was "fast tracked" when she was a Level 6 but I guess you always run the risk of burn out with that scenario...we have been her total advocate when it comes to what she wants to do with her gymnastics.

I think if OP 's daughter is 6 yo and they want to "fast track" her , I would talk to other parents in the gym who have been through that and see if it seems like a program that your daughter would enjoy. My daughter has been to Nationals with many great gymnasts who ended up quitting and leaving the sport altogether because they were pushed and it no longer was their sport (as it became all about what coaches and parents and not the kid wanted..) and they weren't enjoying it. You always need to remember that gymnastics is a marathon and not a sprint...

 

[ZJsMom]

I agree with Socko. You should definitely look at the costs and benefits on both sides. The questions to ask and consider are: how many additional hours will she be attending? what are the plans and expectations re competition? will she be doing TOPs in addition to the JO program? will they expect her to homeschool?

I think talking to parents who've done it is a good idea. Try to find out how many of the kids who started in this stream are still in gymnastics. Giving her a chance to reach her dreams if they include elite is great, but if 75% of the kids end up burnt out or injured before they're even old enough to compete at that level odds are that's where your dd will end up too.

 

[Aussie_coach]

Socko, one thing to always consider with my posts is that I am Australian. I do follow the US system quite closely and try to learn all I can from it as the US tends to have had more success than us Aussie's but I am not working in it.

Here in Australia we have a whole separate training and competition stream for those who will go elite. Those who train in the usual Level 1-10 system will not be considered for elite or international gymnastics at all.

We choose our elites at 4-5 years of age. We have them in specialist training programs by 6. Here by the age of 10 it would be far too late. Kids don't "go elite" here at 16, they "go elite" at 6.

 

[grizzoline]

I'm not sure about the Kayla Williams example though. Much more interesting that her age this year would be, for example, the age at which she progressed through the other levels. I mean, she was competing insane tumbling and a great DTY when she was a level 10. She obviously had the skills, probably put in (more or less) the hours. I guess, a lot of it was about just not wanting to put up with the system.
Obviously, if you look at her presentation / flexibility, she probably wasn't your typical elite track girl, so that's something that she definitely had to catch up on. But everything else, she had.
There are only a few kids who actually go elite, so most of the "fast track" kids will probably end up in L10. Which in itself is great and definitely most people who are not considered outstandingly talented will never ever get there.

Also, just by saying it's harder to catch up than to drop down doesn't mean it's impossible. If you really want it, you can catch up on a lot. But it's still the exception and Kayla Williams is a HUGE exception. Just because it worked for her doesn't mean that it's not insanely hard to ever do again.

 

[Pineapple_Lump]

Well for those who believe you must be young and fast-tracked to have any chance at elite, check out Ludivine Furnon. She was spotted on a playground at age 12! I know she is a rare case, but I wonder how many others have been written off that had the potential.
While starting young certainly seems beneficial, it’s not crucial. I think the coach is what can make the difference. I certainly think for the little ones, you want to be very careful, overuse injuries are becoming more common in gymnastics. With advancing skills earlier, you are potentially advancing the onset of injuries.
YouTube - Ludivine Furnon 2000 Europeans Floor Event Finalhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9JVwQNbz-g

 

[gymkat]

I'm not sure about the Kayla Williams example though. Much more interesting that her age this year would be, for example, the age at which she progressed through the other levels. I mean, she was competing insane tumbling and a great DTY when she was a level 10.

Kayla was a level 9 in 2005 when she was 11, and I think she did L10 in 2006 when she was either considered 12 or 13 (in JO, you go by your birthdate at the last meet of the season, and I don't feel like looking up when JOs was that year).

 

[bookworm]

Kayla was at Level 10 JOs in 2006 in Oklahoma and she was 23rd in the AA; in 2007 , she was 7th in the AA and 1st on beam; in 2008 she was 2nd in the AA and 2nd on FX; this year she won the AA at Nationals and looked phenomenal. We saw her about 1 1/2 years ago at Parkettes do her DTY and everyone just kind of looked at each other (because she was in the regular Level 10 session) and said "did she just do a double?" and it was beautiful. Granted she is the exception in going elite here but there are a lot of Level 10s out there with huge skills who just don't want to put up with the whole elite system (as one prior poster said). If they made elite a more normal progression from Level 10 , I think you might see more elites out there (ie. you don't see Level 9s not want to go 10 even if they have the skills but you do see 10s who stay 10 rather than go elite because of that system)...just a thought..

 

[ZJsMom]

There are other examples of kids who got late starts who became elite. In the US, starting on the track at 6 may be the norm, but there are certainly exceptions. Alicia Sacramone was 8 or 9 when she first set foot in a gym. Brooke Parker is a current elite who has made it to nationals and she didn't begin competitive gymnastics until age 11.