WAG Frustrated with gym...need some perspective..

[Amber]

This is an odd scenario on many points. Level 4 does not have a ton of hard skills. ROBHS, Wendy dismount off beam, Hip circles, etc. Those scores seem low for your whole team, and we come from a low score state (if you got a 9.5 on anything, you are assured a first place!).

This is what our gym did for girls who had not mastered Level 4 skills: first, they were put into their own smaller group with their own coach. Were told that if they did not have the skills for the meets, they would compete Excel Bronze. Most of these girls did private lessons with their coach and the head level 4 coach to catch up. At the first meet, they had all their skills, and placed in the middle of the pack.

So, if you want to stay (and I would really question who they are letting on team and how they are training), maybe do privates with the head level 4 coach. The coach can see your DD's ability one on one, and if she's behind, catch her up.

Consider switching gyms....scoring so low at Level 4, and being so disorganized, is not a good indicator of future success!!

 

[Deleted member D3987]

blind leading the blind is the first thing that came to my mind...

"At the meet, as it turns out, a lot of the girls slated to do 2 were given last minute opportunities to do 3 and 4 events, to the point where during warm ups, one girl got lots of extra attention to brush up on the tough skills before putting her in. And when they did do their routines, they had major mistakes (scoring in the 5s and 6s). My daughter was NOT one of these girls--she was still only allowed to do 2 events and in the end only 3 or 4 girls were in the same position."

i thought it was obvious. the kids are "blind" and need to be told what to do for competition PRIOR to the competition. and here we have them going to the meet being led by "blind coaches" who willy nilly decide who is doing what and on how many events. geesh...

 

[Deleted member D3987]

dunno's posts are always just vague enough to never be quite sure who is being slighted...

please see my above post. i quoted my own post and it should have been yours. sorry about that.

 

[cbone]

LOL! I thought that's what you meant, but it could have also been taken as new gym parents without perspective giving advice to new gym parents without perspective.

 

[LizzieLac]

I would at leasy investigate other gyms. Your post gave at least 4 examples of things that would cause most of to question what is going on.

The other option is to talk to the coaches. There maybe a philosophy of at least competing what they feel are the gymmies' strong events, rather than holding them back and not competing at all. They may be able to explain things so at least you understand a philosophy. It may also give you the information you really need to decide to go elsewhere.

Good luck!

 

[littlegirlsdream]

Sounds very different than what we have experienced with our DD. First if the kids didnt have most the skills by summers end they weren't moved to the next level. Secondly they do all events except in the case of injury. I would be very unhappy if I was the parent of one of the girls who were competed in events they were told they weren't going to an that it was decided that day at the meet! These are level 4s! They don't have competition experience you can't just throw them in. Seems like an awful decision and a dangerous one. Plus what a stressful way to introduce a kid into the world of competitive gymnastics! Yikes

 

[my4buffaloes]

Just because a gym might be "the best" around does not mean that it is best for your child. There are so many reasons you should consider a new gym that have already been covered, but I would at least try to talk to one of her coaches first. Might be a good idea to either try a phone call or at least let them know in advance that you want to talk to them.

 

[lilbean05]

Thank you for all the feedback! I think we might have a chat with the coach and then perhaps move along to another gym. Any experiences with moving mid season?

 

[UnoMas]

This sounds extremely odd to me and I have seen some strange things...
I have never moved my kids mid-season, and it is not ideal, but I have seen it done and it usually works out ok. It seems like the situation you are in is not a good one and you need to get out of there.

 

[gymdog]

Other than the RO-BHS, no other Level 4 skills seem to have any real inherent danger that would prevent kids from doing those routines, though (dunno, IWC, correct me if I'm wrong there), so I'm not sure why kids aren't doing at least three routines on your team.

These kids find a way. Trust me. Nothing is safe from level 4s. They will consistently do just about anything that you expect couldn't be a possible mistake. For example, we have a vault where the main goal is to put your hands on a LARGE mat. If you do that, you're already 90% successful. And yet children will go and do this vault and NOT put their hands on the mat. I've seen kids who can score a 9.5+ on the vault do this.

I don't have a problem with most of it (25 kids, different groups, working on basics, etc) but I DO have a problem with kids randomly learning things in warm up, multiple 5s and 6s, and 25 kids who can't score above an 8 on average. Something is broken there. I'd investigate other options.

 

[Pineapple_Lump]

I think you also need to be open to the possibility that if you go to a new gym they will not allow your daughter to finish the competition season. Which would be a good chance to actually improve/attain the skills needed.

 

[Deleted member D3987]

spot on once again.^^^

 

[Kiwi]

The thing I would be worried about is the lack of attention your daughter is receiving. It's not too uncommon for gyms to have large level 4 teams, but if you are going to have that size team, you need to have the resources to coach all of them. The fact that your daughter is not even being allowed to train the skills she is expected to compete indicates a problem.

This is what would be bothering me. She is not getting the coaching she needs. Being sent away with a group to practice basics isn't necessarily a problem, but in light of the rest of your story it sounds like they are just trying to keep some of the kids out of the way and occupied while they coach other kids. This would be okay if the groups rotate so all the groups get coaching, but if one group is consistently missing out that is not okay. It sounds like the gym has bitten off more than it can chew, so to speak.

I would definitely be questioning the coaches, and if not receiving satisfactory answers, I think I would investigate other gyms.

 

[Moxiegrl83]

^^Exactly. Splitting a large group of kids into smaller groups makes perfect sense. But once split, the girls rotate. Even if one group is working on basics, and one on bars, they will each get a turn to work skills with the coach's. I honestly don't think I'd bother with private lessons either. Sure, it's a way to get them to know your kid a little bit, and see her potential, etc...but you're already paying them to do that. You shouldn't have to pay extra.

 

[iwannacoach]

Other than the RO-BHS, no other Level 4 skills seem to have any real inherent danger that would prevent kids from doing those routines, though (dunno, IWC, correct me if I'm wrong there), so I'm not sure why kids aren't doing at least three routines on your team.

Kinda sorta....but not really. I get where you're coming from, but would change out the word "inherent" and use apparent in it's place.

Not to be a "drama queen", but each skill has it's own "risk set" that we've learned about, usually the hard way, over the years as we work with the old skills and when new skills get introduced to the community.

The darn thing about accidents is they don't know the laws of probability.....they just happen.

 

[SignHere]

As a parent who has gone thru 2 years of level 4 and a year of level 5 with my two DDs , I'd be pretty grumpy about paying $100 for meet fees for my kid to compete in 2 events.

Our level4 team has anywhere from 24 to 27 girls on it for the past 2 years. The girls were the number 1 large team in our State with the number 1 level 4 gymnast of any age group in the state. We had multiple girls scoring 37 and 38 AA at States last year. And every girls on the team competed all 4 events or NOT AT ALL! No one tales private lessons. Now we do have girls that score in the 8's, or high 7's but that's not the team average. We have 4 or 5 coaches for this team

 

[iwannacoach]

Thank you for all the feedback! I think we might have a chat with the coach and then perhaps move along to another gym. Any experiences with moving mid season?

This is only my experience, and not a judgement of any kind..........

Most of the kids that come from other gyms seem to be less sucessful than their peers, even a year later. When approached, I got to the point where I'd raise an eyebrow over the reasons given for the switch, and wonder what the reality of the situation was. I don't know if the kids that switched had been soured by their experience from the previous gym, or if the drama of adapting to a new gym was an issue, or what.

I wouldn't hesitate to suggest a child find another gym if I thought their present gym wasn't the right fit, but you may find there's more drama and second guessing with a mid season switch.

I hope it works out.

 

[dmytv]

I am going to give you advise as a parent who's dd has gone through 4 gyms and as a coach.
If u want to stay through the season- ask for a private from the coach who is the one you say is in control and the issue for your kid. Sweet talk them, butter them up, and really be a team player. This will get your kid in the favored position and get them on all 4 events so they score well. Then at the end of the season, look for another gym and leave. Sorry to be hard, but the situation isn't going to change. Put your kid where u think they will not only score well, but where you fee they will learn the great life lessons at the end of the day.