OP with a (VERY LONG) update on summer training
After a few days at her new gym, my dd developed a “stomachache”. I put on my Dr. Daddy hat. Was she sick, was it nerves or dehydration, did she need to see a real doctor? After a Q&A with my dd I had my diagnosis… she had a sore core
. The conditioning at her new gym is much more intense.
During her second week her coach approached my dw at pick-up. She was confused about my dd’s attitude. She would opt herself out of certain drills/skills without an explanation. Her coach said that they don’t let the kids choose to sit out. She said, “She’s not going to progress sitting on the sidelines” and that all of the girls on the team should want to be there.
I was also confused and alarmed. My dd had typically come home from practice happy, saying that it went well (she’s never shared much about gymnastics or anything else). The next day before practice, I called my dd and explained her coaches concerns. She got very upset. She insisted that she wants to be on the team. She conveyed to me that she was scared that she was going to break her arm again and that she was confused during certain drills. I suggested that she might be happier in an advanced/invitational rec class where she could decide what skills she wanted to work on (I’m not sure if this is true but it’s what I said). This suggestion made her even more upset.
I told her if she really wants to stay on the team she will have to work on scary skills and that her new gym does things different from her old gym so she needs to learn their way. I told her that she needs to tell her coach if she has a problem/concern so she can try to help, but that she should only sit out if she’s told to. When I paused to gather my thoughts, she said she was going to hang up the phone and then she did, sobbing. I wasn’t sure what to make of my dd’s emotional response.
I called and thanked her coach for the feedback. I told her about our conversation (except the tears and the rec suggestion I had made) and I asked her to keep me in the loop. I said that I planned to continue talking to her after practice. I felt like the issues were unresolved. I was worried about practice, which was starting soon. (I didn’t tell her that part)
That evening my dd came home from practice bouncing off the walls. Before I had a chance to say anything she told me that for the first time her coach told her that she did a great job (and she earned a free snack). A couple of weeks later, her coach told her that she’s like a different person and she also sent an email to me saying that she is proud of her and that we should be too.
Summer training is now over. My dd doesn’t feel like she’s the only new kid anymore, she feels like she’s part of a team. She’s getting a lot stronger and she’s acquired some new skills this summer (which she hadn’t done since her accident in early Jan). She’s becoming more confident and she seems more driven than ever towards her goal of competing at a meet.
) that is why I wanted to know what level and program. To NYDad, Worlds is an achievable and great goal for her.
