Women Gymnast doing other sports

[mhm_22]

Hi , i am a parent of 8 year-old gymnast.
She trains 16 hrs a week and she does swimming squad too and football. she does guitar lessons at school once a week and piano lessons at home. I am worried we are burning her out. We talked to her about her schedule and she's still happy with it. I'm worried that we are not giving hee enough rest. Will there he any signs that i need to be aware of for us to make her do less sports or physical activities?
She's very driven and determined and very competitive.

 

[Dahlialover]

The question to ask is what is she not doing because she is in nonstop organized activities? Things that she may be giving up for sports: time at home relaxing with her family, time playing with siblings/friends, time outdoors, time reading and doing homework, free time to play and pursue her own thoughts and interests without adult direction, chores, family hobbies and outings, non-sports related clubs and activities.

My kids are extremely energetic and they require a lot of daily exercise to be happy and emotionally regulated. Sports are good for them but I’m not willing to sacrifice all of our family time and their opportunity to just be kids, so they can do nonstop sports. Our solution was to switch to homeschooling. School time doubles as family time and, since homeschool is more efficient than regular school, it leaves time for the kids to play. If we did not go homeschool, then I would have yo drastically curtail my kids’ sports.

 

[Happyfeet]

To add learning to fill your own time and cope with boredom is a really important life skill that I worry would get missed always being on the go.

 

[#BGymnast]

I am sort of in the same situation as a gymnast, but only in the winter half of the year. I had gymnastics 3 days, hockey 3 days, debating one day, and also a school play 2-3 days each week. Burn out is real. She will say that she doesn't want to stop anything, but it is most likely because she doesn't want to sacrifice anything, e.g cut back on football for gymnastics. There is a lot of pressure doing sports, and when she hits high school, the added on homework will be heavy.
I encourage you to sit down with her and have a chat to her about which sports and activities are her competitive, priority sports, and which ones are her just for fun, hobby sports. This way, if you do decide to cut back on activities, you will know which ones to let go of.
As @Dahlialover said, it's also about what she isn't doing. SLEEP IS SO IMPORTANT!!! I remember just wanting to sleep for all of Sunday but having to get up at 7am (a pretty big sleep in compared to other mornings) to go to an activity and then start the whole week again the next day. I also love reading, and used to do it every night before bed, but I have found that I only have had time to do it 2 or 3 nights lately.
It is great that she is doing so many activities. You see so many gymnasts who have just done that their whole life. Since before they can remember, they've been at the gym for 20+ hours a week. They've never tried other sports, never gone to proper school, and don't ever feel like they can stop even if they want to, because gymnastics is the only thing that they have. I would still 100% encourage her to keep doing different activities at the same time, then if, when she is older, she does want to go pro at a particular thing, that is when you make the choice to stop everything else.