Parents Having kids at different gyms?

[3gymgirlsmom]

Does anyone here have kids at diff gyms ( they are all girls?)

 

[2G1B]

I have 3 gymnasts, all at different gyms. I tried having them all at the same place; but it just didn't work. I have two girls and a boy. Last year they were all at the same gym. Then in the spring some stuff happened with my youngest DD there that made it where it was either quit or change gyms for her (they wanted to move her out of JO to Xcel, dropping her hours. Moving her to practicing on a day that conflicted with her other sport. They didn't seem to get that if they were moving her down to Xcel (because at the time that was what the move was) at 7 years old then it made no sense at all to have her drop her other sport that the coaches seem to think she has real promise with). She had not had a happy year anyway. One of her old coaches, who she worked great with, was at a different gym and I decided to move her to that gym.

So then I had her at a different (closer to home, less competitive) gym where she was happy with the coaches and her team mates and my other two at a gym together.

But my DS had had a tough time over the previous year with his team mates. It just was not a good team environment. I had talked to the coaches about the issues and they never did anything to fix it.

There was a gym very close to the new gym for younger DD. I had never considered it because from the girls side it is a bit... intense. But then I realized that 1) It was closer to our house. 2) I COULD handle it to have the kids at different gyms since I was already handling it with the two gyms. 3) Since these 2 gyms were so close, it wouldn't be much different than them being at the same gym. 4) I would actually save money by moving him to this other gym.

I had always liked what I saw team wise from the boys team with this gym. DS made the swap, a little disgruntled at first. It was the best thing I think I have ever done for him with gymnastics. He is SOOOOO happy. He had a bit of an adjustment to make because this gym does a TON of conditioning; but he now regularly tells me how happy he is with his new team and his new coaches.

Older DD LOVES her team and coaches. I didn't want to swap her and she didn't want to swap.

So, I deal with the craziness of 3 different gyms because it is the best thing for the kids. They are all happy, so I'm happy. A little frazzled; but happy.

 

[MILgymFAM]

I have two girls at two gyms. Older DD is on an xcel team about 20 mins north of us, and younger DD on T&T about 45 mins east. There is only one gym in the entire area where we live that offered both programs, and their T&T program was full. It's a huge pain running in both directions and a huge waste of gas too, but I wanted to give my younger D d the chance to chase what she wants since we had done that for older dd. In the back of my head I do worry about comp season, and secretly hope older DDs gym takes their planned T&T rec program and turns it into a full fledged team program.

 

[3gymgirlsmom]

Thanks, my older girls are at a gym they have been at for a long time, and are super happy, dd3 is too but getting bored with classes but one gym she took a class at due to scheduling has said they want her for team ( only really shocked cause that gym wins more at meets while the gym my older kids go to has only gotten 1st one time in the 5 years we have been on.

 

[l.c.o]

Well, I don't have two girls (I have one of each), but my kids are technically in different gyms. My DD loves her gym and her teammates. My son (who is younger - then 6) took rec classes there until about a year ago when he was invited to join team. He decided to try Tae Kwon Do instead... Wasn't a good fit for his exuberant personality, but we made him stick that out for the school year (should honor our commitments when possible).

When it was clear that moving him back into a gym was the right choice, we decided to move him someplace else. DD's gym actually no longer had/has a boys program, and their boys rec program is somewhat limited (only beginners). So, he's now taking a couple of more advanced boys rec class at a gym that is actually quite a bit closer to home. He's learning a lot and his coaches are doing great with his big personality. He hopes to join team after the spring season. If he's invited, we'll let him.

It's odd to have them in separate places, like our loyalties are divided... And I never felt more like that when DH wasn't home and I rushed DS to practice while DD was still proudly wearing her team jacket (refused to take it off, only had leo under) while sitting in the competing gyms lobby (won't let that happen again). :/ Obviously I think that we need to do what's in our kids best interest, but we need to be a bit mindful of how both gyms feel about it, too. Otherwise, I imagine it would just be a resentful mess all around.

 

[raenndrops]

My family didn't do this with gym... but we did with baseball...
I was on a travel team in our home town... my older brother was on a travel team too, but they never traveled the same places the same days (his league was actually competing in a different county - our town bordered 3 counties)... my younger brother was on a team in another town 15 minutes away (in the 3rd county)... and my dad was on a team in another town (in the 3rd county, but 40 minutes from home).
Practices were often overlapping or close to the same times. Since older brother and I were in town, we walked to the park (separately since he couldn't be seen with me, lol, but I took the short cut since MY field was basically right behind our house).
My stepmom drove my little brother. Dad drove himself. For out of town games, older brother got picked up at home by his coach and I walked to the park and one of the parents transported at least 1/2 the team in the back of her pickup truck (it had a cab on it).

 

[JMACAZ]

I have 2 girls at 2 different gyms. They are in different programs T&T and Artistic so it is not exactly the same. Each is the best fit for the girl who is there And they are only about 15 min apart.

 

[cbifoja]

My DD has a teammate who trains at one gym in one town and an older brother who trains at a gym in another town and then the whole family lives in a totally different town. They make it work but there are glitches sometimes. Older brother often has to wait for a bit after practice to be picked up and dad has to help out a lot.

 

[2G1B]

Oh, and my DS does have to wait at the gym one night per week for pickup. He and older DD finish at the same time. For her gym, it is the latest session. For his gym they are open for 30 more minutes. So I pick her up and then rush over to get him. Not ideal; but not the end of the world. I do dread them all 3 being in the same season, which will likely happen next year. There is no way that I will manage to avoid conflicting competitions. Heck, it happened when they were all at the same gym that boys' and girls' schedules would conflict sometimes (the girls' first season when they did AAU, so were spring with their brother). My mom already knows that it is possible that she will have to take one kid, DH another and me the 3rd.

 

[gracyomalley]

We did 2 different gyms for 4 years, one for the boys and one for DD. Its doable, although difficult. Got really challenging as kids got to higher(ish) levels (6-8). Different meet schedules, different pick up/drop off, different booster clubs, etc. Worked ok but only when I was super sure that DD needed to stay where she was - as soon as the other program got on its feet I made her switch (other reasons too - but my sanity was a big one!).

Honestly, the driving, coordinating, etc were difficult and exhausting (its just me and my elderly parents doing it all here), but what got too difficult was the team politics - HCs have had conflict and one is polite about it, one not so much - my kids were constantly feeling like they should be supporting each others teams - but that the teams/coaches disliked each other and there was back biting/rumormongering from one - never face to face with me, but DD heard tons...once my kids got to the point that they spent 16-20 hrs a day at gym, this became quite toxic for us!

In a bigger area with more choices and more specializing between gyms I think it would work better - GOOD LUCK!

 

[3gymgirlsmom]

Well , after this whole thing, t
She has been asked to be with the other girls so this will make my life much easier and
Much cheaper too

 

[wheezy]

2 gymmies at two different gyms, in totally opposite directions. One boy one girl.
I waitied for years to do this because i was scared of the work for me! It has worked out very well. I should have done it sooner.