Parents Help! New and a ton of questions!!!

[anniem]

I will go ahead and apologize for the length of this but I’d love any advice. My just turned 8 year old DD is new to gymnastics. She took an acro class last summer and in 6 one hour classes went from only knowing how to cartwheel to doing walkovers. She is extremely flexible naturally and is a dancer (noncompetitive til this year). Due to her many other activities and a broken arm, she didn’t start any other tumbling til February, and then it was at a local cheer gym. Within 2 months they moved her to an advanced class but cheer tumbling is not what she was looking for as her forte is in controlled acro type movements and grace, not power tumbling. So this summer she decided to do full out gymnastics. They put her in an experienced class although she had never been on a beam or bars or even a tumble track. Although she’s only done 3 classes, the coaches already want to move her up to their team training program. I know very little about gymnastics but they told me that she did some move on the bars that takes kids a while to learn, and she did it the first time she was ever on a bar (maybe a pullover or something??). The biggest issue is she is just learning the basics like how to get on the beam without looking like a trucker and such, but her flexibility, straight legs, toe points, and what they call “natural talents” have really impressed them. So, to my questions:

1. Are they blowing smoke or do some kids really have natural talent like that? She actually looked better on the beam than the rest of her “experienced” class, I think it was her dance background. But I recognize that some gyms tell parents what they want to hear, although a friend whose daughter competed as a 3 last year (and has done gymnastics for 5 years) said she has never seen them advance a kid this quickly.
2. Should I get her some privates to catch her up on the basics so when she goes to this advanced class she doesn’t stick out? They haven’t suggested that or pushed it on me.

3. Is it possible to do competitive gymnastics and dance? Dance is her first love but I don’t want her to pass up something she may have such natural talent at, but I also don’t want to waste my $$ on a year of training to get her to competition level only to quit because she can’t also do dance

4.Is she too old to start this? I’d assume based on the way the comps work (to my knowledge) that her best bet would be to train until next summer and try to enter comp for the first time at like a 4. Is that even possible to do? I am so clueless. She will turn 9 in May. I don’t know that between now and say January she could get to competition level and I know their level 2 and 3 teams are huge so she’d be better off training to get to level 4 if you can even do that.

 

[MaryA]

Well, if you have a friend at the gym who knows what the gym's usual progression is, then I would trust her when she says that they're moving your DD up quickly. You're right, I'm sure her dance background is helping a lot, and she's obviously strong if she did a pullover her first day (yes, that usually takes girls quite a while to get). I think at that age, a lot of girls, while they may know the skills, don't have a lot of body control to make things look "nice" and "finished" and that's what your daughter's dance experience is bringing to the table.

No, she is most definitely not too old. As for what level she should be striving for, or when she should compete, just leave that to the coaches and try not to worry too much about it. And as for juggling gym and dance, I would say that, assuming you can afford it and she can manage it (physically, emotionally, academically) let her do both for the time being. There will probably come a time when she will have to choose, but that time doesn't need to be now.

Good luck!

 

[Krystan]

First, welcome! You've come to the right place. Take a deep breath! Sounds like things are moving fast. My dd started gymnastics at age 9 and was put onto the level 5 team a year later. It was a crazy year, but has been worth it! That being said, she didn't have any other activities she loved like your dd does. So I will say that a lot depends on what you dd wants - does she like gymnastics and want to pursue this? To be organized, I'll answer your questions one by one:

1. I don't think they're "blowing smoke" in this case. If they move an 8-year-old to pre-team after one class, it means they're very interested in her. Some gyms would think 8 is too late, but most would still give her a shot - they would just move more quickly. If she were 6, they might take their time with her, but because she's 8, they are getting her the training she needs sooner rather than later.
2. I would not worry about privates at this point. If they are moving her up, it's because they think she can handle it. It sounds like they have a pretty thorough program, so I'd just trust them with that. If they were pushing a lot of privates on you at this point, I would be worried.
3. If she is successful and they move her to team within the year, and she is committed and wants to stick with it, I think it will be hard to be competitive doing both. A lot depends on required practice hours and competitions. We had a few in dd's L5 team last year who also had dance competitions, and it was really tough time-wise. Both had to be missed at certain points. That being said, if your dd wants to stick with gymnastics for a while, I'd let her. I don't think it would be a waste! Dance is great for gymnastics, and I think (to a point) gymnastics can be good for dance. However, I would be alert that when the time comes that she has to choose, she might not pick dance. Assuming that's okay with you, definitely let her try both while she is young! You'll know once it gets to be too much.
4. I wouldn't worry about this yet. Obviously, the gym doesn't think she is too old. I assume this is why they're moving her fast. Again, my dd took her first class at 9, moved to a private club a couple months later, was put on pre-team a few months after that, did her first competition exactly one year after starting (rec meet), and was put on L5 team right after that. She's on the old side for her team, but it doesn't bother her at all. I certainly wouldn't worry about what level she will be competing, etc - that is for the coaches to worry about. Perhaps after doing the pre-team this summer you could meet with the coaches and get an idea what their plans for her are. They'll have a better idea then too.

So for now, I'd just go with it! In the pre-team group, she'll be getting better coaching (most likely), and I would think in a couple of months you'll have a better idea of where she's headed, how much she likes it, and what will be expected schedule-wise of you on both fronts. Try not to get too ahead of yourself, and enjoy the ride!

 

[anniem]

Thanks so much for the advice! I feel so out of my league but I'm going to just step back and see where this takes us. She is worried she'd have to quit dance but I told her that she would have plenty of time to make her decision if it comes to that in the future. Reading this forum is helpful in preparing for what could be a crazy ride. We shall see where we end up!

 

[sglemon]

I can answer question 3 for you, yes it is possible to do both competitive dance and gymnastics. We have girls at our gym who do both. You need have a studio that is will to work around your gymnastics schedule. At our gym the new level 4 and 5 practices 12 hours a week, 4 hours on m-W-F from 4:15 to 8:15. We have one girl who does comp. dance, but her family owns the studio, so they schedule 4 hours of dance for her on T and Th. our studio has been very accommodating in the past, and they still are, but my dd will be starting comp team and pointe this fall, and the other parents will throw a fit, if everything was scheduled on 2 days. The other dancers, play school sports and need later practice time several nights a week. We are at the point if my dd does both comp dance and gymnastics, she will have to leave gymnastics early at least one time a week for dance. That isn't fair to my dd or the gym and her teammates. I have witnessed in the past, girls trying to do both and their gymnastics has really struggled, skills took longer to get skills, with the less hours and the gymnasts always looked extremely tired. You don't want a tired gymnast, because that is when the injuries start. Our gym does make the girls commit at optionals, and they do practice 20 hours a week, 4 hours m thru f. There is not enough time in the world at that point to do both, plus school.

Another thought about booths, is the money, gymnastics meets cost between $75 and $110 for a meet where I am. You know the dance costs. We do about 7 meets a year and most require travel, hotel room, etc... You can easily miss meets, but not dance competitions. Both season, where I am are the same time of the year. I already know my dd will be missing 2 meets because of dance this year. That's not fair to her and her teammates.

You need to sit down and talk to the gym and see what a gymnastics competition year entails, cost and time commitment wise

 

[GymMom67]

First of all, no, she is not too old. Yes, you hear a lot on here about 8 year old Level 7's, but I think that is probably more the exception than the norm. My DD is 10 and will be competing the new Level 3 this fall. She is not "old" compared to the other girls in her level. There are some younger than her, but there are also some older. I would say she is about average for that age, and her gym has a pretty good track record for turning out division 1 college scholarship athletes.

Yes, there is definitely such a thing as "natural talent". Just a few months ago, a girl got moved from recreational gymnastics straight into my daughter's level, which her gym usually never does. It took my daughter a year and a half of pre-team/team to get to this level, and that is normal where we are. But this girl really is an absolutely beautiful gymnast, and she is a year older than my daughter, so I think that, given her natural talent, they wanted to give her as much chance as possible to get to the higher levels. And at our gym, they don't move girls through multiple levels in a year. It is generally a "one level per year" gym.

As far as whether she could do both dance and gymnastics, I would recommend that you find a team training schedule for your gym. Then you can compare it to the dance training schedule and see if it would even work out logistically. Also, see when the competitions are for both, and how much overlapping there would be.

 

[anniem]

I'm so glad I found this forum, I have been given a lot to think about. The fall schedule for the gym is released Monday and dance schedule is released soon thereafter. For now I figure I will let her do competitive dance for the year (her studio just started competing again) and of course her normal rec dance and do the gymnastics training program and see how it all pans out. I know her gym is reluctant to pull people onto the team after the end of summer and she won't be ready then so she probably wouldn't even have a chance to compete until next year, which is fine by me! I'd like to sit back and see what happens for the year first.

I do know this gym has a great reputation and sent at least 2 girls to nationals last year (one was a 10 I think and one was maybe a 7 or 8, however high you can go as an 8 year old - not bad for a small rural area). They have sent multiple girls to college on scholarships too. So I trust what they think so far but I just have to remember that although I'm a planner this is a new journey and I can't plan it out yet.

 

[sportsmommy]

I

I just have to remember that although I'm a planner this is a new journey and I can't plan it out yet.

This is what, as a gym mom, i have the most trouble with. My dd is doing xcel for the first time and i know nothing about it and i wont until the new rules are out. Its driving me nuts.

Also, my dd was asked to join the training team after a couple of tumbling classes, so its not unheard of.


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[BlairBob]

Talent is talent. Ideally, I would pull a kid out of rec as soon as possible if they are mega talented unless they had behavior issues or parental issues ( as in nutso parents ).

In some programs you couldn't do this because of waiting lists or when a group is technically full.

Here is the future warning. It is highly unlikely that she will be able to do both dance and gymnastics to a high level in tandem. Heck, once the girls in dance hit about 9-11, it starts to conflict typically with scheduling practices. Some gymnastics clubs might allow it, but it's not ideal. For a super talented strong kid, they might be able to get away with it longer than a kid who is weak or struggling with new skills.