high school gymnastics

[catrena]

Hello this is my first year doing high school gymnastics. I have been in gymnastics for ten years and I've had four different gyms but I've never had a coach like this. A week ago I was at a meet and I threw my double twist for the first time since July. My foot caught the floor at 1 and 3/4. I twisted my knee and I think I tore a ligament (I'm going back into the doctor tomorrow). I didn't tell my coach that I hurt it until after the meet. Floor was our second event and after my routine I was crying and he ignored me. After the meet I told him that I really hurt my knee. He didn't say anything and at the next practice he was mad that I couldn't do anything. At the meet another girl hurt herself (she sprained her finger) and he was really worried and told her not to compete if it hurts. So far this year my coach refuses to put me on varsity even though I am doing the biggest skills on the team and out scoring most of the varsity girls. So I was wondering if most high school gymnastics coaches are like this? And if I should come back to school gymnastics next year? Thanks?

 

[gymnastbeth]

That's not the experience I've had with highschool gymnastics! But it mainly depends on the area you are in, and who the coach is. My highschool coach isn't a highly qualified coach. She's pretty much there to supervise, and the captain of the team "coaches" us more than her. There is no JV gymnastics in my district, its all varsity. It sounds like you are in a bad situation, my advice would be DO NOT do it if the coach is the same, but you should tell your school's athletics department about your problems with that coach, and they will try to help sort it out. (Whether that means talking to the coach, or getting a new one, I couldn't tell you) But just don't do things that hurt you, regardless of what your coach says.

 

[AlexsGymmyMom]

I am sorry that your High School gymnastics experience has not been a good one! Do you still do club gymnastics as well? If so I would probably not go back to the high school team if the same coach is there. Good luck to you and I would try to speak to the coach again if possible.

 

[catrena]

Thank you for the advice.

 

[gym law mom]

The sad thing is you can find coaches like this in high school or club. The 1st thing is to see what the doctor says and then go from there. If you're limited in what you can do, have your mom or dad come with you to talk with the coach. If this coach stays for next season and nothng is resolved with him, you can talk with the school's athletic director. Obviously doing hs next year would come down to whether you will get any enjoyment from competing with the coach.Maybe sit down with the coach and your parents at the end of this season and talk with the coach about how he felt you did and what his expectations are for you for next year.

 

[cher062]

Ok I'm not trying to be hard here and I think if a gymnast hurts them selves it should be addressed but you hurt yourself and kept quiet about it until after the meet! Why didn't you say anything when you hurt yourself? If you hurt yourself and you though you tore a ligament why did you continue on? Why did you wait until after the meet to say anything? Why did your mom let you go to practice the next day if you needed to see a doctor? Your coach at the meet has no idea you are really hurt badly unless you tell them. I see lots of gymnasts cry after an event and it has nothing to do with being hurt but instead has to do with their sadness in a routine - did you tell your coach you were in pain after floor or just sat there and cried?

I'm not saying you aren't hurt and badly but you can't expect the coach to read your mind either. After the meet you tell your coach your knee hurts Ok but any girl I've seen twist an ankle or what ever will hurt after a meet they twisted it in and may even hurt for the whole week after, but if there is something serious you don't then show up at practice and expect the coach to know you have a serious injury. If you were my daughter I would have not let you go to practice if you told me that you were seriously hurt until after the Dr gave an Ok to go back.

I can't comment on the girl with the sprained finger because we don't know what her actions were - went to the Dr, had a DR note, let coach know right away of injury etc.

As far as you moving up and your skills well again we can't comment on that as we haven't seen you in action and don't know what your skills look like, how consistant you are, or if there is a school policy that 1st years are on JV teams no matter how good they are (we have Freshman teams at our local HS its like JV but you go there first and in Soph year they decide if you make the school varsity team - no JV teams)

Communication is lacking here. You have alot of issues here that need to be addressed and the one you need to talk to is your parents and the coach. It's ok to discuss all of these with the coach and let them know how you are feeling.

 

[ryantroop]

Something seems missing here..

I agree on the lack of communication. Try talking some. If that doesn't work, then consider moving on with what you want to do. Maybe since you are an advanced gymnast, he feels that you should "suck it up" a bit more than someone without competitive experience. Maybe he didn't think it was as bad as you feel it is (which is understandable since you kept going)... whatever it is, talk about it. And, please get it checked out by a doctor.

As for the Frosh/Jv-Varsity thing; sometimes coaches have to do balancing acts in high shcool. Some of those kids have worked for 3 years before you came along, and in order to be fair to their dedication, he needs to give them the competitive slot so they can get their varsity letter. High school is more about the team and the experience, and less about the perfection of sport like USAG is (assuming your club is USAG oriented).

Enjoy the journey, and enjoy the friends. There's plenty of time in your life for drama. Don't bring it into the gym, where you're supposed to be having fun. Take care of yourself, be uplifting to those around you, and enjoy what you do.

 

[Tumblequeensmom]

I agree with the last two posts... I had started to reply to this thread much earlier, but then decided I didn't have enough info. to respond intelligently. I hope by now your knee is feeling better and you've gotten it checked out by the Dr??

High school.... so completely different from Club. My DD has been on her high school team for the last two years now and she really enjoys it BECAUSE it is all about the team, not the individual. Even the top individual event placement announcements at the end of the meet seem so cursory, everyone is waiting for the TEAM score... they don't care too much about the individual "winners."

Where I live, there is ONLY Varsity gymnastics, so we don't have that issue w/the gymnastics, but we do w/the high school cheer teams. We had a freshman last year who walked out of the last day of tryouts in a huff because the then juniors were being moved up to Varsity and in her mind, she was "better" than those girls. Now there may have been some truth to that since she had been doing competitive cheer since the time she was in elementary school... BUT those other girls had "paid their dues" on the freshman and JV squads so, it was their turn, so to speak to move on up before they graduated... so there are politics involved in the school sports as well. It is what it is...

I'd say a "sit down" is called for between you, your parents and the coach. It definitely could've been a miscommunication between all parties involved. There needs to be an explanation provided, whether it's in your favor or not, he needs to explain what was happening. If it is truly an emotionally abusive type of situation, the school board should be notified. These coaches are paid by everyone's tax dollars and this kind of behavior should not be tolerated ESPECIALLY in a public school system.

 

[catrena]

I have been in USAG for 8 years and in MAGA for 1. In USAG we were taught

if a bones not sticking out or your not gushing blood your fine

because of that I don't complain. I went to a doctor and they said a sprain or a tear of the MCL ligament. I went to get it reexamined yesterday and it's a partial tear of the MCL ligament. And about the "freshman" thing. their are 7th and 8th graders competing varsity. Also I am pretty consistent with my skills. and on floor I'm doing a double twist the next highest is a full. On vault i'm competing a tsuk theres one other girl with a tsuk otherwise there's just half-fulls. On bars I have giants and one other girl has giants but otherwise no one had anything big. On beam I have 2 connected handsprings and a few girls have one handspring on beam.

 

[Deleted member D3987]

I have been in USAG for 8 years and in MAGA for 1. In USAG we were taught because of that I don't complain. I went to a doctor and they said a sprain or a tear of the MCL ligament. I went to get it reexamined yesterday and it's a partial tear of the MCL ligament. And about the "freshman" thing. their are 7th and 8th graders competing varsity. Also I am pretty consistent with my skills. and on floor I'm doing a double twist the next highest is a full. On vault i'm competing a tsuk theres one other girl with a tsuk otherwise there's just half-fulls. On bars I have giants and one other girl has giants but otherwise no one had anything big. On beam I have 2 connected handsprings and a few girls have one handspring on beam.

what brain stem told you that?? the part about the bone and the blood??

 

[catrena]

My old coach.