How did you get involved in gymnastics? (mirrored from parents forum)

[gymgurl]

Thought gymnasts and coaches might like some input,

I'll start,

Well, when i was in kindergarten i was put into gymnastics, ballet and a Jazz dance class and well the ballet was unbelievably boring and i was so bad that it wasn't worth doing, I was the dreaded ballet dancer that had not a drop of grace in her body, i was all power and muscle and no long extensions and my hands were stiffer than any teacher could cope with and i always wanted to go super fast. I quit after 3yrs the gymnastics was just a school program which i moved up to the advanced group pretty quickly (the "advanced" group taught you to round off) at the end of 3 years of that mum thought i had out grown it and i moved to a club gym and that was that until it closed and the other gym was having asbestos issues and then burnt down......obviously it was not meant to be, in the meantime i played netball, hockey, softball, debating, flute and a Jazz ballet class. it wasn't until year 9 when I thought i would go back, i went to trial for a level and tore a ligament in my foot in the trial.....not meant to be once again! about 6 months later i went into a senior rec class which well, was pathetic. I still had all my skills and was ready to learn to round off flic but everyone else was learning to cartwheel. The coach of this program suggested i move to a competitive lvl 4 squad and I am now competing level 5 training 6. Would i have done anything differently, yes if the circumstances allowed it i would never have quit gymnastics in the first place

sorry its a bit long

 

[mustlovejumping]

I did all types of dance my entire life starting when I was 4. I also did soccer for a year when I was 7, tennis for a year when I was 9, volleyball for a year when I was 10, and cross country my senior year of high school. I've also been riding horses since I was 12. Gymnastics was the one sport my parents never let me do even though I begged them all the time. September 2009 I had just started my first year of college and I was living on campus (my college is nearby). I wasn't dancing anymore and I had done it so long that I really needed a new challenge. October/November 2009 I randomly came across some gymnastics videos on youtube and it reminded me of how much I had wanted to be in gymnastics when I was younger. I started watching gymnastics videos obsessively and eventually I came across a few videos of adult gymnasts (funny thing is one of them actually goes to my gym, which I had no idea about until I had been in the class a few months and happened to come across her videos again!). I looked up gyms in my area and found out that the one that's the closest to me had an adult class. I was so excited to go but I had to wait until June 2010 when my school year was over and I moved back home again (I'm living at home this year). So finally, at the age of 19, I got to take my first gymnastics class!!

Would I change the way things turned out if I could? I honestly don't know. Sometimes I really wish I would have been able to start gymnastics at a younger age and maybe gotten to compete, but on the other hand, I feel like I now appreciate it a lot more. It's also nice to feel like I have all the time in the world to be involved in this amazing sport. I can move at my own pace and I won't get burnt out. And I can choose not to learn skills that totally freak me out ;P

I've always been drawn to sports that are very mentally and physically challenging. I tend to get bored very easily with a lot of sports, and going to the regular gym to just "work-out" does not work for me at all. I don't understand how people can exercise without having really difficult goals to reach and lots of obstacles to overcome!

 

[gymnastgets10]

Well, my mom did some gym and coaching at a Y gym when she was a teen and she got me to love gymnastics and taught me easy stuff like foward rolls and cartwheels. I kept begging my parents to take classes and I finally started when I was 10 and got moved to level 4 after a year. That gym closed after my level 6 season and I moved to my current gym, and I'm now in level 8. If I could have done anything differently, I would have started earlier!

 

[cher062]

Well from the parents view. My son was 3 years old and saw mens olympic gymnastics when they were in Atlanta. He loved watching them and told us that he would be there doing that jumping stuff. I told him he had to go to a special training school to do that. He then asked if he could go to that. He wasn't potty trained so yes I bribed him. I told him he had to be 100% potty trained with no accidents before he could go. 2 weeks later he was trained and letting me know. Of to the local gymnastic place and into his first gym class. Figured he would last a month and then on to karate like his little neighborhood friends - nope he made it to 16 years old and then dislocated his knee. to continue he would have needed surgery which he didn't want.

Of course when son was 6 .5 my DD was about 18 month and I was trying to keep her in the bleachers while son did his class (his first season on team). that didn't work so we signed up for the mommy and me class that went on at the same time. by the time she was 2yo the owner said he wanted her in his "special rec class" This was like a Pre - Preteam. It was a rec class that went longer than the others and they paid more attention to how skills were done. At the end of the season she was on the Pre-team and had just turned 3 yo - her we are with her just turning 14 yo and she is still loving it - I don't see an end in site.

So I guess I will be a gym mom for a bit longer - selling those raffle tickets, manning those bake sale booths, standing at the local Wal-mart with 3 - 4 girls while they hold those cans and beg for donations.
I have a few more years of sitting in those harder than heck bleachers for 4- 6 hours to see my DD's 5 - 6 min of glory, and spending way too much on a hot dog from the booster club snack table LOL.
Oh and don't forget the fumes from using a whole can of hairspray to keep that hair up for just one meet.

And in the end I wouldn't change a thiing for my kids or becoming a Gym Parent.

 

[jenniffir]

I was 10 when i started gymnastics (yeah i know and "oldie") and it began with "Mom, im bored..." I had done karate when i lived in my first home and was once in the rec class within the studio of karate but when i wanted to jump and swing and flip all around, instead they lets us was on a beam two inches above the ground and climb a latter (i chose to run across the beam) i was bored so my mom took me to the karate class my bro was in to entertain me. He got bored with that but i didnt and enjoyed having to use my muscles for once in my young life, this was in 1st and 2nd grade.

When we moved i was devasted that i couldn't do karate anymore, i spent my afternoons moping around the house that didnt feel like home. One day when i was really bored i asked my mom if i could do gymnastics, as well a girl scout and hoped i wouldn't be bored anymore. My mom brought me to a trial at my ex-gym and i fell in love with the sport. Six months later i competed an invitational as a level 4, scored out and move to level 5 and competed two season because of the dreaded bhs. Sadly on march 1, 2010 my home away from home closed because the owners didnt want to own a gymnastics gym, i was devasted again and didnt think i would find another gym that i felt more like i belonged.

I followed one of my "sisters" to the gym she wanted to go to (the only way i could continue gymnastics) and that brings us to now, me an AGA sr 8/ USAG lv 7 and still wishing that my old gym hadn't closed.

 

[All Chalked Up]

It took thirteen years of convincing, and I am thirteen. I have always adored gymnastics! Last year mom&dad let me join and I was estatic. I'm now at P2 (like level 5/6) and gymnastics is my life!

 

[Geoffrey Taucer]

I was 3 and was vaulting over the sofa and climbing on everything in sight, so my parents signed me up. I was pretty much hooked from the moment I first walked into the gym.