Parents How long should gymnast be at L10?

[Chamomile]

I see a lot of borderline delusional hopefulness about NCAA gymnastics prospects in MAG. There are only around 50 spots for freshman men in the entire NCAA and about 1/4 of them are at the service academies, which require athletes to commit to a career in The military in order to attend. But many parents don’t seem to get this. I have noticed a strong correlation between paying for private lessons and having wildly unrealistic expectations for the future. I don’t know if coaches are intentionally fostering unrealistic hopes in order to keep the lucrative private lessons gravytrain rolling, but it seems like a possibility…

I never thought of that as a correlation but you may be right? It’s a business and killing dreams isn’t marketable.

Also I didn’t realize MAG spots were mostly military. That is so interesting!

 

[Dahlialover]

Also I didn’t realize MAG spots were mostly military. That is so interesting!

Not “mostly military” but 3 of the 15 programs are military (3 of The 12 D1 programs). So it might be more like 1/5th of the spots.

 

[bookworm]

1. I encourage my gymnasts and parents to take a realistic look at the skills the colleges they are looking at are competing and who that college is recruiting. For all but the top kids, getting onto a college team takes a family's time, effort and money-that is just the reality. I also urge the ones that are scholarship worthy to really understand what that means- it's not all glory and flashy leotards-and that the gymnast will be expected to perform a certain way and hold certain standards and comply with everything as payback for the financial payouts.

2. I have found that most parents don't want coaches to be honest about their gymnast's reality. I once had a parent who refused to believe that a "walk on" spot didn't mean that you just walk on and participate on a top college team because she had watched the Ariana Berlin movie. Refused-said I didn't understand or know what I was talking about......so... yeah......

1. You have hit the nail on the head there ....especially about "comply with everything as payback for financial payouts"... I preface this by saying my daughter competed consistently on 3 events her whole NCAA career and there has hopefully been some reform in the past 10 years, but my daughter's college coach was the epitome of awful....belittling , berating , threatening of scholarships on a daily basis, weigh ins posted on the wall, "voluntary" work outs where attendance was taken (so not voluntary), food restrictions, not allowed to see family (either for home or away meets), "requesting" that families NOT come to meets ("a distraction") but we went and sat with random strangers to not be seen ...she was allowed to come home 28 days in all 4 years...they owned her...she loved it and put up with it and is still involved with NCAA gymnastics but I'm still a bit salty when we have run into her old college coach. Would I do it again, even knowing that we paid zero for all 4 years? Honestly, I'm not sure I would....

2. Sooo , does this parent think her child is just going to waltz into practice at a college and join the team? They're usually called "preferred walk ons" . Even the team managers are usually a former gymnast. You'll have to update us on her "walk on" career.

 

[JBS]

The journey into true upper level gymnastics is a journey of both imagination and reality combined. You have to believe... but at the end of the day... I believe in everyone... at some point you have to make it happen... or it's all just imaginary...

Really though... does it matter... everyone quits gymnastics at some point. The journey is the fun part.

 

[Ajoy]

I think this is why I ask the question. My DD is a much better optional than she was a compulsory. I’m so glad someone believed in her. She is tracking for Hopes and reading this forum helped me choose a gym.

A 7th grade level 9 is also tracking. I even think with a lot of hardwork and a little luck a 7th grade level 7 can get a D1 scholarship.

Your daughter is very much in the realm of reason. I’m talking gyms that allow or maybe even encourage gymnasts are outside the statistical realm of reason to think that they are ‘on track’. Ie teenagers in Xcel Gold thinking they are tracking D1.

The replies make me think this isn’t common?

I agree that she is in the realm but not a shoe in. And it will be such a sacrifice to get there, possibly taking her out of regular school, no high school sports, less time with friends, no summer job, etc, etc and it’s very possible she could make miss all these typical adolescence milestones and still not be good enough for college. And college, if she’s lucky enough to get there, will be a harder job. Obviously I feel conflicted about this. Right now, she loves gymnastics, but she’s never known anything else.

 

[GymnastMomX2]

Yikes bookworm. Is this college coach still coaching?

It’s such a delicate balance. My daughter is a 7th grade second year level 9 who is doing great, on track for 10 next year, but maybe not great enough (she’s never scored above a 37, those 9.9s needed for college recruiting seem far off and she’s also tall) and I have no idea which way to encourage her. She could switch to day gym, go all in for the next few years and it may or may not work, or she could back off gym, maybe go to xcel instead of 10 and have some other teenage experiences. Like you said, I want her to dream and strive but also be realistic.

Oh man I feel this. I feel like you have to follow their lead, but it’s hard. My daughter is a 9th grader, and is all in, does online school, daytime gym, etc. I hate that she’s missing out on a normal high school experience, and worry about what happens if her college dream doesn’t work out. Her best friend quit a couple years ago and so she sees firsthand all the fun stuff she’s missing out on. It worries me daily. Adding on the fact that she had surgery end of the summer last year and it has been a grueling come back, and she’s just now starting to add skills back, still isn’t vaulting or tumbling with arms. If I’m being completely honest when we found out she needed surgery last year, with a ~9 month recovery time, I was hoping she would throw in the towel. I told her multiple times that it was ok to be done but she insisted she didn’t want to be. I definitely have a love/hate relationship with the sport right now. I miss pre-team days when everything was fun and simple.

 

[bookworm]

Yikes bookworm. Is this college coach still coaching?

Fortunately no she is not … she didn’t like coaching and it showed. But the kicker is, she wasn’t the worst one out there…. In our last year there when she was rumored to be leaving, and she continues to work in a college setting, which stuns me , I said to her” your next job should be in a morgue because you don’t like people.” . The coach that replaced her is quite lovely…. I fly out for a few meets a year, including the alumni one and she always greets me warmly and sends me a little note every year thanking me for supporting the team…. I just wish my daughter had had a coach like her when she was in college..

 

[gym_dad32608]

Yikes bookworm. Is this college coach still coaching?

Oh man I feel this. I feel like you have to follow their lead, but it’s hard. My daughter is a 9th grader, and is all in, does online school, daytime gym, etc. I hate that she’s missing out on a normal high school experience,

Just a side, perhaps change perspective type comment. I understand the statement. For most of us we look fondly back on high school and I think its easy for us to project those memories on our children. But lets face it, if high school was your peak, that's kinda sad. Many of the "milestones" of our youth, prom, homecoming, etc when you reflect, and try to remember specifics things get hazy, and its more the ideal of it. Plus, from the youth around here, it seems like their concepts have changed around those milestones.

Every child creates their own journey and own memories. Yes, perhaps they "lose" some of those things that you had in your youth, but they also gain other things that you didn't have. Some deep bonds, those competition experiences, the strong sense of purpose, its just different than what we know.

 

[RTT2]

Just a side, perhaps change perspective type comment. I understand the statement. For most of us we look fondly back on high school and I think its easy for us to project those memories on our children. But lets face it, if high school was your peak, that's kinda sad. Many of the "milestones" of our youth, prom, homecoming, etc when you reflect, and try to remember specifics things get hazy, and its more the ideal of it. Plus, from the youth around here, it seems like their concepts have changed around those milestones.

Every child creates their own journey and own memories. Yes, perhaps they "lose" some of those things that you had in your youth, but they also gain other things that you didn't have. Some deep bonds, those competition experiences, the strong sense of purpose, its just different than what we know.

I agree. Not every kid wants or needs to follow the usual path. These tend to be highly disciplined, motivated kids who don’t necessarily want the typical things. Whether they make it onto a college team or not the journey is still so important to them.