Parents I'm a children's author looking for some advice for my next book - a gymnastics adventure for 9-12 yr olds

[Eloise_the_author]

Hello there,


I'm a children's author, looking for some help on my next book.
It's a gymnastics adventure for 9-12 year olds and it'll be coming out in 2024.
I'm experienced in elite sport but not gymnastics so I was wondering if the community here could help me, especially parents of young gymnasts.
I'd love to know if you find the following timelines believable for an 11 year old gymnast.
Clearly, it's fiction so there's some stretching of reality, but I'd love to know what of the following feels implausible:

- Our heroine trains 25 hours a week in a local club, alongside her best friend who’s a boy.
- They compete the Trials - a day-long competition with 4 events for the girls (beam, floor, bars, vault) and 6 for the boys. The top 8 boys and 8 girls in their age group (Under 12s) are selected for an Elite squad.
-The elite squad is sent on a month long residential training camp (during term time). In the final week they are assessed in their 4 events by the head coach, who picks a team of 4 girls (plus reserve) and 4 boys for the Junior World Cup.
- They travel directly from the camp to the Junior World Cup in Paris. It’s an all-around individual competition against competitors from other countries.

Thanks so much!

 

[CuriousCate]

- Our heroine trains 25 hours a week in a local club, alongside her best friend who’s a boy.
- They compete the Trials - a day-long competition with 4 events for the girls (beam, floor, bars, vault) and 6 for the boys. The top 8 boys and 8 girls in their age group (Under 12s) are selected for an Elite squad.
-The elite squad is sent on a month long residential training camp (during term time). In the final week they are assessed in their 4 events by the head coach, who picks a team of 4 girls (plus reserve) and 4 boys for the Junior World Cup.
- They travel directly from the camp to the Junior World Cup in Paris. It’s an all-around individual competition against competitors from other countries.

Thanks so much!

What country do the athletes in your story compete for?

25 hours for 11 year old training elite is likely at the low end of the range, but still in the range based on my limited knowledge from our gym. The elite training group at our gym train 30+ hours.

I can't speak for all, but between my childhood gym and the two gyms my children have competed for, they have never trained alongside the opposite sex. Granted, none of the gyms had/have a strong focus on boys gym, so perhaps it is different in a gym that is strong for both? I never seen nor heard of that though.

The rest seems fine for the audience this will likely target.

Good luck!

 

[Eloise_the_author]

What country do the athletes in your story compete for?

25 hours for 11 year old training elite is likely at the low end of the range, but still in the range based on my limited knowledge from our gym. The elite training group at our gym train 30+ hours.

I can't speak for all, but between my childhood gym and the two gyms my children have competed for, they have never trained alongside the opposite sex. Granted, none of the gyms had/have a strong focus on boys gym, so perhaps it is different in a gym that is strong for both? I never seen nor heard of that though.

The rest seems fine for the audience this will likely target.

Good luck!

Thank you so much. That's good to know about the hours - I'd thought 25 hours was on the edge of too much, so that's good to know.
Are there ever mixed warm ups or conditioning sessions with boys and girls? Would they even have a competition on the same day? Is it very segregated between boys and girls? Is it unlikely boys and girls are ever in a session together?

And the athletes are British.

Thanks!

 

[Geoffrey Taucer]

Mixed workouts are rare. Mixed competitions less so..... but even those tend to run as two completely separate events occupying the same space. The boys and girls wouldn't be rotating together, and probably would be on opposite sides of the venue.

99% of the time at 99% of gyms, the girls and boys training is completely separate. This is true at all levels, but would be especially true at the level you're talking about, where the conditioning will be specialized to the respective discipline. Boys at that level will focus heavily on rings- and p-bar-based strength, whereas girls will tend to focus more on core and range of motion exercises. Because of this, they are very unlikely to condition together.

A basic warm-up together is plausible, though. While I don't often see it done, I don't see any reason boys and girls couldn't be put together for some basic handstand and tumbling work.

 

[3rd_time_around]

Just please be factual. There are too many Gymnastics, movies and books and TV shows that portray the sport in a very fictional way, and it sometimes is offensive. When you have real gymnasts watching, reading, or listening, they know what’s right, and what’s not, so you need to be aware of that. It annoys them when it’s portrayed incorrectly. There wouldn’t be a competition as you’re describing in the United States. It just doesn’t happen.

 

[gymgal]

Asking the Men's gymnastics pros - Would boys be at the elite level at this age group? Don't they take a much longer path and become elite more around college age?

 

[skschlag]

that is a bit young for the elite level. Junior elite in the US starts around age 12-13. It could be different for other countries.

 

[Geoffrey Taucer]

Asking the Men's gymnastics pros - Would boys be at the elite level at this age group? Don't they take a much longer path and become elite more around college age?

It's pretty rare for boys that age to be "training elite." That said, I have definitely seen some boys in that range doing routines on some events that could certainly pass for elite, and the boys upper-level rules are much more open-ended than the girls'.

And while it's been the norm for girls in the past, it is much less the norm now that in has been.

 

[Eloise_the_author]

Mixed workouts are rare. Mixed competitions less so..... but even those tend to run as two completely separate events occupying the same space. The boys and girls wouldn't be rotating together, and probably would be on opposite sides of the venue.

99% of the time at 99% of gyms, the girls and boys training is completely separate. This is true at all levels, but would be especially true at the level you're talking about, where the conditioning will be specialized to the respective discipline. Boys at that level will focus heavily on rings- and p-bar-based strength, whereas girls will tend to focus more on core and range of motion exercises. Because of this, they are very unlikely to condition together.

A basic warm-up together is plausible, though. While I don't often see it done, I don't see any reason boys and girls couldn't be put together for some basic handstand and tumbling work.

Thank you Geoffrey, that's really helpful. So you might have them doing a morning run together on a training camp, maybe tumbling informally but not as a class? And then at a competition they could compete at the same time but at different ends of a sports hall?

 

[Eloise_the_author]

Just please be factual. There are too many Gymnastics, movies and books and TV shows that portray the sport in a very fictional way, and it sometimes is offensive. When you have real gymnasts watching, reading, or listening, they know what’s right, and what’s not, so you need to be aware of that. It annoys them when it’s portrayed incorrectly. There wouldn’t be a competition as you’re describing in the United States. It just doesn’t happen.

I shall absolutely try to portray the sport correctly - it's a tough challenge!

 

[Eloise_the_author]

that is a bit young for the elite level. Junior elite in the US starts around age 12-13. It could be different for other countries.

It's pretty rare for boys that age to be "training elite." That said, I have definitely seen some boys in that range doing routines on some events that could certainly pass for elite, and the boys upper-level rules are much more open-ended than the girls'.

And while it's been the norm for girls in the past, it is much less the norm now that in has been.

So at 11 or 12 years old would there be any national squad of the most promising gymnats? Is a training camp of young top gymnasts something that happens at that age?

 

[Geoffrey Taucer]

So at 11 or 12 years old would there be any national squad of the most promising gymnats? Is a training camp of young top gymnasts something that happens at that age?

Training camp for young gymnasts, definitely. There are sleepaway summer gymnastics camps, such as Flip Fest and IGC. Until recently, Woodward was probably the most widely-known and attended by athletes of all ages and mid-to-high levels in the USA, but they no longer have a gymnastics program due to evil faceless corporate leadership (not that I'm bitter about it or anything). Many colleges with gymnastics teams host similar camps during the summer. Such camps are often attended by collegiate and elite hopefuls. I don't specifically know of any British camps, but I'm sure they exist. I also wouldn't be surprised if there are camps in Europe that draw international attendance. There are also sometimes weekend-long state and regional training camps in the USA; again, there's probably something analogous in Britain.

As for a squad of promising 11- or 12-year olds, I think that varies from country to country. I don't know what the structure for that would be in Britain.

Thank you Geoffrey, that's really helpful. So you might have them doing a morning run together on a training camp, maybe tumbling informally but not as a class? And then at a competition they could compete at the same time but at different ends of a sports hall?

Yes, this sounds about right.

A lot of what your asking will vary from country to country.

 

[Dahlia]

If you want to portray the sport correctly, I highly recommend your research involve attending a few local USAG gymnastics meets to see how they are run and maybe even ask a local gym if you can come in and observe some practices.

 

[Geoffrey Taucer]

If you want to portray the sport correctly, I highly recommend your research involve attending a few local USAG gymnastics meets to see how they are run and maybe even ask a local gym if you can come in and observe some practices.

OP isn't in the USA, so she might have to travel a bit if she wants to see a USAG meet.

But I agree, going to some local clubs to watch practice and going to some local meets to watch would be beneficial.

 

[Dahlia]

OP isn't in the USA, so she might have to travel a bit if she wants to see a USAG meet.

But I agree, going to some local clubs to watch practice and going to some local meets to watch would be beneficial.

Ooops, missed that. I mean go to "real" meets, not rec-opt in gym meets, if that makes sense.

 

[Eloise_the_author]

OP isn't in the USA, so she might have to travel a bit if she wants to see a USAG meet.

But I agree, going to some local clubs to watch practice and going to some local meets to watch would be beneficial.

Okay, that's a really good idea. I've just signed up to my first ever gymnastics practice myself tomorrow. I am totally terrified, hopefully I wont injure myself! Wish me luck! But I'll look into attending a meet. And will do some research on Flipfest / IGC / Woodward.

 

[Carabistouille]

So at 11 or 12 years old would there be any national squad of the most promising gymnats? Is a training camp of young top gymnasts something that happens at that age?

There are national training camp and international competitions (friendly meets between countries, usually Germany, Italy, Switzerland...) for 12 y. o. in France.
There are also national training camps for 11 y.o., but no international competition.

MAG and WAG would be separated in both cases.

 

[Eloise_the_author]

There are national training camp and international competitions (friendly meets between countries, usually Germany, Italy, Switzerland...) for 12 y. o. in France.
There are also national training camps for 11 y.o., but no international competition.

MAG and WAG would be separated in both cases.

Okay great. Sounds like making my heroine 12 might help. I have the training camp currently in the UK, with the competition in Paris, so that could work. And do you get Romanians competing (random question I know)!!!

 

[Carabistouille]

Okay great. Sounds like making my heroine 12 might help. I have the training camp currently in the UK, with the competition in Paris, so that could work. And do you get Romanians competing (random question I know)!!!

Yes, we do!

 

[Aussie_coach]

Our boys and girls often do mixed warm ups and conditioning work.

And at times to some apparatus together (this not too often), mainly floor and vault.

We also do crossovers at times and have the WAG do MAG and vice versa. The girls learn the boys apparatus, which is great for strength and the boys do the girls stuff for flexibility (within reason, they girls are not doing the iron cross in rings).

It’s also not that uncommon for us to have MAG and WAG at the same competition. Each rotating around their own apparatus, but sharing Vault and Floor.