Parents JO Vacation/attendance policy?

[Deedee]

G

Not saying they are. But gymnastics now days is filled with parents who think there priveladged and can argue with the rules a gym has set up. You don’t like it. Leave

 

[gymnastmom05]

Wh

who cares if it is or not. If that’s their policy that’s their policy. You don’t like it change gyms

I went back a reread her post. It says it "MAY" affect her daughters ability to join the JO team. They are still waiting on approval/answer from the director. It could be the parent talked to a coach and/or front desk person that isn't in the position to give answers to questions such as that. I fully believe attendance is important and missing MAY affect placement - but that is strictly individual to the kid, their skills and the level they are working towards. MOST teams are happy to have any kid that shows some ability and is committed. Committed doesn't mean you just signed up for the military and are now owned by the gym. I haven't noticed any parent on here thinking their kid should have the right to come and go as they please AND demand the level their child competes. I think most of us understand that time off could impact your kids' progress. It could also NOT make a difference and in some cases, the time off was a welcomed mental/physical break and they come back better than before. I think the changes in this country you referred to have to do with most parents/coaches realizing that having a hard nosed opinion about training might actually NOT the best approach for maximum results.

 

[NutterButter]

Wh

who cares if it is or not. If that’s their policy that’s their policy. You don’t like it change gyms

If I were at that gym and had a young compulsory and just learned that my already scheduled vacation may be a barrier for my kid to move up, I would want to know what is considered normal in the sport so that I could make my own informed decision on what to do. Of course it’s the gyms policy and that is fine. But as a parent I can take my business elsewhere. And now OP has more information to figure out what this all means for her DD’s journey in gymnastics. Chill. Peace out.

 

[bogwoppit]

Woah, woah, woah. This thread has gone way past it's usefulness.

@Deedee you seem to be taking this way too personally. You do not know the OP so making assumptions is pretty harsh.

Lets all take a time out and move along please. Otherwise temp bans will be brought in.

 

[Deleted member 18037]

What happens if a gymnast who takes not taking time off seriously gets to be on a team. Where the coaches choose that gymnast over urs because they have been at every session and worked their heart out. Even though ur gymnast has the skills. That gymnast gets picked. Would you get upset.

We are at our gym because it works for my daughter and our family.

I would prefer they take a set time off and we would work our time away around that. But they don't. They go year round. That's fine, that is how they are wired. And while they would prefer we all go year round they get that is not going to happen. All our girls take time off for other things.

We don't even have to do every meet on the schedule. Yes I know this boggles peoples minds around here. But yes things like weddings, graduations, religious ceremonies, vacations, siblings events happen. This gym allows for that. So we have some pretty decent gymmies who would of been driven out of the sport because they and their parents didn't want them to be all gym all the time. I love our gym for exactly this reason.

My kid is heading to L8, something if I listened to many shouldn't have happened because, we aren't all gym all the time. But yet here we are.

So the scenario you describe wouldn't happen. We left "that" gym for this gym. If you can manage your gymnastics and still do track or diving, not a problem. Your level is decided by skill level and your work ethic at gym. You are not penalized because your parents have chosen to insist you take a vacation with the family The occasional vacation and long weekend are not a problem. And we are all grown up and even the kids understand too much time off could slow down your movement. And we are all grown up enough to know 3 weeks before states is not the time for long weekends and vacations. And notice I said slow down, not behind. The L6 girl who does diving is not behind the L7 girls she started with. She is making different choices, she gets it, the coach gets it, we get it.

And I have even gotten the coaches to re-language the "behind" stuff. I simply will not let my kid hear she is behind because when she was compulsory she did less hours for other enrichment choices, then some other kids. And oddly she is no longer behind those kids. Could she have been heading to L9 who knows. Is L9 something she even wants who knows but at this gym its possible even with a vacation.

 

[duyetanh]

T

thar is fine if u and ur gymnast is happy to be going through their levels as a fun sport. Unfortunately some more serious gyms who see their gymnasts going to elite levels as taking time
Off and losing muscle strength as a negative. This is why when placing ur dd into gymnastics u need to research what you are looking for. If ur looking for a fun competitive class which can only take ur dd to level 7 or 8 or a competitive team who can push u to succeed in a sport which is hard and dirty and takes massive effort to stay in

I believe the child in question is a level 4?

 

[duyetanh]

Die thread, die.

 

[sce]

I

I feel like no parents understand the actually commitment and hard work goes into the coaching staff. Every parent on here is happy to complain that the coaches don’t have their gymnasts best interest at heart. As Nadia’s god daughter and To call svetlana my “aunt” who isn’t my aunt but family friend you should all be disappointed in yourselves to try and understand a coaches aspect

Very few people (if any) have said the coaches did not have the gymnasts best interest. Many gave said that is ts the parent's job to balance out their kid's experiences. They get that missing gym for vacations can effect their gymnastics, but the parent has to decide what is important in the long-term. Your name dropping gives you no credibility in the issue.
As for the OP's: question, yes that long a break can have an effect. She may lose skills or be less in condition over all. As well, it sounds like she will miss out on s a crucial routine learning practice period. Many gym ramp up training in summer to prepare for the fall season. I have known many kids to take off for lengthy summer trips, most had some catching up to do for the fall compulsory season. The optionals, many times had to re-learn some skills. It does not necessarily mean you should not go on vacation, just know what it will take to get back in gymnastics shape afterwards.

 

[sce]

This is what I am trying to say op said they are going away during July when all routines are learnt. Why go away during such a specific time. If you take time off and u want to succeed in the sport don’t do it during specific times

Well, they planned the trip before being offered a JO spot, so did not know that routines are learned in July. Also, families take vacations in the summer becasue of school. Sumemr is teh only tiem kids don't have school. When would you suggest they take their trip?

 

[LindyHopper]

Die thread, die.

hear hear!

 

[LTB~Mom]

It would have been an issue if my dd has missed 2+ weeks of summer practice in the compulsory levels. Not because of muscle memory or time out of the gym, but summer practice is when all the compulsory routines are taught, and it's nearly impossible for one girl to catch up once the rest of the group (10 or more girls) have already learned the entire routine. My dd missed a week of summer training back in L4, and had to do a couple of private lessons to learn the floor and beam routines. Maybe you can work something out like that with the coaches? Good luck!

 

[Annikins]

Sorry, joined this thread rather late, but just for comparison - we're in England, so it's a bit different, competition season-wise. We're expected to have a 95% attendance rate for the whole year on average. We're actually not given guidance as to when holidays (vacations) should best be taken, but we only have two competitions a year (one in spring, one in autumn, and we should definitely attend both), so we can figure out for ourselves when the best time would be so that our child is affected as little as possible. We tend to go as soon as school breaks up in summer, so there is time to get back in shape (hopefully) before the autumn comp. In addition to this, the gym closes for two weeks over Christmas for a well-earned break! It's a lovely balance (I think!) between expecting commitment, but allowing flexibility - works for us! I think it is common to have an attendance expectation for gymnasts, yes, but it can vary gym to gym about what the expectation is. Only way to find out would be to ask around I guess. Hopefully your dd will be allowed to do JO even allowing for the vacation. Good luck!

 

[raenndrops]

So if you want to go away on holidays that’s fine. But do not take it out on the coaches if they want to choose another gymnast for the team ur dd wants to be on. And do not be upset about a centres choice to have rules about taking time off in the gym. Gymnastics is a hard *** sport and no one other then gymnasts themselves can understand that. No training outside of the gym is the same no matter what you may think or how many programs your coaches give you.

If you want time off each year to travel. Either do it after your dds competitive season. If that’s the sport you want her in. Or take her out of the competitive side because ur coaches are right. I. The competitive sport of gymnastics if u want to succeed in the sport it is a lifestyle commitment. If it’s just for fun. Do what u and ur family want

1. The girl is ALREADY on the team.
2. This vacation is after the competitive season. In the US, the competitive season is either Fall/Winter or Winter/Spring ... or Fall-Spring.

 

[raenndrops]

Wh

who cares if it is or not. If that’s their policy that’s their policy. You don’t like it change gyms

Actually, if the policy was common, it wouldn't do any good to change gyms.

From my reading of OP's post, the vacation was planned before she knew the JO team rules were different from the Xcel team rules... and the vacation is only every other year, at least they aim to go every 2 years).
As for that being when they learn routines, the Level 4 routines aren't that difficult to learn. We have had girls learn the floor routine in a day. All the Level 4s in the US do the same routine. When she gets back, they will still be doing these same routines. She can watch the other girls do it and and catch on, especially to the big things. Coaches spend the entire season perfecting the details of the routines. She will have time before competition season to be ready.

 

[VIG]

OP here. I guess this thread puts things into perspective for me regarding various aspects - but will admit it was also a bit discouraging from an aspect of supporting each other - as parents of well-rounded human being gymnasts and supporting our kids who work individually but also as a team. As a mom coming into JO and brand new to this forum. To use the word ‘privileged’ because I would like to visit my parents, brother and family in Europe every 2 years and not want to deny my 2 kids of this experience while, yes, thinking “it’ll be fine for my gymnast” is an insult. Clearly no child, Coach, or gym is the same nor are the hours they train so the impact of being away for whatever reason however long is simply not measurable or even predictable in my opinion. Looking at score trends won’t either. Will some become elite gymnasts and need to train more than a new level 4? Sure. I still believe in fun being had and a healthy life outside of the gym (or our work), which absolutely includes having an option to be away at some point in any level for us to make time for a family vacation. I guess the amount of time of what is “reasonable” depends on the individual; their current ability and future goals. And the gym’s policy, sure.

But yes let me please clarify for the sake of “closure” regarding my situation:
- we did XB, then XS and were already given a “thumbs up” that she’d move to Gold. However, we were ALSO invited to JO4, along with wanting to know what questions we may have; which is when I indicated we have a planned vacation and was caught by surprise when the Xcel coach mentioned this could be a problem for JO. This gym’s Xcel program is paid per class in the summer with tons of flexibility, while JO is scheduled all summer with no official break. JO pays monthly all year round and that’s not news to me and wouldn’t expect any change whatsoever to our charges when away.
Somebody mentioned “I would prefer they take a set time off and we would work our time away around that. But they don't. They go year round” - same here, and honestly I would love if they also told us in advance (in the handbook maybe?) when an acceptable time is for a family vacation and we’d definitely schedule it then. And then this question wouldn’t be a question. I didn’t even know or have any indication until now that July is when they learn routines.

- My daughter just turned 8. She is very athletic and conditioning and stretching is part of her daily life as part of her passion and who she is as a person right now. Personally I don’t think she will “lose muscle mass” or “be behind” after missing 2.5 weeks - not to the extent that there will be an impact at her current level/abilities. (I also don’t believe in “behind” as this isn’t about comparing all girls against each other). What she may miss is learning and practicing every step and all dance moves in the compulsory program when these get introduced to the team, which isn’t something she is as used to coming from XS. She has just about all level 4/5 skills at this point and already performed several as part of her XS routines that 3s never competed.
- I don’t know what others consider competition season, but our competitions are roughly between November and April. The vacation we booked is for the last 2 weeks of July and a few days into August. Scheduled ages ago.
- It almost sounds like some responses indicate that their kids are possibly homeschooled; we don’t, so I can’t just take off for 2 weeks in May or even June when it’d be ideal for gymnastics and our gym is busy with year end shows for their rec program, team banquet etc.
- This attendance rule isn’t a fully defined policy. Our handbook simply states that “attendance is monitored in JO”. - We are currently waiting to hear back, but yes, was just surprised by this and curious to hear if this is the “norm”.
- my gymnast is solid and was among the top in our XS team in her division (being 7yo she was in the youngest division at very meet) but we are not on an elite track here. Our current gym wouldn’t even be the right fit if we were on that track right now. She wants to be an Olympic gymnast I won’t lie about that
- short of calling up another local gym in the event of us being denied here after having gottenthr invite, I really just wanted to see if this is possibly the norm across most gyms. But I am also not in denial that the main reason will not be because we aren’t breaking policy we have signed (it’s not defined) but rather that they truly think my daughter would suffer too much from missing 2 weeks of learning routines. All other girls are rising 3s or repeat 4s. It’s hard to imagine that but I’m not her coach and am not pretending to know more. I would hope they’d explained in detail if it comes to that.

I guess ultimately my follow-up question for the gym is not really “is it acceptable to be away” but “when is it acceptable to be away during school vacation time” so our family can plan in advance, because this trip is kind of a “must” for me and would therefore need to find a gym that would have a policy that allows for this at some point in the summer.

And with that I’m ok if this thread ends. Thanks for those who understood and who I felt did stand up for me. Sorry for any feelings hurt along the way or frustrated Saturday because of this (I know how you felt).

- FIRST time chalkbucket poster, and mom learning to navigate the world of gymnastics

 

[RTT2]

Just so you aren't scared off from Chalkbucket entirely, this isn't the way most threads go. You asked a reasonable question. In between a bit of crazytrain there should be some helpful info. Enjoy your vacation this summer, and good luck to your DD in her L4 season!

 

[Deleted member 18037]

OP, you sound like a reasonable person. And like RTT has shared this is not how threads typically go.

I’m one of the more “blunt” folks around here and the responses, well, we know which ones, have stunned even beyond blunt me.

You will get many as many opinions as people here. For nearly any and all things.

Go on your vacation and enjoy. Commiunicate with the coaches that you didn’t realize July was such an intense time and will keep that in mind when planning in the future.

While you are having that conversation also have the conversation that goes like this. We understand gymnastics is a year round sport and family time is important as well. When would you prefer we take our time off. We will do our best to work with you.

I’m the one who would prefer the gym close for time off. Out coaches prefer the early in the summer the better. And they would prefer us not be off Camp weeks, which while not mandatory are highly encouraged. Wink wink. We have always done our best to honor that and we have a time share where some years that is just not possible. This year we head out end of July. And she will have a gym approved conditioning routine that she will do while away. I would suggest you ask the coaches for something similar for your daughter.

My daughter has come back from a wrist injury and from a foot fracture. And she was out more than any vacation or long weekend we have ever taken. And coaches stress them “coming back” from any time off. It appears to be an occupational hazard of gymnastics coaching. Don’t take on their stress.

Simone looks like she is recovering from her post Olympic time off.
If your kid is Olympic bound, the time off isnt what will make or break it at 8. And if she ends up not Olympic bound it will matter even less

There are kids who learn a compulsory routine in a week to score out.

Seriously she will be fine with the routines by November, certainly by States
In April. It’s months away.

If the coaches/program want to be punitive about it. Yes it’s true, their gum/program, their rules. JMO, I would be looking for a new gym. But that’s me.

Good luck, enjoy your vacation.

 

[amiandjim]

Just so you aren't scared off from Chalkbucket entirely, this isn't the way most threads go. You asked a reasonable question. In between a bit of crazytrain there should be some helpful info. Enjoy your vacation this summer, and good luck to your DD in her L4 season!

This! Honestly, I’ve never really seen a response like the one you received. Do not listen to that specific person. Truthfully, he or she does not sound like a person I would want coaching children in any way.

 

[amiandjim]

And we are very “all in” with gymnastics, even though my child is only a level 4. But, we go on vacation for a week at least twice a year. Never been a problem.

 

[sce]

Just so you aren't scared off from Chalkbucket entirely, this isn't the way most threads go. You asked a reasonable question. In between a bit of crazytrain there should be some helpful info. Enjoy your vacation this summer, and good luck to your DD in her L4 season!

Yes, the crazy train definitely showed up here.

VIG - to me every family has it's own needs. I hope your gym will work with you. I know many families that have family in Eurpope or Asia and the only way to see them is a long trip. While it is true that missing that chunk of time will mean she has some catching up to do, many kids do it and with a season that starts in November she has time. Our compulsory seasons tarts in September, so long summer trips are rough, BUT people still take them as there is more to life than a kid's activity.

I do hope you continue to see Chalk Bucket as a place to ask your questions. it makes sense to asses, "what are we getting into?" When committing to competitive gymnastics. It is a commitment. Many activities have a big commitment, but each has it;s own unique quirks and even in gymnastics, different gyms have thair own way of approaching things.