Parents Level 8 quit gymnastics

[Gaby]

I see so many gymnasts quit the gym at the level 8 . What reasons for quitting? I am very curious level 8 already high level, why they quit gymnastics. It is because of high school , too much work? It is not worth it investing too much time and money for the sport?

 

[Mish]

Yes to all of that, and a million other individual reasons. For my own daughter it was the jump to level 9, overcoming injuries, and growth( a lot) proved too much to push through. At some point it becomes a "cost/benefit" scenario. She was successful through level 8, but lost her passion for the sport. Without that, you cannot push past the hard stuff.

 

[GymDadWA]

High School is a big one for sure, a lot of kids homework grows exponentially once in high school where the balance was OK before, same for social lives and budding romances.

The skills for 8+ are also a lot scarier like release moves on bars and connected tumbling on beam. A few of the girls our gym lost just couldn't get past those fears, especially as their body matured and their weight went up.

The other thing is they often find a ton of success in other sports that are new and fun and may have a team aspect that really appeals to them. Many gymnast go from never playing a sport to varsity in a couple of months due to their amazing athleticism.

 

[NutterButter]

L8 comes as a rude awakening to some with the increase in skill difficulty. A lot of moderately talented gymnasts can coast through L7 but if they don't have the passion for the sport and/or the work ethic, they will struggle. Add to that the pressures associated with puberty, high school, social life, boys, etc and may kids just want to be done, especially after spending so much of their childhoods in the gym.

 

[JBS]

Level 8 is basically the starting point for optional level gymnastics... it's the first level where real upper level skills can happen on all four events. Some love that starting point into the world of advanced craziness... others not so much. As others have said... many times Level 8 lines up with a point in their lives when they have tons of other things to do / think about.

 

[Deleted member 18037]

My daughter will retire as a HS senior either at L8 or 9. She will have made to senior year because our gyms hours allow for her to do other things

 

[Deleted member 18037]

I’ve seen many kids quit at all levels. Due to

1-injuries be it physical or mental
2-no longer willing to due the ridiculous hours gyms require
3- other things become more important

 

[jillc]

L8 comes as a rude awakening to some with the increase in skill difficulty. A lot of moderately talented gymnasts can coast through L7 but if they don't have the passion for the sport and/or the work ethic, they will struggle. Add to that the pressures associated with puberty, high school, social life, boys, etc and may kids just want to be done, especially after spending so much of their childhoods in the gym.

There have been a lot of good reasons shared in this thread — but think some of it is along this same thing nutterbutter mentions early in their thread—

A lot of moderately talented gymnasts seem to be able to get to get to level 7, but the jump from level to level just seems to get harder and harder at those higher levels.

You not only need the drive — but you also need to have better than “moderate” athletic ability and the coaching to keep progressing through those higher levels. (I say “moderate” in quotes because I think most gymnasts that get to level 7-8 are already above just moderate compared to the average kids — but those higher levels — you have to be even more athletic than that.)

Or the passion and drive to keep competing and working hard — but maybe staying at the same level for 3+ years. I have great admiration for these gymnasts, but for some reason this isn’t all that common from what I have seen. It is one of the things I like about XCEL. It seems like more of those gymnasts stick around longer, with a similar skill set to level 7/8.

 

[Gymmom2129]

We recently had 4 of our level 8 gymnasts quit and 3 of the 4 quit due to ongoing injuries. The other one quit because she had been on 8 for years. It really is a hard level to get past for many gymnasts so I think some see that as fas as they can get and just throw in the towel.