Parents Maybe we need a little roll call

[JBS]

Welcome to everyone.

I have three kids...two girls and a boy. My oldest is just turned 6...she will be trying to achieve L4 for this season. My middle one is 4...she does preschool gym classes. My boy is only 6 months old.

 

[exgymnastmomx3]

I had 3 gymnasts in in the gym for the past 8 years, but I'm now down to 2. My oldest dd is 16 and just finished her soph. yr. and is going into her 3rd yr. lv. 10., my 12 year old dd just finished her 2nd yr. of lv. 8 and is going to compete lv. 9 this upcoming season. My 14 yr. old sat out most of her 2nd yr. level 9 season injured and it was time to call it quits after too many injuries. It was sad, but she's moved onto the varsity H.S. dance team as well as some other endevors. My 16 yr. old has a twin brother who is a year round runner.

 

[Azgymmiemom]

Wow...great thread!! I have so many in the gym I started working there!!! My son, Christian, is 10 and will compete either 5 or 4 come Jan...not sure yet. My dd, Maliya will compete level 5 in Sept. She's 8. My son Cruz just moved to boys rec level 1 from prek and that's good enough for now...not interested in having three on team just yet. Oh, and bog...u will make a splendid, very sane cheer mom, I have no doubt!!! Looking forward to the stories!!!!

 

[gymmomof1]

Welcome newbies. I have 3 wonderful children. My oldest dd is 14 and enjoys chorus and theater. My son 12 is getting into fencing which I am finding out is also an expensive sport lol. My youngest dd is 9 an just started level 7. She has been in gymnastics since she was 3 and really enjoys it . I found the CB while googling knee injury info and have been grateful for all the info and support of it's members.

 

[Granny Smith]

My dd is 14 and is training L10. She just had arthroscopic surgery on her elbow 2 weeks ago and started PT last night. The goal is to compete L10, worst case scenario, she'll do 9 again. Honestly though I think she will get to where she needs to be for 10 by January. She just went back to gym yesterday after the gym vacation break, so she is working what she can and will build from there!

 

[jen1957]

My 8 yr old dd is in Preteam-Level 3 and is training Level 4. She started at age 4 with a once a week rec class and did that until January when she was invited to Preteam. It has been amazing to watch her progress over the last several months. She also played soccer until last fall, that's when she decided for herself that all she wants to do is gymnastics. Her gym starts competing at Level 4 and she can't wait!

 

[Blazing15]

My daughter is 7 and is a level 4. She will begin competitions in September.

 

[DND]

My DD is almost 8yo and is training pre-novicein Canada. I think she will be able to compete this year and she is very excited. Right now she is at her first sleep away camp - IGC - and I am sure she is doing great; me on the other hand feel like I am going though withdrawal. I am very happy and glad for her to have this experience, I think the personal growth being on her own for a week will be excellent. Having said that I can't wait to see her!!!

 

[ThreeGirlsForMe]

I also have three kids in the gym. My older DD is 9 (almost 10) and training level 6. I also have twin DD's (just turned 4) that are on the gym's mini-star team. They go twice a week for 1 hour at a time. As with the others, I write LOTS of checks to the gym.

 

[Bajanswife]

I have an 8 year old DD who just finished a year of USAG Level 4. She started gym with 1 year of rec when she was 5 going on 6, then had 1 year of Level 3. Our gym competes Levels 3 and 4, so she's done a few meets. I'm not sure where she'll be placed in September - our gym doesn't train officially in the summer (though whoever is around does go in and train when they can, while camp is on). Team try-outs are the first week of September, and from there our head coach will decide how she wants to group the girls for training. She will likely train DD for Level 5 (as she's been uptraining and has many L5 skills already) but DD will probably not be ready to compete it in time for the first meet, so she may compete L4 again. Her AA in the last meet was only around 33-ish, so she still has lots of room to improve, and in no way could it be said that it is unfair for her to do a few more meets at Level 4. She still has a lot to learn about tightness - her skills are good, but she hasn't figured out how to stay tight throughout her routines yet.

 

[melissajoy1234]

DD just turned 9 on Saturday, and is starting her first year of competition this year as a level 4. She's been doing gymnastics since she was 5. She actually did a mommy-and-me class for a few months when she was 18 months-2 years, but we quit for awhile. It took DD a long time to get the strength and coordination needed, but it seems like in the past year she has excelled in balance and strength. She must be one of those kids that it just takes some time. Same thing happened with training wheels on her bike. DH was insistant she get them off when she was 6. He worked and worked with her. She couldn't do it. Same thing the next summer. So he gave up. Then last summer, she started riding another neighbor's bike w/o training wheels like it was no big deal! Turns out over that year she developed the balance and coordination on her own to be able to do it. It's been that way with gymnastics for her. She wasn't that great and spent a lot of years in developmental classes. In the past year she's gone from Intermediate 1 and 2 to Advanced to Preteam and now Level 4 Team, so she's starting to develop the skills needed in the sport. The important thing is, she's having fun!

I have been a gymnastics fan since elementary school, and really became obsessed with the sport during the 1991/1992 Kim Zmeskal/Shannon Miller era. I have pretty much every competition that was ever on TV on video tape from 1991-2000. I've dropped off watching a lot the past decade (maybe because of being a mommy and wife! LOL!) but it seems like it's not on TV as often. During the '90s there was a competition on TV nearly every Saturday it seemed. I am not a fan of the new scoring system, so I like to go back in time and watch those great 1990s years of competitive gymnastics that I have! I only took lessons in 7th grade (1994) and figured out early on that I was not going to be able to compete in the sport, and dropped out.

 

[Tumblequeensmom]

Great thread. I have three "children". My oldest son is 24 who has recently graduated from college with a degree in liberal arts (????) and is now pursing a second degree in business information technology. My other son, 22, will be a senior in college this coming fall. My DD, 16, is my gymmie. She has been taking gymnastics classes since she was 5. Then detoured into dance and ice skating for a while, coming back to gymnastics at 9. She has been on team for 6 years and has battled many fears/mental blocks and injuries and still pursues this sport. She is Level 8 and also competes on her high school gymnastics team.

 

[bribri514]

Hi everyone and welcome!! I'm a gymnast and now a gym "mom" (aunt). My niece is 9 and was doing some rec gym classes through the city's rec district. She loved it and I recently moved to my brother's for school. I took her to an actual gym and she tested into their L5 team (she already had her kip, she loves bars). She's been there for the summer and she loves it so far! My brother works on Capitol Hill and is always really busy but he has full custody of his DD, so I'll be playing the full role of gym mom. I'm excited!

I've been around CB since I started competing again in high school. I used to be a L 10 (all through middle and high school lol) and because of family decisions wasn't allowed to train elite. I tried my HS gymnastics team but had better luck with our cheerleading team. I also trained DI college gym at my old school (was too late for scholarships but I got a spot to train). Unfortunately I had to quit right before the first comp because of severe spondylolisthesis. I've also had a chance to volunteer coach at my old gym for a couple years over school breaks. I'm hoping to coach more and start my own gym someday!

I'm no expert (unlike some of our awesome posters here) but I have been involved in gym since I was 3 in all different ways, and I don't see any chances of that stopping!

Oh yeah I think I'm also the resident Deaf CB member Been profoundly deaf since birth and use ASL (American Sign Language) to communicate.

 

[momof5]

I am a mom of 5 kids. My gymnast just truned 10. She will be competing L8 the next year.

 

[lilgymmie7]

lilgymmie7, We sometime know what level they are competeingthe next year because of up training. Breanna has almost all of her level 9 skills and with so long to go she will definately make it to nine. If she has her way she would make it to level 10. to bad i planned a 3 week vacation. ooopppsss that will take away from training lol

Ahh...I understand. I don't like to count my chickens yet...DD did a half yesterday and is uptraining a lot, but she is so young so I really can't tell what HC has in mind. She is loving every minute in the gym and can't wait to tell me what skill she just learned. One of her coaches told her she did great today, and like always acted bashful and just smiled. That's her in a nutshell...

 

[Twosmiles]

Hi! I am a mom of 5 year old twin girls who are in a developmental program. I have no idea of what level they are as our dev program is split into 3 groups before team. I have one in the first group and one in the second group.

We had no idea that we would be taking this path. DDs were severely delayed in gross motor skills following adoption and their physical therapist recommended a preschool gymnastics class. Wow.. what a difference that has made. DDs are excelling and having a blast.

I did acrobatics through high school through a local dance studio (small town usa -- no gym) and was a diver in college. Diving just seems so much safer but I don't think my parents would have agreed with that statement at the time

 

[MdGymMom01]

Hi all! I have two kids--DD, who is 12, started gymnastics at the ripe old age of 9. She was an all-star cheerleader for 3 years before she switched to gymnastics. This will be her 4th year competing (probably Level B) for Mason Dixon. She is also very involved with ballet and will be advancing to the next level in the fall and starting her 2nd year en pointe. She has decided that this will be her last year of gymnastics and will focus soley on her dance next year. I am thinking that I may need to find a ballet or dance forum soon!!

DS is 9 years old and into video games, Legos and likes basketball and lacrosse.

 

[bribri514]

We had no idea that we would be taking this path. DDs were severely delayed in gross motor skills following adoption and their physical therapist recommended a preschool gymnastics class. Wow.. what a difference that has made. DDs are excelling and having a blast.

That's so great Twosmiles! And it's great they're having such a good time too. My mom actually put me in preschool gymnastics classes to help my gross motor skills (especially balance) because of the nature of my Deafness. It worked great obviously ;-) (though I'm not sure my mom was expecting to have a daughter so sucked into gym!!)

 

[Empowered]

My daughter is 9 and will compete L6 this fall. She started gymnastics just before she turned 6.

My daughter's first gym told her she would never be a good gymnast. She was too inflexible, had no power and couldn't tumble. Though she'll never be a superstar, I think she's a good example that hard work and determination are every bit as important in gymnastics as natural ability.

To the new moms, don't get discouraged if your child isn't rocking 37's at L4, sometimes it just takes them a while to put everything together.

 

[Tumblequeensmom]

My daughter's first gym told her she would never be a good gymnast. She was too inflexible, had no power and couldn't tumble. Though she'll never be a superstar, I think she's a good example that hard work and determination are every bit as important in gymnastics as natural ability.
QUOTE]

LOVE THIS!!!! To me, this is the true heart of a gymnast!!!