Mom of a late starter

[gympunkin]

Hi,

We live in Southern California. My daughter is a later starter. She is 8 and is in a pre-team/developmental program.

I am finding it very hard to figure out the whole world of competitive gymnastics and my daughter's place in it. She loves gymnastics. I want to under the culture and help her thrive in it.

I was very excited to find this forum and hope to learn a lot from it.

gympunkin

 

[henrik541]

Welcome to CB! You'll find it very useful. I'm a late starter too, I started doing acro when I was 14 and this forum helped me alot with the whole gymnastics world. (Before CB, I tought Beam routines had music lol)

 

[MdGymMom01]

Welcome to the CB!!! My dd was a late starter as well. She did all star cheer for about three years and then switched to gymnastics at the age of 9. She had a very successful Level 4 season at the age of 10 and had her first taste of "Optionals" the next year at 11. The league she is in is a less intensive league than USAG but still has 6 meets throughout the year and some of the athletes in this league also do USAG so it can get very competitive. My dd's team trains less hours also--around 10 a week. She is now a level "B" which is comprable to USAG 5.

The thing about gymnastics is that it is never too late to start! It can be a very beneficial and enjoyable sport for all ages. Gymnastics is also very individual where one should only really be focussing on their own progression. It can be easy to get caught up in how others are doing and compare and question why your dd may or may not be excelling as fast as others.

You will learn a lot from this forum! The best advice is to take it day by day at first, then month by month and then year by year. If your dd is having fun, learning new skills and challenging herself, then she will be very successful in gymnastics in her own way.

Good luck and I hope to hear more from you!