Men Moved to Regional (Canada) - practice during school hours

[irunika]

I’m looking for some insight and experiences from other parents. My son (8 y.o.) is currently training twice a week (8 hours total) and did not compete this year. Our gym is now moving him up to the next level — they call it “Regional,” though I realize the naming might differ since we’re in Canada and many here seem to be from the U.S.
At this new level, the team trains 3 times a week (12 hours total), and one of those practices is during school hours. That would mean missing about 4 hours of school one day a week.
I understand this kind of schedule at the national or elite level, where athletes train 5+ days a week, but I’m not sure how common it is at this earlier stage.

For those of you with younger athletes:
- Do your gyms have daytime practices?
- If your child misses school, how do they manage staying on top of schoolwork — especially as they move into higher grades?
I’m also guessing that this schedule might be due to limited gym space and coach availability, but would love to hear how other families and gyms navigate this.
Thanks in advance!

 

[skschlag]

My son started day time practices in high school. He was fortunate enough to have a school that worked with him on his schedule. He went to school from about 7:30-12 then drove an hour to practice which was from 2-6, then the hour drive home.

WHile this seems like a lot, it was amazing. He was home every night by 7. We were able to eat dinner as a family and he had time to do his homework if he had any. It also allowed hi more time to sleep. We loved the day time hours.

I would say to talk to your school. We would have done this schedule sooner had it been an option, but it was not an option when he was younger.

Good luck!!

 

[Dahlialover]

Training during the school day is not normal for 8-year-old boys in the US. Some gyms do have a homeschool group but that’s for kids who are already homeschoolers. A few gyms start a little early like 2pm or 3pm, which means some kids have to chose between leaving school a little early and coming to gym a little late. Missing the last 30 minutes of school is quite a bit different from missing most of a day each week. That would not fly around here. Most would just skip that day.

 

[Dahlialover]

Training during the school day is not normal for 8-year-old boys in the US. Some gyms do have a homeschool group but that’s for kids who are already homeschoolers. A few gyms start a little early like 2pm or 3pm, which means some kids have to chose between leaving school a little early and coming to gym a little late. Missing the last 30 minutes of school is quite a bit different from missing most of a day each week. That would not fly around here. Most would just skip that day.

Hopefully, the daytime practice happens on Friday or Monday when school breaks often happen. I would move my kid up but only take him to the daytime practice on select days depending on what is happening at school. He’ll still get 3 days all summer and during school breaks. This is one of those things where, if attendance is consistently low, the gym will have to reevaluate the schedule. I would definitely go with the “it’s easier to apologize than ask permission” strategy.

 

[Sourkey]

We are also in Canada but I’m not sure what “regional” means. Is that like interclub? I’m only familiar with provincial / national streams.

All the boys at my son’s gym train during daytime hours (1-5pm). Most boys at his gym attend schools that accommodate this type of schedule.

He’s 16 now but at his previous gym, he only missed one afternoon of school per week from grades 7-10. Prior to that, he would leave school an hour early on Fridays to make it to a practice that started at 2. One afternoon per week was very manageable when it came to balancing school and his schools were always accommodating.

My daughter has missed one afternoon of school for gym since she was 6, but it definitely seems to be less common for boys (except for my son’s current gym)

The main benefit I see day training is having an emptier gym to practice in, along with not getting home so late every night. At age 8, I don’t think day training is necessary at a lot of gyms, but it’s worth seeing what the school can do to make it work out for you.

 

[StephensMom]

I have a 7 year old girl and we live in a big metro area in Canada. Day training is absolutely the norm here for the girls. I was surprised when we first entered the competitive gymnastics world that it happens so early but I now know that every gym I know in our area has the girls come early about one day a week starting at around level 2 or 3 (so pretty young!). My daughter leaves school at noon one day a week and she’s in grade 2. I just keep good communication going with her teacher about how she is doing but she has excelled at school all year. She is very self driven and makes sure she does any catch up work before the end of the week without me being involved. I also keep up communication with her coach. My daughter went about an hour late to day training practice for about 8 weeks in the fall (not comp season) so that she could participate in the Christmas choir at school and went late on some other days for other school events. It really has worked out a lot better than I anticipated and we really like getting the evening back for our family time. As she gets older and training increases, I don’t know if it will work as well but we will take it as it comes. Her gym does have a homeschool program but we are hoping we won’t need to do that.