Parents My 4 year old might make developmental team with my 6 year old.... ut oh!

[tooootsie]

This could be weird. I was told by the coach today that my 4 year old is moving to level two class from her developmental team. she will be in class 2 days a week. They normally would move her to the next developmental team but they don't have enough kids. So this is what they are doing instead. Her coach told me if they don't get enough kids (when I am unsure) she will likely skip her to the next level which is where my 6 year old is. I told her that would be weird, and she said she is hopeful my older daughter could gain some more skills and skip at the same time. But what if she doesn't? And then my little 4 year old is there with her big mean sister...? Should I get privates for the girls in case they cant make another class for my 4 year old? I was thinking some privates would help the older daughter get more of her level 4 skills so she can move to the next developmental team? Any ideas? And anyone have experience of siblings doing pre-team or developmental team together? I guess my bigger fear is when they compete in a year in a half (if they are on the same team) that they will compete against each other, and that seems weird. Younger DD is much better, and I don't want older DD to be out shined by her lil sis. Not that Older DD isn't a great gymnast too.. Sigh.. this stinks.. I mean its GREAT.. but a pickle.

 

[htimcj]

There are a set of twins in DD gym both in the same level and they seem to be ok with it. They are both fairly equal skill wise and many times were on the podium together. There are also three siblings who last year had two in the same level. They never competed directly against each other because of the 2 year age difference so that worked out well. This year the three sisters were all on different levels, talk about a long day when competitions came around!

 

[Gymmonkeymomma]

My girls 3 years apart were on team together but never competed directly against each other. However older dd did struggle when it became apparent that little dd started to outshine her. My good friend has DD's 2 years apart competing same level, but her older one is much less competitive than mine, she's ok with little sis doing very well. You will never know how things will turn out, I wouldn't stress over it now.

 

[gymmiemom]

I have 3 girls in gymnastics. None of them are at the same level, but middle DD outshines both of the other two by far. That's not to sound mean, but it's true. In my experience kids in this sport learn very early on that it is skill based, not age based. My 9 year old struggled with the fact that her little sister got invited to team at 6 years old and she didn't (and still hasn't been), but is now totally fine with it and she cheers her on wholeheartedly at each meet.

They have learned to enjoy the sport as a whole and not focus on competing with each other. Even if your girls do end up competing the same level, chances are they will be in different age groups, so that will help

 

[2G1B]

I think it is different for each kid. Both of my girls have team mates that are sisters right now. My girls are 1 level apart for now and I can't see them being on the same team. It could easily be a disaster just because they would annoy the crap out of each other in practice. For my younger DD, there are 2 sisters on her team. They are about 2 years apart in age. The younger one often wins more medals; but that is because she is only 5 and there isn't much competition. The older one is more serious about gymnastics and generally scores much higher. For my older DD, she has a set of twins on her team and a set of sisters who are 1.5 years apart in age. for the twins, I would think it would be tough for the one that always looses to her sister. For the ones that are "just sisters" (not twins), it is the older one who generally places higher. I suspect that the mom said she just couldn't handle the 2 different schedules, so the little sister was moved up before she ideally should have been. But for all 3 sets of sisters, they seem to get along great on team and I have never seen any issues. I know that wouldn't be the case with MY DDs though. haha

 

[BlairBob]

Dangerous. Sometimes it works out, sometimes it ends up they end up in different sports because of it (Older one may go into cheer, etc).

 

[Gymmonkeymomma]

(Older one may go into cheer, etc).

Bahahaha, older DD has since gone to the "dark side", however, she found something that she loves and that is what's important. She never "loved" gymnastics the way little DD does. BTW, older DD is now back in the gym teaching Rec classes, something that she couldn't/wouldn't have done if she didn't experience gym first hand.

 

[GymGirl's Mom]

I would say no. She is 4. Have her stay at her current level/class and have them "uptrain" her if needed during class. It can be done. It's not like she's working tumbling skills on the beam and Yurchenkos. She is not going to be at any disadvantage in a year if she doesn't fast track- again, she is 4. IMO do not pay for private lessons for a preschooler- time is on her side, and her sister's too.

 

[iwannacoach]

I would say no. She is 4. Have her stay at her current level/class and have them "uptrain" her if needed during class. It can be done. It's not like she's working tumbling skills on the beam and Yurchenkos. She is not going to be at any disadvantage in a year if she doesn't fast track- again, she is 4. IMO do not pay for private lessons for a preschooler- time is on her side, and her sister's too.

I second that motion. Try to avoid letting the tail wag the dog.

 

[tooootsie]

They don't uptrain in the advanced pre-school developmental team like they do with the older girls. She is ready to move up. She has all the skills. I have seen her. like i mentioned, she is pretty talented. My older daughter though has a large gap between level 3 and level 4 skills to move to the next developmental team. I think I will get privates for the older DD so they won't be together. I am ok with 4 y/o moving early, she needs challenged. But I have no clue if this is how it will work out, it depends on a lot of stuff I am sure. I will let you all know what happens when the coach decides whatever Thanks for all the advice... Gymnastics gets confusing sometimes

 

[Gymmommy71]

That is a though one. It's no big deal if the older one is a star and the younger one struggles, but when it's the opposite, its hard to not feel bad for the older kid who is outshined by her little sister. I'd also say there's nothing you can do to prevent it - even if the younger one holds off on dev team this year, she will eventually catch up if it is meant to be. Kids progress at such wildly different paces towards level 5/6 skills, and the next thing you know the younger kid could be doing giants before the older one even has her kip (I've seen this happen several times w/ various sets of siblings with age differences as far apart as 3 years).

It's just a risk you take when you put two siblings in the same highly skill-based sport. Gymnastics takes it a step further than things like softball, soccer, etc. because of it's very specific scoring. It makes it pretty much impossible to not know who is "better" and by how much - even more so once the girls are the competing at the same level and going to the exact same meets being scored by the exact same judges.

 

[Cosmos]

I can relate to this..a little. I was told recently that my 4.5 year-old (boy) could be ready for pre-team in the fall, or winter. My 6.5 year-old (girl) has been pre-team since last September and she's progressing well, but she's one of the younger ones and will remain pre-team for another year, so they're likely to be at the same group level at some point in the upcoming year. Of course, the groups are separate, but both kids know they're equivalent, and since (due to how the birthdays come out) he will be 3 years behind her in school, he's likely to be on the boys team by 1st grade, while she hopes to be on the girl's team by 3rd grade.

 

[SignHere]

Well, I am a mom of two sisters , 4 years apart in age, currently competing the same level. The younger one is more talented, the older one is a much harder worker . Fortunately, gymnasts compete by age and level , so until they hit optionals, they shouldn't be in direct competition at meets. (Age groups get much bigger in optionals - think 12 years and younger ...). However , In the gym , at practice, I'm not going to lie- they are fiercely competitive with each other. Younger DD got her back walkover on the high beam, and older DD was not going to be "beat" by her sister and did it the next week.

So, my point is, save your money , because paying for privates for older DD now to move her up may just be delaying the inevitable . With my two, the older DD was a higher level for two years, now they are at the same level this year . The coaches tell me that younger DD is set to skip a level with the new level changes next season, so she may be a higher level

 

[Cosmos]

I second that motion. Try to avoid letting the tail wag the dog.

That is a pretty good idea, and I will add this. Even if they are pre-team together, the older child still might make team first, because it is not based only on skills, but also maturity. The younger one could move ahead of the older one when they're both on team, but with gymnasts who do very well very early, and thus are pushed up through the levels, I think there is also a danger of burnout. Competing at the youngest age that's permitted is not always an advantage.

 

[tooootsie]

Im sure... We are new to everything.. So we will find out. I always worry about burn out with my kiddos. They have both been in gym since they were 2.

 

[GymGirl's Mom]

They don't uptrain in the advanced pre-school developmental team like they do with the older girls. She is ready to move up. She has all the skills. I have seen her. like i mentioned, she is pretty talented. My older daughter though has a large gap between level 3 and level 4 skills to move to the next developmental team. I think I will get privates for the older DD so they won't be together. I am ok with 4 y/o moving early, she needs challenged. But I have no clue if this is how it will work out, it depends on a lot of stuff I am sure. I will let you all know what happens when the coach decides whatever Thanks for all the advice... Gymnastics gets confusing sometimes

Maybe they don't currently uptrain, but maybe they'd be willing to. IDK I don't understand what the rush for a 4 year old is. To do new L4 she'll have to be 7.

 

[tooootsie]

She will be turning 7 the year she actually makes team. She is 4.5 will be 5 in sept. so she will (if they do it the way they say) have her do level 3 developmental till next spring. And then level 4 developmental the spring after that and then the spring following when she is 6.5 shd will make team for the fall. It's within USAG rules. So I am assuming that is why they want to move her sooner. ? It's always a wait and see with gym.

 

[GymGirl's Mom]

Got ya! Some gyms have way more developmental levels than I am used to. DD's gym it's one year developmental and then L4.

 

[emorymom]

I don't see the issue with them being in the same preteam group for a period of time. It sounds likely that the older one will move up before the younger does anyway. But one thing they all have to learn is that it's not you against your teammate or you against your sibling or you against some kids in the other gyms. It's you against you yesterday.

 

[tooootsie]

Yeah developmental team starts when you are 3.5 (thats the first level of it) and then you move (assuming you keep gaining skills) to the Level 2 developmental, from age 5-6, and then Level 3 developmental team, 6-7 and them level four developmental 7-8 and then you compete the following fall. That is more typical in our gym. You can also go the pre-team route to compete, but that takes a lot longer and pre-team is large 20+ girls in beg. pre-team and 20+ in advanced pre-team. Then you couple stay pre-team for a long time till you get picked for team. The developmental team has no more than 6 kids per group which is fantastic You also pay much more, but it is worth it

emorymom, I TOTALLY agree with you.. they need to learn to be team mates. My older daughter is always rooting for her pals on her team. but with her sister? maybe not. Younger DD is so competitive with her sister, it would be nutts.