need advice for my niece....

[auntiedina]

she just turned 5 years old this past saturday.... and here is the story....

she has been practicing with the level 3's. She seems (to me) to be doing pretty well. she can hold her own. and just today she did a backbend on her own and then a kickback (which she has been doing for a while already) most of the level 3's are doing backhand springs but some are just doing the backbends and the kick backs like my niece is....but she just moved up so i know she'll be there pretty soon.

here is the prob.....

her coaches are very pleased with her on everything except the bars. They say she is still too little...or rather her hands are too little. and they don't want her to compete on the bars for fear of falling off and hurting herself.

should i fork out more money for private lessons on bars? wait till hands grow?

i know that the coaches like Sabian...BUT i feel that they are being influenced by the other level 3 parents....about 6 months ago the coaches moved up Sabian to the level 3 practice and there were parents throwing hissy fits and yelling at the office lady about the "4 year old" holding back thier daughters progress. 3 girls even left for other gyms...so they put sabian back into the level 2 practices. Now she has moved up agian...and i fear that the parents may be influending the coaches decision...

i KNOW i'm being paranoid...but these moms would make anyone wonder if they are behind everything.

AAHH...i just don't know what to do...i REALLY want to move her to a different gym....but i'm sure there are parents like that everywhere.


any thoughts?? advice would be very much appreciated!

 

[gymbabisMom]

It's really too bad that some parents are so jealous of thier childrens time with coaches that they would deny another child the same opportunity that thier child has. It seems strange to me that the coaches would say her hands are too small for the bars, she must be really tiny, what are they trying to have her do? Basic skills on bars for her level are pretty simple, we have 4 year olds working on them all the time. How old are the rest of the kids working on level 3?
Don't be afraid of checking out other gyms, we've been to 3 (started at 1 moved across state, went to #2 for 2 years then changed for many reasons) and attitudes vary widely.

 

[gracefulone]

It's OK for her not to compete on bars. I am a gymnast and would understand that Sabian wants to do everything, but Amanda Borden, captain of the USA olympic team in 1996, didn't even compete bars at first either. Sometimes gym parents can get too worked up about things. You can't let them influence your thoughts and opinions. Chances are, the other girls don't even mind/notice. You could also speak with the coach privately about the situation.

 

[auntiedina]

It's really too bad that some parents are so jealous of thier childrens time with coaches that they would deny another child the same opportunity that thier child has. It seems strange to me that the coaches would say her hands are too small for the bars, she must be really tiny, what are they trying to have her do? Basic skills on bars for her level are pretty simple, we have 4 year olds working on them all the time. How old are the rest of the kids working on level 3?
Don't be afraid of checking out other gyms, we've been to 3 (started at 1 moved across state, went to #2 for 2 years then changed for many reasons) and attitudes vary widely.

well she is small for her age...but she isnt "tiny" so to speak....

these are of her about a year and 1/2 ago.. and she hasnt grown much since...sorry the bar one is fuzzy..but i cant seem to get a good pic of her on the bar. Just trying to see if you can judge the size of her hands...
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and up untill now...they've not said anything about her hands being too small.

most of the girls working on level 3 are 6 years old and up.

 

[auntiedina]

It's OK for her not to compete on bars. I am a gymnast and would understand that Sabian wants to do everything, but Amanda Borden, captain of the USA olympic team in 1996, didn't even compete bars at first either. Sometimes gym parents can get too worked up about things. You can't let them influence your thoughts and opinions. Chances are, the other girls don't even mind/notice. You could also speak with the coach privately about the situation.

Thanks so much for you input. you are sweet!

 

[gymbabisMom]

She doesn't seem too small to me, I coach my littles on bars all the time and I have some that are pretty tiny. I do have one little girl that won't hold on to the bars for any length of time, or hold herself up at all, she is very tiny and has very little strength so we are working a little at a time. If your neice is willing and able to keep up with the class, then that's the appropriate class for her. I would talk to the coaches privately and find out what thier opinion of wether privates might help or if there is anything else going on with bars. There are benefits and drawbacks to private lessons. Getting privates can cause more hard feelings among other parents because the feeling may be that you are trying to make your child, who is part of a team if she is competing, better than her team mates. But is she is struggling, sometimes a few privates will help a gymnast over the hump, especially since there is no competition during a private.
Then again, at only 5, she has lots of time to get to competiton ready, and lots more years to enjoy gymnastics. There's really no big hurry.

 

[auntiedina]

thanks so much...

i actually just talked her coaches this evening.

There is a new coach...Ms Shay ( i think is the spelling) that says her hands are too small, but she is def. on the level 3 team and they are doing extra help with her on the bars.

Sabian is the smallest and youngest on the team..but you are correct...for "real" competitions..she does have 2 years to wait. So wait we will..and when she is of competition age...i may look into another gym or i may not... but for now...she will stay where she is.

thanks again for all your help.

 

[gracefulone]

She is soooooooooo cute! I love the pictures!