Parents Newbie mom needs advice please

[amiandjim]

I see both sides. My daughter also competed level 1 and 2 and yes, it's a good foundation and intro to meets...although pretty competitive here. However, I do see benefit in focusing just on basics, strength, shapes, and skills without having to spend 4-5 months learning routines and choreography.

 

[MILgymFAM]

It's a good foundation for later levels and gets them used to a competition setting. In our state it's huge and the competition is fierce.

Isn't that the idea behind level 3? I don't think there are any gyms locally that would compete below level 3. I honestly thought they were designed to be preteam levels. I don't see why it would take three levels to prepare to compete level four, or how it's more beneficial than focusing on strength and skills. Just MO.

 

[sce]

Isn't that the idea behind level 3? I don't think there are any gyms locally that would compete below level 3. I honestly thought they were designed to be preteam levels. I don't see why it would take three levels to prepare to compete level four, or how it's more beneficial than focusing on strength and skills. Just MO.

There are some that compete level 2, but very few. Most nearby start at level 3, which I agree seems introductory enough.

 

[duyetanh]

It really just depends on the region. I know where we live, there is no level 1, and level 2, which used to be rampant, is now dwindling.

 

[NY Dad]

I just read this thread quickly (so I may have missed this). Just want to mention (if it hasn't been mentioned already). And I realize it may be too late and/or relevant (OP may not care) (is that enough of a disclaimer?)

Once you call another gym, there's a chance that the original gym will find out. It's a pretty small gymnastics world. My daughter was on rec and offered to join level 2 (pre-team) but we switched gyms (long story). I eventually found out that the gym my DD goes to now knew which gym we came from.

 

[Gymnast C's mom]

I just read this thread quickly (so I may have missed this). Just want to mention (if it hasn't been mentioned already). And I realize it may be too late and/or relevant (OP may not care) (is that enough of a disclaimer?)

Once you call another gym, there's a chance that the original gym will find out. It's a pretty small gymnastics world. My daughter was on rec and offered to join level 2 (pre-team) but we switched gyms (long story). I eventually found out that the gym my DD goes to now knew which gym we came from.

Yes you are so right. I was reading an old local newspaper article today and here is a quote from the owner of my dd's current gym.

redacted.

Yikes! Now I wish I hadn't called the other gym yet but it felt pretty clear to me that the coach did not think dd would be moved to JO team at this current gym and that's what she wants. Badly.

 

[MILgymFAM]

I have gone to great lengths in the past to contact gyms prior to one switch for my ODD, including creating a new anonymous email address, not speaking on the phone, and not using names at all. As soon as we stepped foot into a gym though, we were immediately a known commodity. After the first workout a parent approached me and told me she knew where we were switching from. I guess it was a good thing that we intended to never go back to the old gym no matter what- old HC kicked people out for considering switching.

When my YDD switched teams her new coach specifically told us that he would call the old gym to let them know she was switching. He said it was the professional thing to do. That gym was probably relieved to see her go (they weren't exactly her biggest fans), so it was all easy anyway.

Long story short, yup. Small world and everyone knows everything.

 

[duyetanh]

I have gone to great lengths in the past to contact gyms prior to one switch for my ODD, including creating a new anonymous email address, not speaking on the phone, and not using names at all. As soon as we stepped foot into a gym though, we were immediately a known commodity. After the first workout a parent approached me and told me she knew where we were switching from. I guess it was a good thing that we intended to never go back to the old gym no matter what- old HC kicked people out for considering switching.

When my YDD switched teams her new coach specifically told us that he would call the old gym to let them know she was switching. He said it was the professional thing to do. That gym was probably relieved to see her go (they weren't exactly her biggest fans), so it was all easy anyway.

Long story short, yup. Small world and everyone knows everything.

True that!

 

[suebee]

The kid of the OP is in rec and wants to get onto team track. I doubt the gym she is looking at will call the old gym because rec kids stop gymnastics all the time.

My advice from my experience is this:

Find out from the other mom, since you are friends, who the person was that talked to you. She is probably not the level 1 coach or she could have just accepted her onto the level 1 team. She be another coach who may or may not have a lot of say - or she may have been the head coach. I think who it was makes a big difference. If the head coach says your kid is not ready, you're unlikely to get moved up now. But if it's just a random coach, level 1 coach may be able to outweigh that person if she wants your kid on team. If you want your kid on level 1, then perhaps you should talk to the level 1 coach directly.

That being said, I would have said that dd's gym does not let kids skip levels and does not let kids move from Xcel to JO, because I had not seen it happen. But then both of those things did happen, with no changes in coaching staff. So I suppose the answer is never say never, and exceptions can always be made depending upon the kid.

 

[Gymnast C's mom]

So I found out the coach who we spoke with is one of the level 3-elite coaches and she also teaches some rec classes. The level 1/2 coach is a different coach. Not sure if this is good or not because my friend told me the level 1/2 coach told her when she called that she trusts that coaches opinion.

 

[CoachTodd]

Am I the only one who thinks that it is crazy to write off a child for JO at 6? She only began gymnastics 4 months ago!!! How sad to say 4 months in that she cannot be team material! Certainly there must be other gyms in your area that are not looking to pick future elites. Obviously you have no idea what path she is headed for in the future, but if she loves it and you are able, I would look toward other gyms where she can go on a JO path.

My daughter started when she was 7 and did fine. I have coached kids that started as teens and they did well also. Make sure the coach can give specific skills she is lacking instead of vague descriptions of strength and flexibility. This will let you know if you are in a skill based program or if someone's opinion makes all of the decisions.

 

[gymdog]

Did anyone find this alone rather rude before even reading further? The PC way for the coach to approach a parents would be to ask are you 'Suzie's' parent?

Yes I agree, that's extremely rude and unprofessional and most gyms email or whatever privately not just walk up to any random person. I would switch your daughter's class to another teacher at the very least or do an eval at a few other area gyms (you don't have to make up your mind yet). In my gym anyone who wants to work hard and willing to pay the tuition and meet fees etc and can do the basic requirements is allowed to do Xcel bronze, the basic requirements for bronze are not very high and your daughter almost has them so...I would try somewhere else. I am going to be honest and say her skills for her age are not super unusual but it sounds like she is dedicated and wants to get better so I'm sure she can at least make an Xcel team and who knows...I would say check out your options if they're just going to shut it down like that and make it sound like she has no chance of progressing.

Usually when gyms call each other it's about team and not rec. still if you get kicked out of this gym's rec program...I guess it seems like it's worth the risk at this point since they aren't really offering you much. It's possible the coach you talked to didn't know you were referring to Xcel or any options but again that is kind of unprofessional, even if they see she doesn't fit with their level 1 team at the time the coach should be trying to educate the parents or refer them to a staff member that can tell them the other options, not just say "she can't do xyz."

 

[MAcastsalot]

Yes you are so right. I was reading an old local newspaper article today and here is a quote from the owner of my dd's current gym.

"If someone comes to us from another club we call them right away to let them know, look, this kid is looking for another gym,” Jones (name changed) said. “We try to keep a good professional relationship with everybody".

Yikes! Now I wish I hadn't called the other gym yet but it felt pretty clear to me that the coach did not think dd would be moved to JO team at this current gym and that's what she wants. Badly.

I know this quote and this gym, though they do compete starting at level 1 (or at least they have as recently as last year). You must live close to me! My DD is 8 and she has girls from 6-12 years old on her team. Most of the girls start pretty young, but the gym seems to be open to taking older girls if they have the skills. I don't think it's the norm in our area for gyms to only take younger ones, so you should be able to find something that fits.

 

[MAcastsalot]

I know this quote and this gym, though they do compete starting at level 1 (or at least they have as recently as last year). You must live close to me! My DD is 8 and she has girls from 6-12 years old on her team. Most of the girls start pretty young, but the gym seems to be open to taking older girls if they have the skills. I don't think it's the norm in our area for gyms to only take younger ones, so you should be able to find something that fits.

Misread your original post. I know a ton of people who have left team at your current gym, some are at DD's gym now or have quit completely. There has been a lot of coach changeover at the lower levels in the past two years.

 

[Gymnast C's mom]

Hi all. I just wanted to give an update since you were all so helpful. I took your advice and talked to the head coach for Level 1/2 and pre team at our current gym and she wouldn't really discuss anything with me. All she said was we will contact you when we think she is ready to move up. I completely respect that is how they do things but I also know, based on our experience that day in December, that if they really thought she had potential I would have known about it already! So I felt at that time that they might or might not invite her to preteam or team in May/June. At the same time I set up an eval at another local gym with a good reputation (although not like the current gym). This gym also trains JO through level 10 and has Xcel teams through platinum. Here is how it played out....

We walk in to new gym and I tell them my dd is here to try a class and be "evaluated" for placement. The girl at desk, very unimpressed, says fill out paperwork so I do. The coach who was supposed to "evaluate" (we were told this at the initial phone call) was not there. I'm now thinking oh great! They tell dd to line up with the kinder girl class. She is the tallest in this line. They proceed to warm up, (the kinder girls were warming up with older girls too). The warm up was far more intense then her current rec class where they basically do NO warm up but she did great!

15 minutes into class I see a coach talking to her but I am in parent area and can't hear. Apparently the coach asked her where she does gymnastics. Then I see that coach move her to the older more advanced group. Dd works with them for a bit. About 30 minutes in I see another coach pull her aside and they chat for what felt like forever but was really 2 minutes. Apparently this time the coach asked her if she was interested in pre team (or team) I'm not sure which because this came from my 6 year old. She told the YES very ecstatically. Then that coach talks to another coach, all the while they have been watching her closely. The next thing I know the first coach pulls her aside and starts working with her individually. The coach has her doing strength stuff mostly but some skills too. Then they sent her back to finish up with the older girls.

At the end of class both coaches come into the parent area asking for dd's mom. They very respectfully pull me aside so as the other parents do not hear (unlike my initial experience) and tell me that she has a lot of potential and they would like to put her on the pre-team. She can start Friday. It's twice a week for 2 hours at a time. DD is right there and beaming, she answers yes before I can say a word. So there you go. I guess we start tomorrow yikes!

Thank you all for your insight and for suggesting I look elsewhere. I have never seen my girl so happy and now she wants to make them proud! I might always wonder if I should have waited for current gym to ask her to team but it may never have happened. How can 2 gyms see things so differently? I think it's because in rec her current gym just never really saw her potential for whatever reason.

 

[GymDad9.9]

Hi all. I just wanted to give an update since you were all so helpful. I took your advice and talked to the head coach for Level 1/2 and pre team at our current gym and she wouldn't really discuss anything with me. All she said was we will contact you when we think she is ready to move up. I completely respect that is how they do things but I also know, based on our experience that day in December, that if they really thought she had potential I would have known about it already! So I felt at that time that they might or might not invite her to preteam or team in May/June. At the same time I set up an eval at another local gym with a good reputation (although not like the current gym). This gym also trains JO through level 10 and has Xcel teams through platinum. Here is how it played out....

We walk in to new gym and I tell them my dd is here to try a class and be "evaluated" for placement. The girl at desk, very unimpressed, says fill out paperwork so I do. The coach who was supposed to "evaluate" (we were told this at the initial phone call) was not there. I'm now thinking oh great! They tell dd to line up with the kinder girl class. She is the tallest in this line. They proceed to warm up, (the kinder girls were warming up with older girls too). The warm up was far more intense then her current rec class where they basically do NO warm up but she did great!

15 minutes into class I see a coach talking to her but I am in parent area and can't hear. Apparently the coach asked her where she does gymnastics. Then I see that coach move her to the older more advanced group. Dd works with them for a bit. About 30 minutes in I see another coach pull her aside and they chat for what felt like forever but was really 2 minutes. Apparently this time the coach asked her if she was interested in pre team (or team) I'm not sure which because this came from my 6 year old. She told the YES very ecstatically. Then that coach talks to another coach, all the while they have been watching her closely. The next thing I know the first coach pulls her aside and starts working with her individually. The coach has her doing strength stuff mostly but some skills too. Then they sent her back to finish up with the older girls.

At the end of class both coaches come into the parent area asking for dd's mom. They very respectfully pull me aside so as the other parents do not hear (unlike my initial experience) and tell me that she has a lot of potential and they would like to put her on the pre-team. She can start Friday. It's twice a week for 2 hours at a time. DD is right there and beaming, she answers yes before I can say a word. So there you go. I guess we start tomorrow yikes!

Thank you all for your insight and for suggesting I look elsewhere. I have never seen my girl so happy and now she wants to make them proud! I might always wonder if I should have waited for current gym to ask her to team but it may never have happened. How can 2 gyms see things so differently? I think it's because in rec her current gym just never really saw her potential for whatever reason.

Congratulations to you and your daughter.

In my experience, I have found there is no rhyme or reason to it. My daughter, at six, started in an Intermediate Rec class, the coach there saw no potential or reason to move her along and it took a substitute coach to see something and moved her along. Two and a half years later, she is training Level 7. Go figure.

 

[amiandjim]

Congratulations to you and your DD. And I agree with GymDad, you just never know what one particular coach or gym is looking for or sees in a particular child. My DD7 was on a team at a less competitive gym and you could tell even there, the coaches just didn't believe in her. We moved her in August to a more competitive, higher level gym and even though they are having her repeat level 2 instead of doing level 3, she has improved so, so much and has found a new confidence and work ethic that is astonishing. I really think it's because her current coaches truly seem to believe in her and encourage her, but are also tougher on her, which she oddly seems to enjoy.

 

[triplethreat+1]

So exciting to hear this! I hope we keep getting progress reports from you as well . Like Gymdad9.9, it took the right coach seeing my dds for them to be invited to team. (And like you, amiandjim, my dd7 enjoys conditioning with the toughest coach there lol)

 

[cadybearsmommy]

Congrats to her! Sounds like you guys have found a good fit keep us updated on how she likes preteam!

 

[Seeker]

Good luck!! You did the right thing here...they made their feelings known.