Parents On team but too young to compete

[lilymom]

HI everyone,
My little girl just made team (yaay!!!) but she is still 5 and won't be 6 until the end of feb. So she will be training the new level 3 but not able to compete until after her bday (which will be 1 or 2 meets)
Then they are anticipating the next year she would train level 4 but compete level 3 until her bday when she can compete level 4.

What do you think? Hubby is very concerned how this will affect her...she has already expressed that she is mad that her friends on the team will be competing and she won't. She's going to be heartbroken when the other girls get to perform and win medals/ribbons and she has to sit the sidelines.

What should we do? What CAN we do?
The coaches say she has a ton of talent and it would be a shame for her not to train this level and grow her gymnastics and she absolutely loves doing it but I don't want her to be upset when the time comes (there will be 5-6 meets before she is eligible)

thanks!

 

[leotardmakermum]

Perhaps she can become No 1 Team Fan for those comps she can't yet compete in, and help them by cheering them on loudly. If you make a big deal of that, helping her to dress in appropriate team colours (or club uniform) and then hopefully that will make her feel somewhat of an integral part of the team. Because of course they NEED people to cheer them on.

No doubt it will be hard for her in the short term, but in the long term it will be just a blip.

 

[GymBeeMom]

This happened to my DD. She was a little bummed but was old enough to understand why it was the situation. At this age just remind her that the rules are there for a reason and maybe make her a countdown calendar for her until HER first competition. She can also make special treats for her teammates at their first meets. Will she be able to dress out and sit with her team at the meets until she is old enough to compete? Part of the excitement comes from the meet itself...Hope this helps.

 

[MeetDirector]

There is nothing you can do about the fact that she can't compete; her age is her age. What you should do is encourage her to build the most solid foundation of skills that she can; nothing will take the place of the base upon which she builds her gymnastics future.

 

[BlairBob]

She can still dress out and sit with her team or sit with momma in the stands. Nobody really keeps track of this at meets and quite often girls from other sessions will sit with their teammates and watch. Yes, she'll want to be competing but it will be good practice to see and learn how things go.

 

[emorymom]

Well, maybe they would be willing to take her to an Xcel meet. If I understood the guidelines I just read, she could compete her new 3 routines as a 5 year old in an Xcel meet.

She must be very apt. Have you shopped around for a team that is not going to maybe put so much emphasis on new 3?

 

[bogwoppit]

My youngest trained for a year with a group of team girls when she was too young to compete. She was like their mascot and would often got to their meets and cheer for her friends.

 

[EastCoastGymMom]

Are there any other options for her - like a preteam group? The coaches must think she has a lot of potential if they're pushing her into it so quickly! Attending the meets will make her more comfortable when she is old enough to compete herself.

 

[lilymom]

Thank you everyone for the suggestions!
Yes I think she will be able to dress and cheer on the team; we'll just have to make her understand the rules and explain that once she is old enough, she will be even more ready.

As far as preteam, she has been on the young preteam program (they had a different name for it but it was setup to prepare the girls for team) for the last little over a year...she is ready to move on. She started rec 1 hr a week at 3 and half and they asked her to move up to this class after 6 months, just before she turned 4. She has been going 3xs a week for an hour and a half since last summer now.

She lives and breathes gymnastics....so much passion in a little one (It's still hard to understand how someone so young can have such dedication to one single thing!)

Hubby and I talked this morning, I showed him all your responses and I think we are feeling more comfy about it. It'll be a growing/maturing experience for her. He's not thrilled that we have to by the leo package for 1-2 meets but he'll get over it once he sees her in it lol


Thank you!