MAG Predict the future for me!

[rosiekat]

Just kidding. But I am wondering about what might happen with one of our kids, and curious how your gym would handle it.

We have a very good 7 y.o. L4 who competed well, learns fairly quickly, still has room for improvement, but would certainly qualify (IMO) as an 8 y.o. L5 at the end of the summer. If the decisions were all being made right after competitive season was over, I still think they'd move him up but he is still lacking a couple of skills (ie ROBHS). He decided he wanted to do some other sports for the summer, so he finished out the season's meets and then beginning mid-April stopped coming to practice. (With notification to coach, and I know coach wasn't happy about it, but whatcha gonna do?)

I think he is thinking that (if he decides to come back) he'll automatically get to come back as L5. His mom and I aren't so sure - I think if *I* were the one making the decision, he'd restart at L4 but once he could prove the skills, I'd bump him up in the fall sometime. Of course, he probably wouldn't get much of a chance to uptrain as there will be a nice new crop of L4s coming in that'll have to learn it all. (I do want to say that he was very consistent about coming throughout the year and has otherwise been a great "team player," at least to my eyes.)

My son is bugging me as he really likes this kid (and I do too, and I like the mom), and wants them to be on L5 together. I've already made it clear that that's between the kid and the coach...but as a nosy mama, what would be the most likely scenario at your gym?

 

[profmom]

Our coach has a "quit once and you can come back" policy, but the boy will then compete whatever level the coach believes will be appropriate. Time off does have a cost. On the other hand, if the kid was a solid L4, it probably won't take him that long to get back up to speed.

 

[skschlag]

In our gym, I would think no bhs= no level 5. But it would also depend on the kid. We have one that has quit and returned 3 times, and is getting ready to quit again. Sigh. And he is always welcomed back, and always competes whatever level he wants, really. He is very talented, so it is sad that they do this every year.

 

[lilmisssunshine]

Our gym apparently won't move up if you are missing an essential skill. We have one L4 boy who doesn't have the ROBHS yet and his mom (who's had a girl on the team longer) said that she's sure they won't move him up if he doesn't have it by the end of the summer.
Our gym also has a minimum requirement for summer hours (in weeks) and I don't know what they'd do if you just skipped all of them.
However, I'm guessing that they'd keep him at L4 as sort of a test of seriousness. We have an older boy on L4 who had been on pre-team, quit for a year, then came back and was put on pre-team. In my opinion, the kid looked pretty darn perfect last year this time (as a pre-teamer) on all of the L4 routines, practiced all summer, then was started at L4. He had a great competitive season, and they're now considering letting him skip a level by the fall if he works hard during the summer. I was always baffled by why he was at L4 because he really looked perfect and had all the bonuses, so it was sort of painful to see him have to do the same thing over and over. But I do think that the gym was just testing whether he was really serious or not.

 

[rosiekat]

I don't know if the BHS would be a sticking point for coach or not - newbie ignorance. But not all our guys did it even in the last meet, so I've felt like it's something coach wants them to have but isn't requiring yet. (I didn't give it much thought, as DS did tumbling before so already had it.) I think the guy could get it over the summer, which was why I figured he'd get moved up. But without being in the gym over the summer, well...And he definitely can't work on it alone, as he still needs heavy spotting. I think everything else he's good to very good at, and to my recollection, he had most of the routine bonuses down.

We don't do heavier summer hours, at least not for the low levels. I don't know about upper, but I don't think they do it, either. Our coaches definitely have the mindset of fewer (quality) hours to avoid burnout - L4 only does 4 hours and the max for anyone is 20.

I know our gym has a no-gym-hop rule, so I think that's part of why I think they'd take this kid back but at L4, to make him re-prove his commitment. (Not saying kid is trying another gym, because he definitely isn't, just saying that the coaches do expect dedication. I think that's also part of why they keep hours lower than some places, so that kids can still be dedicated to the gym while having some life outside it.)

 

[sce]

We have some that do other sports but don't quit altogether. They just come to less practices. Missing many months of practice is tough, as they may lose strength or flexibility (the other sport may not provide the same conditioning.) So if he left missing level 5 skills he may find it difficult to get them in time. For the coaches it will be tough to know what group to put him with. As they need to make sure the kids who have been coming have earned their spots.

 

[Madden3]

At our gym, repeating level 4 would be most likely. When boys take a summer off for other sports a repeat of previous level is usually what happens, even if the kid is really good. In my boy's experience, late-spring and summer is actually a really important time to be in the gym. That is when coaches start focusing on training kids skills for next level. It tends to be a time of good improvement and good focus especially if practices are in the morning instead of after school.

Your friend might be able to get around this if she arranges privates? But if she and son plan to continue with team in the fall they should arrange a meeting with the coach now, not wait until then, imo.

BTW I think it is healthy to encourage children to pursue other sports especially at this age and level. But the fact is so much time totally out of the gym is going to very mush slow progression.

 

[rosiekat]

In my boy's experience, late-spring and summer is actually a really important time to be in the gym. That is when coaches start focusing on training kids skills for next level.

.............

Your friend might be able to get around this if she arranges privates? But if she and son plan to continue with team in the fall they should arrange a meeting with the coach now, not wait until then, imo.

BTW I think it is healthy to encourage children to pursue other sports especially at this age and level. But the fact is so much time totally out of the gym is going to very mush slow progression.

I agree, I've seen them working on the new stuff already (and mushroom circles, but of course!). I also think summer you tend to have a kid out here and there for vacation, so you can get more 1-on-1 time with the coach.

I know she talked with the coach, but I think the answer was along the lines of "let's see what happens in fall." I'm not sure our gym does privates, but I may mention it to her. I don't know if they dropped enrollment altogether, though - we don't do year-long contracts, but the billing continues for a year unless you drop it.

And I agree, if there's interest in other sports, now's the time to pursue it. I'm kind of wondering if maybe the kid doesn't just live for the gym, because I have to think that in summer, he'd have the time for 4 hours of gym on top of the other stuff if he wanted to do it. (But maybe not - and of course, the gym is going to add another almost $200 of sports bill, which isn't an easy bill to swallow.) He might also not really understand that this isn't a sport where you can just drop it and pick it back up again easily (unless you're the special kid at @skschlag 's gym! )

 

[Sasha]

When is he coming back? Late August perhaps when school starts?

Assuming about 4 months off, he is likely to lose some ground and have to relearn what he had when he returns. So many factors, and really depends on the kid, but I'd say repeating L4 is more likely if he didn't already have a good grasp on level 5 and maybe even a few bonuses before leaving to relearn upon returning.

Of course I haven't seen the 'new' routines that are soon to be released, but BHS is pretty major for L5. Other common roadblocks to L5 are the front handspring, the high bar kip (though some gyms will spot these), and the mushroom circles.

In our gym, he would have to pass the L5 skills test in Sept/Oct to advance to L5. So theoretically, he would have a shot if he was talented and a fast learner, but definitely a tall ask after such a long break.

Also with the news of the two new competition Divisions - Div 1: Basic Routines and Div II: Bonus Routines - it's possible gyms will decide to move some kids up earlier who are still working on the Basic routines hoping competition in that division will be easier and more motivating. So that could be a helper to a move-up decision. Remains to be seen how coaches will decide to use these divisions.

 

[rosiekat]

I don't have a definite date on his anticipated return, but always had the impression it would be in August, so yes, about 4 months.

The current L4 team really didn't work on any specific L5 skills until mid-April and to my knowledge, they don't do a formal test. It's a small enough group that the coach can keep track of if someone has a skill or not, or if they're almost there. This kid definitely left before they began any kip work, so that may well be a deal breaker, too.

I was talking with a gym parent of far more seniority today, and this person also seemed to think it was most likely that returning kid would probably have to do L4, at least for a while.

On a separate note, it will be interesting to see how the basic/bonus thing works out. I could see that coming into play for some of the kids who (IMO) should probably move up but aren't necessarily shoo-ins. I thought I'd know more about how this all worked after a year, lol - which I might have, except for the powers that be changing it all around!

 

[Mom2twingymnasts]

@rosiekat I would focus on finding opportunities for your son and his friend to get together outside the gym. If this boy is taking 4 months off there is a good chance he won't be coming back or at the same level as the kids who are training through the summer. Your son's gym friends are going to change each year for a bit. Most of the kids on his level 4 and 5 team will not be doing gymnastics in a couple years. Make sure your son knows that these boys can still be his friends even if he is not doing gymnastics with them.

In the gym, the boys who have the same level of passion for the sport and same work ethic will gravitate to each other. Your son's best friend in the gym maybe a few years older or younger than your son. They may not hangout outside the gym but they will be encouraging each other, pushing each other, and really working together to get better.

If your son sticks with the sport, he will have a group of gymnastics friends from other gyms across the nation. They look forward to seeing each other at meets and gymnastics camps. With technology they get to stay in contact and watch each others progress. Gymnasts are just a different beast than most.

 

[profmom]

What Mom2twins says is true for the girls and triply true for the boys. The ones who stay in develop intense and markedly mature relationships that span all kinds of boundaries through their common passion. I figured DS would get close to the guys with whom he's spending so much time. I didn't realize he'd be making good friends with his competitors. They are a special breed, and I think their rareness makes them really appreciate each other. But it's important to help them nurture their non-gym relationships too.