Women Prospect

[moudems]

Mt daughter started gymnastics at 13, I know very late, only trained xcel because she was told she was too old for optional. However, she has had several skills that can put her level 9/10 last season. Beam: with leap, back tuck, cartwheel handstand, cartwheel roundoff, back handspring and front layout dismount on the side. Want to train cartwheel layout on beam, and cartwheel tuck. Bars: kip cast handstand, clear hip handstand, layout dismount, training layout full dismount. She has done giants, on the pit bar. Want to train double back dismount and half turn transition from one bar to another. Floor: 1.5 twist, front full, front layout layout, was ready to put double backs on the floor. Vault: competes suk tuck, training supplies layout, suk full, kos, and front handspring front. She is 17. Would there be a coach willing to train her honestly? She only practices 3 days, 2.5 and have achieved these skill sets.

 

[Coach Kate]

I'm going to be honest, it's tricky. She has a lot of funky progressions. What's going on with her current coaches? What are her goals? Can she do an assessment as another gym?

 

[Gymnastics15]

Coach Kate asked some good questions. But I just have to say, AMAZING progress for starting at 13 and only going to the gym 3 days a week with 2.5-hour practices!!

 

[moudems]

Hello, what is meant by funky skills? She has a wonderful bar/vault coach. He is pushing her and really helping her to grow. The floor/beam coach she had left to focus on some personal achievements that she wants to accomplish. She wanted to go to college, but the coach/owner said she would never be good enough for college and would not give her the training opportunity. She wants to train elite, but we don't know how to get her into the places or talk to the people who will give her an honest evaluation. When we/I sayshe started at 13, the interest changes. She is steadily improving through her work ethic. I just want her to be able to go for her dream, as being new to this environment is difficult for us.

 

[NutterButter]

Real talk here. The ship has sailed for elite. She is 17 and has zero elite skills. Elite skills take years to develop.

If she wants to try to move to DP I would suggest going for an evaluation at another gym. Honestly though at 17 even that is a long shot. First step though is to contact some gyms in your area and schedule an evaluation.

 

[Coach Kate]

I mean funky progressions. Generally you see a pretty standard progression - so not having the Giants down is odd with some of her other skills. Beam series more typically progress around back handspring series. There are probably a lot of holes that a lot of higher level coaches would struggle to fill. We did have one athlete at a gym I was at a long time ago who started around age 10 and then ended up qualifying for the Nastia cup twice and then competing four years at Stanford so it's hard to say never but it is that one in a million kind of thing.

Elite would be a pretty big leap. I really don't know if you'll find a coach interested in taking her there. I would send a nice email with videos and explaining her progress and goals to any gyms that you'd be willing to commute to who have an elite program. But you may just get a lot of nos.

What are her plans for college? Is she a junior or a senior? She could always try to find a school with a good club team and try walking on it transferring later on.

If you give s general location, people might be able to give ideas on gyms if you don't already know.

 

[Gymnastics15]

As others have said, elite skills take YEARS to develop. Most elite gymnasts train 25–30 hours a week, year‑round, and they’ve been on that track since they were very young. Elite gymnastics isn't something you can really join at 17. The elite track starts very young because it requires many years of 25–30-hour training weeks. By 17, most athletes are already competing internationally or preparing for NCAA. This is not a reflection of your daughter's effort- it's just the way the elite system works.
If she loves gymnastics- the best path now is focusing on optional level gymnastics, high quality basics, and aiming for adult/XP/level 8-10 goals. She can still have a great gymnastics experience.

 

[NutterButter]

It's a testament to your DD's talent and coaches that she has come as far as she has in just 4 years! The wonderful thing about Xcel is that a knowledgeable and creative coach combined with a willing athlete with some degree of talent can accomplish a lot in a short amount of time. You are seeing the fruits of this in your DD in the fact that she has some skills that a L9/10 might compete. But having those skills is only part of the equation. Those skills still need to be incorporated into routines that meet the requirements for the level. Your DD is missing some of the gateway skills for L9/10 on multiple events and some of these skills simply take time to get. Giants, release skill, BHS beam series (cartwheel + anything was frowned on in my DDs gym and generally yurchenko was preferred over tsuk). On top of meeting just basic requirements for a level, many gym add their own criteria.

If it were my kid, I might consider calling some other gyms for an evaluation on their DP team. Depending on the gym though they may want to put her back to a lower level to give her time to get some of those missing skills (and then you'd have to weigh whether she's just better off at her current gym given her age). Meanwhile though I would absolutely be working with her on appropriate goals based on current circumstances. Sounds like her gym coaches now are wonderful...would they be willing to train some additional skills that she's interested in? She can still have a future in the sport after graduation - college club (NAIGC) and/or adult gymnastics are options. What I would not do is entertain her dreams of elite. It would be one thing if she were 9 years old but at 17 she can certainly understand the reality of where she is and what goes into elite training.

She has accomplished so much and can much more but the focus needs to be realistic and approprate.