Parents Repeating Bronze?

[Momofsmallbutmighty]

Hello! I’m newer to gymnastics and my 5 year old daughter is competing in Bronze this year. She started on pre-team at 4 and was in a developmental program before that at 3. Her time on pre-team and before that was at a very good gym that I completely trusted. At that particular gym they would have had her repeat pre-team because of her age which I was fine with because I completely trusted the gym. However, we moved and had to change gyms. The new gym where we have been since last spring put my daughter on Bronze and has her competing this year. This gym bypasses L1-5 with the Xcel program and that was the plan for my daughter. However, prior to my daughter’s first meet the head coach told me that because my daughter is so small she would “of course repeat bronze next year.” I was shocked because I wasn’t aware of this and my daughter definitely is not the weakest member of her team. I have really been doubting our choice of gyms since we switched, but this was supposed to be the best place to be in the area since the better gym we were going to go to disbanded their team right before we moved. My doubts mostly lie in the fact that they brought in Rec instructors to teach bronze and my daughter has lost skills since starting there. She also seems to progress very slowly and I had to spend hours helping her with her beam routine because she didn’t know it from going to practice three days a week and I know other parents have expressed similar concerns. (Even at our first meet girls on her team still didn’t know their routine on floor and beam and were looking to the coach for help). After her first meet she didn’t score well and neither did most of her teammates. I want to trust the gym and if it were her old gym I completely would, but I’m concerned that she isn’t receiving the coaching she needs and now they are holding her back. Also I asked for privates at this new gym because my daughter really struggles on vault and was told no on multiple occasions because “they don’t like doing privates.” I just don’t know what to think. First is it common to repeat bronze and will that hold her back from tracking into Level 6 on time? We still have more meets this year and I’m hoping she can shine and show the coaches she’s ready to move up, but I’m also concerned she just isn’t getting the coaching she needs. Am I overthinking this and should I be concerned that it’s a coaching issue or just accept that my daughter needs more time on bronze? I also am worried because all her friends are on her team and they all are under the impression they will be moving up to silver next year and I know that will crush my daughter. Her teammates are mostly the same age as her too so it’s not her age that would be the issue.

 

[Coach Kate]

I think it's strange to say that right off the bat. Bronze is also really not challenging. I don't think we ever have athletes who repeat bronze.

 

[Pricess_leia]

She is only 5 so I wouldn’t worry about her not being on track, but it does sound like you have a problem with the coaches not teaching her well and helping her reach her potential. I would look into other gyms, maybe watch other teams at her upcoming meets.

 

[raenndrops]

It was her first meet. She is 5. Her teammates are of a similar age.
At that age, children tend to have short attention spans.
If they remember their routines in the first meet, that should be celebrated. If they don't, it's still ok.
... ... ...
We celebrate first meet scores of 6.0 or higher.
We celebrate remembering to salute before and after each routine.
We celebrate NOT running off the floor and/or crying because they forgot their routine.
We celebrate smiling when they are finished with a routine.
We celebrate cheering for teammates and being a good sport.
... ... ...
All that being said, do watch other teams at meets. If there is no improvement this season, look into switching. You said she is weak on vault. That could be part of the reason they expect her to repeat Bronze. If she doesn't have a growth spurt this season, the Silver vault might be even harder for her.

 

[Sebastian12]

My daughter repeated bronze and then went straight to gold. 2 years per level is normal for xcel - projecting the same amount of years from level 1-6. Higher bronze can have silver floor and beam routines, close to silver bar routine. The only big difference would be vault - silver vault will be a challenge if she is small and young. I wouldn’t worry about repeating bronze as long as they upgrade her for the year coming and there are always opportunities to skip levels down the line when she matures up.

 

[Dahlialover]

If the coaching at the bronze level at your gym is unsatisfactory, then you should look for something different next year. After competition season ends, you can have a meeting about the possibility of moving her to silver. You could ask if she could do a trial run over the summer to see if silver is a good fit. At the same time, check out your other local options. There is nothing inherently wrong with repeating Bronze but I would not want to pay for another year of a program that was not working well for my child. Good Luck.

 

[GymDadWA]

At 5 years old scores are at the bottom of issues you should be worried about. Skills is probably right next to it. A second year of bronze is sort of strange if your daughter was 8 but at 5 the gym is probably more concerned about grouping her with friends and mastering shapes than fast tracking her into a high level.

Does the gym that she is at have a track record of success? Is their program well regarded in the gym community? If it is then just let them run their program and you just cheer lead, you really shouldn't be doing home coaching. I know you want your daughter to do well, it just isn't necessary.