Anon Repeating grades for gymnastics?

[Anonymous (cd46)]

Is it a common thing that parents of kids trying to follow the path to elite gymnastics have their child repeat a grade prior to starting high school to buy "more time" before needing to think about college, or is this just a thing at our gym? A few of the girls on this path at our gym have recently done this. One repeated 6th grade last year and another is repeating 7th grade this year. It is so odd to think that these girls, both 15+ months older than my child, will now be in the same grade as her - and my kid is pretty much in the middle of the traditional range of ages for her grade. One of the kids actually told her that they made the decision so that if she decided to "just do college gym" and not elite, that she'd be the best kid in our area in the class of 2029 and would beat the rest out for the scholarships! In the past there were a few who repeated 8th grade to have more years in high school as a level 10. I'm so surprised by this because in my other child's sport, repeated grade or not, you can no longer compete in USA [sport] once you turn 19, so the extra year would actually keep kids out of JO nationals in that sport during their senior year.

 

[Anonymous (4f8f)]

I've never heard of anyone doing this. I have heard of kids doing a gap year after high school to get another year of competing and put them in a better place to get onto a college team, and I've heard of parents pulling their kids from traditional school to homeschool, so they have more time to focus on gymnastics. Never heard of anyone having a kid repeat a grade in middle school in hopes of future NCAA glory.

 

[JBS]

Is it a common thing that parents of kids trying to follow the path to elite gymnastics have their child repeat a grade prior to starting high school to buy "more time" before needing to think about college

No... this is not normal. There are elites in college now that are running for the Olympics... so not sure why someone would want to be a second year 8th grader.

 

[Anonymous (3d13)]

Never heard of this in my 40 years involved in the sport.

 

[3dogmama]

No... this is not normal. There are elites in college now that are running for the Olympics... so not sure why someone would want to be a second year 8th grader.

I would think this was abnormal and not common.
I would be concerned about the student’s self esteem about repeating a grade that was not academically needed.

 

[WV Gym Mom]

No...not normal. And don't see how there would be any benefit...as it would be easier to just take a gap year after high school prior to college if someone wanted a little more time to work on skills.

 

[superNova08]

Definitely not normal. Repeating grades can be tricky on the social scene too. I can only imagine how awkward these poor girls are being so much older than other kids! I understand repeating if academically needed but otherwise that is a huge no-no to me!

 

[Anonymous (cd46)]

It seemed off to me as well. I assume the kids are not repeating due to poor grades given how much their parents previously bragged about their academic prowess!

 

[Anonymous (d3f2)]

This seems to be a new trend that is developing in my area with other sports. I am aware of a couple of basketball players who repeated 8th grade and one football player. For the basketball players, the rumor is that it was done because they perceived the younger recruiting class to be less competitive than their original class and therefore joining the weaker recruiting class would position them better for scholarship opportunities.

 

[Anonymous (85b6)]

I know if several families who did this for other sports but I haven't heard of it for gymnastics. Usually in other sports, the parents choose to move the child to another school (often times private) so that there is no stigma. This is less likely to be successful in public school unless you are moving to a district that has a considerably more advanced curriculum. Also, The athletes are onboard with this so there isn't a mental health /self esteem aspect to deal with.

 

[Anonymous (8cc3)]

I haven't heard this, but it really doesn't surprise me unfortunately. It sounds like it would feed into the instagram culture of late. This way they can say their kid is a 10th year level 10 (exaggerating of course!) or class of '29 and already doing xx amazing skill even though they are really a year older. You know.. more to brag about. lol. We've had some of our gym's girls actually graduate early to compete in college which seems even more impressive to me though.

 

[Aussie_coach]

There may be more to it. There could be lots of reasons why they are repeating such as missing a lot of school, struggling with literacy or numeracy, needing more time due to a learning difficulty etc.

But I can’t see kids repeating a grade in school, if school is going well for gymnastics.

That would never be allowed in Australia. Only the Principal can approve a student repeating a grade and it’s only done in rare circumstances as the government aren’t too keen on paying for an extra year of education for anyone. Private schools are different though, and nearly half of Australian students from 7th-12th grade attend private school. So they can change to rules.

Why would it be necessary to repeat for elite? If they finish high school and are training and competing internationally, couldn’t they just postpone attending College until they were done competing? Is there an age limit on College in the US?

 

[Anonymous (b050)]

This seems crazy to me! Never heard of it, but I can see how in this crazy gym world if one family does it another feels like they should too.

 

[gymgal]

It makes no sense for elite. And if they are good enough to go elite, they should have no problem with college recruiting. I could understand the lure to give an athlete an extra year of development before college for better shot of recruiting (non-elite). Not sure it's worth it though. Especially in gymnastics, where the sport isn't connected to the high school. Just spend a gap year in club gymnastics. Then again, I am not sure that would work with higher tier college teams.

 

[JBS]

I had to add this... there is now a 100% reaction for the site!

 

[Anonymous (535c)]

I have heard of it before both for gymnastics and for other sports. More common for other sports I think.

 

[Anonymous (cd46)]

I will say that at our gym, most of the "elite" training kids and >50-60% of the optionals are either in some version of a homeschool situation or an online school, so I think the social impact is likely limited at this point. Later on in life, no sure what the impact will be. I *think* in our state, there is some regulation (or really a lack of regulation perhaps) that prior to high school, there is no specific time limit as long as the child completes the required coursework and testing etc.

 

[Anonymous (4b46)]

This i did see happen at a fairly large gym in our area. I didn't notice it to be a pattern for a lot of gymnast, but for a specific girl. She repeated 8th grade and not because she had poor attendance or not able to keep grades, it was due to her having some injuries and it was in fact to have another year to compete as a level 10! Not something I would do, but nothing we can do about it either.

 

[FlippinLilysMom]

As a mom of a kid who is entering her 7th year as a level 10 I would not recommend doing this. There is already going to be years of wear and tear on their poor little bodies. And I feel like the schools will question why they repeated a grade as it is definitely not the norm in gymnastics.

 

[Aussie_coach]

There are a lot of possible negative consequences to repeating a grade at school when it isn’t needed.

Repeating work already done, boredom, redefining friendships etc