Leekelhank
Proud Parent
My daughter is 10 years old. She started gymnastics two years ago coming from ballet. The coach allowed her to practice with the team girls on the old level 3 but not compete with them as the competition season had already begun. We only compete August-December USAG.
Then when the changes took effect, they decided to start her off at the new level 2, we wanted her to start at the new level 3, but decided that her coaches knew best. She is competing level 2 now and has a personal best of 36.455 with nothing but nines on all four apparatuses and first place on bars and floor. She has her back handspring (she has had it for over a year), cartwheel on beam, handstand, and front hip circle which are all new level 4 skills, although they are not perfect.
When we received our team contracts we were disappointed to find out that they had only moved her up to a level 3. In the past, the gym has skipped girls a level when they had the necessary skills, so we were hoping this would happen for her as well. It took a good 6-7 months this year for the girls to get their back handsprings and it seemed like they worked on this a lot through practice. How boring will it be for my daughter to watch all her teammates learn this skill that she already has it. My daughter has been crying and feels like her coaches do not have confidence in her.
So we met with the coach and he explained that he feels it is better for her future if she stays progressing one year at a time in the compulsory level to establish a firm foundation. He wants to see her score 38's and 39's next year and not just be an average gymnast with a 36.455. He suggested we keep her in level 3, but he would move her to 4 as long we understood that there was no guarantee she would do well and that she may even have to repeat that level. He also reminded us that their is no level 6 in the gym, so she is guaranteed to go from 5 to 7 later.
This coach is not the one that works one on one with her. In fact, I don't believe he has worked with her for longer then a couple of hours. His wife, is the one that works with her everyday. She told me she believed my daughter could do it because she is a hard worker, but she had to speak with her husband.
Now we are left deciding what to do. My daughter just turned ten and her goal is to at the very least be eligible for a NCAA scholarship. So to sum it up, she is going into her third year at gymnastics. She is currently competing level 2 with a personal best of 36.455. She wants to skip level 3 since she already has the necessary skills (although not perfect) and move on to level 4. I would love to hear from other coaches out there. Its so hard to decide what the best thing to do is.
Then when the changes took effect, they decided to start her off at the new level 2, we wanted her to start at the new level 3, but decided that her coaches knew best. She is competing level 2 now and has a personal best of 36.455 with nothing but nines on all four apparatuses and first place on bars and floor. She has her back handspring (she has had it for over a year), cartwheel on beam, handstand, and front hip circle which are all new level 4 skills, although they are not perfect.
When we received our team contracts we were disappointed to find out that they had only moved her up to a level 3. In the past, the gym has skipped girls a level when they had the necessary skills, so we were hoping this would happen for her as well. It took a good 6-7 months this year for the girls to get their back handsprings and it seemed like they worked on this a lot through practice. How boring will it be for my daughter to watch all her teammates learn this skill that she already has it. My daughter has been crying and feels like her coaches do not have confidence in her.
So we met with the coach and he explained that he feels it is better for her future if she stays progressing one year at a time in the compulsory level to establish a firm foundation. He wants to see her score 38's and 39's next year and not just be an average gymnast with a 36.455. He suggested we keep her in level 3, but he would move her to 4 as long we understood that there was no guarantee she would do well and that she may even have to repeat that level. He also reminded us that their is no level 6 in the gym, so she is guaranteed to go from 5 to 7 later.
This coach is not the one that works one on one with her. In fact, I don't believe he has worked with her for longer then a couple of hours. His wife, is the one that works with her everyday. She told me she believed my daughter could do it because she is a hard worker, but she had to speak with her husband.
Now we are left deciding what to do. My daughter just turned ten and her goal is to at the very least be eligible for a NCAA scholarship. So to sum it up, she is going into her third year at gymnastics. She is currently competing level 2 with a personal best of 36.455. She wants to skip level 3 since she already has the necessary skills (although not perfect) and move on to level 4. I would love to hear from other coaches out there. Its so hard to decide what the best thing to do is.