My daughter just turned 8 and is finishing up her first year of competitive gymnastics. She competed Xcel Bronze, with three other girls on her Bronze team. One of the girls is age 9 and the other two are age 12, so in middle school and much "cooler" than the younger girls. At our gym, Xcel Bronze and Silver (for a total of 7 girls) are in a rotation together. They practice at the same time as the JO level 2 (9 girls) and level 3 (12 girls) girls. They have the same coaches and do all of their line ups, warm-up and conditioning together at the beginning and end of practice. It doesn't seem that any of the girls treat each other differently because they are JO or Xcel, and my daughter has a lot of friends at the gym. She also really enjoys the Silver girls she practices with.
However, at the competitions this past year, I was disappointed at how small her team was at meets. There were meets that it would just be my daughter and one other Bronze girl. It definitely lacked the team feel the JO girls have when they go to meets. I asked her coaches if they would consider moving her to JO for next year (for the team aspect) and they said they think she will be most successful as a Silver. Also, my daughter enjoys the Xcel program because she likes the freedom and creativity in the floor routine. Because of this, I am torn between wanting her to have a more supportive team versus just letting her enjoy it. She loves gymnastics and she loves going to practice and I don't want that to change.
There is another gym in our town that only does Xcel for compulsories and therefore the group is bigger. Their Silver group next year will be about 12 girls. My daughter would like to stay at her current gym where she is comfortable but I'm just not sure it's the best fit for her. Should I encourage her to try out the other gym and see if it could be a better situation, or should I just let her enjoy it and have fun? We have no aspirations of gymnastics being a path for her other than for learning life lessons. Advice?
However, at the competitions this past year, I was disappointed at how small her team was at meets. There were meets that it would just be my daughter and one other Bronze girl. It definitely lacked the team feel the JO girls have when they go to meets. I asked her coaches if they would consider moving her to JO for next year (for the team aspect) and they said they think she will be most successful as a Silver. Also, my daughter enjoys the Xcel program because she likes the freedom and creativity in the floor routine. Because of this, I am torn between wanting her to have a more supportive team versus just letting her enjoy it. She loves gymnastics and she loves going to practice and I don't want that to change.
There is another gym in our town that only does Xcel for compulsories and therefore the group is bigger. Their Silver group next year will be about 12 girls. My daughter would like to stay at her current gym where she is comfortable but I'm just not sure it's the best fit for her. Should I encourage her to try out the other gym and see if it could be a better situation, or should I just let her enjoy it and have fun? We have no aspirations of gymnastics being a path for her other than for learning life lessons. Advice?