Parents Team Hairstyles

[SGMOM]

Our team hairstyle is a front side french braid back to a crown pony tail. The pony tail has to be tightly curled in ringlets. My kid has long thick hair, and she does not want to cut it. It takes me 2.5 hours to curl her hair, another 1/2 hour to take the curlers out, and another 1/2 hour to get the french braid and pony tail set. She has to sleep in the curlers to make this work, and she doesnt sleep well with them in.

I think this hairstyle is taking up too much time and that her sleep is more important than the curls. I could cut her hair, and that would shave about 45 minutes off of the process, I'm guessing. She doesn't want to cut it. My other options are to just go rogue and do different hair, or to complain about the hair. I'm worried that I'd be well on my way to being labeled as one of the crazy parents to complain about something like hair.

Any thoughts?

 

[GymGirl's Mom]

TEAM HAIRSTYLE????!!!!????

Matching leos, bags, warmups-yes- I think you should look like a team... but really a team hairstyle? Ugh, my thought is she'll wear her hair tied back and follow all USAG rules but she'll wear it how she wants to wear it. It's not a dance competition or cheerleading- looking uniform and coordinating to the point all teammates have the same hair is pointless to me.

Revolt!

 

[2gymmies]

Sounds like a pretty complicated hairstyle to be mandated - as long as it looks nice and is tied up and not in the way or distracting, I would think you could get away with something more user friendly. Does your dd want the matching hairstyle? Will it put her mentally in the wrong place if she isn't matching the team? Is there a written team policy or is it just assumed? Good luck with this one...

 

[wallinbl]

Team hairstyle? Never noticed it at any of the meets we've been to. I assume I'd notice that, or at the very least, my wife would!

 

[Esoteric]

We, too, have a competition hairstyle, but thankfully it is far less complicated. All girls with hair long enough are to wear their hair in a bun with matching scrunchi around it. Those with short hair are exempt. Prior to every meet we receive a reminder email that states:
"Please arrive 15 minutes prior to the start of open warm-ups. Please have your daughter dressed in her competition leotard and warm-ups. Hair must be pulled tightly in a bun with lots of hair spray. Please make sure your daughter is not wearing nail polish or has any pen marks or tattoo's on her skin that will be exposed."
I actually appreciate the way our girls look during march in. With the exception of 2 girls, out entire compulsory and optional teams all have their hair in a bun. It looks clean and professional. I happen to be adept at braiding, but I cannot imagine having to fuss with hair in that manner prior to a meet, especially early morning sessions. Way to start off the day stressed. Every little girl likes braids, but they do not especially like being tugged at.

 

[bluesocks]

My daughter also has very thick hair that is hard to get into ringlets. Some of the team moms wanted the girls to match, so I tried it for a few meets. Finally, I looked at my dd and told her I didn't think it was worth it. She agreed, so the next meet we just pulled it back. She looked very nice. Only the crazy gym mom commented and I just said we decided it wasn't worth it. My dd did not sleep at all with the curlers in her hair. It is a sport. She needs sleep more than ringlets. So...I say, do what works for you. (Although I do have to say it really helped that my dd agreed with me).

blue

 

[shelovestoflip]

Agree with all posters before me.....sleep more important than matching hair! My daughter has hair that is straight and thick and it is not possible to get braids to look good. That being said, the team girls wear what works for them...some do a french braid, some a bun and some, like my daughter, a basic ponytail (in just the right place for reasons I don't understand...but I just put it where she tells me!)

They all have matching scrunchies and use a ton of hair glue and hair spray and nothing falls out! They look neat and clean and that is what matters.

If our coach said matching french braids or whatever, she would have a revolt on her hands!

 

[MaryA]

DD's level 3 coaches wanted all the girls to wear their hair in a french braid, but they were also willing to be at meets early and french braid the hair of any child with a french-braid-challenged mom (me, for example). Since then, she hasn't had a coach that has required a certain hairstyle, though the current coach made hair ribbons in team colors and asked that they wear those. If there was a specific team hairstyle, it would have to be either very easy or else they'd have to offer parent workshops. I don't think they should require something that takes hours and requires a kid to sleep in curlers. This is a sport, not Toddlers in Tiaras.

 

[NGL780309]

In my opinion the question isn't really whether you or anyone else likes having a team hairstyle, it's whether it's appropriate for you to go against that. I personally would not take my child to a meet and show up with her hair in a ponytail if I was specifically asked to have it a particular way. Imagine how your daughter would feel showing up and having the coach question why she didn't show up with the required hairstyle? It might stress her out or make her feel bad. Which in turn might affect how she performs.

If you really have that much of a problem with it you should ask the coach before the meet. If the coaches response is that she must wear her hair that way, then I'd do it.

DD doesn't have a required hairstyle on her team, but we often try to coordinate. I personally think the gyms that match look really good.

Don't even get me started on how much I hate seeing kids with messy hair at meets.

 

[Azgymmiemom]

We also have a required hairstyle...a bun. Tight and unmoving. Nothing too complicated. Your sounds way too complicated and time consuming to be required. I hope they offered to pay for a prof. Stylist? Probably not. Sigh. Well, in case they don't change their minds, I suggest you get some curlformers. They go in quickly once you get the hang of them and are way more comfortable to sleep on. Plus they can be removed in a few seconds. Maybe that will help some.

 

[lhmom]

Thank goodness that DD's gym coach keeps it simple- a bun. I could not handle anything more complicated, lol! We've seen the more complicated hairstyles from other gyms and I just say a little prayer of thanks that I don't have to do that. Maybe you could talk to the other moms and see if there's an alternative?

 

[gymboymom]

I have a boy in gymnastics, so maybe this wont work. But I think first I would ask the coach if she could have braid part of the hairstyle, but not the ringlets. I would explain it is very difficult for your dd's hair to curl. To me, that is a compromise, I would just hope they see it that way and not that you are being difficult. Or maybe just ask if there is anything else you could do with the pony tail part (the braid style I have seen posted here might work) instead of the curls since they wont stay in your dd's hair.

 

[Quadqueen]

Thank goodness we do not have a "team hairstyle"!!! I have seen some teams all with buns, so I'm assuming that's a "requirement". My DD HATES buns because of the dive roll/extension roll in L5. I'm so glad we can do her hair how she wants it!

 

[Mom2Brats]

Our girls have to have their hair in ringlets if it's in a ponytail or they can do a bun. I really miss our old team where we could do whatever we wanted.

My daughter has super thick hair as well and I can curl hers in about 30 minutes. I do it in the morning with a curling iron. First, I put her hair up in a ponytail (gives my less to curl). Then I curl it... but here's the important part... I don't 'release' the curl when I pull the curling iron out. I hold it curled or roll it back up around my finger if I can't catch it and pin it to the side, or to another curl with a bobby pin. She usually has a huge curly bun when I'm done!! I leave it like that until the hair is completely cool and then pull the bobby pins out. Letting it cool in a curled position keeps the curls much tighter. I still can't say I love the time I spend doing it, but it's way better than 2 1/2 hrs and having her not sleep well on curlers!!

You might also ask about a bun alternative. Really, it works well for our team. They look very uniform (too much so as I can't tell them apart) especially since some girls' curled ponytails are almost as short as a bun anyway.

 

[mumoftwogymnasts]

Every comp that dd has ever enter she has had a competition hairstyle. It has varied at times from meet to meet and year to year, but it is expected that everyone wears their hair the specified way. However DD's coach is flexible, there is discussion with the parents re hairstyles before a decision is made and the hairstyle has to be achievable for everyone. So the length, thickness of the gymnasts hair and the abilities of the parents are taken into consideration.

I would approach the coach in a friendly manner and jusk ask if it is possible for your DD to have a modified version, having the braid and then either a ponytail or bun seems like a good compromise to me. The coach may be totally unaware how long it is taking to get your DD's hair done.

 

[bribri514]

That's the main way I did my hair from optionals on! Not always the ringlet curls (did those for cheer though) but the sideways french braid and pony, my hair is curly when I don't straighten it. My gym didn't have a hairstyle but we had a small team and in optionals all of us girls decided to have match hair from time to time and if not, always had team ribbons we made at a sleep over. As compulsorary levels we just did whatever we wanted as long as it was back. I had a pretty good handle on my own hair starting when I was 10 or so, my mom can do basic french braids but that's it. I'm very girly and she's not and I loved seeing the older girls with their cool braids and hairstyles so I learned to do it on my own.

My niece's team has a scrunchie that matches the leo. It's not required but a lot of the girls like to wear it. She really likes french braids and regular buns, but I'm hoping she likes more complicated hair soon so I can do it for her! Yeah I'm one of those people.

But all that said this is tough. I agree with NGL mostly. If it's a team style it's a team style and it's important to be part of the team. It's along the lines of wearing your own warmup pants because they fit you better. Maybe you could suggest a different hair style for the team that everyone likes (well as many people as possible) and that's a bit simpler? Maybe you all could do matching hair ribbons instead? Maybe your DD will eventually want to cut her hair? (I don't know how old she is but generally as girls get older they want to cut their hair more. My niece will be 10 in a few days and still likes her hair long!)

 

[gymmomtotwo]

Is this a sport or a beauty pageant? Curled ringlets, are you kidding me? Are the kids Shirley Temple? I suggest all coaches look to the world class gymnasts at the Olympics and request that their gymnasts wear a tight bun. The best gymnasts look their best with their hair out of the way and not a distraction. By all means, dress it up with a scrunchie. I saw a team at a meet with about 15 different ribbons in their hair in some sort of weird hairstyle. They looked ridiculous with all those ribbons flapping around. I really don't get why any coach would think this was a good idea. Gymnasts should concentrate on their performance not their hair.

 

[momofthreegirls]

Wow, it seems like "team hairstyles" are pretty common. Our team only has a few rules about hair - it must be pulled away from the face and neat. Some girls go all out with fancy 'dos and others wear a simple ponytail. I'm glad we have that freedom. For those of you with required hairstyles, does your gym require your girls to have long hair? (My DD has a pixie cut, so she's out of luck when it comes to braids/buns.)

I agree with the ladies here who've suggested doing the braid and ponytail part first, and then curling the pony with a curling iron. If you search You Tube, there's some videos on how to make good ringlets. It's hard to get good rest sleeping in curlers.

 

[gymmomtotwo]

I Reread my post and regret how snide I sounded. I think if girls want to have a cool, fun hairstyle for a meet (as long as the hair is pulled back and away from their face, and not a distraction), they should be allowed to have one. What drew my irritable comment was the fact that it is mandatory for everyone. It's not a practical or easy hairstyle to do, and therefore in my opinion not a reasonable team hairstyle. For me, a bun is challenging enough, so if you want everyone to have the same hair (one of my girls has hair even too short for a bun), you need to come up with a reasonable hairstyle like a simple bun or pony tail. French braids can be nice too, as long as everyone know how to do them.

 

[SGMOM]

Thanks! I had tried the curl formers, and even the longest length wasn't long enough. But, the pinning the curls after using the curling iron method does seem to work better than a curling iron alone. I tried it last night, and although I don't get the super tight curl that is mandated by the hairstyle, I can do her hair much faster.

It is a difficult hairstyle for most parents. However, I'm not going say anything about it unless her coaches complain about the looser curls.