Trialling at new clubs

[xrachx]

We're finally moving across the country soon, and have now got a confirmed move date for the start of Sept!

DD is 11, currently in an intermediate level group (ie girls that are too old for grades but have some talent), and she's working on the club's gold award (harder than BG gold). She is in twice a week for 1h30 each (one session is alongside the team girls), plus one to ones every other week to help progress some of her skills.

She's been working so hard to get certain skills sorted before the move. Some she's fine with (FHS, RO dismount on beam), some are still shaky (she can land her straddle undershoot dismount about 50% of the time now lol), and others are still eluding her (ROBHS has been hampered by a wrist injury but is getting there slowly).

As her current club is on shutdown for the next two weeks, we thought we'd take advantage and see if she can go do trials at a couple of the gyms up in our new area. One is also closed, so that's a no go. The other has offered her a trial during the competitive training time, which is 3hrs long.

I'm a tad nervous now as to whether DD would cope for the full 3hrs, and also if she'd get disheartened about not being as good as the other girls. I know it may sound a bit ridiculous but I just wanted some advice.

Would you mention something to the HC or just let DD give it a go and see how she does? I did say in my email to the HC that she was in the intermediate group, and the HC knows her current club well, so I'm hoping she's not expecting DD to be utterly amazing (that sounds bad but hopefully you know what I mean!).

What do you all think? Am I worrying over nothing? Thanks in advance

 

[Ex member]

I hope your dd enjoys the trial at the new club my dd(7) is in a Intermediate Group and they train 5 hours a week (2x 2 1/2 hours), dd is the youngest and the rest are 9,10 and 11.

I am not sure what path our intermediate group is taking but if it is similar to your dd's club then I am not sure why my youngest would be labeled as too old for grades but can see how the rest can be as they all turn 10,11 and 12 next year.

I can understand your concern about the increase in hours as my dd will be switching to summer training (for the first time) next week and will still go twice a week but the hours are 10am to 3pm, she will get nearly double the hours if you include the lunch break.

My dd has just started working on the straddle undershoot (after doing drills for it for weeks) and has started trying to put it all together. Going back to your original question you could remind them when you take her that she was only doing 1 1/2 hours twice a week in an intermediate group and then just see how she gets on.

 

[Flossyduck]

It sounds as though you've given all the information that you need to give to the club. I wouldn't say anything else at this stage.

In our club, if a gymnast is trialling to transfer from another club (other than rec) they trial with one of two coaches who do the trials. They are both squad coaches and their sessions are all 3 hours or more and will be alongside squad girls. The coaches aren't comparing them or expecting them to keep up, they are looking at what path might be best for them and which group they would best be suited to. Then they would chat with the parent about what they thought and what they are suggesting and you could raise any questions at that point.

I also wouldn't worry too much about doing 3 hours. I'm sure she will manage ok. Yes she may be tired after and find the conditioning hard, but kids cope.

I would say to your daughter what I have said above - that they are not comparing her to others or expecting her to keep up and she shouldn't try and expect that of herself or worry if she isn't.

The point being that she may not struggle at all, depending on the level of the group, she may keep up perfectly. Or she may not. But if she is prepared for that she'll be fine.

She'll probably rise to the occasion - good luck

 

[Iwannabemargo]

second that, also while she is doing her gym thing, try and get a feel for the atmosphere of the club. You say she is too old for grades, but there is no upper limit of the age for grades, just minimum ages, I know my niece did grade 14 at 14. Is it a happy place, are the girls generally happy, or are they stressed. This time of year should be a happy time as there are no comps for a while.

Get a feel for the financial and time commitment as well, as well as the commute from where you will be living.

 

[Iwannabemargo]

just remember, you are going from a mild area to one where it gets quite cold and snows a lot, will you able to get there in bad weather ?

 

[xrachx]

Thanks everyone

DD doesn't seem worried at all by it (she did 2x 3hr sessions a day while at Rushmoor after all), she's just excited to try somewhere new.

It's me that's getting myself worried for her. We've not even visited this gym before either as it's on the other side of the city, but it's on a major bus route which will make it easier for DD to get to after school etc.

Definitely going to keep an eye out on how everything is there, especially as DD has progressed so much in a short time in her current club compared to the old one, so it's important to get the right fit for her.

Fingers crossed!

 

[Libby's gym mom]

I think she will do just fine, my dd is 7 and her usual hrs are 9 a week but as the school have broke up for summer , she is currently training 15 hours !! And she's absolutely loving it !! That's without her home training by the way !!
The transition to 3 hrs will be a good test as to whether your dd has the commitment to the sport , as strength and conditioning of the body starts to also play a large part too and coaches will look at that too ,as another member said they soon adjust and as long as your dd is happy that's all that matters . Keep in touch and let us know how she gets on x

 

[xrachx]

Well DD had her trial yesterday.
Her rotation started with bar (which she's fairly strong at), but she ended up with a particularly nasty rip which hampered the rest of her session.
Floor and beam, she just went through the skills she's confident with.
Vault, handstand flat back and front handspring. She's capable of doing both well, but after the first couple of runs, she seemingly hit a wall (pain from landing on her rip mainly) and just couldn't manage to do them


Unfortunately HC was out last night, so it was her number 2 keeping watch, and now we're waiting on the word from HC about what they want to offer. We're pretty much convinced she won't get placed with the group she was with last night, purely as she had a bad evening (which even DD admitted), so it's just fingers crossed time.


What's worse is the horror stories I've heard from parents and DD heard from gymnasts about the other club we were considering. Slightly worried about her trialling there now....

 

[floppycat]

I do think trials should be a week long as the girls can get so nervous and not perform their best. Don't believe rumours just try them all out. It's so tricky to find the right fit.

 

[Rapunzel]

All you can do is wait and see - even a gymnast on bad day can show their potential in other ways that nailing skills - tightness, body control, strength and flexibility can all be observed without say hitting a perfect front handspring vault.
The comments about the other gym, I'd take with a pinch if salt - try and keep an open mind. What fits some doesn't fit others.
Transitioning to 3hours - we had that with oldest dd when she was 9, she went from 1.5hrs to 3hrs - the hardest thing was getting her to eat enough after school/before gym, I'd do her jacket potato/pasta but needed to be organised to get it ready around work & the school run. I would also make her smoothies (as she won't eat bananas outside of a smoothie) But then I discovered about a month in that they had a half time break and the other girls had chocolate - which sorted out her energy levels.

 

[xrachx]

Still no word from HC, so I did a quick follow up email earlier to say thanks and to say how lovely the girls/coaches were to DD.

Had a week of things going wrong so could do with some good news lol

 

[Jenny]

Fingers crossed. I would try the other gym out. Rival gyms tend not to be too kind about each other. Wait and see what you think.

 

[xrachx]

Well the HC came back to me today. They are offering her even less hours than she's on now, but said they may increase hours in time and move her to a different group, but of course there's no guarantees.

Not entirely sure how she's meant to progress on so little hours, but the news left DD saying maybe she should just quit gymnastics

We've had a long chat about her options, and we may have found a compromise. She's going to trial at the other club plus another smaller club locally and see what they say/what hours & opportunities they can offer. Also going to look into trampolining too as she really enjoys it as well so there's options there.
We did discuss other gymnastics paths (mainly acro & rhythmic), but she said neither give her the opportunity to do the things she loves about gym.


I'll admit, I've had a few CGM moments recently, but while I know she's not superstar material, she does have a lot of ability, strength and skill.
I just hope a club can see the potential her current coach sees in her and gives her a chance to shine....

 

[Iwannabemargo]

just a side note, from what I have seen / heard / read a lot of "Big Clubs" have their pick of girls and churn large numbers with a few chosen ones. A good mid-sized club can offer many more opportunities to good, but not elite gymnasts, who can progress and have success.

 

[xrachx]

That's exactly my thoughts now, having seen and experienced the higher end of the scale when it comes to club sizes. I'm hoping this smaller gym might be a good fit, even though they don't have a name for themselves like the other clubs around.

 

[Tally Ho]

As someone that moved from a big club in our area to a small one, I can honestly say it gave older DD far more opportunities

 

[Iwannabemargo]

I remember you saying Tally Ho how much better your new club is

 

[Faith]

yep, we moved from a club with all the bells and whistles to one with no permanent facility. DD at 6 has had far more opportunities than DD1 did at the same age. Not sure how it will work out if she gets good or wants/needs more, but it's going to be better for her switching having competed regionally- at her old club I don't think she'd make it out of rec.

She's older isn't she? A small club where she can be a big deal might work better than a small club where she's left on a back burner.

And tell her not to dismiss Acro! It's really good for later starters, and great fun. Comps especially as you have friends on the floor with you . Other people are your apparatus, that's all!

 

[xrachx]

You're all stars you know
The whole move has stressed me right out, let alone the gym aspect of it all, so to know there are people who understand why the gym choice matters so much really helps, so thank you

I heard from the smaller club today. We had a chat about DDs current skills and what's she's working on, and they said they'd definitely have space for someone of her level. Competing is certainly within her reach at this club too, so just have to wait until we're up next for her to do a trial. But I'm finally feeling hopeful which is a nice relief!


I'd love her to at least try acro, as she's incredibly strong already, but she's seeing it only as an option if artistic doesn't happen for her. Her dad on the other hand is saying scrap gym altogether, do martial arts instead, but I lost count of the amount of eye rolls when she heard that suggestion lol

 

[bookworm]

As someone that moved from a big club in our area to a small one, I can honestly say it gave older DD far more opportunities

Same here ...we moved from one with (as my daughter puts it) "the best equipment around" and National Team members, big optional teams to a much smaller gym square footage wise and team size...and my daughter has thrived . I really think she would have left the sport if we had stayed at our former gym...