Parents what is the goal?

[gracyomalley]

OK, so winning, moving up, achieving new skill, etc are all great motivators in life and sport. For each kid and adult, there are times that these goals keep us pushing ourselves to learn and grow, and of course, being a "winner" in many aspects of life brings financial and cultural rewards which in turn make life "better". Interesting conversation, for sure.

My kids started gymnastics because their old nanny happened to be a former optional level gymnast and wanted something to do with a couple of active toddler/preschoolers during the winter. Oh, and my kids happen to be short and strong, so it was a natural fit. What little kid doesn't like running about a gym, jumping, flipping and climbing on things and then getting a cool stamp after its done (a few, I suppose). It was fun, healthy exercise and also developmentally built coordination, balance, concentration (listening, waiting turn, etc)....as a pediatrician I loved it. They made friends, they learned to focus and keep trying something and with time they had the experience of being able to see themselves do "skills" they couldn't a few months ago. They tried other sports (well, the boys did) and in the end didn't like them as much. They progressed. DD got "eyed" by coaches as having potential and put in hot shots programs. (That, of course, made me happy as a parent - who doesn't like someone say their kid is talented?) She had fun and worked hard, looked up to the big girls and wanted to be like them. The boys wanted to be super strong, do triple flips and iron crosses....and mostly run around and jump off things.

Goals have changed and continue to change. The kid who was a fast tracked/like to be challenged with new skills 9 year old became a "maybe I'll repeat and win while I finish growing" 11 year old (and did at L7) and a "maybe I'm not even sure I ever want to make myself do another flipping vault or BHS-BHS on beam, even though I know I can because I repeatedly have with good scores but they really are hard and scary and its just a sport anyway but I love gym and my coaches and friends so I think I'll take my time and stay in shape and figure out what I really want" 12 year old. All three thought processes have been developmentally appropriate goals and she's learned a bunch and will continue. (Took me a while to give up on her "old dream", and its hard to think of not getting to see her compete this year - both because she's a lovely gymnast to watch, but more as a "loss" of my confident little one...although we aren't paying as much for the work out but don't compete choice right now, which meets my mommy goals....).

The oldest boy went from "mom says I have to do a sport and gym is fun, maybe someday I'll get out of L5 but if not I don't really care" to a "I'm skipping a level, and maybe another, I'm the second strongest boy at gym and get to show off all the time now, these new skills hurt and are sometimes scary but I feel confident as a young teen boy doing all this and really love it" . He may not continue after this year due to other interests, but has grown hugely emotionally, physically and confidence-wise through staying in gym through the "hard times". And he can beat his dad arm wrestling already at 14!

And the just turned 10 year old boy still mostly needs a safe place to flip and jump about, but is learning how to turn his "game on" and use good form in meets, how to get over fears (high bar...) and navigate how to have fun with similar ADDish friends but listen to the coach and be respectful. He sometimes gets a medal or 2 (much less often than the other 2), but right now is feeling like a "winner" as he worked harder and got to move up to L6.

Soooo....although there are a group of people on CB with amazingly talented kids, who have the gift of parents who can support them, coaches and training centers able to offer the best possible training, and a driven personality that will lead them to Elite or college gym (and my kids have friends on the college track, which DD just jumped off by her choice), my guess is that most of us just love our kids and find gymnastics fascinating. We are certainly invested (can I admit to hyper invested) type parents. But the goals for most I would guess are for our kids to get the most out of a sport they love - and learn and grow from it. In reality, most of the good coaches I have had the pleasure of either my kids working with or "heard from" here on CB have similar goals - for a very few kids that means helping them get to the "top"....but even my kids HC, who has personally "been there, done that", wants each kid to use gymnastics as a way to grow into a confident, healthy adult, and love what they are doing!

 

[blueredzone]

Winning can mean different things in different sports. If you have an offensive ineffective football team. Getting a touchdown might be a win. Or maybe a win by the defense is only allowing 3 pts. Or maybe a win in golf is scoring under a 100. Maybe golf is the closest sport to gymnastics in the winning vs. not winning debate

I maybe different but I did not grow up in a time where everyone gets a trophy and we all need participation awards. That's why I think it's neat to place in an event or AA.

I know judges are "subjective", however I wonder how many parents are thinking there kid only placed because the judges were "subjective".


I realize placing is not the most important thing and I'm proud of my dd for working hard at the sport, gaining new skills, and moving up levels. But if she places I'm sure not going to be upset that she scored more than another child.

 

[RyanS]

Our goal when placing our son in gymnastics was not to produce a winner or future Olympian, it was to produce a better person. Based on what we have seen so far gymnastics is having a clearly positive effect on his life. I can't wait to see the transformation of who he is as a person evolve as he becomes a better athlete. I could gush on-and-on about how gymnastics has helped our son become the amazing person he is today. Even if we stopped right now it would have all been money and time well spent. The best part is, the story is still developing! We are still on this crazy-train and we are having a blast. I'll let you know what it's like when we get to the next station. Whoooooo! Whooooooo!

 

[profmom]

Both of mine are on the slow train and I'm not posting videos of "amazing tiny gymnasts!" (though of course they both amaze me). For them, winning is acquiring new skills. They like moving up levels, and both of them get to do that this year, and they like winning medals at meets, which I hope will also happen for both of them this year, but they are really into advancing for love of the sport. Right now, I think DD's greatest ambition is to make it to L9 in a few years and eventually L10 so that she can have the option of doing club gym in college. DS has stronger move-up ambitions right now because he wants to get to optionals where he can have his own routines. But he would also like to do gym in college, though he knows it's a long road to get there. Both of them are also hoping to get far enough and gain enough experience that coaching is a realistic part-time job during their college years. I'm very happy about that, because I think they would both be really good at it.

It will be an interesting year for DS, who had a great competitive season last year. This year, he's both doing a new level and spending more time training for the future, so he won't have the year that he did last year in terms of meet results. I think, though, that he won't care as long as he's developing and advancing in the gym. DD has been through this before and knows that L8 will be tough, but she is very happy to be moving on, and I think will really enjoy being in a level where she can do basic minimum routines in some events but have the chance to upgrade in others.

 

[MeetDirector]

My dd started this crazy sport when she was 4. Her goal then (if they can have goals that young) was to have fun. Having fun turned into the sport becoming her passion, especially when she saw that she had a little talent (not a lot and she didn't burn up the levels). Her passion continued each year as she poured more and more of her time into the sport. As she moved up in the levels, she started to see that she was able to do things that not many other people could do. She also saw the results of her hard work. Last year, she was the regional all-around champ. She has had to make a ton of sacrifices to keep doing "her passion"; she has matured into an amazing young woman that is driven to do her best and that has excelled in her academic career as well. Goal achieved!

 

[Ali'sMom]

For my DD, yes, she loves getting medals, and coming in 1st.
But in the whole scheme of things, she wants to be able to do her skills well enough that they're considered "good".

For us, as parents, our goal is for her to be good enough to stay happy enough in gymnastics (maybe through high school) to "keep her off the streets". I mean that last part jokingly, but she's not a ball player, she's not a runner. She's not a diver. This is her sport. I don't believe she's going to get any scholarship, nor do I think she'll ever compete for a college. I'm just hoping she feels confident about her sport as long as she continues to pursue it.

Oh - and SHE cannot wait to get past Level 5, into Optionals. Strictly so she can pick music (at L4, she's got a list going already).

 

[gasrgoose]

This thread is an excellent example of what makes gymnastics a great sport. Winning has been expressed in several different ways and all are great.

 

[balancedmom]

Interesting thread. Not all the parents on CB have "winners" in the traditional sense, or kids gunning for the Olympics. Though my 9 year old may still hold that dream somewhere in her head, she barely placed in level 5 last year, her first year in USAG. She is hoping her scores improve this year in level 6. While she would love to be up on the podium (and we would love to see that), and she works harder than many, I am not sure that is where she will ever be. But she loves going to practice, loves doing gymnastics, and she can keep going until she does not love it anymore. But, for her, winning is just a clean meet where she does her best.

 

[LizzieLac]

My new goal is for DD to not get injured EVER again.

 

[2gymmies]

I have one in the "likes to win" category. I mean, who doesn't like to win?!?! And I'm talking about the good old fashioned "I got first place" win. She is humble when she does but when she doesn't it really fuels her fire. She also likes her team to win and she likes to know that she contributed to the team score. She likes learning skills, don't get me wrong, but learning the skills and perfecting them are simply a means to an end.

 

[happychaos]

In addition to what others have said, IMO it is about the amount of time spent in the gym. The amount of time spent competing is very small compared to the total amount of time spent in the gym doing gymnastics. Gymnastics requires many more hours per week than most sports. Additionally, there is no off-season. Our girls are in the gym year-round.

So, I think that gymnasts are naturally more concerned with the progress being made on a day-to-day basis, than winning a meet or two.

Additionally, kids are pretty smart. They know when a "win" is a true accomplishment. I think it was JBS that said something like "winning is just a matter of what level you compete your athletes at". And this is true. Level 8's take very little satisfaction in a win at level 6.

 

[LJL07]

Soooo....although there are a group of people on CB with amazingly talented kids, who have the gift of parents who can support them, coaches and training centers able to offer the best possible training, and a driven personality that will lead them to Elite or college gym (and my kids have friends on the college track, which DD just jumped off by her choice), my guess is that most of us just love our kids and find gymnastics fascinating.

Very well put.

 

[blueredzone]

I would assume from most of the posts that I have seen on here in my short time as being a member of this community. All of the "Brag Alert" Threads have something to do with learning a new skill. Be it the Kip or any other skill that I have no idea what it means.

While I agree I am a newbie, but I have failed to see a "Brag Alert" post about someone winning state or placing in an event.

So using this information on the Parent forum only. I would say most of the members here are Skill Oriented. I wonder though if it would be same over on the Gymnast forum. I know my daughter gets amped up when she learns a new skill. Although I remember her being amped as well after her and her team placed in the meet she did last year.

 

[iagymmom]

My dd has dreams of being a d1 college gymnast for the long term and her short term goals are always skill oriented. She has a goal of not repeating any compulsory levels. She's currently level 4, 8 y.old. My goal is to keep being in the position that we as a family can continue to afford this crazy sport ;-)

 

[Ex member]

I guess my youngest dd's groups goals is Grades (similar to levels in the USA), you cannot do grades until you are 8.

It seems if my oldest dd's groups goal is to get in the National Squad as they are trying out at the end of the month.

 

[Deleted member D3987]

My dd started this crazy sport when she was 4. Her goal then (if they can have goals that young) was to have fun. Having fun turned into the sport becoming her passion, especially when she saw that she had a little talent (not a lot and she didn't burn up the levels). Her passion continued each year as she poured more and more of her time into the sport. As she moved up in the levels, she started to see that she was able to do things that not many other people could do. She also saw the results of her hard work. Last year, she was the regional all-around champ. She has had to make a ton of sacrifices to keep doing "her passion"; she has matured into an amazing young woman that is driven to do her best and that has excelled in her academic career as well. Goal achieved!

that's right! it's all about the bass, no treble!!

 

[MeetDirector]

dunno, once again I am honored by your validation. I will say that it did take us some time at the beginning to sort out our role in this experience, but once we reached that magic "trust" point, it has been a good ride. Graduation looms this spring and the future is wide open to her. We are very confident that whatever confronts her in the future she will be able to handle it as a result of this gymnastics life that she (and we) have lived.

We have been blessed to have an amazing coaching team that, I will guess, are very similar to you and your approach to gymnastics.