What to ask Head Coach?

[standsonherhands]

My dd is a 7 year old L4 preparing for first competition season. She trains only 8 hours a week, but it still seems like a lot with school. I went ahead and put in a call to HC to ask for help about how to manage the demands of gym and school. I've never had a conversation with HC before, and now I've asked her to call (basically because gymnastics is stressing ME out). Honestly, I'm hoping HC will help me justify how much effort gymnastics already takes from the family, but I don't know how to ask that. I thought I could ask about sleep, nutrition, and what to do about practice when dd is generally exhausted. What would you ask?

I'm glad HC is calling back, because tonight I'm frustrated with gymnastics. I want to let dd continue gym, but it has to work for my family. I used to think "I let dd do gym because she loves it." Tonight I'm thinking: But I don't let her miss dinner to play with her friends for 4 hours after school when she's exhausted. I don't let her eat only chocolate ice cream because she loves it. I don't let her skip homework and stay up late on a school night to watch TV (but I do for gymnastics). Anybody out there with perspective? I could sure use some...

 

[gymcoach26]

What time are her practices and what nights are they on?

Sometimes the schedule gets made without even taking into account the ages of kids at these practices. For example, at the start of last year we had planned on the level 4s having school night practices that ended at 8:30. All of these kids are 6-8 years old. On the other hand we had scheduled one of prep opt practice on Friday night. These kids are all much older. After it was brought to our attention that the 4s were exhausted and struggling with homework, we switched the groups, so the 4s could have the Friday practice and not have to worry about school the next AM.

Some parents asked if they could pull their kid at 8:00 instead of 8:30 so we made that exception as well. You could ask your HC if that was an option to come late/ leave early. In my opinon, it's better for a kid to leave early than to show up late. The start of practice is really important for injury prevention.

Are practices during dinner time? Or right after school were she wouldn't have time for a snack? If so ask if your DD can bring a healthy snack to practice and eat it during rotations.

You will find gymnastics will force PLANNING- for You and your DD! Once that is all figured out and you find what works for your family, it will get easier!

 

[standsonherhands]

Practices are on Tuesday and Friday from 4-8. She is able to eat a quick meal before and after practice, but they are not allowed to eat at practice. Her normal bedtime is lights out at 8, so Tuesday nights are obviously late. Last week I saw her yawning at the top of the rope at the end of practice which didn't seem safe. I think I will ask about leaving a little early on Tuesdays if I know she is too tired. I am thankful the other practice is on Friday.

 

[Panda-girl's Mom]

I would just give it a couple weeks and see if your daughter can adjust. I know I had the same fears and doubts when my daughter joined the team as a 7 year old . Honestly I never heard of practices last that many hours and it really stressed me out to. It all worked out I would feed her lite dinner before practice and a snack after. Still it was hard to get her to wind down afterwards. Do not listen to other parents whose children do not do gymnastics they will make you feel even worse. If she really enjoys it just try the schedue for a while if it is too much she will let you know.

 

[emorymom]

There are a couple of things you could ask of the school.

Will they let her do her homework during PE? She might rather go to PE, but you could make that a requirement of her staying on team. She does need down time after school.

Could she be exempt from homework as long as she is making As?

Could you pick her up early altogether? I have a friend whose son is a very talented and passionate soccer player and she picks him up from school at about 1pm every day. If he is there 4.5 hours, he is counted as present for the day. They do little to no academics from that point of the day onward. There is no special program for that at his school, but they weren't giving her a problem with it.

There are virtual public (in most states) and private school programs where a child would do the full curriculum in 4ish hours per school day with no homework.

I personally home school, which allows me to keep things very efficient for my almost-7 year old and her younger brother. Sit down lessons at home take about 90 minutes five mornings a week (that is not all the schooling she gets, but that's the sit down "book" part). We drive a lot but we use the car time for things like audio books, learning choir material, etc. We definitely have a hectic schedule but she does not have to wake up at a particular time or stay up for practice close to bedtime and I like to think she gets some good fun stuff in. Today we're planning to go to the outdoor pool for play at about 1:30; she does not have to be in practice until 4:30. Summer is slipping away around here and I want to make the most of it.

 

[Aussie_coach]

Its understandable that you and your DD may take time to adjust to team hours. Is team fairly new for you? If so you will probably find things become easier for both you and her as you get used to it.

8 hours is not a lot for level 4, the average level 4 training hours in Australia are 14 hours per week. usually 4 days a week for 3-3 1/2 hours.

I am surprised however that they do it in two 4 hour blocks. That is quite a long session. When you said she did 8 hours my first assumption was that she was training 3 days a week which would make more sense. It would be worth bringing up your issue's with the HC and possibly encouraging other mothers to do so as well and perhaps the 8 hours could be changed to say 3 x 3 hour sessions a week. You really don't get much out of any level 4 kid in the last part of a 4 hour session.

I wouldn't worry too much about school, I am willing to bet that if you look at the school results of the other gymnasts in your gym, even those training very high hours, most will be doing very well. Gymnasts tend to do well at school. The type of training that is done in gymnastics stimulates the cognitive area's of the brain in a way that not much else does. Gymnasts will learn and remember a lot easier because of the training that they do.

Homework shouldn't be an issue, as she only has one week night of training. In our schools the kids are given their homework for the week on Monday and it's due on Friday so they can schedule it on days when they don't have activities. I don't know how things are done in the US but if they set homework that needs to be done the next day why not chat to her teacher and let her know the situation. Perhaps she can do a little extra the night before and the night after instead.

Tiredness can result from other things in her life. As a gymnast she needs to be a bit more careful at looking after her body. Most tiredness is actually caused by minor dehydration and not being sleepy. make sure she is drinking plenty of water. It's not enough just to drink lots when she is working out, but through the weeks its important too. It might be great to have her own special water bottle she keep in the fridge or a water cooler on the kitchen counter to make drinking water more fun. make sure she has plenty to drink before, during and after training.

The right diet plays a big role too. many foods actually cause fatigue, a lot of kids food, even supposedly healthy food is full of artificial flavors, colors and preservatives and they should be avoided.

 

[Deleted member D3987]

she is 7. don't lose sight of that.

 

[standsonherhands]

We have only been on Team since the summer, so we haven't had Team conflict with the rest of life before now. I'm sure we will all adjust. I will ask HC about leaving gym a little early if she is overly tired, and ask the school about getting homework early so we don't have to do it on Tuesdays. I like the idea of missing PE class when she has even more hours and more homework in the future. Her body is fine with the workout, but I think she needs downtime for overall well-being. She chose to drop soccer saying "I have to be home sometime, Mommy." She always wants to go, go, go and has a hard time listening to her body about thirst, hunger, sleep. I'll try to offer more drinks, healthy food, and fun quiet activities. Winding down after Tues practice is hard. I'll have to think about how to manage that. Her being 7 is my challenge. I never thought we would be facing the "balance" issue at 7.

 

[fishchimes]

Two 4 hour practices sounds funky, like Aussie_coach said. We do 3x3 for the level 4 team at my gym-- 4:30-7:30, 3x a week.

Exempting her from PE sounds like a good idea. It's not like she's in great need of the exercise anyway

 

[dancengym]

How much does your child love gymnastics and how much are you willing to sacrifice to allow your child to do something she loves? I think eating ice cream, playing with friends and missing dinner is not a fair comparison to your child taking gymnastics. Gymnastics is a great sport that will help your child develop discipline, strength (both physical and mental), enduring friendships, goal setting, self-confidence, physical fitness and many many more important qualities; not to mention if your child turns out to be real good, a college scholarship and more! It is a very difficult and demanding sport for a reason. It is certainly not without its consequences. Like another poster indicated, I would let her do it for a month and see how she does. If she was yawning and appeared tired, it does not mean the gymnastic schedule is problematic (although I will agree 3 hours 3X a week is a better schedule than 4 hours 2X a week). The body does adjust. If your DD truly loves it, I would support her passion. As parents, we can only hope our children will find something they are passionate about and will do real well in.

I have 4 children. My 9 year old is starting Level 6 and may go to Level 7 this same year. Her practice was increased to 5 times a week, 3 hours a day with potentially another day. But she loves it. I don't have to drag her to practice. She looks forward to practice and when she learns a new skill, she comes home exhausted but with a smile on her face and beaming with pride. She does her homework and things she needs to do so she can go to gymnastics. My other children do a lot of sports as well. My son does fencing and cross-country and my oldest daughter does soccer and tennis. My youngest is only 5 and may be starting gymnastics and ballet. They all enjoy the sports they are in and do very well, but none of them are "in love" with their respective sport and often times have to be pushed to go to practice. If your DD's whole heart is not into the sport, then you are better off cutting off her practices and/or going for a less demanding organization (instead of USAG, you can go USAIGC, the latter having less demands on the gymnast. And if you want even less than USAIGC, just do recreational once or twice a week). Good luck.

 

[kasmom]

My daughter is also 7 years old and level 4. She practices 7 hours a week for gymnastics and 4 hours a week for cheer. She practices from 5-8:30 on Monday, 4-7:30 on Tuesday, and 5:30-8:30 on Thursday. I was also worried about her being too tired when she started. But, what I have noticed is that she has learned to become very efficient with her time. She plans and make sure that she gets all of her homework done before we leave for gym. She will work on it at school if she gets a chance. We study every subject every night so that she will never have to spend a great deal of time studying for a single test in single night. In addition, to doing all of her homework and going to gym she usually reads a Junie B. Jones book before going to sleep at night. She is always asleep by 9:00 or 9:30. I think that this is going to be good for her for years to come. It is making her highly organized.

As far as nutrition, I don't allow any soft drinks. She always drinks juice or water, and I don't keep any unhealthy snacks in the house. I feed her a light meal or snack before and after gym. She usually eats a pnut butter sandwich before she goes.

I know all kids are different, but this is what has worked for us so far. I just wanted to give you a little encouragement and let you know that it is doable. You will be surprised at what your daughter can accomplish. I know I have been.

 

[standsonherhands]

My dd is definitely in love with gymnastics, so I am trying to find a way to feel better about its demands. Funny thing, when I was a child in love with gymnastics my mom declined my invitation to team for me. I see for the first time why she felt rec was best. As for me, I'm planning to let dd continue, and I am trying to remind myself about the benefits of the sport. She is in excellent condition, has great self-esteem, and sees the benefit of hard work. She sacrifices willingly for gymnastics. I just hate to see her sacrifice at all at 7.

 

[kasmom]

My son does sports also and I really don't find that at this point she spends much more time at practice that he does. He plays Pee-wee football. They practice for at least 2 hours at a time a minimum of 3 days per week. They also have to play in games which adds another 2 hours per week. So we're talking at least 8 hours a week for Pee-wee football. It was the same way when he played soccer. So at this level, I really don't see a lot of difference in the amount of time children spend doing sports. People always roll their eyesI tell them how long my daughter is at gym, but think nothing of sitting at a ballfield for hours on end.

 

[Bajanswife]

Those 4-hour blocks would be tough for us - and no break to eat??? My 7 yo DD is always hungry - that would not go down well!

The level 4s at our gym train 3 times a week, for 2.5 - 3.5 hours each time. Because some girls are staying for 3.5 hours to continue training with the higher levels, there's a break after the first 1.5 hours, and the girls bring snacks to eat then. To me that's manageable.

 

[standsonherhands]

Thanks for all the encouragement. I'm sure it will work out after I adjust. I've wondered about the long training blocks without snack breaks, but veteran gym parents tell me that's how its always been at our gym and the kids are OK with it. dd doesn't complain about being hungry. I've been thinking since I first posted, and I focused on tiredness from the long practices. Much of my concern stemmed from dd saying she cried at gym last week (for the first time ever other than 2 painful falls) because she was so tired and because she missed me. I didn't really listen to the missed me part, because she has been known to cry from exhaustion. She has gone from all day with Mom, to all day at school and then straight off to gym on practice nights. I give lots of extra love and see if that helps too.

 

[sportzmomov3]

Assuming that most of the level 4s are young (7-8 yo) then a break after the first 2 hrs would seem appropriate - a quick 10-15 minutes so the girls can grab some fruit, a granola bar or small snack and a drink. If the practice isn't structured that way, perhaps you could suggest when you speak to the HC. Kids that young, should have a break somewhere in a 4 hr timeframe. As for balancing gym and school, this is only the beginning and I agree with previous poster who said to give it a couple of weeks. She'll be tired for sure, and that's normal. After a month though, if she's still yawning during practice and the post practice routine runs too late into the night, then maybe you don't go to Tuesday practice, or you leave even earlier than 30 minutes - leave at 7 PM so she can get home, eat, shower, finish up homework and get to bed near her usual bedtime. (I'm assuming of course that your drive to gym is short so you'd be home at 7:15 PM or 7:30 PM.) Sleep is really important, so making sure the end of the day isn't a late hour would be a priority.

 

[Mack_the_Ripper]

I think her practice schedule sounds reasonable. Our L4s (ages 7-11) work out for 4 hrs a practice, 3x a week. We used to have a fast-track program for ages 6-8 that practiced 15 hrs/week. I think they did 4 hrs, 3x plus a 3 hr practice. The schedule worked well but it was had to have a stable group with so many young kids, so they broke it up so now all the groups have a wider age range. Young kids definitely can handle that much practice just as well as an older child.

I shouldn't think homework would be a problem for a 7-year-old. That's 2nd or 3rd grade, right? She only has one night per week (Tuesday) when she has to do both homework and gymnastics, because she can do her Friday homework on the weekends. If she does want to continue gymnastics, I would let her since it's definitely good for her focus, coordination, etc, and it's wonderful to have a passion. Chocolate ice cream is not a passion. Playing with friends is not a passion. Gymnastics is. If she continues with it, practicing regular hours with a full school load in 3rd grade will be good practice for if she becomes a high schooler (like some people we know) taking AP classes with AP homework loads and practicing for 5 hours right after school, with no study halls since of course her stupid school doesn't let her opt out of P.E. so she has to spend an hour each morning dying on the treadmill and killing her knees to keep her 4.0.

Sorry. Was I a wee bit bitter, perhaps?

 

[All Chalked Up]

Homework in the car. She's only 7, so she probably doesn't get that much unless she doesn't finish during class. My mom won't let me go to practice until I've finished at lease one homework assignment. It's great motivation, no matter how much I don't like that rule! If she goes on the bus, homework on the bus. Sometimes I wake up early and do my homework that morning. PE could be missed I bet, it's not like she really needs it or anything. Offer her lots of fruit, especially watermelon, because of the high water content and natural fruit sugars will give her lots of energy. Maybe in addition to a waterbottle, she could drink a VitaminWater too, but make sure it's only half the bottle.

 

[gymnastbeth]

Maybe in addition to a waterbottle, she could drink a VitaminWater too, but make sure it's only half the bottle.

Why? The sugar content? Or....something else?

 

[standsonherhands]

"It's wonderful to have a passion." - Thanks Mack. I think that was the perspective I needed. Gymnastics is her passion. (Sorry you have to go to PE with all your AP classes!)