Parents When did you “know”?

[NYCMom]

To parents of Level 10/elite/college gymnasts- I am curious if there was a moment or a season or a level when you became pretty certain that your daughter had what it takes to get that far. I know there are so many uncertainties in this sport and as someone whose daughter is just starting optionals, nothing can be guaranteed beyond today, so I’m really not trying to apply any predictions to her future. I am just curious, looking back, was there a skill, or a meet, or a finished season, or something else, that you think was the turning point in your daughter’s career when you (and she) started believing or realizing that level 10/college/elite was a realistic goal? Would love to hear stories!

 

[Dahlialover]

This is such a smart way to ask this question! I’d also love to hear from people who thought they knew and then realized that it wasn’t going to happen like they expected.

 

[Ty’s Dad]

Call it weird, but I knew when my daughter was a level 7 she would become an elite and get a full scholarship, to the point where I was going back-and-forth with people on this group about it. When her scores changed from 33AA to 38+AA and she really was loving the sport at that point we knew.

 

[GymnastMomX2]

My daughter will be competing level 10 for the first time this year (knock on wood), she should have competed 10 last year but got injured and had a major surgery that knocked her out for 6+ months.

There was never really a moment for me, I honestly never thought she would make it this far, between all the injuries she’s had, and fear/mental blocks she’s overcome on beam, she surprises me every year. Her goal is D1 gymnastics and while I think it’s possible, I’m also realistic and know it’s a long shot and staying healthy/injury free is not a given.

Ok if I had to pick a moment it might be when she sent me a video of her doing a bar routine for the first time last month. That’s when I was like ok maybe she can compete level 10. (At least on one event.. lol)

 

[NutterButter]

My situation is a little different because my DD was D3 but I did have a moment where I knew. Junior year - the time between Westerns and early summer. She gained a lot of new skills in a short amount of time. While I knew my DD would still likely be L9 for her senior year, she was getting the right skills with the right start value to at least get some attention from D3 coaches. Given her late start in the sport she really never seriously considered D3 as a possibility.

 

[josie55]

Mine is a freshman on a D1 team. When she was in L9 in 6th grade, and we went to a college meet and saw the girls doing many of the same skills that mine was doing, I knew that it was a very real possibility. But I also knew (mostly from this site) that injury and burnout are very real, and nobody can really "know" that it will happen until it does (even you, @Ty’s Dad ;-). Over the years I have seen plenty of girls who anyone would absolutely think were going to make it have something happen to get in the way. But seems like most of the time if they get to L9 early enough, and they want to make a college team, then chances are it will happen. If they don't get to L9 early, then it obviously can still happen, but it's harder to feel confident b/c you not only need one or two good L10 seasons, but you kind of need some room for an injury or two.

Oh and if you ask my daughter, she would say that she knew for many, many years she'd be on a college team one day. I think maybe they kind of have to have that mindset for it to happen.

 

[gym_dad32608]

My daughter just signed with OU. I so prepared myself from message boards like here and other parents that it was a complete long shot. Probably wouldnt happen. I felt good when she won easterns, still knew that was not L10. It really wasnt until June 15th of her junior year that I finally knew she was going to make it, based on the number of calls she received. But I think it was her second year of L10 (freshman year) and she finallly was starting to do skills with the 10.1 sv. As previous poster mentioned really started to notice the skills that colleges were showing and what she was doing.

 

[Geoffrey Taucer]

I never thought I was gonna go elite and honestly had no interest in doing so; I just liked tumbling and vaulting and then one day I realized I had the necessary skills to put together elite-ish routines on floor and rings, and figured what the hell.