Gymnastics moms . . .

[Jennifer in MI]

I need input and advice. I have a 5 yo dd who is very nimble. She can do cartwheels, backbends, and roundoffs. She can do the splits. We signed her up for a gymnastics class and they have asked her to be on the competitive team at level 3.

 

They want her to come four hours/week - two times a week, two hours each time.

 

What questions do I ask? What is reasonable? How do I know if they are legit?

 

Thanks!!!

[MamaT]

The amount of time for level 3 sounds about right. I would talk to some of the moms of the girls in the upper levels and get their opinions of the gym/coaches. Talk to several, not just one. Some questions to ask: What are the qualifications of the coaches? What are some of their past successes? You might also see how their team ranks at meets. Where do their girls normally place at meets? Are the meets they attend USAG sanctioned? You might also want to look ahead at the time requirement and expense for upper levels. If I had looked that far ahead, I'm not sure I would have been brave enough to commit. :001_smile:

[Jennifer in MI]

The amount of time for level 3 sounds about right. I would talk to some of the moms of the girls in the upper levels and get their opinions of the gym/coaches. Talk to several, not just one. Some questions to ask: What are the qualifications of the coaches? What are some of their past successes? You might also see how their team ranks at meets. Where do their girls normally place at meets? Are the meets they attend USAG sanctioned? You might also want to look ahead at the time requirement and expense for upper levels. If I had looked that far ahead, I'm not sure I would have been brave enough to commit. :001_smile:

 

Thank you!!! This is helpful. I'll definitely be asking these questions of the other parents/coaches. I have a friend whose son is in gymnastics and their life revolves around his schedule. I do worry about that!!! Dd is very intense and I can see her loving gymnastics. So, I want to pick the right place for her. And, yet, I'm worried, knowing what I already know about gymnastics!!!

 

Thanks!!!

[Jean in Newcastle]

You really do need to think this through now. I was told that and while I did think it through some, I thought there would be more time to get finances etc. together. There wasn't and we had to pull a very sad dd just when she was really starting to gain some momentum.

 

At our gym, Level 3 meets twice a week for 2 hours at a time. Level 4 meets twice a week for 4 hours at a time. Level 5 meets 3x a week for 4 hours at a time (not totally positive on this one). Plus you have to add in private lessons right before meets for a gymnast who is stuck on one skill or another. Plus there are meet fees, transportation fees, food and lodging costs for away meets, choreography charges, team uniforms with warm ups, volunteer hour requirements for the parents and of course all the fees for the lessons themselves.

 

Dd9's year this year would have cost $4000 this year. We couldn't do it. I feel really badly too because dd loves gymnastics. It was a good experience for her. She had great coaches and has some wonderful friends.

[mcmom4]

my dd competed up to Level 8 before we had to let it all go. Actually it was her decision. She said she wanted a life! She was in the gym 20 hours a week, not to mention during meet season most all of her weekends were consumed with gymnastics!

It definitely is a very expensive sport...meet fees, transportation costs, food lodging for meets, competition and practice leotards, gym bags and whatever else the gym requires....not to mention the monthly fee. Thankfully I worked at the gym to barter off my monthly tuition fees.

But I will say that my dd now at 15 has many regrets of taking gymnastics to that level since she realizes how much she missed out on family life, especially with her siblings. She still regrets it even though she had fun while there. She said she began to feel like an outsider in her own home because she was not home when our lives were going on.

But there is also a cost to the rest of the family....will you have to sit there while she is at practice? What about all the siblings? What will you do with them? Will they also have to hang out while she is in lessons?

Like many sports (and I do like sports) it just seems that now days kids can't just enjoy the sport....they have to become professionals at it at such an early age. And then the whole family's life centers around the gifting or talent of one child. To do it all over again, I would not had done it.

The price was too high....in every way. I know you are only talking Level 3 right now, but if she is talented, as my dd was, you will begin to feel lots of pressure to keep her in and keep her going.

Good luck in your choices!

[Sevilla]

Another thing to consider is the injury rate - especially when a 5 year old starts more intensive training in just one sport. I would ask about that and do your own research. Chronic injuries + reconstructive surgery is $$$ and can impact one's athletic ability for years in the future.

[Georgiana Daniels]

4 hours a week sounds about right. But watch out--if she's good she could progress quickly, and that's when the hours and $$ start adding up. My dd is 6 and doing 9 hours a week (12 in the summer) for level 4.

[Sugarfoot]

Yes, the questions are just beginning! Eventually, you'll be wondering about her upper body strength and how tall she's likely to be. My DD's tiny size really helped her, but it just turned out to be too hard on her joints. She's also a 2nd degree black belt, so she had a lot going on, though. After awhile, some of the girls got pretty bratty, ordering their moms around and then stomping their feet when they weren't quick enough to carry out their orders. Ugh, it was sickening. At 5, her teammates may be several years older, so you'll want to make sure to avoid that sort of influence.

 

Have fun!

[ByGrace3]

We are here as well, and thankful for all of you moms that have weighed in. My dd is 5 and pre-team right now, but I anticipate a move to level 2 very soon . . . switching to 2 days a week in the gym and the whole competition scene, all the time and money investment. I am just not sure. dd loves it, but I don't see her going all the way with it . . . so at what point is this not just a "fun sport/activity" anymore, and a little too much. These are questions we are asking at our house these days!

[Georgiana Daniels]

We are here as well, and thankful for all of you moms that have weighed in. My dd is 5 and pre-team right now, but I anticipate a move to level 2 very soon . . . switching to 2 days a week in the gym and the whole competition scene, all the time and money investment. I am just not sure. dd loves it, but I don't see her going all the way with it . . . so at what point is this not just a "fun sport/activity" anymore, and a little too much. These are questions we are asking at our house these days!

 

Bleh--these are the questions I ask myself ALL THE TIME, especially since we started the competitions out of town. How far will she go with this, and at what final cost? At this point she LOVES the sport, and it's her major source of interaction with other girls. (The girls in our gym are great and I really like who she hangs out with.)

 

Definitely points for OP Jennifer to consider! Once you start, it's HARD to get untangled without a major uproar (or so I'm guessing, we haven't actually tried yet :D )

[ByGrace3]

Bleh--these are the questions I ask myself ALL THE TIME, especially since we started the competitions out of town. How far will she go with this, and at what final cost? At this point she LOVES the sport, and it's her major source of interaction with other girls. (The girls in our gym are great and I really like who she hangs out with.)

 

Definitely points for OP Jennifer to consider! Once you start, it's HARD to get untangled without a major uproar (or so I'm guessing, we haven't actually tried yet :D )

 

yup, and I wonder what something like this does for my perfectionist dd. I love how gymnastics has been such a great challenge for her, and truly teaching her not all things come easily (hard for her!) :) but then we have days like yesterday when she decided yesterday was the day to learn a handstand to bridge to back bend kickover. The hours, the tears, the agony. ugh, but goodness knows she was determined and can *now do it :rolleyes:

I have tried so hard to offer other activities, but in the end, gymnastics always wins. :confused:

Edited April 6, 2011 by ByGrace3
oops!

[plansrme]

 

I pretty much agree with what has been said so far, but I will add a couple of things:

1. Gymnastics can be a very hard sport to leave. Some girls are thrilled to be done with it, but I have seen many girls be forced out by injury or finances, i.e., not on their own timing, and it usually does not go well. Of course no one ever dies from leaving gymnastics, but when a girl has been in the sport for years, and it becomes such a part of her identity, it is naturally difficult to give that up. I would try to keep a Plan B open at all times. For my daughter, it was dance. Her plan for the longest was to quit gym after level 8 and concentrate on ballet. She changed her mind last year, and is now training for level 10 and looking at college gymnastics programs, but we always kept her in enough dance that she could have gone straight to an intense level of dance when she quit gym.

 

2. Gymnastics is a wonderful sport. A lot of people will knock it because of the expense, the injuries, the time commitment, but it has been a wonderful experience for our daughter. And yes, she's had some significant injuries, and yes, it is expensive, but one of the great things about gymnastics is that no one gets it right the first time. My daughter is academically extremely gifted, and, especially while she was in school, it was very important to us to challenge her to help her learn work ethic and diligence. Gymnastics was how we did that. Other selling points: especially once you get to optional levels, the meets are fun; your daughter will get beautiful muscles; and in our gym anyway, the girls have very healthy body images. It helps that they have beautiful (though not rail thin) bodies, but they learn to focus on what their bodies will do, not what they look like.

 

But as others have noted, definitely look at the rest of the competition track and see if you can ever conceive of your daughter and your family going down the road. My daughter works out 20 hours/week (age 13, training for level 10, on track to do gymnastics in college) and is often icing an injury or missing some other event because of gym. I would not say that our family's life revolves around the gym, but hers does.

 

Best of luck with whatever you decide

 

Terri

 

 

[Georgiana Daniels]

yup, and I wonder what something like this does for my perfectionist dd. I love how gymnastics has been such a great challenge for her, and truly teaching her not all things come easily (hard for her!) :) but then we have days like yesterday when she decided yesterday was the day to learn a handstand to bridge to back bend kickover. The hours, the tears, the agony. ugh, but goodness knows she was determined and can *now do it :rolleyes:

I have tried so hard to offer other activities, but in the end, gymnastics always wins. :confused:

 

One great thing (in addition to others) is learning that even hard skills are possible to learn with enough perseverence. This has been HUGE for my daughter. She's gained a ton of self-confidence. Yes, there are other less expensive, less involved ways to learn this, but this is what she loves.

[Elizabeth in WA]

I pretty much agree with what has been said so far, but I will add a couple of things:

1. Gymnastics can be a very hard sport to leave.

 

2. Gymnastics is a wonderful sport. A lot of people will knock it because of the expense, the injuries, the time commitment, but it has been a wonderful experience for our daughter. And yes, she's had some significant injuries, and yes, it is expensive, but one of the great things about gymnastics is that no one gets it right the first time. My daughter is academically extremely gifted, and, especially while she was in school, it was very important to us to challenge her to help her learn work ethic and diligence. Gymnastics was how we did that.

 

I would not say that our family's life revolves around the gym, but hers does.

:iagree:

 

Although in our case, it's my son who is a serious gymnast. My daughter is on team (level 4), and it's a valuable experience for her, but thus far lacks the competitive spirit required to reach top levels in the sport. My son is going for the long shot to make JO Nationals this weekend. Since he has had two serious injuries int he last year, including one during this season, it's unlikely, but I have to admire the perseverance that has him trying to pull it off. He does appear realistic about his (slim) chances. He won't be heart-broken if he doesn't go, but philosophically figures that there is always next year. (He might be upset if he can't qualify next year either though since there are only two years level 9 is eligible for Nationals. Then again, he'll just go level 10 then anyway.)

 

The perseverance does show up in his schoolwork now, but that transference took years. It still doesn't mean he enjoys more practice on Latin declensions or right triangle problems in math, but he does believe in the concept of practice now. He has a T-shirt that says on the front "How do you get to Carnegie Hall?" and on the back "Practice! Practice! Practice!" And while we aren't musical, that has become a short hand in our family. My daughter frequently asks how one learns to do something and gets the answer "The same way you get to Carnegie Hall..."