Holding back gymnasts who are scoring very high

[jasmine196]

You know its funny. We have talked with both mom and the child. Mom is in complete denial that her daughter could do no wrong. We have given this child to many chances. She is on strike 3 right now, and we just sent another e-mail to this mother. She still insits that her daughter hasn't done anything wrong and we just "hate" her. Our team coaches will be getting together today to vote on if we should dismiss her from team. We've never done that before but it hasn't gotten this far before.

I know that she does not want to do gymnastics, and that she understands what is required to move up levels. I'll keep you all updated

[jasmine196]

Just an update for everyone. Yesterday after much consideration and discusion the coaching staff and owner decided it was in the best interest of the gym, team and this young ladies future to dismiss her from our team.

I really am hoping that she goes to another gym and that the change of senery helps her move past where she has been for so long. I've known this girl for 5 years, and she has been at 3 different gyms during this time, she has the talent, I just hope she gets the love and desire back to continue on.

[Aussie_coach]

Hi, I know this one is a little old, but I was interested in the ituation regarding the girl who was dismissed from the team. How did the family handle the situation? Did she remain at the gym in a recreational program? Move to another gym? Or stop training altogether?

I have a feeling that the bad behaviour, attitude and work ethic may actually be caused by her lack of progress. For a child to be in level 4 for 4 years and see all her team mates move up she is likely to become quite down on her training. The motivation to work hard is not going to be there. Sometimes being lazy and getting into trouble are a cover up for the real issue. If she is being held back so much and she doesn't try, she can say it is because she couldn;t be bothered trying, which for a kid is less hurtful than saying it is because she doesn't think she is very good.

[jasmine196]

An Update: She has since gone to another local gym and joined their team. She is competing Level 5 but does not have all her skills and is only scoring around 28 in the AA. We got a chance at our last meet to see her, and I wasn't really impressed. I know her new coach and the same thing is happening at the new gym. Causing issues, bad behavior, no work ethic, etc. So it wasn't a matter of being bored. In this child's case I think its a matter of being spoiled.

As for when she was dismissed. Her parent's took it surprisingly well. Dad yelled, mom yelled, but it wasn't for to long, and they left. We really just told them that we were sorry, but we were going to have to dismiss her from our team, we wish her luck, and hope that she finds a gym where she can succeed. Saw mom at the last meet, she said hi, so it looks like all is in the past.

[coachamyamerican]

Back to the topic.... many gyms in Oklahoma have "carreer" level 4's and 5's... this in my opinion ruins the reason for compulsaries... I feel that this is a opportunity to teach and learn base skills for moving on. If you score well... great... if not... keep at it. I agree with the rest of the coaches... if the gymnast cannot preform the skills necessary for the next level... no you can not move them on... but if they are capable (hmmm we have some gyms that their compulsaries do floor warm ups with standing tucks....???) and the coach/ gym is doing it for the win.... Well that is where people get discouraged and we lose gymnasts. I think their should be a novice and open type seperation. After so many years (2) or max score or place (37 or 1st in all arounds or 2 or more events) then you move to another level or an open class where you are competing with others in the same boat. I think this would help the obivious problem.

[CoachL]

I've never held gymnasts back because of scoring high, or better team scores. I train my kids to get them to optionals / pre-elite as soon as possible. It make look like we hold kids back when I have level 5's capable of doing giants or blind changes. But you have to remember that these are their TOP's skills as a 9yr old. But it is their first year at 5. And they will probably be 7 or 8 the next year. Too many gyms set their kids up for failure by putting gymnasts in meets they aren't ready for. We just want our kids to feel success, its one of the most important parts in building the confidence of a gymnast.

[cccam]

our gym is all messed up. They were holding level 5's back so they could win states, then when the level 5's finally moved up, they moved them right up to Level 7. The Level 7's all moved up to level 8 and the level 8's [who do not have almost any level 9 skills] were moved up to level 9 to essentially "chuck" the level 9 skills they didn't have