Im new and have lots to say........ :)

[KtsMom]

Hi, My Name is Joye and I have a 2 year old daughter name Katey, she will be 3 next month! We are both VERY NEW to Gymnastics and cant wait to see how far it will go!! We have been in a "Mommy and Me Gymnastics class" at the Local YMCA for a 3 weeks now! It is pretty neat, we go twice a week for an hour and Katey LOVES it! I should have known because Katey starting walking at 7 months and doing flips and cartwheels since she was 18 months! We watched the movie "Stick It" when it first came out on DVD, Katey was 19 months old and she was trying to imitate the moves the girls were doing, including throwing thier arms up
when they are finished (what ever that is called)! At Katey's third Class, her teacher spoke to me about starting Katey in a more structured Class because she sees that Katey has the natural ability to be a gymnast! She also said that I need to start her early as possible... I am not exactly sure what that is going to be like! We are moving to CT at the first of Oct.! So hopefully she will start classes as soon as possible and we will see how that goes! I am so excited to have found this place I have a lot to learn as a "New Gymnast Mom" along with my little Tumblebug and cant wait to get started!!

Hope all is well with everyone and Good Luck with any and every upcoming event!!

[gracefulone]

Hi there. glad your daughter is having fun. As a side note, the end of a routine where the gymnast finishes arms up is called a salute.

[Blackie6]

Hi Joye,
Welcome to the CB! My daughter started gymnastics at about 3 yrs old as well. We signed her up because she was running full length of our Living room and flipping over her hands. She went onto pre-team at age 5 and started Level 4 by age 6. We are now getting ready to compete at age 6 1/2. She spends 11 hours in the gym now and wishes she could be in there longer some days. Good luck to you & your daughter, this has been a great place for learning about gymnastics, meeting other moms, and having a place to share those brags that most of your regular non-gym friends won't understand, LOL

[KtsMom]

Quote:
Originally Posted by gracefulone Hi there. glad your daughter is having fun. As a side note, the end of a routine where the gymnast finishes arms up is called a salute.

Thank You....(A salute...I will remember that from now on! Thanks!!)

[KtsMom]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Blackie6 Hi Joye, Welcome to the CB! My daughter started gymnastics at about 3 yrs old as well. We signed her up because she was running full length of our Living room and flipping over her hands. She went onto pre-team at age 5 and started Level 4 by age 6. We are now getting ready to compete at age 6 1/2. She spends 11 hours in the gym now and wishes she could be in there longer some days. Good luck to you & your daughter, this has been a great place for learning about gymnastics, meeting other moms, and having a place to share those brags that most of your regular non-gym friends won't understand, LOL

Hi There I am so glad that your Daughter is Loving Gymnastics and is doing very well at a young age!!! That is AWESOME!! I hope she keeps up the good work!!

Kt is now standing on her hands (for a few seconds) and flipping over (among other scary things)! It scares me to death so I figured need to go ahead and put her in Gymnastics to let her learn the Propper way to do it!! Because she is not going to stop and that way I can stop fearing all the stuff she does!! LOL!! Everyday she ask to wear her "nastics" (gymnastics) and go to the gym! Its helping Potty training big time also!!

Thanks for the Good Luck wishes.....I hope to learn a lot from this place for me and my daughter and I LOVE hearing about all the AWESOME stuff thats going on with everyone!!

Again....Good Luck to you and your Daughter!!

[AZGymParent]

Congratulations! Gymnastics is an awesome sport. I am going to be a bit pretentious and parental in what I have to say, but I wish someone had told me what I am going to tell you 14 years ago. My daughter also started the sport at 3 over 14 years ago and exhibited many of the same things your daughter is showing. She is now on her way to a top gymnastics University on a full gymnastics scholarship. It never would have happened if she didn't continue to love the sport through the tough times, of which there are many. That's the good news. Now the bad news. You will find out that these tendencies exhibited by your daughter will have little or no bearing on her long term success in this sport. Of the 200+ girls who started competing with my daughter at level 5 in her age group, many of whom were much more athletiically gifted than our daughter at the time, there are less than 10 still in the sport. Most drop out by level 6. Level 8 takes care of most of the rest. Of those remaining, only a small handful will be successful level 10s, and less than 200 nationally each year will get a chance to compete in college. Don't even think about the Olympics. You have a better chance of getting struck by lightning than having your daughter complete the unbelievable ordeal to reach that level. Be prepared to deal with coaches. Many will tell you your daughter is the next Shannon Miller. Maybe she is, but probably she is not. Coaches can also be very controlling and in some cases abusive. You as a parent need to know where to draw the line. Please remeber these words - ANY COACH OR GYM CAN BE REPLACED! Do not get overly involved. It is easy to do in this sport and you will see plenty of the crazy gym moms and dads, though mostly moms. Every gym has them. Do not make friends with them! Over the years we have seen such parents and very few children of these parents remain in the sport very long. These parents are usually placing unrealistic expectations on their kids and the kids learn to hate the sport and quit. This is a fantastic sport and beautiful to watch. It teaches so many great life lessons and can prepare your daughter for success in life. Be you daughter's number one fan and let her find her own love for what she is doing. Best of luck to your daughter.

[gym law mom]

So well put AZ! And best wishes to your dd in her college career---you need to keep us updated.

Ktsmom---its great your little one has found an activity she enjoys, but remember she is only 2 yrs old. That is just a toddler and in the world of gymnastics, still a baby. Her physical development will only let her learn certain skills at certain ages. Have fun with her in the Mommy and Me class because after that, most gyms have the 3yo and older kids in classes without mom or dad on the gym floor. These classes are designed to work on some very basic neuromuscular skills(not gymnastics primarily), socialization and things like learning colors etc. Don't be reluctant to let her try other sports or activities. If that love for gymnastics is there, it will still be there if she takes a few months off to practice for a dance recital or whatever. This is the time of exploration---for her and for you.

I would take issue with any coach who after 3 classes told the parent of a 2yo that she needed more "structured classes"---in anything! At the age of 2 nobody knows what the future is for a child in any sport. When you move, look for gyms with nice progression based on age/ability. AZgymparent had it so right that the drop out rate from gymnastics is huge. Take it one step at a time and enjoy the experience with her.

BTW--Welcome to CB and thanks for reminding many of us, how we all got started in this sport! And yes, it solved the potty training issue for us as well

[AZGymParent]

Thank you GLM! She will be competing for the University of Arizona in 08-09 so we have one more club season left! It went by so fast. Best of luck to your dd as well. It sounds like she has a great support system at home.

[KtsMom]

Quote:
Originally Posted by AZGymParent Congratulations! Gymnastics is an awesome sport. I am going to be a bit pretentious and parental in what I have to say, but I wish someone had told me what I am going to tell you 14 years ago. My daughter also started the sport at 3 over 14 years ago and exhibited many of the same things your daughter is showing. She is now on her way to a top gymnastics University on a full gymnastics scholarship. It never would have happened if she didn't continue to love the sport through the tough times, of which there are many. That's the good news. Now the bad news. You will find out that these tendencies exhibited by your daughter will have little or no bearing on her long term success in this sport. Of the 200+ girls who started competing with my daughter at level 5 in her age group, many of whom were much more athletiically gifted than our daughter at the time, there are less than 10 still in the sport. Most drop out by level 6. Level 8 takes care of most of the rest. Of those remaining, only a small handful will be successful level 10s, and less than 200 nationally each year will get a chance to compete in college. Don't even think about the Olympics. You have a better chance of getting struck by lightning than having your daughter complete the unbelievable ordeal to reach that level. Be prepared to deal with coaches. Many will tell you your daughter is the next Shannon Miller. Maybe she is, but probably she is not. Coaches can also be very controlling and in some cases abusive. You as a parent need to know where to draw the line. Please remeber these words - ANY COACH OR GYM CAN BE REPLACED! Do not get overly involved. It is easy to do in this sport and you will see plenty of the crazy gym moms and dads, though mostly moms. Every gym has them. Do not make friends with them! Over the years we have seen such parents and very few children of these parents remain in the sport very long. These parents are usually placing unrealistic expectations on their kids and the kids learn to hate the sport and quit. This is a fantastic sport and beautiful to watch. It teaches so many great life lessons and can prepare your daughter for success in life. Be you daughter's number one fan and let her find her own love for what she is doing. Best of luck to your daughter.

Hi,I am so glad that your daughter stuck with it and is doing very well!!
GOOD LUCK WITH EVERYTHING!!

I appreciate everything you posted....

Believe me I watched friends be pushed and parents push thier kids to do sports, pageants and music and it was horrible! I was never pushed to do anything if I didnt want too! Nor will I do it to my Daughter!! If that is what she wants the you best believe that Me and Her Dad will be her Number One Fans!!!!

Oh and about the Olympics.....I cant even tell you when is the last time I watched them (Gasp-Horrible, I know) much less thinking about watching my 2 year compete in them when she is older!! LOL!!

That is why I said in my "Intro" that we are new, its what she is loving to do NOW and we will see how it goes!!

But I hope that I didnt come off as a Mom that is not going to look out for the BEST Interest in My Daughter or trying to live through her?! This is not the case here!! I am only signed my Daughter up because I am a stay at home Mom and figured it would be FUN to do and keep her active!!

Gosh I hope everyone doesnt think Im that type of Mom!!

IM NOT!!!!

[AZGymParent]

No way did you come off like that and I hope you didn't think I thought you were. You sound like you have the right attitude to help your dd last a long time in this sport if that is what she wants to do. There is nothing wrong with being excited about what your dd can do and about the progress she will make. I just wanted to give you the heads up I wish I had when my daughter started in the sport. You will hear so much stuff around the gym from other parents and the coaches and its easy to get wrapped up in it when you are new to the sport. It gets worse when your dd starts to compete. Truth be told, there is not one meet your daughter will compete in or score she will receive before level 10 that matters regarding her potential college chances, so enjoy! Gymnastics starts and ends at level 10 or elite for kids who want to take it beyond club level, and believe me then it gets stressfull!. The cheerleading squads of America are full of level 4, 5, 6, 7 8 and 9 state gymnastics champs. The point is that some detachment is necessary and it doesn't sound like you will have any problems with that. Funny story re: the Olympics, we actually took our daughter to the Olympics in 2004. At this time she was 13, a second year level 10 and considering the elite testing. After she saw the gymnastics in Athens, her impression was that it was just another gym meet and she had no further interest pursuing the elite path when we got back. Unfortunately, the Olympics are becoming less and less relevant in our society and after going to one I can see why. It's not nearly as exciting when you are there as the hype the networks give it on TV. During the first week, there was hardly anyone at any of the events and tickets were literally being given away, even for the gymnastics. But every young gymnast and seemingly their parents believe they are going some day. Until you are in this sport for many years do you realize what an incredibly grouling path these girls must take and one that I do not even believe is healthy. Anyway, thank you for your best wishes for our daughter and best of luck. It truly is a great sport!