Hello from NC

[statechamp2006]

I wound up posting before introducing myself, I couldn't help it

I'm a mom to a 12 yr. old level 5. She started competing in June 2006 when she was 11 (having NEVEr done gymnastics or even ever been in a gym before). In the cumpolsary that fall, she came in 3rd for the state and in the optional she took 1st on all evevnts, and 1st all around.

We just had our state compulsary, and she came in 2nd, moving up from 3rd last time.

We've had a lot of folks comment to us that for her to have started at a late age, and to advance/do well, is uncommon for her age......the bottom line for us is that she LOVES gymnastics!

Have any of you had kids that started late? How are they doing? Are they loving it , or have they decided it's too much?

Just from reading posts before becoming a "member" , I learned a lot and got some very useful information.

I look forward to be a participating member here, and for all the advice I can find here

[Tumblequeensmom]

Hi StateChamp2006!!

So glad to meet you! My daughter too, is 12 and a level 5. She had been taking all kinds of gymnsastics classes prior to joining her level 4 team last year (at 11). She began gymnastics in kindergarten, but then quit to pursue ice skating for a year and several years doing dance. Then decided it was gymnastics that she loved all along! So here we are. I DO get discouraged sometimes b/c everyone else seems to be so young, but DD loves it as well. Last year she placed 6th overall and 3rd on floor. So far, she's only had 1 level 5 meet and she scored 34.300... good enough to qualify for Sectionals in January. Good luck to your daughter as well, sounds like she's off to a great start!

[Geoffrey Taucer]

Hey, where in NC are you? (feel free to not answer that if you prefer not to)

I coach at Apex Gymnastics. We have several girls who started late and are doing great.

[statechamp2006]

To Geoffrey Taucer - we aren't far from you, only a few miles DD is at Angier Gymnastics. You can probably figure out who she is based on that We are actually close friends with the parents and child of a girl who came to us from your gym. I'm glad to hear from a coach that there are other girls in our area starting late and doing well. DD really had never been to a gym in any way shape or form prior to 2006, nor in any other sport or activity. She started tumbling in Jan that year and by June was on the team at level 4. Her progress and achievments shocked me, I wasn't expecting such good scores and placements in the 1st year We're getting ready for the optionals, and I'm excited to see how DD and all the other girls do during that.

To Tumblequeensmom - don't get discouraged. One good thing in our area is that there aren't as many older girls competing, which makes the odds of placing better. The girls still have to work really hard though. There may be fewer of them, but the competition is strong, a lot of these girls are really good! On top of that, some of them are competing level 5 for the second time, so they've had an additional year of training those specific tricks as comapred to my DD. 34.3 during the 1st meet at that level is a really good start. How many more meets before the regionals? We had 5 meets before the state championships.

[Tumblequeensmom]

Hi StateChamp2006... we did discover at our first meet last month that many of the L5 girls were starting their second year, so based on THAT, I thought DD did really well and told her that her scores were better than some of the other second year girls. She just loved that. I think one thing going for the "older" (isn't that horrible to call them that at 12?!?!) girls is that she seem to be able to follow directions and coaching a little bit better... I guess the maturity level makes a difference. We've got our second meet tomorrow... then first Sectionals in January, Second in March (I think) and a final one in April before the State meet in May. We have a few invitationals squeezed in there somewhere. I think our total meets number about 9 (including States). What do you mean your daughter competed in optionals? Was that a separate program from JO?

DD is already learning her routines and skills for L6, so she's thrilled about that. We'll see what the rest of the season brings!