how to handle

[ZJsMom]

That's frustrating. I can't say whether it's appropriate to keep her level 3 or not, but the part that seems really inappropriate is giving her so many mixed messages. Kids like to know what's going to happen and what to expect. I think it's really unfair to tell her she's going to compete level 4 in the spring, then no she's not.

Is this a very small gym? It seems really unusual to me to have no level 4 team. Level 4 is usually the biggest group in the gyms I've seen.

[Panda-girl's Mom]

I would talk to the coach about your concerns. My daughter is your daughters age and she competed level four last year and she had basically none of her skills prior to competeing. It took a while but she was able to get them. I was not even sure she was gone to get on the team. After having finished our first competition year I am trying to step back and let the coaches and owner decide where she should be. This is very difficult and I can sympathize with you ecspecailly when your daughter is getting frustrated. It really sounds like your daughter has alot of her skills and maybe they are going to move her up to level 5 in the fall since she is working on her kip and squat on. My daughter is also working on these but I am not sure what she will be competing in the fall level 4 or 5. Alot of gyms around us skip level 4. I think by talking directly with the coachs about your concerns will help alleviate some of the anxiety and make you and your daughter feel better. Be sure to tell them that how this is affecting your daughter they might be more likely to hear what you have to say and not just hear you as a complaining parent. Maybe the coaches can talk directly with your daughter to make her feel better about their decisions. Good Luck

[Aussie_coach]

By the sounds of it your gym is frequently changing their mind on what to do with these girls. Unfortunatly that is actually quite a common issue in gyms. Kids are often told one thing and get their hopes up and then another thing happens. It tends to go with the nature of the sport. Gymnastics is not one of those sports where kids progress at a steady rate. So many factors can affect their development.

Kids get skills one week and can lose them the next. They can know skills for years and then lose them for no known reason. They can all of a sudden grow too much and then have to relearn how to do many things, they can all of a sudden develop fear they never had before. They go through stages of fast development where they seem to be getting better and better every day and then they go through periods of time where they seem to be staying the same or even going backwards. As a result it is very difficult to predict what stage gymnasts will be at in even a few months, but some predicting needs to be done in order to plan for the furture of the girls. Inevitably they do get it wrong at times.

But they can get it wrong both ways, the girls may surprise the coaches over the summer and a new plan will be put together for the new competition season.

[Ingymmom]

After hearing your response, it does seem quite inconsistent to me as well. These types of mixed signals only seem to confuse the gymnasts, and make them work less hard.

Why a gym would want/make a gymnast repeat L3 is way beyond me... will they not have a level 4 team at all? I know you answered that, but it just does not make any sense Hopefully, they are just trying to light a fire under the girls (if true, I don't agree with how they are going about it) or just trying to keep it all a big secret in true gymnastics fashion LOL. I just feel it is a waste of time and money especially if your dd has so many of the skills and does them well, to repeat level 3. Hopefully you will have a chance to clarify & it will all work out. wishing the best to your little one. Tell her HAVE FUN at her recital

[gym mom]

I also think repeating L3 is crazy My dd's gym does not believe in repeating comp.levels but most of the gyms around us do.That means dd is compt. against girls that have been at the same L 1-2years sometimes 3 our girls still hold there own and do very well

[gym mom]

oops I accidently pushed a button,any way The mixed messages sound crazy and I do not see why they can not move to L4 and have them compete when they are ready.My dd's gym does not notfiy us till about a month in advance of any major changes and they do not discuss them with the girls.I would defintly be talking to the owner.

[gym law mom]

Sounds like the gym can't make up its mind whether these levels are more rec or competitive. All that time spent on practicing for a rectial could have been put to use working on L4 skills with the recital as fun, but not such a production(as I recall you were spending alot on costumes?). For our pre-teamers(there is no L4), they spend from Jan to May fine tuning their L5 skills and have skills testing. Then the move up is made in mid May for those that have the skills.

It does seem odd to have a competitive L3 team, no L4 and then pick it up again at L5. I agree the very mixed signals only confuse and frustrate girls and parents. L3(and L4 for that matter) are still considered rec/introductory levels by USAG. If the coach doesn't feel the girls are ready, she could move them into a L4 pre-team and get all the L4 skills down plus work on L5.