Finally at peace with my DD moving to team

[mariposamama]

As some of you may remember, I had been really struggling with the decision to let my DD move to team when the time comes, but I finally am at peace with the decision to let her move to team.

We went to a level 4 meet that her gym hosted and got to see first hand what competitions are like. DD thought it was great and says that now she “really wants to be on team soooo bad.” I saw how encouraging the girls were to each other and how much fun they had. Her coach was there watching her daughters compete and she kept coming over to make sure that we (us and another mom/daughter that are moving to team soon were also there) understood everything that was happening and the scoring, etc. She is really an awesome coach and I love how she always keeps us informed about how the girls are doing and really wants us to understand gymnastics.

Right now, they have a star chart and it has a list of all the skills they need to move to team. They are currently working on getting checked off for things and at the end of March will be evaluated by the team head coach to see if they are ready. There is no rush and DD knows that she has to have certain skills to move up and she isn’t worried about it. She knows that she will eventually move up. Her and another girl are the only 5 year olds anyway, so it won’t hurt if they have to wait a bit longer. The other girls are that will also be moving are 6-7 years old and the girls in the current level 4 range from 6-12 years old, though many are moving up to L5. She really wants to move to team, but we have talked about the fact that she is only 5 and there is no rush. When she is ready, she will move up and she is fine with that.

I am so glad that we went to that meet though. It gave me a lot of peace of mind that the girls are having fun and it gave DD an idea of what team is really like. The girls were very supportive of each other and cheered for their teammates and it was really cute. They were also playing around in between their turns and having a blast, so I see now that DD can be on team (at least at her gym) and still be the silly kid she is, without getting in trouble.

Her coach said they get assigned a big sister when they are on team and they encourage them and mentor them. I can see how much she will love that and how much fun she will have. I have already told her that as long as she is having FUN, I will support her in all she does. If it isn’t fun anymore, then we will go from there.

Reading here has helped me tons as well, but seeing a meet for myself made things much clearer.

Thanks to everyone here for also helping me with my decision, whether directly by responses to my original post or by posting your stories here and sharing your experience. I love online communities!

[gymmomntc2e6]

I think that is great. I also took dd to a couple meets to watch prior to her competing. She is on pre-team right now, L3, but they are doing several meets. She has 3 left. One this Sunday. One next weekend and one in May - She will do L4 at the one in May.

[melmonette]

I think it is great too I totally think your daughter is ready for team. You will love it when she gets there you really will I can't wait to hear all your progress and all the fun gym stuff when you get on team

[mariposamama]

Thanks guys! She is so excited. It still might be awhile, but she can't wait. I can wait. So can my wallet. LOL. I am hoping for that they don't move them up until summer.

I know she is going to have fun and that I will enjoy watching her progress and have fun as well. Thanks for helping me out along this journey.