WAG common ages and reasons to quit

[gymgymgymnast08]

This is sad.

This is sad. And I can tell you, I haven't done gymnastics in 1.5 years and my body is not any less muscular or bulky! I still struggle with buying clothes that fit but I have learned to love my muscular body. Muscles are healthy and healthy is beautiful!

 

[Gymishome]

Muscles are healthy and healthy is beautiful!

I wish some of my girls would get this. It's very sad to watch eating disorders.

 

[Bajanswife]

This is sad. And I can tell you, I haven't done gymnastics in 1.5 years and my body is not any less muscular or bulky! I still struggle with buying clothes that fit but I have learned to love my muscular body. Muscles are healthy and healthy is beautiful!

I try very hard to get her to believe that too, but the influences at school seem to be stronger. It doesn't help that her gym teammates are more the lean and flexible body type rather than the muscular, so she feels different. She does love being strong - she just wishes she wasn't built like her Dad, where the slightest muscle pops right out. What she doesn't realize is she will probably always be stocky, and if she stops doing gym her muscles may not be as pronounced but she will still not be lean. Now when she walks by strangers they sometimes comment on her obvious muscles and ask what sport she does - if she stops gym she won't be as "cut" and will just look "chunky" instead of "ripped". I actually think she will be less happy with that look! Not that it should matter one way or another, especially to an 11 year old CHILD.

Luckily she loves food and in no way plans to stop eating. She doesn't hate her body enough to take drastic measures - she'd just rather be built differently if she had the choice.

 

[Faith]

3. She's afraid of her body getting too muscular and bulked up - unfortunately "thin is in". She already feels fat, which she isn't - she's just "built".
.

It is very sad, but something I've heard far too often in sport generally . Coming from a swimming background, I've heard many a parent saying they don't want their child to get "swimmers shoulders", even to the point of making the child quit, or saying it often enough that the child hears it as a negative thing and quits. I even heard one mum say of her very talented 10 year old that the chlorine was trashing her hair, and she was going to have to quit before long as she would want to grow her hair "properly" for high school.

I do think, with all the pink for girls gender stereotyping we seem to be going back to these days, that girls are supposed to be girly and feminine, being strong and sporty doesn't fit with the stereotypes and girls feel the pressure to conform as they hit teenage years.

 

[gymgymgymnast08]

There is a lot of pressure not to be muscular for females these days and it's really sad! I used to think that having muscles was a bad thing until I was like 13 or 14 and went to the marine booth at a fair. They had prizes for males if they did a certain amount of pull-ups and prizes for females if they did a could hold their chin over the bar for a certain amount of time. I forget what the amount was to get a prize but it was something like 10 or 15 seconds so really not that long. I told the marine that I was doing pull-ups and he said no girls can't do pull-ups. I don't remember how many pull-ups I did but the marine apologized to me and told me they could really use me in the marines when I got older.

At college I'm in a male-dominated field so I'm the only girl in our major and one day all the guys were arguing about which one of them was the strongest and I walked over and said, "guys I'm actually the strongest." And then they all stopped arguing and agreed with me.

 

[Rapunzel]

I knew a girl who was a great swimmer who quit because she was getting "bulky".
I know of girls who quit rec because they don't feel like they progress - the focus is so big on form and perfection, but it can make it a bit boring - if a girl is say never going to get a perfect cartwheel it seems to prevent them progressing, they will just keep practicing cartwheels until they can do then well - but perhaps they'll always have bent legs, does that mean they can't do other fun stuff? As in can they do a sloppy cartwheel and then learn a sloppy round off flick, or would that be dangerous?
Does arguments within the group ever cause girls to quit?
Is the drop out rate greater for gymnastics than other sports?

 

[vagymmomma]

I do find that the departures frequently happen in multiples. I think when one person makes the decision, it makes it easier for others to follow. Our old gym lost the entire L9 team within 2 weeks (6 girls). End of season and move up times seem to be the key times for departures. It's sad but a common part of the sport.

I think continued motivation is critical and why move ups are important (in some cases it just doesn't make sense though). Some girls just thrive on that next skill or challenge and I think they're more likely to stay with the sport.

 

[Ali'sMom]

There is a lot of pressure not to be muscular for females these days and it's really sad! I used to think that having muscles was a bad thing until I was like 13 or 14 and went to the marine booth at a fair. They had prizes for males if they did a certain amount of pull-ups and prizes for females if they did a could hold their chin over the bar for a certain amount of time. I forget what the amount was to get a prize but it was something like 10 or 15 seconds so really not that long. I told the marine that I was doing pull-ups and he said no girls can't do pull-ups. I don't remember how many pull-ups I did but the marine apologized to me and told me they could really use me in the marines when I got older.

At college I'm in a male-dominated field so I'm the only girl in our major and one day all the guys were arguing about which one of them was the strongest and I walked over and said, "guys I'm actually the strongest." And then they all stopped arguing and agreed with me.

My daughter is only 11, but I really hope she's as confident as you as she grows

 

[gymgymgymnast08]

My daughter is only 11, but I really hope she's as confident as you as she grows

Thank you!