WAG New gym tomorrow - scared!

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Turk

Gymnast
(this got a bit long, sorry!)

I'm not moving to the area for another few weeks, but I'm going down there tomorrow morning for a few days to look at places to live and to target all the possible jobs that aren't the big chains or advertised online. While I'm there, I'll be trying out one of the two gyms I want to go to (I'll have time and money for both, but I have a competition next week and don't want to exhaust myself by spending more time than usual in the gym this week).

I'm really nervous. I'm not a nervous person by nature, but the gym I'm moving from hasn't always been great and I'm worried about a lot of things unnecessarily. I know the new gym is nice and has produced some incredible gymnasts, but in my head I think I'm imagining all the terrible things from my current place happening at this new one.

I so badly want to do my best in gymnastics and I think I could learn so much more. My current gym seemed to take me seriously when they thought I was barely old enough to be in the 16+ class, then seemed to become disparaging and not really interested when they realised I wasn't. After I landed a vault on my neck (partially someone else's fault, I'm still holding a grudge) and had to take time off, I felt like I wasn't taken seriously about how scared I am. As recently as last week, everyone seemed to be laughing at me for being so afraid. I've been drilling the vault for the past few weeks because I need it now that I've moved up in competition category to the tougher one, and I was doing the actual vault last week, albeit over a block and with a bit of help, and they were making me feel like a silly little girl for being so afraid.

I'm a dancer, I'm already strong, I have great dance skills (I've actually had to downgrade them all for this comp because my category has an upper limit!), I have very clean form and I'm more or less fearless apart from with vault, and even then I'm hoping to put the vault that almost killed me back on the vault table tomorrow after a few weeks of drills. I know there are bigger competitions (well, at least one) and a higher category at the one I currently do, so I know adults are out there learning bigger skills. I also know that I'm the height and weight of half of the 12-year-olds at my current gym, so I'm really built to do reasonably well. Having trained 35+ hours for dance for years (and currently working back up to it), I understand and can handle working that hard. I've had no major injuries, and as I thought I'd only be dancing I've been well-paced not to peak until early 30s, so I can get a lot better/fast/stronger still.

And yet, the gym I'm leaving didn't really seem to care and laughed or brushed me off when I took an interest in learning something more difficult. I think that's why I'm not going to tell anyone how old I am at the new place. I'll knock out a few of my biggest dance skills, or practice the dance sections of my floor, or something - anything to create a good impression - then just let them think I'm as young as I look so they have no opportunity to give up on me.

Not that I think they would, because they seem really nice. I just don't want it to happen again.
 
So sorry to hear about the treatment you received at your current gym. But good luck tomorrow and don't be scared. Remember it is also important for you to be happy at the gym and this "tryout" at this new gym is both for you to find out if it is a good fit for you and where you can thrive and be happy as well is for the gym. So just do your best. You don't need to give them your age off the bat, but if you are asked it is always best to be honest. If you are concerned about you having a similar experience at this new gym as your old, I suggest you speak with them also about your concerns and have them address them. Don't be afraid to speak out. Your happiness and finding the "right" gym is what will ultimately push you to succeed. Good luck.
 

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