Parents The saga continues - advice please

[sce]

@mom2newgymnast


I guess I'm confused or concerned that she is not ready to "try out" for level 3 because the current gym really puts conditioning and form over skills. Which is why I was thinking that a year in Xcel might be smart. (Xcel seems to focus on skills over perfect form and conditioning). I honestly don't know what I'm doing... this is a whole new world for me. Which is why I ended up here, looking for advice Thanks for the help so far!

Another gym might put her in their JO pre-team track though. A well, a year at Xcel may not gain her the necessary level 3 skills either. The skills he is missing are not necessary for Xcel bronze.

 

[z2akids]

Another gym might out her in their JO track based on her form and strength. My DD was pulled from the club team to JO bass on her flexibility, strength, coachability and lines even though her skillsc were behind most of the other girls.

If her heart is set on JO, then ic would start looking around

 

[profmom]

When DD was invited on to JO preteam, she couldn't even do a cartwheel. Her gym (which is not so ridiculous about age and DOES have some mobility between XCel and JO) looks primarily for strength and flexibility in issuing the initial invites to littles.

Go check out the other gym, but keep it pretty quiet. You don't have much to lose by checking it out -- if it seems like it's not a good fit, there is still the XCel option at your current gym.

 

[GymGirl's Mom]

My DD was shut out of preteam at her old gym at age 5! We moved gyms and she was put right on preteam and many years later is still competing JO. Her other gym, the one she was not good enough to make team- absolutely ZERO of the girls in her preteam group from age 5 compete now. Out of DD's preteam group at her new/current gym more than 1/2 are still competing more than 5 years later. If it's an option- look around!

 

[BachFlyer]

I agree with exploring your options if she has her heart set on JO, because I dont think a year at bronze would help develop the skills she needs. I understand that didderent gyms have different rules, but my dd is testament to the fact that age is not relevant, especially such a young age. She's 6! My dd didnt set foot in a gym until 6.5, started competing at 8 and was L10 by 13. It's just dumb to make decisions on age in my opinion.

 

[Deleted member 18037]

Our girls up train, they need the skills for the level they compete at. Not perfect, not 100 % of the time but the have to have them to be at that level.

So no mill circle, no ROBHS, no Level 3
No kip, no Level 4.

So my girl when she joined this gym was a L3 at her old gym, got put back to L2 because she had no ROBHS or mill circle.

She couldn't skip L3 last year because she didn't have her kip. Now she has her kip not 100% but she has it, L3 season done. They are L4.

She was a top finisher at L2 and L3. Took her a long time to get the mill circle but man when she got it, it was pretty. Her kip while not pretty now, I expect will be by mock meet time at the end of Sept. But she wouldn't move if she wasn't at least hitting now.

Our girls also do JO and Xcel at the same time. Early in the season its JO, later (like now) its Xcel. Some only JO, some only Xcel.

This is how our gym does things. Your mileage may vary.

Again, the age thing bugs me. My daughter is 9, she has the makings of a strong gymnast. She has not had one coach that has not said so. 2nd at states last year as she had the flu (missed practice the week before).
1 st this year. But your coach would of said it was over for her at 6 because she didn't yet have her mill circle or ROBHS.

 

[Deleted member 18037]

Wanted to add, I get the skill thing, not the age thing. So if it is that she doesn't have skills that is different then being 6. And the waffling.

Our girls don't officially get their levels until beginning of August but they train in the summer at the level they are expected to be at. It is the coaches discretion to bump them back one.

The other thing is levels close together train together in the summer. So if someone doesn't end up moving it is not so dramatic. So L2/3/4 train the same days, higher levels the other days.

 

[duyetanh]

Too old at SIX???
I cry bull****.....
(Sorry. ) But it truly is a load of dung...do they not know that Gabby Douglas was a late bloomer comparitively? I have no idea how old she was when she started team gym stuff, but I do remember her coach at the Olympics told her mother that she came too late.
...heck, you can't even DO level 4 unless you are at least 7. Geez...

 

[duyetanh]

Ok I tried to edit but I messed up...but to out it kinder, i think the age thing is ridiculous, but then again, I am not in the business of trying to raise ncaa gymnasts and Olympians, and some gyms out there obviously are. Sounds like it is time to find a new gym...

 

[gymratmom]

I know nothing about excel program so have no advice for you there. Sounds to me like this gym has a formula and they stick to it no matter what. I am sure it works out fine for them and they probably realize there are good gymnasts that don't fit the formula but are not interested in changing things up. How is their optional team? How many of their gymnasts continue after level 4?
I would rather be at a gym that looks at each individual gymnast and places them accordingly. I would never have bet on my daughter being moved up after level 4 and starting 6. But, they saw something that I didn't and moved her up. If we were in one of the gyms requiring multiple 37s in a season she might be at level 4 forever!

 

[refugee]

I agree with the comments to look for a new gym now--the boat has sailed for this gym, and your daughter appear to be left on the dock.

I will add that your current gym's pre-team focus on conditioning and form is good. We believe a lot of my daughter's current success is based on a very picky pre-team and L4/L5 coach many many years ago. Good habits are easier to form early on.

 

[CLgym]

Thank you everyone for taking the time to respond.

Update - I had a super nice conversation with one of the two gyms that's about 30 min away (I was warned it could be an hour in traffic) and liked their philosophy. Unfortunately, I don't think it will be a good fit at this point. Besides the distance, they don't start team until level 4 (still several years away for DD). Before then, there is a leveled rec program and a newly created developmental team. They were happy to evaluate DD for the developmental team and/or rec level, but the developmental team practices only 4 hrs per week and rec classes are 1.5 hours. By comparison, DD practices 6 hrs per week currently on pre team, and would get 9 hrs per week of consistent coaching in Xcel plus an opportunity to compete a little. I suppose I could piece together a program at the other gym (developmental team + rec + conditioning class) that equaled 9 hrs per week, but that doesn't seem ideal.

I still have one other relatively close gym to call (but current HC came from this gym so I'm a little worried about it getting back). Other gyms in the area are more than an hour away (honestly not feasible because I have other children to consider).

Through all of this, one thing is clear: DD is very hurt by what happened at the current gym. She has expressed wanting to leave no matter what, even if it is not the best gymnastics choice for her. I even overheard DD telling a sibling that the gym didn't want her anymore. It makes me sad, and makes everything more difficult because she is not being rationale about best next steps.

In response to several comments, I've looked and see what everyone was saying about Xcel Bronze not requiring the skills that DD is missing. I'm going to confirm with the current gym, but I really do believe DD and her Bronze teammates will be learning the the level 3 routines this year nevertheless (pre team coach mentioned it and I've watch this year's Bronze girls work on their level 3 skills/routines this year with an occasional substitution). And DD has already started working on most of the missing level 3 skills in pre team (BHS, front mill circle). Does anyone have experience with an Xcel team that uses JO routines and/or up-trains like this?? I'd be interested in hearing about your experiences.

Thoughts?

 

[Seeker]

Too old at SIX???
But it truly is a load of dung...

Hahahaha.....this made my morning! {I totally agree!}

 

[CLgym]

@gymratmom The current gym has a successful optionals program with a couple of stand-outs. It's a large gym but has a very selective JO program (maybe 4-5 girls per level ). Xcel is a slightly larger program (maybe 8 girls per level) that does well in competitions. Then there is also a lower level team (AAU). There are plenty of girls who want a team invite at this gym but do not get one -- someone would happily take DD's Xcel spot. Also worth noting that 1-2 girls have moved from Xcel to USAG (but this is a long shot, and I do not suspect it will happen. As someone said, the ship has sailed without DD aboard!)

 

[wallflower]

I think at just 6 and just starting the Xcel option sounds great. You can always change gyms in a year or two if she wants to do JO. And you never know if she could switch to JO at this gym later. It's more hours, she gets to compete.

 

[IreneKa]

1. Call the other gym, don't mention your name or your current gym's name until you know what they have to offer.

2. She is only 6, a year of xcel wouldn't be so bad for now. You can see where she is skill-wise a year from now and take it from there. But, that's considering she wants to stay at that gym.

3. If she absolutely doesn't want to stay there, development team leading to level 4 doesn't sound so bad. She doesn't need those mill circle and FHC beyond level 3 anyways, so if she never learns them, that's no big deal. But if she spends the next year working on kip and other L4 skills, it wouldn't be so bad for her future in gymnastics. I would take her for evaluation, and let her decide if she likes it there.

 

[gymratmom]

So crazy to think that at 6 , her future potential is already determined at this gym. Sounds like it works well for them, but obviously not a great fit for your daughter. If the coaching is great, is it not realistic that after a year of excel she would be able to move into JO at another gym?

 

[gracyomalley]

DD gym skipped L4 (then - now L3). She never did the mill circle - did have to do the FHC in L5 in old days...Never vaulted without a table, etc. Spent a year on team without competing (which got her 8-12 hours a week) after a year on a developmental team (4.5 hours a week. Its not at all unheard of - and puts the emphasis on developing progressive skills and strength, instead of learning lower level routines and skills that don't build.

Both approaches can work great in the long run. What matters at age 6 is that she feels like her coaches like teaching her, that she is encouraged to be her best (pay attention, learn things well, learn to be a good team mate, etc) and gym is a fun, confidence building activity. If its true that the xcel team learns the L3 routines/skills then I would expect that more kids would move over to JO later...so really take a look at that - they could be doing it to allow more mobility between programs for "older" kids who don't fit their elite building model, OR they could do it so coaching the lower level xcel kids is easier (not allowing different routines means the coaches don't have to make up different ones for each kid).

Moving to a new gym later would be extremely feasible, so if your DD could be happy and feel good at her gym doing a year or so xcel, then no rush to make this decision. Biggest group of L8s is usually 12-14 so if you count out the years your DD has LOTS of time!!!!

 

[gymmomtotwo]

As tempting as it is to want Dd to compete sooner rather than later, I can tell you that developmental team leading to Level 4 works really well at our gym. As frustrating as it was waiting that extra year, it allowed them time to really develop the Level 4 skills rather than perfecting and competing level 3 routines. It eliminated the need to work on the front hip circle and the mill circle. I know there are different philosophies on this but 6 is really young to be put into competition anyway. 8 is plenty young enough to start Level 4 age 7-8 is always the youngest age group, and there aren't many of them at meets. A lot of times there are so few that they get put with the 9 year olds. You won't believe what she will gain in those two years in terms of strength and and skill if you stay the developmental route. Xcel at your gym is a dead end. You risk aging her out of other alternatives if you decide to wait thinking you can always switch in a couple of years. She feels rejected and unwanted and I can see why since they told her one thing and did another. I'd worry less about how fast you can get her into competition than how you get her to where she is a well prepared level 4. I would definitely explore the third gym as well as keep the 2nd one with developmental team on your list.

 

[CLgym]

@ gymmomtotwo and others -- What do you think about the 4 hrs/week (developmental team at gym #2) versus 9 hrs/week (Xcel at current gym)? Seems like a big difference. Xcel offers about 250 extra gym hours over the course of a year (and about 150 less hours in the car).

However, there have been many good points about developmental team straight to level 4 (I didn't even realize that the front hip circle and front mill circle were level 3 only skills -- so I'm learning here). I think it's worth going to gym 2 for the evaluation. The developmental team is new at gym 2, but I will hopefully get a good feel for the quality of program in person. And they can see if DD is even a good fit. What I really need right now is a crystal ball!

Will keep everyone posted. You've all been super helpful.