Parents Move up advice?

[purpleleomom]

DD has been competing on a rec team in level 2. Her gym can only take them through level 3, so we would have to make this decision in a year anyway. A lot of our kids feed into the team at a sister gym, and my daughter tried out and was offered a spot on their bronze team.

It's a big jump from 3 hours to 9 hours per week. They will be going from "oh yay, you got that skill" to requiring perfection. I'm not sure she can hang, but beyond a trial practice or 2, there isn't any sort of transition period. She would start next month.

I'm hoping that the bigger commitment will help her with some skills she's not strong in, like time management, etc. But if she crashes and burns, we can't go back to the old gym (they are keeping ratios lower next season and expect to fill up). Advice? Mom might be more nervous than DD is.

 

[purpleleomom]

By the way, in this gym, xcel is the path to optionals, so at the early levels, it is probably nearly as intense as compulsory.

 

[MILgymFAM]

DD has been competing on a rec team in level 2. Her gym can only take them through level 3, so we would have to make this decision in a year anyway. A lot of our kids feed into the team at a sister gym, and my daughter tried out and was offered a spot on their bronze team.

It's a big jump from 3 hours to 9 hours per week. They will be going from "oh yay, you got that skill" to requiring perfection. I'm not sure she can hang, but beyond a trial practice or 2, there isn't any sort of transition period. She would start next month.

I'm hoping that the bigger commitment will help her with some skills she's not strong in, like time management, etc. But if she crashes and burns, we can't go back to the old gym (they are keeping ratios lower next season and expect to fill up). Advice? Mom might be more nervous than DD is.

How old is your DD? What bronze is this? Xcel? IGC? AAU? Different leagues mean different things for bronze. Does she understand the jump in hours and know what (if anything) will change in her life because of her new schedule? Does she want to switch? Will she be with peers? If it doesn't work out, is there a completely separate gym in your area she could try or could she simply do rec? If she ends up not ready for bronze (I am working on the assumption of xcel here) and she is younger, maybe a little more time in a rec or preteam class wouldn't hurt.

Recently my DD made the jump from xcel to Jo. She was given a tryout and a single trial class and had to decide if it was for her. She went from 6hrs to 17hrs. I had similar worries, but DD was certain. Now, my DD is 13 years old, so when she tells me what she wants, I tend to listen.

Eta: I saw your follow up. I would still say, how old and how mature? 9 hours for bronze is higher than I have ever heard, but clearly xcel is a bit all over the place- to put it lightly. If this is the only path to JO from the current gym, and she has the offer, I would go for it as long as it is what she wants.

 

[gymmomtoo]

Are you asking advice on whether to make the move (yes, if she likes gymnastics--since she obviously can't advance at your current gym) or how to make the move easier?

Have you watched a practice there? Just wondering if you have a basis for thinking they'll be expecting perfection, because that's not usually the case for teams--especially lower levels--coaches know the girls are young and new and aren't expecting perfection--just that they'll be working hard and taking corrections. (well, we all know there are exceptions to this!)

 

[purpleleomom]

She is 9 and has been doing gymnastics for 3+ hours per week for 2 years. She has some focus and maturity issues (ADHD kiddo), but she is getting better.

Yes, Xcel bronze and they feed into optionals here instead of doing 4 & 5. The head coach at our current gym is who told me they expect perfection (obviously not right out of the gate, but they don't get to squeak by with sketchy form like they do now). She might know a couple of the kids. A few others from her team tried out, but I only know status of one other and she was invited to Silver, so they would not necessarily be together.

 

[purpleleomom]

I guess I'm asking how to make the move easier. She's in year round school, so we don't get the summer to get used to the new practice schedule.

 

[Tigtimes]

Often we as moms get more upset than they do. There is always an adjustment period when hours increase, in my experience usually about two weeks to get into the swing each time. You will know after that time if it is too much. Every summer I freak out with full day camp then straight to night practice, every year D is like whatever mom I am fine. She is now 9.

 

[gymmomtoo]

Make sure she gets a snack before practices. And keep on top of homework. Give it a good six months to adjust for her. She's going to be tired and sore at first, but hopefully she will love the extra hours. Will she be going three days a week? Are all of them during he week or is any on the weekend?

 

[mommyof1]

She will probably do great, and it may be harder on you as the chauffeur and household manager than it is on her. My 8-year-old has been doing 3 days a week since the beginning of the school year, and honestly she does better on the days when she has practice than on many of the days when she is home all afternoon. If needed, talk with her health care provider to be sure any meds will last through practice (I used to tutor and it was difficult for the ADHD kids whose parents would "give them the weekend off" from meds and then send them to 2-hour sessions). Try to get homework done before practice. Make adequate sleep non-negotiable.

Minimizing parental stress also makes it easier on the kiddo. Mine can sense when I am stressed out and it rubs off on her. Freezer meals are your friend. We have usually found it easier for one parent to do drop-off and the other to do pickup. It is just too exhausting for one person to make the round trip to the gym, spend a couple of hours at home, and then go back out again for another round trip.

 

[Pigeon]

You will notice a big difference between the skills she picks up at 9 hours vs. 3 hours. I think she will get used to it fairly quickly at her age and will probably love it!

 

[mom2newgymnast]

I think she'll be just fine. My dd went from 3 to 6 hours and then 6 to 9 in less than a year, so not quite the quick jump, but she has loved it. Next month she'll go to 12 (4 hours practices 3 times a week). It seems crazy to me, but she can't wait to be there for 4 hours at a time. Tripling your dd's hours will definitely lead to a huge jump in her skills and seeing the improvements will likely motivate her even more.

Really I just responded because I read how she is in year round school and I wanted to say that I can relate to that. My dd is in year round school too so we have had to deal with that at the same time as increasing hours. Luckily she's young, currently finishing up first grade, so she hasn't had huge amounts of homework to deal with. But I do see where you are coming from when you say she won't have the summer to adjust. I bet she'll do great though!

 

[purpleleomom]

It is 3 days per week, no weekends. It is only about 25 minutes away, but I can see it getting exhausting after awhile. I talked to the other parents at tryouts and think we might have a carpool with another girl who gets out of school at the same time (they will go straight to gym from school, ouch, but finish at 7:30). DD seems excited. She has been a little unsure about gym lately, but I think she is just ready for new challenges and doesn't know how to express it. When she's in the gym, she loves every minute, and she's the kid on the tumble track saying "just one more!"

 

[purpleleomom]

We did a trial practice. I didn't inform her it would be 3 hours in case that started her off on the wrong foot. She did great! And when I asked her after practice if she wanted to join this team, she gave me a very enthusiastic yes. That was Thursday. Today is Saturday and she said her abs hurt when she coughs, so I guess the conditioning was on point.

Looks like we are going down the rabbit hole.