Am I Too Old?

[Takiah]

Hey guys im Tak =)

I just have a quick question. Im 19 years old and used to compete as a young one (competed for 3 years up to level 3- then i quit until last year)

im training for an adults competition in 2009 but my days are limited to only being able to train tuesday nights and wednesdays & all that my gym could offer me is training level 4-6 gymstar for 3 hrs wed nights which is exactly what im looking for...however... im 19...and the others are...kids..like between 13-17. Is it stupid for me to be training with them? I feel insecure because im just so much older but I need this time in the gym.

They said i could compete if i lik aswel but I think that would just be way out of the question with my age.

I would appreciate some feed back if possible!

Thank you for taking the time for ready my question // if you respond thank you in advance!

[gymmomntc2e6]

if you want to compete - you should do it. You will always question yourself if you don't.

[Takiah]

Yeah - i wont be able to compete this year but as a parent yourself would you be uncomfortable if your young ones had a 19 year old in their class?

[gymmomntc2e6]

I do not think that I would. My DD will be 8 next month. When she practices w/ the higher level girls on Thursdays she is w/ older girls. I think the oldest is 15. But still no, I don't really think that the age should matter. It should be skill level, desire and love of gymnastics that matter.

[gracefulone]

We have a girl who is 22 who still competes for us!

[NYgymfan]

You are definitely not too old. I'm not sure if you are in the USA or not, but for some strange reason adult gymnastics isnt popular here and I've heard many people on this board say that they have hard time finding meets and even gyms to train at. But people in other countries say adult gymnastics is much more popular (like australia for example).

[gymdog]

If it's all teenagers I don't think it's a big deal, as long as you plan to conduct yourself accordingly. When I go back to my old gym to work out that group is pretty young, like 9-15.

[Takiah]

Thank you very much for all of your responses.

I am in Australia =) I gues even though the girls are alot better than myself at this stage I would feel if i ever cometed with these guys it would give me an unfair advantage because of my age.

I would love to organise adult levels//competeing but im not sure if it would take off down here in Aus.

[MoonKid]

The group I was in last year (when I was 17/turning 18) had kids as young as 9 years old in it, and the oldest was 13. I'm not going to lie, the 9 year olds got on my nerves a fair bit, but all of the 12+ year olds were great. Also, for several years I was the oldest in my group by 2 years, and I still had a blast.
About the competing, if thats what you want to do, I say go for it.

[Takiah]

Yeah you're right. I think I just needed to hear it from other gymnasts! Thanks so much =)