WAG Advice re: other activities

[CuriousCate]

Hi all! this is my first post here -yay!!

I wanted to ask your opinion on your gymmie doing other activities while doing competitive gymnastics.
My kiddo is 6 1/2 years old and is now training level 3 which requires 10 hours a week of practice (two 3 hours days and one 4 hour day - all after school). She loves gymnastics but also loves soccer. She's been playing on the same team for 3 years and all but one child will now be moving to the Development Program (ADP) for soccer - this requires 2 nights a weeks of one hour practice and one 1 hours game on a Saturday. My DD really wants to move with her team and I certainly feel that age 6 is way too young to rule anything out! The problem is that then she'd be at the gym M-W-F and soccer T-R-Sa which just seems nuts.

How have you all handled this balance for your little ones?

Thanks in advance!

 

[skschlag]

If you're family and she want to do it, then give it a try. Soccer seasons are generally short, so you should have an idea of how it will work. 1 hour a night on T/TH would be just enough to get some of the energy out and still have lots of family time. When my DS was 6/7, he still wrestled and played soccer. He dropped wrestling after he was 6, and soccer a season later. But it was his decision and he has never regretted it. This sport takes a lot of time and sacrifice anyway, so if it doesn't conflict adn you and she can handle it then let her try

 

[Deleted member 18037]

This stuff is very child and family dependent.

My girl needs her down time and so do we as a family it wouldn't work.

For many kids it does.

If every one is happy, getting enough sleep, work/school not suffering and logistics all good. So be it.

JMO, if my kid could handle all those days I would rather it be spread out with different things. I just think that is too young to only be doing one thing.

The time will come when a choice will need to be made but 6-7 is not it.

 

[agtc0424]

Let her do both, if you can do it. She's young, and only level 3. Right now it'll work fine - 1 hour of soccer still allows for family time. If I could go back in time I wish I did things other than just gymnastics. I joined track for highschool and I wish I did soccer or basketball in addition to gym when I was younger - it's nice to have the variety of sports. I think at your child's age it's Better to try other sports - allows for "fallback" and other social time. I say go for both.

 

[notthatmom]

At this age and at this level of gym I think it's fine, my gymmie (7yr old L3) wants nothing to do with anything but gym, I've asked her more than once lol. So I think if you can do it and she liked it then go for it! I would say though that down the road she's probably going to eventually have to choose one or the other but for now I think it's great that she's interested in multiple sports!

 

[gymmom10]

My daughter also played soccer along with her gymnastics up through Level 8. I encouraged this as she loved both and I thought it was mentally healthy for her to do something other than her 20 hrs/week of gymnastics. But she hid this from her coaches as she knew they would disapprove at the higher levels. She quit soccer when she was moving to Level 9 gym. It can be done.

 

[gymmom10]

To add to my earlier post, my daughters soccer coaches knew all about her gymnastics and how many hours she trained and as long as she showed up for the games, they were very lenient about her going to practices.

 

[Committed]

Hi all! this is my first post here -yay!!

I wanted to ask your opinion on your gymmie doing other activities while doing competitive gymnastics.
My kiddo is 6 1/2 years old and is now training level 3 which requires 10 hours a week of practice (two 3 hours days and one 4 hour day - all after school). She loves gymnastics but also loves soccer. She's been playing on the same team for 3 years and all but one child will now be moving to the Development Program (ADP) for soccer - this requires 2 nights a weeks of one hour practice and one 1 hours game on a Saturday. My DD really wants to move with her team and I certainly feel that age 6 is way too young to rule anything out! The problem is that then she'd be at the gym M-W-F and soccer T-R-Sa which just seems nuts.

How have you all handled this balance for your little ones?

Thanks in advance!

That sounds a lot like my DD at that age. 3 days of gym. 2 days of soccer practice. 1 game on Saturdays.
When she was 7 (L4 team), DD had to miss one soccer practice a week, and went to every game she could. We actually had to switch teams 2 times because we couldn't find one that could accommodate her gym schedule. Her original team had no problem with her NOT practicing; they wanted her just for games, but that wasn't the point of playing!
By the time she was doing 5/7, there was no more time in her schedule. We asked her to make a choice, and it was hands-down gymnastics. She does plan on returning to soccer if she decides that gymnastics is no longer fun.

 

[sce]

My kids did multiple activities at that age but none required that many days or hours at that point. I still set limits and made them choose as time and money were not unlimited. What you propose sounds like a lot for a 6yo to but as others said it might be fine for your kid/family. I do agree with letting young ones try things and not have to specialize too soon though.

 

[GymCMLA]

If she is ok with it (lack of down time) and you are ok with the taxi part, I would let her do it. MY oldest dd doesn't really need down time (my oDS does). She has done dance and gym all the way along. for 6 years we did comp dance and 4 of those overlapped with comp gym. She is a working 8 and is still dancing. L7 year 16 hours of gym and 4.5 of dance. This coming year 24 hours gym and 6.5 hours dance a week. They are both good for her and for each other. And in my mind if/when she hangs up the grips, she can still dance (and try out for team again then). Both of our activities have been flexible to make things work out (allowing an alternate dance class than where they'd optimally place her to work with her schedule). She loves them both - the gym, the studio/stage and it allows for gym friends and dance friends of many ages.

 

[raenndrops]

At 7 (slightly older than her, but close), I was in multiple activities. I had practices or games in the fall 6 days a week. I also had Girl Scouts and a church group - an hour each. My shortest sports practice was 2 hours. My longest practice was 3+ hours. In the winter, I slowed down… but by the following spring, I had sports or activities EVERY day for several hours.
If she can handle it and you can handle it, go for it.

 

[notthatmom]

I'm a firm believer that the more they're in activities from a young age, the more likely they are to keep up a busy schedule when they get older, which means less time to get in trouble when they reach older ages. I was a figure skater and had practice every day but sunday....I didn't have time to get in trouble.

 

[CuriousCate]

My daughter also played soccer along with her gymnastics up through Level 8. I encouraged this as she loved both and I thought it was mentally healthy for her to do something other than her 20 hrs/week of gymnastics. But she hid this from her coaches as she knew they would disapprove at the higher levels. She quit soccer when she was moving to Level 9 gym. It can be done.

Wow! Do you mind sharing what her schedule looked like with both teams and school? That's amazing.

 

[Gymmom5]

My DD did both Varsity Track & Field and gymnastics from 7th grade on. She was level 10 from 9th-12th grade. Her schedule looked like this:
7:30-2:10 school
2:30-4:15 (left a bit early) track
4:15-5:30 travel (we lived over an hour away - she ate and rested during this time)
5:30-8:30 gym
9:45 home
She would either have gym Friday nights or Sat am - sometimes both.


My DD did homework during study halls and sometimes over the weekend. She didn't require a lot of time for HW or studying, thank goodness. It got a bit hectic during meet/competition time but both coaches were willing to be flexible. It can be done successfully if that is what your child wants! DD ended up 5th in the state in long jump and had collegiate interest but had already committed to collegiate gymnastics - where her heart was. She was also our last child at home so we didn't have the complications of other children/schedules - that would have made it more difficult. I wouldn't have changed it for the world!

 

[Deleted member 18037]

There is a lot to be said for kids, especially girls, to have more then one main thing and friend, or group of friends.

When dealing with the social stuff, the mean girls, queen bee's and the overall bullying that has the potential to happen. It helps to not have all their relationships "eggs" and activity "eggs" in one basket. There has been actual research done on this.

Having multiple interests and friends, helps kids when they go through a rough period, perhaps a fight with a friend or struggling with a sport, or school work. By having multiple friends and interests, the problem does not seem as all encompassing.

When they only have one thing or one set of friends anything that upsets the apple cart seems like the end of the world, because to them it is, after all its the only thing they do or set of friends they have.

When they have two, three or more interests and sets of friends, if something is not right in one of their worlds its not the whole world.