WAG starting to thinkIt is just about surviving:(

[dmytv]

So my dd goes to gym today and finds out that one of the best gymnasts on team is quiting due to some medical issue and she says to me " Mom I am feeling I don't have to have better moves than everyone else, I just have to avoid getting hurt or sick." Found out 1 gymnast quit today due to some strange bone illness(we are worried, Talked to mom) and 2 others due to small stress fractures. What on earth do I say to her? I don't think it is a matter of survivial but what do I say in the face of this?

 

[iwannacoach]

Longevity in the sport, or brevity in some cases, can be chalked up to having "just enough" of the following.......

Desire and love for the sport

A sound coach-gymnast-parent triad

Patient but constant progress

Tolerance of setbacks

Luck

This sport does tend to expose un-diagnosed conditions, and it seems to happen just as kids move into the more dynamic skills typical of level 8 and beyond, but for healthy "normal" kids it's simply a matter of avoiding over use and accidental injuries. So I guess the best I can wish for your dd is that the odds be ever in her favour!

 

[gymgal]

it is a combination of survival of the fittest and most dedicated. I think when girls have injuries, they begin to re-evaluate whether they want to stick with the sport. Most times, they could come back if they really wanted to but many times they were already showing signs of decreased interest and the injury just allows for a quiet exit. Sometimes parents use this as a way to get their gymnasts to move on as well - particularly if it's a financial strain or if the parent what the child to choose another sport.

And iwanna is right in that any intense sport is going to push foward medical conditions that might not otherwise show up in everyday life. Think about all the football players with heart conditions diagnosed only after intense training. So while gymnastics is certainly a high risk sport for injuries, it also is one that brings a child's medical weakness to the forefront due to the intensity level for training.

 

[MaryA]

You know, on youtube you can watch videos "Fantastic amazing child-protegy Suzy competes level 4" followed by more videos of her competing levels 5, 6, maybe 7... and then fantastic amazing child-protegy Suzy dissapears from the youtube scene. And you have to wonder what happened to Suzy? Did she quit? Get hurt? Did her parents just get bored with the process of making all those youtube videos of her? But if every fantastic amazing child-protegy on youtube continued with gymnastics, our gyms would all be full to the rafters with level 10 and elite gymnasts. I think, to a certain extent it is just survival of the fittest. It takes a pretty special kid (not that ALL kids aren't special, but you know what I mean) to be willing to put in the kind of hours, effort, and pain that gymnastics requires, and to do it day after day and year after year, especially once they reach an age where their friends are hanging out after school, going to the mall, to school dances, or whatever, and they have to say, "I can't. I have gymnastics." And when the skills start to get harder, and take longer to get, and they have to start being able to do those skills with an ever-changing body (sure, I know that there are girls who reach upper-level optionals before puberty, but I don't think that is the norm), any girl who sticks it out is truly amazing.

 

[GymBee97]

I don't think I would say anything. this is the plan your DD has come up with for now. In a month it may change again. Not getting hurt and doing just enough to compete is a goal that isn't terrible. Once your DD gets some more confidence and meets under her belt that will change. Going careful after an injury or seeing lots of team mates injured is all part of the sport.

 

[GymBeeMom]

Gymnastics is brutal and the girls get hurt. Some get better. Some quit. Some find excuses. Some find inspiration. The sport is a great life lesson for as long as she is in it. That is worth it all.

 

[SignHere]

Sure, it's about surviving, and dedication, and being smart! If the kid's goal is to go college, and not elite, does she need to be pushed to Level 10 by the time she is 11 or 12? Why risk injury and burnout and have an 8 year old on a team with girls who are in High school and there are no other 3rd graders? Just sayin!