Parents The Path of a Gymnast?

DON'T LURK... Join The Discussion!

Members see FEWER ads

lilmisssunshine

Proud Parent
I don't want to derail the publicity thread with my newbie questions, but I just seriously don't know. It seems that a lot of parents are hoping that the kid will be on a college gymnastics team (perhaps with a scholarship), but are there other options? I mean, if the child chooses a school without a gymnastics team, what then? Can he/she compete by still joining a regular gym? And what's the path to the Olympics? Is it just something like the top winners of Nationals are just automatically in? Do you need the "right" coach? Who are those "right" coaches? These questions probably seem silly to those who have been around for years, but this is all new to me, and all of my knowledge comes from watching a few seasons of Make It or Break It while I was nursing my youngest. LOL.

I'd also love to hear about other things that you could do with gymnastics training. I mean, obviously cheer, but I was surprised when my mom's co-worker said that she had done gymnastics when little, which led her to diving in high school. Are there other things that would be good?
 
Well, the most important and lasting things they get out of gym -- and the reason I pay (NO I WILL NOT OPEN THE EMAIL WITH MY LATEST RECEIPT!) oodles of money every month for this -- are the intangibles. The discipline and focus, the capacity to deal effectively with constructive criticism, the ability to push through adversity, the intrinsic value of physical fitness and caring attitude toward the body, and the ability to be a good winner and a good loser.

Personally, I don't think it makes a lot of sense to get invested in college gym until one's child is at least L8 and moving along well at that point. If your child has aspirations for college gym, up to that point your responsibility is just to have the child in a program with a track record of achieving this and ensure that all's going well with the training to the extent that it's your role to do so. (Others may differ with my take and think that a concrete plan aiming toward college should start a lot earlier.) For the girls, it's not so hard to go to a college that has gym. For boys, if you're talking NCAA gym, you're looking at a small handful of colleges and a lot of very talented and accomplished kids hoping to get a spot on the team, either on scholarship or walking on, so know that the odds are pretty slim. And as slim as the odds are for college for either boys or girls, going elite is even harder. Boys can combine elite with college; some of the best elite athletes also compete NCAA. The best of the best non-college guys mostly train at the Olympic Training Center with sponsorship by Hilton Honors. Getting to the Olympics is a whole other thing and depends on placing well at nationals and being the right guy with the right event strengths at the right time.

Gym leads easily into diving, track and field (pole vaulting in particular), and acro skiing, but ex-gymnasts I've known have also gone on to be very good in other sports you wouldn't necessarily guess, including football and soccer.

But I want to re-emphasize my first paragraph. That's why I'm in on this.
 
I have never dreamed of my kid getting a full ride gymnastics scholarship. However it has been her dream since she was a little girl to do college gymnastics. To be honest I don't even know where she got it from. She never talked about the Olympics - just college gymnastics. Therefore for her to college gymnastics is our end goal. That being said - a lot can happen between now and then and a lot has already happened to reshape her goal some. In the end the academics comes first. She already changed the school she wanted to compete for when she found out they didn't offer the major she was interested in.

I think to have that as the goal needs to come from the gymnast not the parents. And everyone involved needs to remain flexible over the years because you just don't know what will happen. She could quit tomorrow for all I know. Would it have been worth it? 100% YES
 
We are not particularly thinking about college gymnastics. I do have NCAA eligibility in my mind regarding schooling, but I doubt the sport will be gymnastics.
 
My goal for my DD is for her to stay good enough to be happy enough to keep going through high school and keep her off the streets :)
Seriously, we just want her focused on something.
And the amazing discipline for school that has come from gym is invaluable! (I thought it was just my kid, but many others say that gym is one sport that really teaches self-discipline and time management).

As for "future", I've also heard of many gymnast-turned-divers. They know how to flip already, etc, and it's very beneficial.

I don't see DD on a college team, but, I do think she may end up on a college club team. She has her sights on going to Univ of Florida (for the school) and used to plan to be on their gym team too. DD is decent, and who knows, maybe she could excel as she goes (she's about to be a 7th grade L6, just for reference), but I don't see her making that kind of team. But they have a club team and she thinks that might be cool.

I've also heard from another mom "Oh no, we're not looking for the olympics or anything, but a college scholarship would be good". I thought she was kidding, because to me that's a very lofty goal. Then I realized, for the right kid, it's not quite so lofty, and could be very attainable. (This girl is same level as my DD, but 3 years younger, very go-getter, high scorer, and has never needed a private to finish a skill, so they are in a different frame of mind than me).

And I also ditto ProfMom's first paragraph :)
 
Former gymnasts do very well in diving, pole vault, competitive dance, just about anything that requires a strong core and amazing upper body strength (like American Ninja Warrior ;)).

Our number one goal for our dd was to have fun, stay fit, and not jump off the furniture. As she went thru the compulsory levels, she demonstrated some ability. When she made it to optionals she had to decide whether to get serious with the sport or not since the time commitment went way up. When she started showing ability we thought, hmmm, maybe there is life in the sport after high school and starting investigating college gym. Olympics never, ever entered into the discussion (she was born in the wrong year and we lived in the wrong state).

Good Luck.
 
I don't really have a goal for DD regarding gymnastics. As she has grown older, the talks about the Olympics have died down. She still talks some about going elite, but I don't think that is a realistic goal for her or our family.

Mostly she talks about doing gymnastics at our local D1. I have told her that other colleges also have gym programs and that when the time comes (she just turned 11), that she might look at other places if she is still interested.

I don't want any fame and I don't think endorsements by non-Olympic gymnasts are too common. I don't have an Instagram for her. I do have a YouTube of some of her optional routines but it isn't updated very often.

Personally, I worry about her participation in the sport but I try to keep it to myself. she is struggling right now and I frequently have to bite my tongue from giving her an easy out. I don't get the obsession but I can't deny it so I continue to support her every way I can until she either fulfills her dream or feels ready to end her participation in the sport.
 
I just wanted to add that there is a path for girls who want to continue in the sport into adulthood, but attend a college without a team, or can't make the team. There is naigc for regular gymnasts.
That's exactly where I think DD will be, if she still has a desire to compete when that time comes.
 
I agree with everyone so far. This is an amazing sport and I think that the kids who participate come away from the experience as extremely well-rounded people. They have learned how to set goals and handle disappointments, to listen to their minds and bodies, and to be brave, humble, hardworking, disciplined, poised and mature (the right kind), organized, and supportive of their friends. She is developing life skills and friendships that will follow her throughout her entire life.

My dd never really wanted to do elite either, but YES it takes the right coaches, the right timing, the right talent and the right sized wallet to make that happen. And even though she very much wants to compete in college, it is still a dream, which just started to feel like a real possibility in the last year. Anything can happen...injuries, burnout, fears, simply not making it on a team. The direction that my dd thinks she wants to take with her education and career doesn't lend itself well to many of the colleges with Div I or II teams, so the academics are always first and foremost. Good thing gym helps with this, too! I feel she is very well setup to succeed no matter what she tries. She will also be able to coach in the future, should she need a way to make extra money or decide she wants to do that full time.

Agreed that gymnasts are going to excel in almost any physical activity they touch. They are beasts! Forget abs, they are ripped down to their little toes. One look at their muscles and school coaches immediately try to cajole them onto their various teams, lol. I've seen girls go on to dive, cheer, pole vault, run track, ski and even play tennis with a huge amount of success.

But really, she has always done gymnastics because she loves it. She adores it. She doesn't mind getting up at 7:00 on a brutal winter morning to go to practice, or dealing with rips and beam burns, or napping and doing homework in the car every day, or showing up to condition in a cast. She told me once that she loves feeling like she can fly, and I think this is the best reason of all to be a gymnast.
 
This ^ So many girls get hurt or burned out, I just hope she does it through high school and has fun with it.

What's funny is that part of me is glad my DD was a late bloomer. She will be a L6 in 7th grade. Theoretically L7 in 8th grade. 9th & 10th grade I'm thinking either repeat 7, then make it to 8, or make it to 8, and do another year.
What I'm saying, is I'm glad, for the kind of kid she is, that she didn't reach a higher level younger. if she got close to 7 or 8 younger, and had trouble, she'd have given up. She almost gave up going from L3 to L4 (summer between 5th & 6th grade). So I'm pretty sure a higher level would have done her in. So at this pace, I think she's good enough to make it that far, but mature enough that she just might not let the frustration get to her.

of course, things can change at any given moment (especially with a 12 year old...)
 
Many colleges that do not have gymnastics as a varsity sport have it at club level, in addition many that do have gymnastics as a varsity sport also have it club level. Several have mentioned track and field and diving, but another sport is rowing/crew. It takes a lot of upper body strength and gym girls transition well.

By today's standards I would call my dd a late bloomer as she didn't hit L10 until her Junior year of HS. Some of this had to do with injury, which I think affects girls a lot more than anything else. Even her 1st year of L10 she was hit with a season ending injury and competed maybe 3 meets total, 2 invitationals (which she received the score that allowed her to petition into Regionals) and then Regionals. She did have a pretty rockin' senior year, she was still limited due to an injury (pesky injury she had in junior yr as well) but she survived and made it to Nationals.

I think whether anyone truly wants to admit it or not, you do hope you kid will get that scholarship, but it is not the sole reason you have them in the sport. My dd made it through HS not on drugs, not pregnant and not hanging out on street corners. She learned time management and the ability to stay focused. She learned what it was like to fail, learn from her mistakes and then learned the ultimate feeling of victory. I truly believe that if she did not do her sport (and to the level that she does it) that she wouldn't of gotten into the college she is attending. I think she would of been a borderline academic student and they might not of taken her, but given her athletic abilities they accepted her. She does attend her current college on an athletic scholarship and she has just finished up her freshman year. Her gymnastics has opened that door and she actually finished her freshman year with the highest GPA of all the freshman on her team. A lot of that drive comes from this sport.
 
Thanks everyone! A bit about where I'm coming from...When I found out I was having a boy, one of my first thoughts was "I hope he doesn't like football" lol. I am so not interested in sports, and happy that he's interested in gymnastics right now because it doesn't bother me. Our house is across the street from the jr high field and I was just bowled over last fall how those football kids were there every single day from 5-8.

My son is only 6 and only started gymnastics 2 months ago. Right away, he noticed some kids who were always at the gym working independently and asked "Why do those kids get to come all the time?" and I said that they must be on the team, so he's been all about team (and being able to do gym more often). I talked with an old friend whose daughters do gymnastics and lurked on this forum and figured I'd have about a year before I had to worry about team stuff. Since my son kept pushing me, I asked the coach about team, worrying that I'd look pushy because son had only been there 2 or 3 times, the coach said that if he wants to do it, he could join the pre-team, and that he'd probably be on team in the fall, with his first competition in December.

So here I am, spending a lot more time and money on this and being like, "Whoa. This escalated quickly." And I don't even know anything about gymnastics or sports. I even had to look up what NCAA was because I had no clue. lol.

And since he's young and hasn't developed a lot of set interests, there's always a lot of ways that I can imagine his future going as a parent. I think, like at 16 or something, your child has a stronger sense of where he/she will be going.
 
I have an old friend who's son is a Nationally ranked HS golfer. He is being heavily recruited for college. She mentioned recently going to his first golf match in over a year!
 
Started with my daughter using the couch as a balance beam and tumble track. Now life lessons and fun. As others have said. Strength, mental and physical. She sees what she can accomplish with hard work and effort. Making friends. Learning about winning and losing and how to do both gracefully. Discipline, listening to your body. Settting and working at goals. Listening and learning, as her coaches have said, she is incredibly coachable.

So much that carries over into everything else she does, school, being responsible, time management, effort.
 

New Posts

DON'T LURK... Join The Discussion!

Members see FEWER ads

Gymnaverse :: Recent Activity

College Gym News

New Posts

Back