ElizaBrooke
Proud Parent
Hi all,
Would love any thoughts or feedback, I'm just feeling really sad for my daughter right now. She absolutely adores gymnastics- goes 3-4 times per week to her level 2 classes (would go more often if we'd take her!), has progressed so fast since she just started Level 1 in January of this year. She was in privates for her first 5 months, almost every week, since we were under the understanding that it's not too late for her to give it her all to go towards the team since she was talented and so determined to try her best.
Well, she has all her Level 2 moves perfectly, according to the coach, and she'll be evaluated for moving up a level next week. Here's the sad part: even though she may have all her level 2 moves, be determined and focused, she may not get to join the gym's competitive team because of her age. I know, I've read on other posts that this happens in some gyms. But, I don't know why I feel so sad for my daughter about this, but the receptionist and her coach were telling us that even though she's doing everything beautifully, the director or head coach of the team never takes kids straight from the rec classes onto the level 3 competitive team. She always has the girls join a pre-team between the ages of 5-8 first, then they're elevated up to the main team when they are 8, and always younger than 10. Well, she's a "young" 9, could that count? They both said they don't know, because again they always have the girls join the pre-team first and she's too old to join it. So, they said, there's a good chance she'll be invited to join the Xcel level 3 team, instead. We've seen the level 3 Xcel team at our gym practicing and their practice is very laid-back, only 2 hours twice per week, and the coaches look tired and they all seem bored and unenthusiastic.
My daughter overheard the conversation I had with her coach and the receptionist, and she was so sad and said, "Mom, so now I can't be on the olympic team and try to reach my dream?" I told her I have no idea what will happen next week, that her coach and the other lady were just guessing, even though both said they thought she looks beautiful out there with all her level 2 moves, but that they just didn't want to promise anything because they have no idea what the director will say because of her age and how she never brings kids straight from rec classes into the competitive level team.
I feel so bad because she begged me to put her in gymnastics since she was 3 and I didn't like gymnastics (because I thought it looked dangerous!) and I put her in ballet and figure skating since she was a toddler, and she was great at those but always begged for the gymnastics. So, I gave-in in January of this year and she wants to eat, sleep, and breathe gymnastics. She never did this with skating or ballet like I did when I was her age. So, anyways, I guess my question is- if they think she is too old to join the competitive team next week, is there a chance she could have a fabulous time competing with the Xcel team instead? Or, if Xcel is boring at our gym, should we maybe think about exploring an Xcel team at a gym somewhere else where it could be more exciting for the kids? Has anyone here had kids on an Xcel team and had an awesome experience? Thanks so much for reading, and hope you all have a good night.
Elizabrooke
Would love any thoughts or feedback, I'm just feeling really sad for my daughter right now. She absolutely adores gymnastics- goes 3-4 times per week to her level 2 classes (would go more often if we'd take her!), has progressed so fast since she just started Level 1 in January of this year. She was in privates for her first 5 months, almost every week, since we were under the understanding that it's not too late for her to give it her all to go towards the team since she was talented and so determined to try her best.
Well, she has all her Level 2 moves perfectly, according to the coach, and she'll be evaluated for moving up a level next week. Here's the sad part: even though she may have all her level 2 moves, be determined and focused, she may not get to join the gym's competitive team because of her age. I know, I've read on other posts that this happens in some gyms. But, I don't know why I feel so sad for my daughter about this, but the receptionist and her coach were telling us that even though she's doing everything beautifully, the director or head coach of the team never takes kids straight from the rec classes onto the level 3 competitive team. She always has the girls join a pre-team between the ages of 5-8 first, then they're elevated up to the main team when they are 8, and always younger than 10. Well, she's a "young" 9, could that count? They both said they don't know, because again they always have the girls join the pre-team first and she's too old to join it. So, they said, there's a good chance she'll be invited to join the Xcel level 3 team, instead. We've seen the level 3 Xcel team at our gym practicing and their practice is very laid-back, only 2 hours twice per week, and the coaches look tired and they all seem bored and unenthusiastic.
My daughter overheard the conversation I had with her coach and the receptionist, and she was so sad and said, "Mom, so now I can't be on the olympic team and try to reach my dream?" I told her I have no idea what will happen next week, that her coach and the other lady were just guessing, even though both said they thought she looks beautiful out there with all her level 2 moves, but that they just didn't want to promise anything because they have no idea what the director will say because of her age and how she never brings kids straight from rec classes into the competitive level team.
I feel so bad because she begged me to put her in gymnastics since she was 3 and I didn't like gymnastics (because I thought it looked dangerous!) and I put her in ballet and figure skating since she was a toddler, and she was great at those but always begged for the gymnastics. So, I gave-in in January of this year and she wants to eat, sleep, and breathe gymnastics. She never did this with skating or ballet like I did when I was her age. So, anyways, I guess my question is- if they think she is too old to join the competitive team next week, is there a chance she could have a fabulous time competing with the Xcel team instead? Or, if Xcel is boring at our gym, should we maybe think about exploring an Xcel team at a gym somewhere else where it could be more exciting for the kids? Has anyone here had kids on an Xcel team and had an awesome experience? Thanks so much for reading, and hope you all have a good night.
Elizabrooke