My daughter is a late starter in gymnastics terms. I put her in rec when she was 7yo for one session (two months) and at the end of the session, the coaches upgraded her to the train with the 10yo in an Advanced class. Did one session of that and then quit because we had to move across country for work. So about four months total of gymnastics experience and then No gymnastics at all after that for a few years. In the meantime, she has always loved gymnastics - doing handstands, backwalkovers etc at home all day. So that's all her exposure with gymnastics. Fast forward a few years later, she is now 10yo and I signed her up for a Rec class at the new city we are in. After her very first rec class here, the head coach recommended I switch her to the competitive team as she will get more training hours and a more consistent coach. Sure, why not. She was over the moon training 3 days a week and wanted to go every day if she could. In her first year of competitive gymnastics, she loved it - made good friends and love the sport in general. She made sure all her school work was done so she can go to gymnastics practice. She, however, did not score very well - 6th or 7th place or sometimes bottom 3. For me, no big deal, I don't have a gymnastics background so whatever she was doing looked fantastic to me anyway. I let her know that. Moving along, she is now in her 2nd year of competitive gymnastics. Her 2nd competitive year, some events she scored well but on average about bottom 3 AA. She was devastated and cried in her room after the meets and said she will work harder the next round. Again, I comforted her and told her that it is ok, I still think she is amazing. I could never do what she does and be so brave to compete in front of a whole audience. Today, she is starting her 3rd year of competitive gymnastics in USAG Optionals and has told me that after the year is up, she wants to quit because she is not good at gymnastics. Haven't had any meets this year yet. I let her know that she can quit anytime she wants to. But I am torn inside. I watched this young kid start out loving gymnastics doing handstands on the couch at home to getting moved up from a 7yo Rec to a 10yo Advanced class in 2 months. And from a Rec class to a Comp team after one day. I saw how gymnastics made her truly so happy.
I don't know if the reason she was moved up so quickly through the levels is because of her age? And because of that, she missed out on all the basic foundationals compared to someone who would have started at 3yo and then trained for a few years in pre-team before competing perfecting their forms and skills?
Any opinions, thoughts, advice are greatly appreciated. Should I just let her quit because according to her "she is not good at gymnastics and doesn't want us to waste our money"? Is it a coaching mismatch? Would she do better in a different gym? There is only one gym in our city and the next one is 2 hours away. But that doesn't guarantee different results, I don't think at least. I've told her that money is not an issue for us (we both make good money, no debts and don't have any other expensive hobbies), if it is a sport you enjoy, keep fit and make friends, we will gladly pay. I am proud of her that she is sticking it out and wanting to finish the year. Just confused and would like to see a different point of view. Appreciate you all reading this long post.
I don't know if the reason she was moved up so quickly through the levels is because of her age? And because of that, she missed out on all the basic foundationals compared to someone who would have started at 3yo and then trained for a few years in pre-team before competing perfecting their forms and skills?
Any opinions, thoughts, advice are greatly appreciated. Should I just let her quit because according to her "she is not good at gymnastics and doesn't want us to waste our money"? Is it a coaching mismatch? Would she do better in a different gym? There is only one gym in our city and the next one is 2 hours away. But that doesn't guarantee different results, I don't think at least. I've told her that money is not an issue for us (we both make good money, no debts and don't have any other expensive hobbies), if it is a sport you enjoy, keep fit and make friends, we will gladly pay. I am proud of her that she is sticking it out and wanting to finish the year. Just confused and would like to see a different point of view. Appreciate you all reading this long post.