How to know if your daughter should continue

[kasmom]

You say there's only one coach for all the teams? How many girls are there? Sounds to me like they need to hire another gymnastics coach or 2. I hope he's true to his word and works with her but where does that leave the rest of her team? Maybe they're in the process of looking for another coach, I don't know, but it doesn't sound safe to me. She is still young and if she's happy, let her stay.

1. There are 16 girls on the team. They range from levels 4-6. He does have a student helper with him sometimes. She only went up to level 5 though. She's been the main one helping the 8 level 4 girls. Often, she doesn't show up. He mainly works with the level 5s and 6s. He can see all of the girls during practice. I don't really worry about safety. He rarely watches the level 4s to see if they are doing things correctly, though. Our student helper is not much help. She is there to spot them on certain skills if they can't do it by themselves. If they can do, they work by themselves most of the time. Also, he is often also coaching a cheer class during our class times. The cheer classes have 20 or more girls.

2. I think he realized that all of the level 4s were not performing to their potential. I think he may have been a little embarassed. I'm hoping that he will begin paying more attention to all of them. Trust me, we will never have another coach. He talks about how finacially strapped he is right now.

Thanks for all of your comments. I will leave my daughter in gym because she loves it.

 

[Blazing15]

1. There are 16 girls on the team. They range from levels 4-6. He does have a student helper with him sometimes. She only went up to level 5 though. She's been the main one helping the 8 level 4 girls. Often, she doesn't show up. He mainly works with the level 5s and 6s. He can see all of the girls during practice. I don't really worry about safety. He rarely watches the level 4s to see if they are doing things correctly, though. Our student helper is not much help. She is there to spot them on certain skills if they can't do it by themselves. If they can do, they work by themselves most of the time. Also, he is often also coaching a cheer class during our class times. The cheer classes have 20 or more girls.

2. I think he realized that all of the level 4s were performing to their potential. I think he may have been a little embarassed. I'm hoping that he will begin paying more attention to all of them. Trust me, we will never have another coach. He talks about how finacially strapped he is right now.

Thanks for all of your comments. I will leave my daughter in gym because she loves it.

Wow one coach for all those girls def. not safe and no way is any of those girls getting the training that they deserve.

 

[bookworm]

"Level 4 and not doing well"...well that sums up my Level 10's first year on team...she was competing and getting awful scores, but she loved it and we continued (albeit, we did change gyms ..) and she is going into her 6th year of Level 10 and does quite well...I guess my point on this is to take a step back and see what happens and if you need to make some changes eventually ( and she still loves it), then do so. At this point, in your rural area, this is all you can do.

To pull her from the sport because her poor performance frustrates you is kind of iffy...do you know that she'd do well at another sport? Some kids are just average athletes , and that's okay too. as long as she's happy and safe, let her be for now...

 

[kasmom]

"Level 4 and not doing well"...well that sums up my Level 10's first year on team...she was competing and getting awful scores, but she loved it and we continued (albeit, we did change gyms ..) and she is going into her 6th year of Level 10 and does quite well...I guess my point on this is to take a step back and see what happens and if you need to make some changes eventually ( and she still loves it), then do so. At this point, in your rural area, this is all you can do.

To pull her from the sport because her poor performance frustrates you is kind of iffy...do you know that she'd do well at another sport? Some kids are just average athletes , and that's okay too. as long as she's happy and safe, let her be for now...

Actually, I figure gymnastics or cheer would be her best sport. She is not at all interested in any other. I think that I'm upset more with her coach than with her performance. I think she could do a lot better with more instruction. I'm sure all kids can though. So, I guess the real reason I was thinking of quitting was because of her coach. It really has nothing to do with her not being good enough. I shouldn't punish her for something that she has no control over.

I also want to say that her coach is not a bad guy. I really like him as a person, and he is great with the girls. There is just not enough of him to go around. I think he is trying to do the right thing. He is trying to keep costs low so that he will have girls to participate. We only pay $75 a month for team gymnastics. However, many of the parents struggle to come up with this amount each month. We have a lot to quit b/c they can't afford it. Anyway, I'm sure everyone is sick of hearing my sob story. So, I'll suck it up and deal with it like a big girl now. Things could be a lot worse, and I need to be thankful for what we have.

 

[NotAMom]

It really has nothing to do with her not being good enough. I shouldn't punish her for something that she has no control over.

I hope that is only a matter of speaking and you didn't actually mean that. Besides, at her age and status, how could anyone know that she isn't good enough? (yeah, some may dispute that here)

As for the coaching situation, I'm sorry that you're stuck. Let's hope that more opportunities will open up, like another gym or maybe an expansion on the current one. More choices are always better.

 

[kasmom]

I didn't mean "good enough" that way. You know that!!! I think that my daughter is the greatest.

Thanks! Maybe something will open up. It's doubtful though.

 

[cher062]

My daughter is 7.5 years old and in level 4. She has had most of her level 4 skills for some time now, but not with good form. She has been doing her routines for 3 months with little to no improvement. I am so frustrated and don't know what to do. I have talked to her coach who says not to worry about it. She had her first level 4 meet this weekend and her scores were really low. She scored between 7-7.7 on floor, beam, and bars, and 8.35 on vault. She still loves gymnastics. How do you know how long to let your child continue? I hate spending all that money, and she never seems to get any better. My daughter is small (47 lbs), but extemely strong and flexible. She is a great tumbler. She can do her round-off back handspring, back tuck with good form. It's the little things that she has trouble with. She can't do a good split leap and actually all her jumps and leaps look terrible. She also has trouble with her turn on beam and does not understand how to stay tight.

Honestly if she loves doing it and you can afford to keep her doing it the skills will come. She is young and the scores you mentioned are common for a first L4 meet. It's terrifying to get out there all by yourself and perform for the first time. I've seen first timers break down into tears at their first meet and just couldn't even get out on to the floor because they just couldn't handle the fear of performing.

This sport takes time more than anything else. Some kids get skills in a month while other it may take weeks or even months to master.

You know your kid best if she really loves doing this (even though you are frustraited and her progress seems slow to you) and you can afford it let her do it, but try to have a few other activities mixed in if you can.

 

[gymgurl]

If she enjoys it she should continue, if she doesn't enjoy it she shouldn't. But it sounds to me that she should