G
gracefulone
Ok. I've been coaching at the YMCA for almost 2 years now, and competing for 7. Our levels go: girls level 1-4, then pretema, then team 3 and so on. So a little girl (6 yo) showed up for team 3-5 practice last week. We asked what level she was and she thought she was a level 2. Assuming the class was a mistake, we let her work out with the team girls and then approached the parent afterword. Well this girl who can barely do a cartwheel, has no idea what a round-off is, and can't even get up onto the bar by herslef is indeed on team 3. I talked to our program director and she said they are trying to 'build a team' by 'bumping' kids up. Now since she is 10 years my senior with much more experience, I smiled an said alright. But it is completely against what I've learned from the sport. This particular kid is not mature enough for a team practice, nor skilled enough for the level. I don't think it's fair to let kids struggle so much. Nor is it a good idea to push kids up before they are ready. I have seen too many breakdowns and burnouts, mainly of my teammates, to know this firsthand. Alright thanks for listening. And I know, if I can do it so much better, I should just get my own gym when I grow up. And I also mean no disrespect and if anyone knows where she might be coming from, feel free to let me know.