Parents Twins...team or no team?

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3crzygrlsmomma

Proud Parent
I have 6 year old twins.They are both pretty average gymnasts. I'm debating if I should let them join a team. If they do it would be XCEL bronze. I don't know much about gymnastics and I'm actually clueless when it comes to any sport. At this point they say they want to do it and have chosen gymnastics over dance or soccer. I really am not a good sports parent- I don't like talking to other people and the thought of a booster club sounds like torture to me. Is it possible for me to let them join XCEL and still sit in my little corner? How "involved" would my kids or I have to be? I actually have plenty of time to do it- but anything with the word club or team scares me. But I don't want to hold them back or miss out because of me. Any advice or can anyone tell me what to expect?
 
If you have twins and have found something they both like at the same time, I’d say you’re lucky. The only danger is that they become competitive with one another, but that would happen in any shared activity. At least gymnastics has different events so they have room to have their own specialities and favorites. Xcel can be relaxed or intense depending on the gym, and there are a lot of threads here that have helped me think through commitment in terms of hours, travel, and expenses. I’m biased against soccer because the spectators on the sidelines where I live always look cold and wet!
 
I would let them give it a shot. As for booster clubs, they are so different depending the gyms. Some allow you to participate as much/little as you want. Others force participation. You could try to talk with a couple of parents from your gym about it if you want more info But honestly, I would not get too concerned about it. I was very much like you in the beginning. I ended up developing some great relationships with other parents in those first few years.

ETA: our gym was pretty low key in terms of competitiveness among parents/kids. We were generally all there to support each other and each other's kids.
 
You don't have to be involved at all with either sport, but I find that in normal circumstances soccer has more interaction between parents as the games are more frequent and the full team of players tend to interact more with post game pizza parties, sleep overs, and other team events.

Gymnastics tends to trend towards tighter bonds between a smaller group (similar age, similar level). Our gym has a buyout if the parent does not want to be involved at all with booster activities, but most/all parents get involved with the booster activity in some fashion even if it is a "get some fliers printed ahead of time" contribution and not being their the day of the event.
 
I can not truly answer that question lol. It depends on what club you are wishing to join. I have been at some that had very minimal parental requirements (boosters were truly just for athlete benefit and parents only requirement was to be supportive of your child and speak to them with open lines of communication if issues arrive).....
-----But to counter that we were at one nasty one in particular that had extremely unreasonable demands to both parental involvement, both in time and money for their "booster" --talking like 88hrs of 'service' and monetary 'donations' and purchasing requirements (must sell x amount every time they have a fundraiser....which were endless). Never did figure out just how that booster was of any benefit to my athlete. Lots of fundraising in, but it didn't pay for leos, warm ups, meet fees, travel, gym gear.....can't say that it paid for anything other than an in-house camp (which is SO minimal to what we raised).

SOoooo.....look into just what type of club and booster you are being asked to join. There are good ones out there
 
If you have twins and have found something they both like at the same time, I’d say you’re lucky. The only danger is that they become competitive with one another, but that would happen in any shared activity. At least gymnastics has different events so they have room to have their own specialities and favorites. Xcel can be relaxed or intense depending on the gym, and there are a lot of threads here that have helped me think through commitment in terms of hours, travel, and expenses. I’m biased against soccer because the spectators on the sidelines where I live always look cold and wet!
So far they are pretty low key and not competitive with each other or anyone else- which is probably not a good thing. They have fun, I've seen some kids who look like they LOVE gymnastics and honestly I'm not sure my kids REALLY like it as much as other kids. Which is also why I am hesitant about committing to a team contract. I still want to encourage them, but part of me says to try it out for a year, another part of me really doesn't want to pay that much for something they don't seem CRAZY about.
 
Bronze Xcel can really be low key, especially this year. Check with your gym but really it’s a great place to try out team without the intensity of the other competitive stream.
 
Any advice

Just do it... Nike.

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If there is more than one gym in your area that has an Xcel bronze team, I would look into a few of them. Every gym does Xcel differently in terms of cost, hours, booster club, how far they travel for meets, how often new leos/warm ups are purchased, etc.
 
This is the only gym that does any team in my area. As far as I know the Bronze girls had about 6 meets scheduled before COVID. I'm also confused because they had the girls in an advanced 4-5 year old class. When they turned 6 they were placed in Novice/beginners even though they are doing better than most kids in their class because they've been doing gymnastics since they were preschool age and other girls in the class are just starting out at 6. When they had evals for the team they had all but a couple of skills for Bronze (handstand hold, back hip circle, one has bent legs in cartwheel). But they still had them placed on Bronze XCEL team even though they can't do those skills? Why didn't they place them in a higher level before? I'm worried they're saying they can join Bronze but don't have the skills and it will be a waste if money having them on a team. I guess I have a lot of questions I have avoided asking because I don't want to come off as overbearing.
 
Often times they will place kids on teams that are close to having all the skills. Once you are in that team environment they pick things up much quicker than in rec classes. My DD was placed on team before she had all the skills for that level and she had them all by the first competition. Also some gyms will let them compete even if they are missing 1-2 skills if they are close to getting them just so they can get the extra training in and get used to competing. My DD had an alright first year competing repeated that level and did well. Has not repeated since and continues to move up. She tends to get her skills right before the season starts so they will move her up before she has it because they know she has the talent and the time to get the skills. So dont be too worried if they arent quite where the girls already on team are.


**Editing to add that also the first year being placed on team is often about potential and raw talent rather than perfection and having all the required skills. They see something special which is a good thing!
 
I'd say it's never about how good they are but how much they like the fun of being on a team and the willingness to work really hard. Even on Bronze, it's a huge commitment to put in the team hours. Some kids love that and for others it is chore. Don't spend any time ever thinking about whether or not they are good because that's irrelevant.
 
I'd say it's never about how good they are but how much they like the fun of being on a team and the willingness to work really hard. Even on Bronze, it's a huge commitment to put in the team hours. Some kids love that and for others it is chore. Don't spend any time ever thinking about whether or not they are good because that's irrelevant.
I agree, my husband doesn't feel like we should invest the time/money if they aren't like exceptionally great. I told him it isn't fair
if we would be willing to do it just because they were flipping and swinging around like crazy. They actually only go once/week for 1 hour so I'd say they are ok for how much time they actually spend there. They also have been doing some Jiu Jitsu 4 days a week over the summer and their strength has improved- so I'm hoping that has prepared them for longer practices. School is online this fall- so I feel like it's also a good opportunity for them to try it out for a season without being overwhelmed/tired.
 
I really am not a good sports parent- I don't like talking to other people and the thought of a booster club sounds like torture to me.
This sounds like a fine sports parent to me.
For good or ill, with most (all?) sports you have to move beyond "rec" for the kids to really evolve. It is just the way it is. And by evolve, I mean develop new skills and competence and confidence through hard work, not going to the Olympics.
When my boys were little, I had a friend with slightly older girls (but still elementary school age) who did competitive soccer. Traveling all around to meets? hotel rooms? For a kids sport? I thought she was nuts.
Then my boys started gym team.
Either you get used to it, and keep doing it because your kids love it, or you figure out it is not worth it to you. I never had to sign any contract, but honestly we probably would have assuming it was rational. We did have to pay sizable comp fees before season began. I do suggest have a lawyer take a peek at the contract before you sign it.
 
This sounds like a fine sports parent to me.
For good or ill, with most (all?) sports you have to move beyond "rec" for the kids to really evolve. It is just the way it is. And by evolve, I mean develop new skills and competence and confidence through hard work, not going to the Olympics.
When my boys were little, I had a friend with slightly older girls (but still elementary school age) who did competitive soccer. Traveling all around to meets? hotel rooms? For a kids sport? I thought she was nuts.
Then my boys started gym team.
Either you get used to it, and keep doing it because your kids love it, or you figure out it is not worth it to you. I never had to sign any contract, but honestly we probably would have assuming it was rational. We did have to pay sizable comp fees before season began. I do suggest have a lawyer take a peek at the contract before you sign it.
I think the contract is so you can't back out/quit before the season is over? I thought people who payed for dance teams/competition or travel soccer were crazy too but know plenty who do it. I'm telling my husband it's the same thing. But they just turned 6 years old so I think that's why I'm unsure. I think they can attend practice for a month before committing to the team so I'm going to look into that to see how they act. The practices are 4 hours/day twice a week which is a big change for them only ever going for an hour at a time.
 
I have twin girls who are almost 10. They both did rec gym classes at 5 and 6. Both in and out of committing to gym. I had them do basketball, soccer, baseball and swimming as well. When they were about 7 1/2, one showed more of an interest and ability in gym so I had her try out. She’s level 4 now and the other still has not found her passion but loves team sports. It’s sometimes hard for the non-gymmie to watch her twin get medals etc. but I think they like having diverse interests. They are VERY different in personality. The one regret I have is not keeping the other in rec for the strength gains you get that apply to other sports. My advice... wait until 7... see if there is more of an interest. However, on the other side… My daughter was pretty noncommittal about rec gym but when she got on team, she is all in!
 
I think 4 hour practices are a little long for 6 years old, but alot depends on the personality of the kids and the way the practices are structured and conducted. On the other hand, with them not in school, a long gym practice may be just what is needed at this time.
 
At least they have the same interests and it is easier on you to not have to be in 2 places at once.
I have 2 DD close in age that luckily both share the same love of gymnastics.
We have been at our gym for 6 seasons and the most involved that I have been with boosters is volunteering to do things for our home meet. We haven’t had a fundraiser in a very long time because I opt out of that and pay a fee. Our gym allows for parents to drop off for practices so I dint have to interact with other CGM too much and the parents that have kids on team with mine are generally pretty down to earth and supportive of the group, not just focused on how well their kid is or isn’t doing well.
 
Ok everyone. I have an update. Apparently only one twin made the team after working with the group for a couple of weeks. My other girl tries so hard and has a lot of fun doing gymnastics but is just not as coordinated and daring. The one who made it likes gymnastics but is kind of lazyish. I feel so bad and don't know how to explain it to my girl without hurting her feelings. She was almost in tears today because her sister was able to do skills that she can't. :( I almost feel like telling them we changed our minds about letting them do team this year. I know they need to do different things but this really sucks. Should I ask the coaches to reconsider or just leave it? They say they are limiting how many girls are on the teams this year because they want to keep groups small sit to COVID.
 
Ok everyone. I have an update. Apparently only one twin made the team after working with the group for a couple of weeks. My other girl tries so hard and has a lot of fun doing gymnastics but is just not as coordinated and daring. The one who made it likes gymnastics but is kind of lazyish. I feel so bad and don't know how to explain it to my girl without hurting her feelings. She was almost in tears today because her sister was able to do skills that she can't. :( I almost feel like telling them we changed our minds about letting them do team this year. I know they need to do different things but this really sucks. Should I ask the coaches to reconsider or just leave it? They say they are limiting how many girls are on the teams this year because they want to keep groups small sit to COVID.
Do you think they would allow the one who didn’t make the team to at least practice with the team to see how she does? I am not sure how she would feel about sitting out while her sister and friends compete, but it would at least give her a chance to prove herself and be with her sister At practices. Is there a pre-team option that wouldn’t have you at the gym on your other daughter’s off days? I know our pre-team practices with Bronze at reduced hours.
I only say this because my DD2 lacks that raw talent. She works hard for everything she has ever accomplished in her life since she was young (we had her in PT for the first few years of her life because she had some delays). However, she left last season XCEL Silver at age 8 with AA scores ranging at 36-38. She’s not like her older sister who just has that raw talent, speed, and flexibility, but she works hard and does well because she puts the work into it. See if they will at least give her a shot and work with her in a more structured environment at practice.
 

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