My daughter is almost 8 and is finishing up her 3rd competitive season. Learning the routines has been the hardest part for her, by far! For some reason, she just has a lot of trouble remembering the order of the steps and all of the details that go along with them! She has always had them down...
I have two gymnasts. My younger daughter got her kip about three weeks after beginning to really focus on it, at 6.5 years old. My older daughter took almost exactly a year to finally get hers right before she turned 10. They were on the same team, so they were getting the same coaching and...
My younger daughter did 9 hours/week at age 5 (3 hours 3x a week). She had a one hour TOPS practice followed by a 2 hour team practice. She is now 7 and does 16 hours/week (4 hours 4x a week). Her TOPS practices are now built into her regular team practice.
My 7 year old trains TOPS. She is very flexible, very strong, and listens and takes corrections well. The other girls in the group are also very strong and/or flexible, but not all are both. They all work very hard and are very focused. At this gym, the TOPS group is by invite-only, and their...
Ugh! I am so sorry! I would prefer the 8 am session, too!
We have three at 11:30 on Fridays, so they will miss school, but I would actually prefer that over the late night meets!
My girls' first level 4 meet this season was a 6:30 march-in on a Friday night. I felt so bad for them--late Friday night after a full week of school and gym. We had to leave our house at 4:30 to get there on time. My 7-year-old was vaulting at 9:59 pm. It was awful! Luckily awards were quick...
You are right, and we have made a gym change for many reasons, this being one. Unfortunately, I did not know enough about gymnastics to recognize that she was doing the skill incorrectly. It was hard for me to know whether or not the coaches knew what to do when I am so unfamiliar with the...
You described my daughter to a T--right down to the 7-year-old level 4! At the end of her level 3 season, she had a pretty bad injury due to her flexibility and hypermobility, and ended up in PT for 5+ months. This easily could have been a career-ending injury. I worked very hard to find a PT...
My younger dd started team track at 3, with 1 hour 2x a week, and LOVED it! Most of the girls in her group were 4 or 5, but there was another little one her age. Her coach expected them to listen and follow directions. It was a good fit for her because even at that young age, she was a rule...
I think this is different depending on location. My daughters have competed for two seasons, the youngest one competed level 2 at age 5.
Where we live, they very rarely give out medals for all 4 events, and usually just do AA for top 50%+1. Most meets, both big and small in our area, did not...
We commute 45 min each way, and have for just over 2 years now. My daughters are 7 and 9. I feel like even the 45 min drive is a lot, and it definitely takes a toll on our entire family. I feel bad for my other kids, who have to spend an hour and a half in the car immediately after school to get...
My dd was a new 5 year old when she competed level 2. She had no concept of scores or what they meant. Most meets we went to gave medals out to 50%+1 (same as someone else mentioned above) but everyone got a card with ribbons on it for each event at every meet, too. A little side note that I...
My dd had to have abdominal surgery at 5 years old that kept her out of the gym for 10 weeks, and then slowly eased back in to practices. She was on pre-team at that time, and completely obsessed with gymnastics, too! She seems similar to your son in that she was advanced for her age and ahead...
Thanks! I am relieved to hear that some gyms are willing to take injured girls. We are actually in luck because our former gym competed fall season, but most gyms in our area compete beginning in January, so she will have even more time to heal before competing than she would have if we had...
Update! I just got an email back from our #1 choice gym that they would like me to bring her in! Glad you had a good experience with this, AWOL! I hope we do, too!
Help!
Sorry I have to be vague, but I will try my best to explain the situation.
We just found out some terrible news about our gym, and have decided that we need to immediately leave. We have a huge problem, though! Our daughter has a serious injury at this time and cannot do a try out. She...
I'd say go for it, but ask what their back up plan is if she doesn't get all the skills--especially her kip! It isn't a required level, which makes it that much easier to skip! My daughter just turned 7 and will be competing level 4 this year. She competed 3 last season, and would have done 4 if...
My dd is a six year old level 3 this season, and will be moving to level 4 next season . She has scored high 35s-36s from the start of the season, and has placed from 2nd-4th in her age group at every meet. Her just turned 8 year old teammate has been in her age division every time, including...