Search results

My DD has trained at Thomas, and they seem pretty good. DD got some great help with beam and bars, the coaches were strict but nice about it, and the girls were friendly. Our gym flies all the way from Barbados to Thomas' meet (Crown of the Carolinas) every year because it's a really nice meet...

Our local Government-funded university used to be free (well, except for a very small fee for miscellaneous things like stationery etc.) up until last year. Now I think it's maybe US$3,000 per year? The community college is way less than that - under $1,000 per year. It is easy to get tertiary...

Repeating L4 in a system like this isn't bad, because at the same time the kid gets to uptrain, compete L5 in between, and work towards optionals. You aren't doing 2 full years at L4 - you are basically doing one season plus a second short season (2 meets) that ends with State. I can see most...

I had issues with DD doing all sorts of stuff outside the gym, but doing it in a sloppy, lazy way. I felt like she was doing things wrong more than she was doing them right (bent legs, banana back etc.) and that was negatively affecting her progress in the gym. I'm talking about simple...

My kids did it, but they actually know someone who died from ALS and they are very aware of what the challenge is all about.

Oh yeah! The island is small - only 21 miles long and 14 miles wide - but we have 280,000 people. Cars are not restricted like they are in Bermuda, so we have bad morning and evening rush hours, plus "school" traffic between 2 and 3.30 p.m.

If I am dropping her there from school it takes about 30 - 40 minutes to drive from my office, swing through the school, maybe stop for a quick snack and drink and get her to gym. If I am picking up from gym it takes about 20 - 25 from gym to home, 25 - 30 minutes if we are dropping others home...

That's really late around here - we tend to be up early so bedtime is early too. Gym is done at 6.30 every evening except Fridays, when it goes until 7. Saturdays training ends around 1.30 maybe (DD's class ends at 12.30, so I'm not positive). The coaches want a life too! The HC, who is the main...

A few girls and one 14 year old guy from Barbados are at Flip Fest right now! Not DD though, much to her disgust.

So glad I am done with compulsories!

In Barbados the dates are set by the Ministry of Education. Public schools are as follows: Term 1: Sep 8 - Dec 11 Term 2: Jan 6 - Apr 1 Term 3: Apr 21 - Jul 2 Each school determines its own hours. Most schools start around 8.30 a.m. and end just before 3 p.m., but some of the schools have...

BTDT with my DD and quitting. She keeps talking about it but then just keeps going. She does want to ease off a bit and we don't have an Excel option. Instead, her coach has recognized that not all of them team wants to work at the same pace and she's going to do "streams". DD wants to do the...

Too true.

DD has done gymnastics on the beach for Olympic Day demonstrations, but sadly I somehow missed the hunks with the Mai Tais and Pina Coladas - alas, had to bring my own rum punch. :p

Ahhh .... useful map! Our gym has only travelled to compete in region 8 invitationals so far, at least in recent years (not sure about before our time). Well, we did have a couple of elite males in the past who trained and competed in other parts of the U.S.

You cannot be as small as us! ;)

Our gym is closed for rec in all school holidays. There's camp in the school holidays for those who want to still do gym. For team there are closures for a few days over Christmas, Easter weekend, the week after our host meet (late April) and part of the summer (usually a couple of weeks)...

Our gym is the same. I can understand wanting mastery of a level. What I have more trouble understanding is why everyone wants it at the START of the season (unless it's just to win - then to me that's placing too much emphasis on the wrong thing). Also, don't the girls get bored, especially...

My DD trained 10 hours/week as a Level 6 this past season. She only competed once, in our home meet, and didn't do too badly - AA score was over 35. She was very new to some of the skills as well - it's not like she was repeating or experienced in that level. It can be done. Just like anything...

It also seems to be impossible to keep up the level of strength and flexibility you need for level 7+ unless you're training a lot of hours per week. DD sort of maintained level 6 with training only 9 hours/week this past year, but she cannot possibly progress any further unless she really...