Parents Being a gym parent is not for the faint of heart

[GYM0M]

It looks like she was on the unfortunate side of scratches in her age group. That group only had 13 girls, so top 46% is top 5.9. Hopefully she doesn't use this to define her season. She should be proud of how far she has come! Hugs!

Ahhhh, I see, but that still doesn't sit very well. I mean, I know it is what it is, but I still stick by the top 7 should advance regardless of scratches. It just opens up a lot of gray area imo.

 

[tpMom]

This made me tear up a little for your daughter. It must have been an awful experience. I hope that once the initial sting wears off she'll be able to see that coming back to compete, and even medal, at a State competition despite an abbreviated season and a serious knee injury is still a Cinderella story, and one that she can be proud of her whole life. She missed Regionals by a nuance of the qualifying system, not because she gave up or didn't work her hardest. It takes a strong girl to compete in gymnastics at all - it takes a powerhouse to get hurt, take the time to heal, and then try again.

 

[gymmom39]

This made me tear up reading this! She is a true champion pressing through to finish her best! I hope one day she can look back at this and be proud of herself. Gymnastics is rough (perfect headliner you had!).

 

[Deleted member 18037]

yup - heart broke for her. (((hugs))) . she should be proud of what she accomplished though. i hope that doesn't overshadow what a strong person she was during all of that.

here in MA we don't have regionals for lvl 7. the top 7 lvl 7 (of all ages) go to a region 6 meet with top 7 lvl 7's from the other states. they do a competition. then there is a number of girls after that (i think it goes out to 25 of the overall AA scores) that go to some meet as well. both groups get special leos and warm up jackets.

That is regionals.

 

[Texasmomof3]

Yes, there was a scratch in her division so they only took six. It is just one of those TX USAG rules. It sucks when you are number seven in the division with a scratch, but it benefits another girl who wants to go just as much and gets an at large spot. So it is hard to call it unfair.

 

[Texasmomof3]

E'smum,

This is to go to the Region 3 meet in New Mexico. That is what we mean by regionals.

 

[MeetDirector]

... here in MA we don't have regionals for lvl 7. the top 7 lvl 7 (of all ages) go to a region 6 meet with top 7 lvl 7's from the other states. they do a competition. then there is a number of girls after that (i think it goes out to 25 of the overall AA scores) that go to some meet as well. both groups get special leos and warm up jackets.

e'smum -

Yes, you do have level 7 regionals in your region: https://region6usagym.org/content/level-78-regional-championship-packet

 

[my4buffaloes]

Oh no, that is devastating! And she should be celebrating all she has overcome - regionals or not. But the way it worked out, wow, just awful. I am so very sorry. It is so hard to be a parent sometimes!

 

[Lizandkatiemama]

My heart breaks for her!! I would have been heartbroken (and seriously pissed off to be honest) as her mom in that situation. We had state yesterday & I held my breath as scores came in hoping my daughter's scores would hold up for her to go on to regionals.

With her kind of determination & drive I'm sure she'll do well in level 8 next year.

 

[GymMom4]

That's so hard.

One of our girls competed last night and in another group she would have qualified for regionals. There were 27 girls in her session who got a 38+ which is pretty tough to beat.

 

[gracyomalley]

So sorry for the public disappointment she had to suffer after doing so very well! Obviously, the announcer, I'm sure, feels terrible...

Your DD did an amazing thing. At her age, to come back from an injury and do so well. I hope she can see the forest for the trees.

The hypercompetitive nature of JO women's gym is so sad, and drives so many girls to not realize how amazing they really are.

We live in a tiny state, gymnastically speaking. It struck me as very telling at state yesterday. There were 16 L10 boys (a bigger group than usual, but not much bigger - probably because the change in men's rules forced boys age 16 and up to move to L10 no matter what level they competed last year if they didn't want to do JD (sort of like Xcel...sort of??))...and only 9 L10 girls total....despite the significantly higher number of girls who make it to L6-7 here versus boys that compete L6-7. (Not sure the girls numbers, but there were 2 full sessions of L7 girls and I think maybe 2 L6 sessions and less than 60 total boys in L6-7 so at least 3-4 times as many girls as boys...)

Is it because boys are so much better able to progress through optionals than girls? Is it because the men's program (at least before these new age cut offs) encouraged boys to stay in the sport even if they were "average" gymnasts? Is it because puberty favors men in gymnastics but generally leads to a year or 3 of struggles for girls? Is it because middle school and high school girls are more likely to quit sports due to social and cultural reasons?

I think its probably all of the above, but I also think that there are things we as parents and coaches can do to help girls stick with a sport they love - and I hope your DDs coaches are doing exactly that - a 14 year old L7 may already feel "old" which is unfortunate. She should be so proud of herself and I hope she is! My

 

[strawberries]

This made me cry. I'm so very sorry, and so very proud of her determination. Hugs to you both.

 

[LLmom]

Watching your child try to keep the smile on their face while you know they are crushed is absolutely the worst!!

My DS had a similar day yesterday. He watched his best friend medal on every event and win the AA at state. Meanwhile my DS only won one medal and then finished in "the first loser" position (his quiet words to me in private) for every other event!! Seriously...missed 5 event medals and an AA medal all by one place and of course just a few tenths.

And he sat there and cheered and congratulated his teammates and best friend through the tears that I knew were hidden behind his eyes. My heart broke for him. He will be ok...and we honestly are in this sport for the feeling of success after the hard work and determination to get there. I know that in the end this experience will only make the next success feel that much sweeter.

But yesterday it was nearly impossible to hold back the tears.

 

[momstrong]

Her score isn't high enough for an at large role. Those go to the little kids who score 37.9 and still don't make top 6. She is a 14 year old level 7. The old ones don't score as high.

She's not old! I know in this sport that is older than the hot shot 9 year olds though. My dd will be lucky to be level 7 at 14, so I feel that too. She's 10 now.

Your dd's story is heartbreaking! But also so inspiring how tough she is!

 

[Ali'sMom]

I am so very sorry!
I cannot imagine how my own daughter would be feeling. It would utterly and completely break my heart.

 

[peginer]

Dd is level 7.

She has had a knee injury and has been sidelined all season. She competed one full meet back in January. She missed two meets completely and competed only beam and bars on two more.

The orthopedic surgeon gave her permission to compete state this weekend, as long as she could tolerate the pain. (She qualified for state at the one full meet she managed in January). He said she wouldn't be able to take the pain of jumping and landing, so no vault or floor again. Her meet was last night.

My dd is not so easily sidelined. After not vaulting or tumbling for two months due to pain, she insisted that she would compete all four events at state. If she was going, she wanted a shot at regionals.

She did not land a single vault all week in practice. Her floor was a hot mess since she could barely launch or land her tumbling and leaps. But last night she did it. She managed four routines. They were not her best, not by a long shot, but she did it.

She even medaled on floor, bars and beam and came in 7th AA (top half). Before announcing the AA scores, the announcer told them the top seven would qualify to regionals. She was ecstatic. He teammates high fived her. The coaches were hugging her. She had tears of joy. You would have thought that she won first.

After calling all the girls up, just before saying "salute," the announcer corrected that in her age division, top six qualified to regionals. Her smile froze. I watched her heart break as she stood before everyone realizing she hadn't made it after all.

What had been a Cinderella story of perseverance and hard work and making the pain all worth it suddenly was the lowest moment of her gymnastics life. For one second, she had overcome the injury and the tough bars night and finally had something good this season. But then it was all gone again. And she had to stand there and smile and salute as if she was just fine.

There was no celebration of managing a AA meet with four medals. It was the longest three hour drive home in silence. No tears. No venting. Just defeat.

Sometimes I really hate this sport.

Oh my heart breaks for your daughter. That is absolutely horrible!! I have three children in gymnastics, two DD's and one DS. There have been many ups and downs in this sport through the years, and I totally understand your feelings. My oldest just had her trials for Western championships this weekend (we are in Canada) and had been struggling to put together a beautiful beam routine for three years. She started on bars and hit them perfectly, went to beam and had the routine of her life! Then came floor and vault, her two most consistent events over the past year and she fell twice on floor, missed a requirement so that bumped her down .5 and then didn't land either one of her vaults. Needless to say she didn't qualify and there was heartbreak once again. "Oh for the love of gymnastics!" (to quote my oldest DD after her meet this past weekend). Big hugs to your daughter. That was definitely a terrible mistake on the part of the announcer. [emoji53]

 

[e'smum]

E'smum,

This is to go to the Region 3 meet in New Mexico. That is what we mean by regionals.

i know what regionals is. lol . we have girls going to regionals at our gym.

 

[e'smum]

e'smum -

Yes, you do have level 7 regionals in your region: https://region6usagym.org/content/level-78-regional-championship-packet

well it's not exactly regionals like with level 9. so that may be where i am confused.

it's not like regionals in level 9 where they go on to nationals. the top 7 level 7s compete against the top 7 in other states in our region. it's not based on score unless you score in the top 7 of all our state. you can score a 32 (not likely) but if you are #7, then you will go to the super 7 meet. i went to one 3 years ago when one of our 7s made it as one of the top 7. it's a small meet and they do not go on from there. there is also an All Star team that a % of a % of the top level 7 scorers that aren't in the top 7. i don't know anything about this team but i am assuming it's also a one time meet.

they do not pick out of each age category. it's across all age categories in level 7. unlike in the OP where it sounds like the top scores in each age category go to regionals.

 

[Texasmomof3]

You said in your earlier response that you don't have regionals in MA for level 7. Now I'm totally confused.

 

[e'smum]

You said in your earlier response that you don't have regionals in MA for level 7. Now I'm totally confused.

well i didn't think it was regionals. they called it the *Super 7*. and they do not go to nationals. it's a one time meet. but i guess it can be considered a regional meet but when i was told about it, and even announced who the super 7 were two years ago as we were hosting level 6/7 states, it was called Super 7. it was never referred to as regionals.

then after the Super 7, there are girls who make it to an *All Star* team. once again, called All Star, not regionals. they also get a special leo/warm up jacket. no clue what they do. maybe someone from our level 7 will make it on that team and i will get the chance to find out!