Parents Question about progressing from recreation to pre-team

[newbiemom]

I posted a few months ago about asking the coach about my DD's progress to see if pre-team was an option in her future. She suggested doing two classes a week and let me know that it's by invitation only and comprised of girls ages 4-8. My DD is six, nearly 7. She said that they consider a lot of things, but strength and flexibility are two of the most important. She said her flexibility is coming along very well and that she would benefit from the two classes to help with stretching and strength.

My DD really wants to compete and I guess I was just curious what sort of time frame would you give sticking with the rec program at this gym before looking into other gym options. She's been in rec for about 8 months and the two classes for about 2 months. I know it's a process, I just hate to see her want something so badly. She does open gym or the clinics almost every Saturday because she just loves being in the gym. They happen to fall during our other DD's nap time, so it's a perfect activity to get her out of the house a bit. If she could be on a less competitive team at another gym, I would consider moving her, if team is not going to be an option here.

My DD heard the head coach ask the rec director her name at the last open gym and was so excited that she now knows her name, lol. The rec director coaches preteam as well. She use to be her main coach, so my DD knows her well. She said the coach asks her every week if she has her chin up pullover yet. She doesn't. She's very close, just needs a little extra push to get up and then can pull over herself. She's just not very strong. Any suggestions for helping her get that extra strength? We have a chin up bar, but she can't do it yet.

Thanks for the advice!

 

[sunshine27]

Hi!!
I completely understand what you're going through. I hate that the move to team process is such a mystery to us moms. I think every gym should hold try-outs that anyone can come to. At least that way it's very straight forward and then coaches would know the girls who truly want it.

We just went through a similar situation with my dd. I have twins and one was invited to team and one was told not yet and to up her to 2 rec classes a week--just like your daughter. So we did that and almost a year later non-team dd still not "ready" for team. So I went ahead and checked out other gyms. Found a smaller gym that seemed like a great fit. Took my girls there last night and they asked them BOTH to join their team. Yay!!!

I LOOOVE our other gym and team coaches so this is a difficult change but I feel certain we will fall in love with our new coaches too. And my sweet girls being sooo excited last night when I told them they both made it on made my decision easier.
I'm really glad I went ahead and just checked into other options.

My advice is to keep her in the 2 rec classes and give it till the end of school year. (I think many gyms ask girls onto team right before summer break so they can use the summer to really condition and get the girls ready for competition in Fall.)
If she doesn't get asked by summer. Then I would start getting info about other gyms. If she truly wants this then I bet there is a gym that will love to have her on their team.
Check out my other post about my dilemma--the responses will help you feel better--they really encouraged me.
In the meantime--you can help build your dd strength. Have her pull up on her bar to her chin and just hold it. (My one dd can't do a chin up yet either)

Also you can have her hang from the bar and do leg lifts. Lift both legs as high as she can over and over. This will help with pull over.

It sounds like you're doing everything you can to help your little girl. You're doing great!! Lots of luck!!
Keep us posted.

 

[krisnkids]

First take a breath, she's only 6 and has only been in gym for 8 months, she has time. A pullover is a basic skill for team and I don't see many gyms putting a 6 yo on preteam without it. Give her time, keep encouraging her and most of all tell her to have fun!

 

[emorymom]

I would have her do as many pullups and straight leg lifts as she can every day. Just have her do them and when she struggles, help push up her last one and that's it for the day. It only takes a minute. When DD was five and all her class was getting pullovers, I told her if she did as many pullups on the tree in the front yard as she could every day, she would get it in two weeks. I think it took a week.

 

[dmytv]

I coach team and pre-team, we start at level 2. I have 2 tracks for pre-team, 1 works toward level 2, the other to level 4/5(older girls). What I look for- 10 situps, 10 pushups, chin up hold for 10 sec. Climb the rope, good splits, good bridge with feet together, forward roll, backward roll, tripod headstand, tight flatback on low mat, walk on high releve on beam. T down on beam, tight with arms and legs. I am also upfront about time commitment and cost because this seems to be the factor for many parents.

 

[mommyof1]

Although a pullover is definitely a basic skill for team, in our area the prevailing practice appears to be to start kids on preteam well before they have pullovers, or really any skills at all. At our gym, a kid who stays in the rec program will likely never learn a pullover, as the rec program focuses primarily on tumbling. And if a kid stays in rec for more than a year, it is highly unlikely that she will ever get evaluated for preteam. (I am not a fan of this system, but that's how it is.) However, it doesn't sound like this is necessarily the case at the original poster's gym.

I was in a similar situation around this time last year with my daughter, then 5 1/2 years old. She desperately wanted to be on preteam but her rec coach would not send her for an evaluation because she wasn't strong enough. We went for an evaluation at another gym, only to find out that their preteam program had already been filled for the upcoming year. We stayed at the original gym. At the end of the year, the rec coach placed my daughter in the preschool developmental class (which she also taught) with a crop of 4 1/2-year-olds, where my daughter was bored and frustrated because the younger kids couldn't pay attention. Four months later, after a summer of swimming lessons and playing outside and a little conditioning on a doorway chinup bar, the coach finally sent her for an evaluation. She ended up in the first year of our gym's three-year preteam program, where she is now in the middle of the pack in terms of both strength and skills.

It is encouraging that the team coach is taking notice of your daughter, and that the coaches are watching for her to get the skills she needs to move up. It probably wouldn't hurt to ask what your daughter can do at home to build strength more quickly, especially if you frame the goal as getting the pullover rather than making preteam. My daughter's coaches hate all overt questions about evaluations and move-ups, but are usually willing to suggest conditioning exercises for the girls to do at home. Just be careful--there are a couple of parents of kids in my daughter's group who are obviously considered crazy gym parents because they pester the coaches on a weekly basis about moving up a level or switching training groups. However, if you are serious about looking at other gyms, I would find out sooner rather than later what the time frames are for move-ups, both at your gym and at the other gyms you're considering, so your daughter doesn't miss out and have to wait another year.

It is definitely frustrating to see your child working hard towards a goal when the decision is based on some unknown set of factors that may not all be within your child's control. Best of luck to you and your daughter!

 

[sglemon]

Do they only move them up once a year? We do at our gym, when the competition season is over. A gymnastic season for us is June through May. Gymnastics isn 't a instant gratification sport, it takes years of slow progress, hard work and there are always set backs. I would give her a year and look at her progress, if at that point you are not happy about where she is then ask or get her evaluated elsewhere.

for our gym, I think one of the most important factors they look at is coachability, does she apply corrections, listens well, behaves well, etc...

 

[EastCoastGymMom]

mommyof1 - what is your "three-year preteam program?" Do the girls start competing at Level 5? Do all of them stay on preteam for three years? That seems like a long time to be on preteam - I'm just curious! Our gym has different developmental groups, including preteam (which most girls do 1-2 years depending on their age and skill progression then move to Level 4).

 

[gymmomtotwo]

Sorry to inteject myself here, but we have a 3 year preteam program. You start at age 4-6 and after the three years, you compete Level 5. So you start Level 5 around age 7-9. Each year brings increased hours. Level 4 is not competed at all.

Anyway, to the original poster, if she has her heart set on being on a team, I'd be checking on other gyms that have the opportunity for tryouts and/or individual evaluations rather than an invite only gym. We started out at one of these and it was not the way to go for us.

mommyof1 - what is your "three-year preteam program?" Do the girls start competing at Level 5? Do all of them stay on preteam for three years? That seems like a long time to be on preteam - I'm just curious! Our gym has different developmental groups, including preteam (which most girls do 1-2 years depending on their age and skill progression then move to Level 4).

 

[EastCoastGymMom]

Sorry to inteject myself here, but we have a 3 year preteam program. You start at age 4-6 and after the three years, you compete Level 5. So you start Level 5 around age 7-9. Each year brings increased hours. Level 4 is not competed at all.

Thanks! That's interesting!

 

[mommyof1]

mommyof1 - what is your "three-year preteam program?" Do the girls start competing at Level 5? Do all of them stay on preteam for three years? That seems like a long time to be on preteam - I'm just curious! Our gym has different developmental groups, including preteam (which most girls do 1-2 years depending on their age and skill progression then move to Level 4).

It does seem like a long time to be on pre-team. It is "Level 1," "Level 2," and "Training 4," which will soon become "Training 3." After "training" old 4/new 3 for a year, they compete old 4/new 3 the next year. Parents are repeatedly reminded that the kids are only supposed to progress one level per year, so it is truly a three-year program. Level 1 is primarily conditioning and not much work on skills. In Level 2, they start learning some skills (back hip circle, mill circle, back handspring, tic-toc, etc.). In Training 4 they perfect the Level 4 skills and learn the routines.

I think the program is so long partly because the Level 1 kids start off with basically zero skills. Most of the Level 1 kids are in kindergarten or first grade, and came straight from the preschool developmental class or from a few weeks in rec. The other reason behind the length of the preteam program seems to be the stated coaching philosophy of not progressing the kids too fast so they'll perform better once they finally do start competing. I am still not sure what I think of this. I am all for building strong basics, but at this rate my daughter will be in at least the fourth grade when she competes new L3.

 

[mommyof1]

Sorry to inteject myself here, but we have a 3 year preteam program. You start at age 4-6 and after the three years, you compete Level 5. So you start Level 5 around age 7-9. Each year brings increased hours. Level 4 is not competed at all.

I wish we started competing at L5 too. I think it is a waste that our girls spend two years perfecting the L4 routines.

 

[Gymmommy71]

Bars has always been my DDs worst thing, and even *she* had a solid pullover after only a couple months of doing gymnastics...I can't imagine a gym inviting a 7 YO to the team track w/o one...maybe a 5 YO w/ tons of natural strength and flexibility who was just missing the timing (if you'd say there is timing to a pullover), but not a girl who is almost 7. I'd advise you work w/ her on chin ups and leg lifts until she gets it. This will up her "team potential" at both her current gym and any other gym you look into.

This is what you do - have her do 3 sets of 10 chin ups (make sure her chin is actually above the bar when she does them) and 3 sets of 10 hanging leg lifts on the bar daily (or even 2-3 times a day if she's up to it). Have her first start by doing however many chin ups she can on her own (if she cant do a pullover, I'd suspect she can't do more than 1-3 max), and when she can't go up on her own any more help her a very little bit by pushing her up by her ankles (making sure she still does most of the work), then keep repeating this until she does 10. For the leg lifts help by holding her back so she stays straight and again helping w/ her ankles. Then go back to the chin ups and repeat until you've done 3 sets of 10 each.

Soon she'll be able to do more and more by herself, and before you know it, the pullover will happen. I bet once she starts showing skills and strength on bars in class that pre-team invite will follow real quick...especially if she's flexible and generally coordinated.

Oh, and if she has flexibility issues, I have good exercizes for that too ...doesn't sound like it is an issue from your posts though.

 

[sunshine27]

Oh, and if she has flexibility issues, I have good exercizes for that too ...doesn't sound like it is an issue from your posts though.

Oh I would love to know your ideas for flexibility. Will you share?

 

[Gymmommy71]

Lol...okay .

IMO the best leg flexibility drills are stand in about a 45-60 degree split...lunge forward as far as possible (hands on the ground to balance), then lunge backward as much as possible *without moving the feet off of the ground* (like keep the feet exactly where the were from the start)...go back and forth 10 times each way (so 20 movements), then...force down into a split *as far down and possible* and hold for at least 30 seconds (the parent holds the girl down, not pushing just holding them where they were when they said it was as far as they could go). After 30 seconds is done, repeat w/ the lunges again 3 more times each time trying to go down further for the 30 second hold. Switch to the other leg and do the same thing in that direction.

For middle split it is side lunges....and when pushing down in a straddle, make sure things are in line right, so it's really a true straddle.

Do these *every day* (2-3 times a day if they are up to it) trying to get further and further down each time . These work good - even for adults...lol .

For back flexibility I like backbends up against a wall w/ a spot - hands are right near the baseboard of a wall and you rock and hold trying to press as much of your chest against the wall while leaving your feet where they were...hold for 10-15 seconds as far as you can go...parent holds the kid in place if they need help balancing.

 

[gymmutti]

My dd also lacked upper body strength when in rec. Beyond the chinups and leg lifts suggested (and a pull-up bar for the doorway is perfect for this and not too expensive), one of the rec coaches suggested wheelbarrow walking. My dd had me walk her all around the house for several laps each night. Pullover on bars does seem to be a gateway skill to many gym's preteams. We also have invitations at the end of the school year, so you may want to wait until then to see if she gets an invite. I remember that the team coach asked my dd's name a couple months ahead of then so that may be a good sign. If she doesn't get invited by late June, and you really want her to move over now - start looking at other gyms shortly thereafter. Summer is a good time to move.

 

[sunshine27]

Thank you gymmommy!!
Those are great ideas!! Thanks for sharing!!