Parents Should she try out at another gym?

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momof5

Proud Parent
We have been contemplating a gym switch for several different reasons. One reason however is that we feel that they just don't believe in DD. She tried out for the L4 team this summer and didn't make it. Instead they put her on preteam. Several of her friends with similar skills made it. Then later this summer they moved a couple of girls to team that didn't even have to try out and don't have the same level of skills my dd has. The coach moved them up because she thinks they have the potential. When she and I asked the coaches this summer why she didn't make the preteam they told her that they were concerned that she would have trouble memorizing the rountines. She does struggle with detail and yet I feel this is a bogus reason. She watched the L4 on bars this week and saw that there were 2 girls that don't have their shot thrus yet. She asked me why they are on team and she isn't. I told her that they might have skills on other events that she doesn't have. (I really didn't know how to answer this) DD has grown bored in preteam. They are working on nothing remotely challenging. I think part of the reason they are sticking to the easier stuff is that the class is so big, 14 kids to 1 teacher that they really haven't broken down into stations much . They worked floor yesterday in 4 lines and just went down the mat. They also did beam and they were crowded 4 kids to a beam so they were only able to do walks and jumps.

She has been teaching herself things at home that she see's the team girls working on. She taught herself robhsbhs and front limber and is now trying to learn front handspring, kip and cast squat on. Should we take her to the other gym we are considering and ask if can be with the L4's or should we tell them that she is on preteam at her old gym. The season doesn't start until Dec and she has all of her L4 skills except front hip circle(they don't work on this in preteam yet. They are still working on pullovers and back hip circles) and she needs a little work on handstand and beam dismount. She can do them but needs to work on tight body postion and holding them.

Before yesterdays practice we had already scheduled my dd to be evaulated for a rec class at they new gym. I would rather my dd be challenged by new skills in a class situation rather then teach herself at home. Plus I had already consided switching her in the future either next spring of the following year and she will have a hard time adjusting so I thought that if she was comfortable there the swith would be easier. After yesterday my husband is mad at the gym and thinks we are wasting our money and wants to get her evalutated by the new gym to see if she can be on their team.

How should I approach this situation with the new gym and when? I really don't make decisions quickly and yet I feel that if should is to be evalutated by the new team it needs to be done quickly.
 
I know this is very hard to understand, having your child passed over is hurtful to all of you. I know for sure in a different gym my youngest would have been overlooked, she didn't have that obvious talent when she was small, she wore glasses and in early classes she was distracted and not always compliant. My oldest was the perfect little gymmie, talented, cute and very well behaved. I had to push to get the younger one into the hot shot type groups and I had to push for her to get into her early meets with those hot shot type girls. But, when she got to those meets, time and time again she came first, beat every girls from our club and really rose to the occasion.

Now I don't have to push, they know she's a tough cookie and a great performer, has great team spirit and is a lot of fun to have around.

All that to say, yes absolutely take her somewhere else to be evaluated. She wants to be on team and has all the skills, perfection of the skills can be achieved easily if she is determined. Not every child is perfect for every gym, she maybe just what another club is looking for.

I would call your gym of choice, tell them you have a little one who has been "training" L4 at an area gym and you would like to have her evaluated. That is all I would say, all they will expect is that she has most of the skills and that she has not yet competed at L4. A lot of gyms have lots of different terminology, some gyms have girls in L4 a year before they have the skills, other gyms do not let girls into L4 without all the skills done to perfection.

I am sure you, and Dad, will feel happier with an unbiased opinion of where you little one should be, worst case scenario they tell you she's not ready, but at least they' say whay.
 
I would second what bog said. Even if she's not being overlooked at the current gym, 14/1 is too high a ratio for preteam. If you were just looking to change because you and dd were disappointed at not moving up yet, I'd say don't, but in this case, it makes sense to see what other gyms have to offer.
 
I would absolutely take her somewhere else to get evaluated. A girl at our gym was passed over for team at a nearby gym for who knows what reason. They were probably kicking themselves when she was level 4 state champion with a 37 something AA.
 
I definitely would take her to another gym for evaluation.

My oldest was passed over several times at her old gym, for I think no other reason than they could not be bothered with just another kid in the gymnast "factory" that was the atmosphere. She was there for 3 years and had only learned a cartwheel (and not very good). She had only made it up to the developmental class at this point, but one of the coaches that left that gym said that he could see K had potential. So on that, we took her to our current gym to be evaluated and this HC knew when he saw her that she had alot more than she was given credit for.
 
I agree with everyone else. Obviously you and dd are not happy and it seems don't really trust the coaches. Thats not a good situation. Call other gyms and ask about a tryout. All I would say is she's on pre-team at gym X and has been training L4---don't get into skills she can or can't do or what other coaches have said. Do say she is very interested in moving into a team program. A good gym will have her come in for a practice with their L4s and observe what she can and can't do and give you an idea if she's ready for L4 at their gym. If they just tell you they'll put her on the team without really watching her, I'd be very leary to make that committment. You may hear the same opinion from another coach(not quite ready), but they may have a more intense pre-team program to offer to get her ready. Remember its not just doing the skills----its doing them with good form and then putting routines together.

14:1 is too many girls and I'm sure they're at different places as far as learning skills and 4 on a beam gives them no room to practice much of anything safely. Do ask her to back off the at home practice. Make a deal that you'll check out a new gym and then maybe she won't feel the need to try and teach herself skills at home.
 
Yes, time to try another gym. The ratio of 14:1 is not good. You and your husband are not happy w/the current gym and your little one is not gaining any skills, etc. I'd call the other gym, ask to schedule an eval on your DD who is currently training L4. Some gyms compete levels 2 & 3.
 
You are right to be concerned, if your DD is just practising skills that she can do easily and not learning anything new. She will get bored and possibly go backwards with her progress and not forwards. She may even start to misbehave in training because she is just so bored, and then they may want her on the team even less.

Some gyms and some coaches will just want to take the kids onto the team who are easy to teach. If your daughter has a challenge like learning routines slowly, learning visually when the coaches like to teach in a different way, easily distracted, talks a lot or any thing like that she may be overlooked. This is those coaches loss, many of the most difficult to teach gymnasts turn out to be the most outstanding gymnasts. And the coaches and the gyms who are willing to put the extra effort into these kids will be the ones who are rewarded at the end.

I would have a talk to the head coach at your current and gym let them know exactly what is going on. How your daughter is getting bored and can already do the skills they are training in class. Let them know how she is trying to teach herlsef the more advanced skills at home and ask what can be done to ensure she is getting the most from her training.

At the same time I would also contact another gym and ask for an evaluation for their team. Sometimes you need to find the best gym for your child and it can take some searching bu8t it will be worth it in the end.
 
I agree with everyone else. I would try another gym to see if it is a better fit for your DD.

My DD was not noticed at all at her old gym. She began teaching herself stuff at home, was sad because she was passed up and her best friend was moved up, etc. She wanted to go 2 times a week and I figured that if we were going to do that, we might as well try another gym and see if she could be put in a class that she would be challenged in.

Her new coach noticed potential in her right away, and I honestly didn't understand why. She moved up to a developmental class after a month in a rec class and has been a different kid since then. She immediately said she liked it there and that they did "real" gymnastics. They mostly did fun and obstacle courses at her old gym.

She loves gymnastics now and will be competing L4 in January. She started at her gym 1 year ago this month. :D

All that to say, go for it! Check out some other gyms and get that girl challenged! :D
 
I agree with the others why not try out other gyms. I would probally talk also to the head coach at the current gym to find out why they did not move her up. After being in gymnastics for a few years I still do not know why they choose one child over another , in my opinion there were several kids who were more ready to move up to the team before my daughter but the coach put my daughter on the team before them I still not sure why except she was in the preteam younger fast track group. Your daughter might be placed right on the team at another gym no longer be bored and get more attention. Good Luck
 
I agree w/everyone else. I would try another gym and see what happens. It sounds like she is getting bored in her pre team class and she needs to be challenged more. Let us know what happens !
 
Just a thought- maybe when you take her to be evaluated at another gym, don't tell the coach what level her current gym wants to place her. Instead, ask honestly where she would be placed at the new gym based on what he or she is seeing. You might be surprised to find out they are seeing potential that was missed by her current coaches.
 

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