Parents Sisters On Team?

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3LittleGymmies

Proud Parent
I am just curious if any of you have had multiple daughters competing at the same time, and (aside from the $$$ and crazy schedules) how that panned out. For example, a younger sister passing an older sister, one sister being chosen for TOP's and not the other, one excelling quickly and the other repeating, having to switch to a more intense gym for one even though the other would be more average there, etc. Were they able to maintain a good relationship? Were they jealous of one another? Did it cause issues?

I am really just curious about how this dynamic works. We have one daughter finishing up Level 4 and another on pre-team, but I can see her moving quickly (maybe even skipping 3) and having an easier time on some of my first daughters worst events. I can also see her going the TOP's track (though it would require a gym switch) whereas that isn't something that my first daughter could do. So while they are not both competing just yet, I am trying to be prepared. :) If you are a coach who has experienced this, feel free to chime in, too.
 
I 've had 2 in gymnastics for a long time ...one now in college, other still in high school. Older one was a couple years older so competition wasn't really ever an issue ...although many a meet we were there for the whole duration because one would be on a Friday and the other on the Sunday !! They eventually got to be in the same training group (and hence, same schedule) for the last 4 years so that was good (and they were in different age groups for competition so that was good too) ..

I 've seen families where the younger sib has surpassed the older one and the older one has continued for a while but eventually decides to do other things....and sometimes the parents have actually pulled the older one from gym when it has becomes obvious that the younger sib will be outshining her (and these girls have actually gone on to do well in their other endeavors )
 
Thank you so much for your response, @bookworm! My older daughter is 9 and the younger gymnast just turned 6. We are considering a gym switch (for many reasons) and this other gym is planning to start skipping 5 (versus 6). That would have our older daughter in 6 next season and our younger one on 3 or still on pre-team with the possibility of skipping 3 for next season (since she will not be old enough for 4). Then our older one would be in 7, younger in 4... older in 7 again or 8, younger in 6 (with the skip).. and that is where things would get interesting. So I am just wanting to be prepared! The kicker is that we have a super talented almost three year old, too... ha! (And yes, we are going to need sponsors... lol)
 
We have two girls in our gym, 14 and 16 years old. They both competed level 9 this year (the 16 year old was a 10, but had knee surgery and came back as a 9 this season). They are competitive, but in a friendly way. When the younger sister beat her sister on vault she came out saying "my life is now complete!"
 
I have 3 kids competing - my DD is a L8 (age 11), oldest DS will either be a L6 or L7 next year, and younger DS L5 or L6. The boys have been in the same level on and off for several years (started gym about the same time even though 4 years apart). The older is much better with form, but the younger occ. gets support skills faster (pommel and pbars). Now with puberty the older boy is rapidly advancing (well, for him....), so they will hopefully compete with each other less.

Interestingly, DD was always miles ahead of them both, but because of the differences in mens/womens gym - DS older now has some floor skills she doesn't and they are both doing giants, free hips to hand stand, twisting, etc....I can tell he is excited to be able to to do something she can't - but she won't bite when he tries to make it a competition.

Oh, and we have had to deal with 2 different gyms because of this, and 2 gym owners who don't get along, and 2 different meet schedules, and practices on 2 different ends of town, and 2 booster clubs, and different opinions about summer camps, and an endless flow of money out of the checking account. In our case, there isn't one gym that suits all their needs -

I keep thinking if I am clear that I am doing what is best for my kids, and treat everyone with respect and expect the kids to do the same with each other and the coaches everyone will be happy....I do wish one of them would take up basket weaving!
 
Used to have two girls on team--younger daughter was 4 years younger, but a better gymnast. Older daughter quit team in 9th grade to go higher school--if she hadn't, her younger sister would have passed her by the next year (she did pass her by skill-wise).
 
I have 2 DDs in gym. One just turned 10 the other will be 8 in Sep. For a few months they were both in the same practice group. YD would have passed up ODD for sure-OD has more natural ability but YDD works harder. In Jan we did a gym switch and ODD moved to Xcel and YDD is training L3. YDD is also doing T&T at our old gym. When YDD did L2 and ODD was doing L3 they used to bet on who would get the higher vault score since they did the same one . They each "beat" each other and were pretty well matched. YDD is more competitive and wants medals while ODD is just focused on doing her best.
 
My two were Level 4 (age 6) and Level 6 (age 9/10) together up until youngest was L7 (repeated L5) and older DD was L8 (2 yrs at 8, then JOGA, so essentially 3 yrs). It was clear after the first 3 years that younger DD was the more driven, not necessarily more talented, gymnast. She worked twice as hard and it showed in her progress and scores. Older DD initially had huge meltdowns over this, she was age 11 turning 12 in her first season of L8. Those tween years were tough. She decided to 'retire' otherwise, they likely both would have been L8 together and eventually surpassed by little sister. Once older DD made the decision to quit, she accepted that younger DD was going to fly by and cheers on her sister from afar. She doesn't come around to gym but will tweet and post about how well Little Monkey is doing and how proud she is.
 
My girls are twins so a little different then different aged sisters, but they are both the same skill level. They are both training level 7 right now and one is better at the bars and the other is better at tumbling, but they are pretty even otherwise. In fact, this past meet season, they tied A LOT on a few events and both had 1 AA. They were always within a few 10ths of each other in the AA. They have a healthy competitive vibe between them and they are both so encouraging towards each other too! I am hoping it stays this way for a long time!! :)

Also, on their team are sisters who are 2 years apart. They started old 4 together, then younger one was held back and they were staggered for a few years, but now they are both training 7 together. They are sweet easy going sisters and even though the younger one will pass up the older one soon, I don't see it being a problem in the near future!

So, basically it sounds pretty common to have sisters on teams together at some point during the competition years! Hope it all works out for you, just be encouraging to both (soon to be 3) of them and tell them the path is different for everyone and it doesn't matter how fast or slow you go through the levels as long as they are happy and having fun! :)
 
On our team, we have several sets of siblings...
My gymmies are Xcel Gold- moving to Platium and L3- repeating again, or moving to L4 or moving to Xcel Gold. They are 3 years apart.
Another family has twins... they competed L3 this season. I call them Purple and Red. Purple WILL be moving to L4. Red will most likely repeat L3. The "best" meet they had this season, Red beat Purple on vault (but they both joined the 9.0 Club that day).
There's a family with 2 girls not quite 2 years apart. They were both Old L4 and moved up to New L4 this year. Younger gets skills faster, but older has better form. Mom would like them to both repeat L4 next season, but younger has an unspotted BWO on beam and both are working on FT and RO-BHS-BT.
Another family also has girls 2 yrs apart, but they didn't start at the same time. Older competed L6 and will likely repeat. Younger competed L3 and also will likely repeat.
Yet another family has girls a little over 2 years apart. They started at different times. Older competed L6 and will likely repeat or struggle in L7. Younger competed L4 (repeating from old L5) and will probably repeat again because she is TINY and only just turned 9.
Another family, not quite 2 years apart- older is a 2nd yr L7 and will likely repeat again as a 13 yo. Younger was a L4 (repeating from old L5). She should be moving up to L5.
One family has girls 3 years apart. Older competed L6 and will be "leaving" our team to compete for the HS team (our HC also coaches HS and their practice overlaps ours... and she will train with us until it is time for HS to start). Younger competed L4 after moving up from Old 4. She developed a memory issue, so the more intricate routines are not good for her... and she lost her kip and hasn't found it again yet. She will either retire or switch to Xcel Gold.
The last family started the same time. They are 2-1/2 years apart... but then older sister took that first year off to play jr. high volleyball instead. They competed Old L4 together (younger's 2nd yr and older's 1st). This season, Older competed Xcel Gold and HS. Younger competed L4. Older will be moving to Xcel Platinum (and HS) and younger will most likely be moving to Xcel Gold (and Jr. High team).
Our girls don't have BIG rivalries... but the last family tied in the Vault AND All Around at Nationals last year at old L4. On Bars and Beam, they "traded" places... one got 8th on bars and 10th on beam and the other got 10th on bars and 8th on beam. Since they break ties based on USAG rules, the younger got the higher place on vault and AA... by 0.05!!!!:p
 
I have 3 kids on team - 2 girls and a boy. My younger DD is more naturally flexible and got an earlier start. But my older DD is more dedicated and determined. DS started competing a year before either of the girls; but he is likely to repeat level 5 this year. That will mean that he and older DD will basically be the same level this year (him 5, her 4). They do fine since it isn't like they will ever be in the same group. Some days I worry about younger DD catching up with older DD, they are only one level apart right now. They would be AWFUL if they were ever in a group together. It would just not be good at all.

On older DD's team, there are 2 girls who have little sisters in younger DD's group. These little sisters are really talented. Apparently the coaches have said something to the older sisters about the possibility of the little sisters catching up to the older sisters.
 
I have 3 girls on team. They are all very different levels and ages...AND oldest is in the highest level, then middle, then youngest. I don't anticipate younger ever surpassing older, so we have a good setup and life is good. Very little comparing scores, etc., because they are all doing such different skills.
 
I have 2 on team, but they are 4 levels apart, so I don't see the younger one catching up - but I guess it is possible. They do sometimes work on the same skills LOL doesn't make my older one very happy.
 

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