WAG Tryout for JO Compulsory

[Jessleemom]

Wow! I had imagined she was a Rec girl who had only a little experience with back-handsprings! With those tumbling passes under her belt, there are a few other key skills coaches will also be looking at for Level 4. As said in other comments, a kip on bars will be one deciding factor. Some others are a front-handspring over the vault table and a handstand on beam. You say that her handstands could use some work, so I would have her work on the form on those if needed.

JO vs Xcel: I personally competed via the Xcel route, but I have heard great things about both programs! Xcel might be nice for the first year if you think the shorter, less intense, 3 hour practices are better for your family. The coaches can also play to her strong-suits in her routines. Xcel routines are not standard nationwide, and you can vary beam skills, dismounts, vaults, tumbling passes, and bar skills depending on what your DD is good at (to a certain extent). However, JO would include more focus on the basics and the longer practices would mean more time to improve. You could also start in one and switch to the other depending on which one your DD likes better (assuming your gym allows movement between the two).

I know I'm biased because I'm her mom but I really think she has a lot of natural ability. She also has the perfect build for it and is a fearless adrenaline junky (I am the exact opposite!) When we first started at this gym she was switched from level 1 to a preteam prep class on her second day. But they reorganized and changed ownership and she got placed in a regular level 2 class so we just rolled with it. We've been doing rec for one day a week for so long because A. That's what we could afford. B. We weren't sure if it was a sport she'd stick with. C. I didn't really understand rec vs. competitive and had no idea how far behind she was in terms of age. We're now making some sacrifices to pay for Xcel at $300 a month. I imagine JO is a bit more but we're all in at this point so....what's a little (or a lot) more money?

I had originally planned for a year of Xcel before letting her pursue JO but after talking to a few different people it sounds like it's pretty tough to move at our gym. So we're going to see if she can do it now...

She's doing 6 hours a week at this point and with the extra gym time is making pretty steady progress. I picked her up tonight and she was so excited she got "gymnast of the day" in her Xcel practice. And they got to practice in the other gym. Which was, apparently, the best thing that ever happened.

 

[Gym Geek]

None of these will be deciding factors for your DD. I can’t imagine there’s any expectation that your DD would have a kip right now being so new to Xcel and coming from rec. Ditto with the handspring vault. And even her handstands will not be judged to the same standard as what the current JO kids in the group have.

Yes, I think I was mistaken there. They will NOT expect her to have a kip, but the other girls will be working on them and she will most likely do drills with them. The front-handsprings would be expected by meet season, not now. And I just gave the handstand suggestion if her daughter would like to work on things at home. I’m sorry for being unclear. Thanks @NutterButter!

 

[txgymfan]

We're now making some sacrifices to pay for Xcel at $300 a month. I imagine JO is a bit more but we're all in at this point so....what's a little (or a lot) more money?

If you are truly making sacrifices for Xcel at $300 a month, please go into this with your eyes wide open. Before you agree to JO team get a list of approximate team expenses for the next three levels from the gym and search here and other sources for accurate cost estimates.

Look at how many meets does your gym attend, how far away are they, will you need hotel rooms or even flights. What are coaches fees per level, per season? Be aware that gymnastics meets often begin on Fridays and one of you may need to take off work on fairly short notice.

Ask the gym about competition gear including leotard, warm ups, possibly a bag, and even shoes.

Gymnastics is expensive and you need to be honest as a family if you can afford the next few levels before you get even more invested than you already are.

I’m not trying to be negative, there are many wonderful benefits from being on a gymnastics team but being a low cost after school activity isn’t one of them.

 

[Jard.the.gymnast]

Don’t stress about this OP. They would not have invited her to practice if they didn’t see it as a possibility. Mostly they probably want to see how she takes corrections and how she does with all the strength/conditioning and see if she likes being part of the group.

This. As coaches we hate to see kids fail. We are not 'monsters', we want what fits the child's needs. I assume your coaches are no different. They really wouldn't let her train with the JO group if they didn't think she can handle it!

 

[NutterButter]

The financial consideration is real. Tuition was about $300/month when DD first started in Xcel and now 5 years later it's $600/month. When DD started JO we were given a price sheet of how much tuition goes up with each level and I remember looking at the cap for L9/L10 and thinking that DD would only be at that level for just her Sr year of high school, assuming she even stuck with the sport. Well, we are in our 3rd year of paying the max tuition! The $600 tuition doesn't include any of the travel, meet fees and $ for coaches time at meets, competition leo and floor routine choreography. I'm used to this now but even this year I got burned a bit because I didn't fully budget for the two post-season meets that my DD qualified for. Also, consider if you have other kids and the expense for their activities. My son's sports are nowhere near the expense of gymnastics but we've had more than one month where we have shelled out $1,000/month FOR EACH KID! It is insane.

 

[Carly]

I definitely agree with the other comments that you received. I would seriously consider the financial differences between Xcel and JO at your gym. My dd competed 4 years in JO and then switched to Xcel at a different gym. Xcel at her old gym was only about $400 less per year which is just a small percentage of savings.

 

[3rd_time_around]

That seems high for Xcel and for 6 hours. My dd trains 12 hours a week for Level 4, and it’s less than $300. If that amount includes your meet fees, then it’s probably a good price, though.

 

[LouLou]

That seems high for Xcel and for 6 hours. My dd trains 12 hours a week for Level 4, and it’s less than $300. If that amount includes your meet fees, then it’s probably a good price, though.

That cost doesn't seem outrageous for my area - and wouldn't include anything other than practice fees. I've paid $300 for 7.5 hours so depending on where you live it might be high, low or average. I do think you need to be realistic about the extras though. The first year my daughter competed I knew we'd have to buy leo, warmup, etc., but I was surprised to have to shell out almost $1,000 for leo, warmup, backpack and meet fees (entry fees plus coach's travel, per diem, etc). They also gave us about 2 weeks to pay - some families were blindsided by this.

 

[Jessleemom]

I appreciate everyone's advice about the cost. I hadn't really thought about a lot of that extra stuff! By sacrifices I meant we're doing away with some of our extras... we're selling our jetskis but we still have a boat. We're also consolidating some debt payments. We have the means to make it work but I'm sure it will be tough sometimes.

We also have two other kids. My youngest is attending preschool gymnastics which adds to my gym bill but it is clearly not her thing. So we'll be eliminating that cost soon and steering her toward something more her speed. (Arts. Music. Dance. Etc)

 

[Cheryl]

For compulsory I would plan on about $8-,000 to10,000 a year. Once you get to Optionals, tack on an additional 2-5000 depending on the meets your team travels to. We are lucky that we live in the northeast corridor region, so 3-4 meets are within 2 -4 hours. We have 2 meets that require airplane travel. Fortunately, my son is the youngest, so I don’t have to plan a family vacation around a meet.

 

[3rd_time_around]

For compulsory I would plan on about $8-,000 to10,000 a year. Once you get to Optionals, tack on an additional 2-5000 depending on the meets your team travels to. We are lucky that we live in the northeast corridor region, so 3-4 meets are within 2 -4 hours. We have 2 meets that require airplane travel. Fortunately, my son is the youngest, so I don’t have to plan a family vacation around a meet.

I know it depends on where you live, but that seems really high. $4000-$5000 for compulsories. And that includes tuition, meets fees for 7 meets, coaches’ fees, travel, and a complete uniform. (We don’t do hotels if we can help it, and compulsories are all in-state).

But yes, be prepared for the costs.

 

[amiandjim]

I know it depends on where you live, but that seems really high. $4000-$5000 for compulsories. And that includes tuition, meets fees for 7 meets, coaches’ fees, travel, and a complete uniform. (We don’t do hotels if we can help it, and compulsories are all in-state).

But yes, be prepared for the costs.

We payed $7000 last year for monthly tuition, attire, meet fees, etc...for level 4. Add in travel, grips, leos, and all that other junk I bet we were at least $9000. And we live in the Midwest with a relatively low cost of living.

 

[Gymmom0824]

Good luck in your decision on what to do. And what a commendable thing to sell things you are willing to sacrifice for your kids. I’m sure others will disagree, but I see this with my siblings all the time, they don’t have money for their kids to do activities, but have money for things like you mentioned. My philosophy is my kids are only young once so if I can make a sacrifice for them I will. I can have my toys later.

 

[Jessleemom]

Well, today was the day. She seemed to enjoy the workout and made lots of friends. The coach came over after and said Avery was "all smiles." Then she told me she needs to talk the decision over with the other coach because she's not sure exactly where Avery would fit. That it may feel to us like she's going backward. There are some skills she's really good at but other essential skills she needs work on. She took my name and phone number. I'm honestly not 100% sure we'll hear back from them?! But it went better than expected. Everyone was welcoming and friendly and she really enjoyed herself.

 

[Jessleemom]

Last update! She got invited to do a trial month with level 3. She's super excited and starts on Monday!