Recent content by Twinmom

So, given all that has been discussed, do you all feel like JO meets are more “fair” in the sense that everyone is on the same page about what the goals are? It seems like with JO everyone is working their butt off (though I realize training hours can vary gym to gym) to try and get and compete...

I totally get this. I think that is the nature of any sport- there will always be athletes who train more, coaches who are better, parents who push harder, etc. But I feel like that amount of variety is expected and understood in JO and most competitive sports. I was just surprised at the way...

Yes, these are 6/7/8 year old very talented gymnasts (who would be funneled into JO team) competing Xcel Silver. I don’t understand how it all works or why, but it seems to me that most gyms have Xcel and JO, and the JO starts at pre-team, then level 2 and so on. For whatever reason these gyms...

My daughter is in her first season competing Xcel Silver (skipped bronze, was asked to join the JO team but we opted to begin with Xcel because she has other interests). We have found the program to be good for her overall, her gym treats Xcel with just as much care & respect as their JO teams...

All super helpful responses- thank you!! What you have all said makes so much sense. I know that the 5+ hour gym sees Excel as a super-flexible, low-key option for girls who want to do other sports, etc. I have a feeling they stick to the minimum as far as skills. I will definitely go observe...

at the risk of sounding redundant... going to post a question about switching gyms ;) I don’t know any other gym parents in real life and my daughter is new to competitive gymnastics so I’m hoping to get some feedback here from those more experienced. My daughter (she’s 9) is in her first meet...

Thank you! Can you just get them at the drug store?

Hi there, this is my daughter’s first meet season (she’s competing Excel silver) and she’s developed some pretty serious blisters on her hands this week. She has a meet on Sunday- she’s never used grips (but wants to), so I ordered some last week thinking they would be here by today so she could...

That sounds pretty official! ;) should I tell that to their coach...? :boggled:

My girls are 4 1/2 and were recently moved up to the class for 5 & 6 year olds. They can both do bridges easily and (to my untrained eye) pretty well. They do several bridges as part of their class & one of my girls is now working on elevating one of her legs for 5-10 seconds to learn to kick...

This is exactly how I feel. Good to know that "grumpy" is not the norm. :)

I've seen a particular coach at our gym a few times (while my girls are in class or open gym) having private lessons with different girls (who all look to be around 6 or so). This coach is young, in her early twenties. Every time I've seen her with a kid, she looks miserable. She never smiles...

We live in a big city, but it's no New York or San Francisco. ;) There are several gyms within a 30 minute drive from where we live, ours has a great reputation but it is more expensive than the others. I don't know enough about gymnastics to know if you get what you pay for? So far, our...

Wow, that seems really good. I just checked and at our gym it's nearly $300 a month for 4 hours per week (2 classes, 2 hours each) yikes! Those are rec classes, does it get less expensive if the child is on the team generally speaking?

Thanks for all the welcomes! It's funny, one of them does enjoy dance more than the other, and I am hoping she will go back to it one day without feeling like she needs her sister there too. Her sister has a much more intense focus and I can see gymnastics being very fulfilling for her type-A...