WAG Describe your rec. program...progressive or overlooked?

[JBS]

There seems to be an overwhelming tone on ChalkBucket that many girls rec. gymnastics programs are not progressive...they are basically overlooked and so are the children in them.

Is this the case at your gym?...or do you have a nice progressive rec. program?

Please describe your rec. classes...are they run by a manager?...or does it just depend on which coach you get?...are there rotations?...what about flexibility/strength/form?

 

[txgymfan]

Given the amount of money that Rec brings in compared to team and even more to high level optional team its shocking how little respect, effort, resources some recreation programs seem to be getting. Great thread JBS.

 

[gymmiemom]

Our gym is small, so we are lucky that our HC sees and coaches all of the girls at least part of the time. Sometimes the HC coaches the rec classes sometimes an assistant coach does. They trade off and on. If the HC is teaching rec that day, then the assistant coach is doing the conditioning with the team girls, until rec classes are finished for the day.

Our rec classes are progressive. Pre-school, beginner, intermediate and Devo/pre-team. The only group that is age specific is pre-school, but a pre-schooler can move to the beginner class if they are ready to be. My oldest DD is in the intermediate group at the moment. The ages range from 6-13ish. They work each event (or drills for each one) at every practice and learn actual skills on each one. Each practice for the intermediate/Devo group is 1.5 hours long. Beginners is 1 hour long. Pre-school 45 minutes. Each class is available more than one day a week, it is up to the parents how much a child goes. They are welcome to come up to three days a week. Form is always emphasized, no matter what group. They also work on strength but in more of "fun, lets not let the kids realize they are strength building" sort of way.

The other thing available at our gym is condidtioning for any child/athlete that wants it. The team conditions for the first hour of practice 4 days a week. All Levels. Any child is welcome to sign up for it to gain strength and flexibility, as long as they realize they are there to work and can focus on that. Again they can do it one day or 4, it's up to the parents.

 

[hawaii_gymnast]

I said above average although I don't have anything to compare it too other than reading here.
There are set rotations, we get to 3 of 5 (tumble track and trampoline is a rotation) every week, the rotations are set for every second week. You may have beam, floor and bars one week. Then tumble track vault and beam the next, these to sets are switched week to week. This is all set up my the program coordinator and are arranged by level however if possible they try and keep it around the same level. There is a seperate teen class that allows them to join with no experience and be with girls around the same age.
Basic flexibility is done at the beginning and a little more as side stations. Conditioning is either in games or filler stations in a circuit. Form is kind of up to the coach, some coaches are more strict than others, however if something is not looking good the coordinator will always come over and fix it so that the coach understands more about the form that should be expected.
This is for one hour classes.
For two hour classes and 90 minute classes it starts with a 25-30 minute warm up consisting of cardio, strength and stretching. Then we split into groups and do 3-4 rotations. Then a 5- 10 minute cool down of conditioning and flexibility.
As always conditioning is added as side stations.
The kids go through a badge system set out by gymnastics canada. Goes from very basic skills up to skills around level 7 in the USA. Over 14 levels. Kids are tested through a 10 week session, if they earn their badge they move up to the next class or often they repeat levels especially as you move up through the levels.
As a rec coach I try really hard and the beginning of the session to teach body alignment, hollow and arch as well as proper starting positions and landing positions and then build from there. As a coach I am tough on my rec kids and expect the same behavior as in a competitive group, and push to get the right form, but it is hard as they are not there very often.
The rec program in our gym though is the main component and focus of our gym. The competitive team does help with publicity but if asked what our clubs focus was it would for sure be rec. All kids are given the opportunity to succeed, no matter their age, ability, body type or any special physical or behavior needs.
This was very long, and I hope it made sense.

 

[aerialriver]

I would say ours are def. progressive. Our "rec." class is level 1, we also offer preschool which trains level 1 skills. In addition we offer cheer tumble classes for rec kids who just want to tumble as well as non competitive rec. trampoline and tumbling. We also have a rec. only teen class for kids 10 and up who just want to learn gymnastics and not compete.

So first off we offer a large variety of rec. classes to suit all kinds of needs for ages 18 months with Mom and me to adult. Every one of them is productive in it's own way. Rec level 1 kids and preschool kids often begin class hoping to make it onto team one day and they work skills starting with level 1 skills, they go to all events, they stretch and condition a bit. There is a schedule so the class does not always go to the same events each week. People who coach it range from the owner herself to highschool age new coaches, no one coaches it that does not know how to coach it. Every 8 weeks their is an optional eval day. It is free and fun, all the kids get a certificate and a medal as well as the chance to be considered for team. The kids that are asked to join team are sent letters to avoid hard feelings at the gym and some people do decline and stay in level 1.

For gymnastics comp. teams we offer choices at lower levels, some train level 2 but do not compete, some only compete home or local meets, some do AAU and some do USAG some do both. Our teen rec. class also has the option to do one comp. a year in which they compete 5 events (tramp included) they were whatever leo they want and only pay a small entry fee.

Our rec. t&ters are taught all the basics up to level 6 (we haven't had anyone beyond level 6 not want to compete at least some) they are taught the same way as team with qualified coaches. They do evals as well and have the option to join team. They can compete as low as level 1 as 3 year olds. So in our gym you can def. compete if you want to.

You can also continue rec. and enjoy yourself we offer like 20 level 1 classes as well as lots of t&t and tumbling every week so in reality you could come several hours as a rec. student. And you get to learn the basics, with proper form from quality qualified staff.

Whew I guess though we are rare though and that is sad really.

 

[CoachGoofy]

(disclaimer: coming from T&T perspective right now)

Ours is very good, I think, in terms of allowing flow from rec to competitive easily. Starting in their first class, we do condition and do flexibility--we don't have enough room or equipment necessarily to keep them doing "fun" all the time so between turns on the trampoline, or on the way back to the double mini runway, or what have you, there're doing conditioning. We spend a lot of time on basic shapes so that if the child later elects to compete they won't have to relearn a tuck jump. That's silly.

We really only have 2 beginner levels other than preschool right now, so that may contribute. We teach beginners beginner skills, and well. We teach intermediate/preteam kids higher level basic skills, and well. Then when they have the maturity & skill level to go to team classes, they're strong and have basics of an acceptable caliber.

Team coaches do teach rec classes as well at our gym, and we do have high expectations for effort and progress, though we acknowledge that "fast" for some kids is "slow" for others. If a kid takes 3 weeks to get to level 5? Ok that's rad. If a kid takes 3 years to get to level 5? Ok that works too. And we've seen both. We're not gunna tell that 2nd kid she can never compete since she might be a chronic level 5, we can work with that if she loves it. We have the room and she loves it, so she's team material for us.

 

[teksquad]

It seems that rec gymnastics covers such a huge umbrella of kids/parents with different reasons for being there. Hats off to the coaches who design and implement the programs, trying to cover the needs of the spectrum.

 

[gymgal]

The other thing available at our gym is condidtioning for any child/athlete that wants it. The team conditions for the first hour of practice 4 days a week. All Levels. Any child is welcome to sign up for it to gain strength and flexibility, as long as they realize they are there to work and can focus on that. Again they can do it one day or 4, it's up to the parents.

I love this for the Rec kids!

Dds gym has a progressive rec program for both pre-k and school age tracks. They also have in house Rec teams. when dd was in the rec classes she got check lists every few months of the skills she mastered/was working on for that level. It appeared they used the skill level progressions but I don't know for sure. I assume they still do this. Dd was placed in the team track after she graduated the preschool classes so i don't know much about the higher level reed but It seems that some of the girls in the older advanced classes are more advanced skill wise than many of the preteamers, so they are definitely teaching some "higher" level skills in the Rec classes. I really am not in the gym enough to know how often the rec classes do each event but when dd was there, it seemed she rotated all 4 pretty consistently. Every 2 weeks at least when she was going only 1x a week. And their conditioning was based on the duration of the class. So an hr class might have 15 min total conditioning, split across each rotation they had for the day. So if they had 3 events, they might have 5 min conditioning for each. (just an example -I don't remember exactly). Doesn't sound like much but I think its more to instill the work ethic that conditioning is an important part of learning gymnastics, particularly for the ones who will make the jump for team.

 

[Ex member]

I am not sure if I would call the my dd's gym average or below average, it's the luck of the draw as to what coach they get in the session, mostly it's junior coaches with the odd session with a more qualified coach, the head coaches hardly ever teach rec as they are busy else where. The lessons are not progressive and they are not grouped together by skill level, they also do not seem to build on skills either. If you get a more qualified coach they do correct form and corrections, they younger coaches do try but my dd responds better to a more qualified coach that corrects her.

let me elaborate further - for example if your child is capable of doing a cartwheel and they are working on cartwheels the child still has to go round the stations and do what the others are doing ( even the ones that can't do a cartwheel), my dd can do a headstand with straight legs on her own (all the children had to try one at the time in front of everyone) but she still had to do them against a block like the others.

 

[Iwannabemargo]

Again our gym has mostly rec children. They are generally grouped by age - pre-school, 5-7, 9-11, teens, but within that there are more able and less able groups. There is no pre-team, gymnasts with any ability are offered the chance to syphon into the more competetive groups and offered more hours, at any age. For example in DD 's group there is an 8 year old, 2 9's (dd is 9 but competes 10)3 11's, 1 13 and 2 15,s. The older girls get the older coach and the younger girls get the younger coach. As the group size is so small skills are worked on at each girls levels.

This is the same in the rec groups so if say handstands are being worked on and one child has theirs - they may work handstand f/roll or handstand bridge.

I think gtroups numbers plays a big roll here, if one coach has 6 girls its a lot easier to tailor the tuition than if they have 20

 

[GymSurvivor]

LOVE the conditioning idea!! A lot of times I see talented rec. kids without the strength, but they don't do any strength in the rec. program at our gym.

Although overall I think the rec program is great at our gym. We have 1-3 grade and 4th and up. We have a specific 'Girls Education' director that makes the lesson plans. From there the girls can either be invited to 'EI (Educational Invitational)' or if they are even more advanced (Would be invited to level 5 or up) they stay in Girl's Ed. with an instructor who can challenge them. The Head Coach of the Artistic Team as well as the head coach of the Recreational Team then looks at the 'EI' girls for team invational as well as the few children who would be invited to a higher level.

On top of that there is the preschool program which you can then be invited to a Kinders Invitational and then be invited to Developmentals and then on to the Level 3 team.

So I feel like the Rec. Program at our gym is well-thought out. Although there is any sort of Rec. Program for teens who may be beginners or even more advanced and just don't want to compete, which I think would be great!!

 

[cbifoja]

A few times a year, our rec kids are invited to try out for any of our pre-teams. However we also have developmental classes that auto feed into these same pre-teams.

And they have a few in house meets. Our rec kids have an annual recital so they can show off what they learned too.
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[catou]

We have classes from mommy and me (18 months) to adults (mostly guys between 16 and 20 years old). Classes are divided in three or four levels depending of the number of session kids have been in. We also have advanced classes (twice a week for a total of 4-5 hours). Kids are divided by age, mommy and me, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8, 9-11 and 12 and more and adults. At the age of 5, boys have their own groups. To go to advanced class and competitive team you need to try out at an audition or be spotted in training.

We have about 1500 kids in our club... Less than 150 are competitive gymnasts. So rec classes are really important... Now that I've found these numbers... I wonder how we can accommodate that many gymnasts in a 6800 square feet facility...

 

[JBS]

The other thing available at our gym is condidtioning for any child/athlete that wants it. The team conditions for the first hour of practice 4 days a week. All Levels. Any child is welcome to sign up for it to gain strength and flexibility, as long as they realize they are there to work and can focus on that. Again they can do it one day or 4, it's up to the parents.

This is awesome!

 

[Bajanswife]

Our rec kids do the level 1 and 2 (and if able level 3) skills - they just don't learn the USAG routines. All ages (6+) and levels are mixed (you just sign up for a day that suits you) but within the whole group they will then get split into sub-groups. This is how the coaches manage to get groups of similar age/ability to work with. The groups aren't set in stone either - girls will be moved between groups according to how they are progressing.

We also do an in-house meet in December for rec, where they put their skills together in simple routines (the more advanced ones will have been taught USAG level 1 or 2 routines), and at the end of June there's a fund-raising show where each group will demonstrate a fun routine on an apparatus to theme music and simple costuming.

We also have adult rec classes (women and young men) and a very advanced rec class for the teens who no longer want to compete but want to keep up their skills and have fun. We also allow other groups to use the gym e.g. cheerleaders.

 

[Natasha]

We have a large Rec program- about 1,000 students a year. 18months- teenage. Mommy & Me, preschool, kindergarten, and developmental classes for ages 6+. Classes are grouped by age and levels. Coaches vary from ex-gymnast teenagers to team coaches. The owner looks first for teachers who love kids and love to teach and then they will train the gymnastics coaching skills needed. It is based on the "fun&fit" program with the USAG skills for preschool levels 1-4 and developmental levels 1-5. Every teacher has a large binder with the daily rotation schedule and weekly lesson plan as well as a skill chart for each child to keep track of skill progressions. Each week there is a different theme in addition to teaching the skills and all the teachers receive a full sheet of instructions on how to incorporate the theme (i.e. safety, good form, progressions, backwards skills week, handstands week, etc.).
Each child receives a skill poster listing all the skills for their level. Every 6 weeks the gymnasts are tested on skills and receive stars for the skills they have passed. When they pass all the skills for their level, they move up to the next level class.
Limited conditioning in the classes, but more conditioning for the L3 and up classes.
Every teacher is also required to document at least one parent contact (phone call) each semester.
Open try-outs are every spring for team, so anyone can try out for team. Class teachers are usually asked for feedback from the team coaches if a child is trying out so that the decision is based on more than just the one tryout day.

 

[htimcj]

Our gym has mom and me, preschool and levels 1-10. The classes are based on age for preschool but if someone shows promise they can join the level one class at 5 but not do bridges just tables. Theny each child moves up when they have all of the skills for each level. Levels 1-3 learn the USAG routines for a fun show of day each May and then moves up happen shortly after that. The classes are also split by age so ther is a level 1a for the littles, 1b for a little older kids and 1c for 10+. Kids are invited to the team when they have the skills to compete current level 4 we don't care about size or age, just whether they can do the skills and have the desire to compete. We have good rec coaches who try very hard to teach all of the correct skills and positions. They also spend 10-15 minutes of each class with a bit of conditioning.

 

[Gymmommy71]

Our rec program is made up of two kinds of kids - those who want to gain tumbling skills for other things like dance or cheerleading, and those who aspire to get invited onto a team someday. If they are older and shooting for team, their hopes usually are XCel/Prep-Op...if younger, their hope is pre-team on the JO track (and then after pre-team it is either invite to L3 or L4). We have progressive levels for each age group - young begginer, intermediate and advanced, and older (think it's around 3-4th grade they draw the line) beginner, intermediate or advanced. Girls who do not make/get the skills they need for a team w/in a certain amount of time will usually quit, so you really don't see any higher skills (i.e. above L4) in the classes (especially on things like bars and vault), and you usually don't see girls much older than 6th or 7th grade in even the oldest class (and when you do, they usually haven't been doing gymnastics for very long and are giving it their first real try).

The girls in rec for tumbling-only reasons are broken down into beginner, intermediate and advanced tumbling. All these are very popular classes. We have multiple sessions of each to meet demand and there is usually a wait list. You will see girls working on twisting in the advanced tumbling class.

 

[gymmomtoo]

I think we have an excellent rec program--it's progressive--you move through the levels based on skills, they give out evaluations twice per year, rating each gymnast on what is needed in each event. Each week every class has a rotation schedule they follow--the lower levels do two events a week, plus tramp or tumble trak. The higher levels (who go longer), do every event every week. As our owner/HC says, the rec kids support the gym, so you have to have a good rec program or they'll just leave.

 

[mommyof1]

My daughter is at a relatively small gym. The rec program consists of mommy-and-me for toddlers, preschool classes for ages 3-5, two levels of rec for ages 5+, and an advanced group of middle school and high school girls that trains two nights a week. In the main rec classes, it is not uncommon to see 5-year-olds who want to be on team and 12-year-old cheerleaders in the same class. The rec coaches are high school kids and a couple of adults who were rec gymnasts as kids but have no training in coaching. One of the compulsory team coaches is in charge of the advanced group.

When my daughter was in rec, the program did not appear to have much structure. Each class began with an obstacle course and stretching, then a sequence of jumps on the tumble track. After that, they usually spent most of their time on floor but would sometimes go to bars or beam if the team wasn't on the equipment. They would not work on the same skills each week. Once in a while they would do a few push-ups or climb the rope. A lot of time was spent dealing with discipline issues (kids pushing each other off the beam etc.) and playing in the pit. My daughter's coach clearly did care about each girl as an individual, and would put a lot of focus on whichever girl she happened to be working with at the moment, but there just was no overarching plan guiding the program. Most girls stayed in the first level of rec for at least two years, and at the end of that time were still not doing a decent cartwheel or handstand. I never saw a pullover without a spot.

In general, preteam is fed by a secret advanced preschool class where they send the strongest 4- and 5-year-olds from the preschool program. Selection for this class is exclusively at the discretion of the rec instructor who teaches the class. If a "natural" between the ages of 5 and about 8 happens to walk into a rec class, she is typically sent for a preteam evaluation within the first couple of months. Preteam is a three-year program and the first level teaches cartwheels, backward rolls, and pullovers--skills that I would expect to be taught in rec.

When my daughter moved out of rec, a new rotation schedule had just been established to help deal with the increase in enrollment brought on by the Olympics. I have not seen a rec class since that time, so things may have improved.