WAG Does your Gym get Crazier after the summer/during the summer Olympics?

[AgingHippie]

So, 4 years ago this summer my dd was in her first ever rec class. As the session was close to an end we were asked to move to team, I wasn't sure this was what we wanted to do and I inquired about taking a few weeks to talk about it and decide if we would go that route or just sign up for another 12 week rec session. The gym's response was that I shouldn't take that much time because it was an Olympic year and as soon as registration was open to the public (current families got to register before the public) classes would fill up in a day.

I didn't get that at the time because I knew nothing about gymnastics other than a teacher at school told me I should sign her up after watching her mess around at recess.

Has anybody noticed their gym getting busier during Olympic years or some of the parents getting a little nuttier? I don't watch practices so I don't know what's going on with rec but I see a lot of new girls coming in for tryouts at the lower levels and I heard the privates at the lower levels are getting a little insane for summer months. So much so that a coach told me they are turning people away left and right for team and for kids already on team they are actually pulling kids aside to ask if they really want the private or if the parent is forcing them to do so.

 

[3rd_time_around]

If worked the front office at my dd's gym for several years, and there is definitely a spike in enrollment after the olympics, especially since the USA has been winning. So yes, what they told you is true. And the classes fill up quickly. We had waiting lists of up to 9 per class for some levels, there just wasn't any more room in the gym!

 

[Tuppy]

It was crazy after the Olympics, our gym gets packed. Every little girl and boy aspires to be our Team USA. I saw there were long waitlists. The parking situation was insane for a year or maybe even two. I wouldn't wait. If you are thinking about it, I'd sign up now. My two cents...

 

[AgingHippie]

Sorry for the confusion, my DD is training L7. It's just our first year on team that has also been an Olympic year and I am starting to see some of the craziness I remember that lady talking about when we were brand new to rec in the 2012 Olympics.

 

[GymDad9.9]

This is our first year in the Olympic cycle being in a gym but I'll definitely keep an eye out for it. Thinking back to '12, it was definitely the Olympics that motivated my daughter to want to do gymnastics but it wasn't until two years later that she actually took up the sport. Bad daddy.

 

[AgingHippie]

This is our first year in the Olympic cycle being in a gym but I'll definitely keep an eye out for it. Thinking back to '12, it was definitely the Olympics that motivated my daughter to want to do gymnastics but it wasn't until two years later that she actually took up the sport. Bad daddy.

LOL, you were probably better off! It weeded out all the kids that weren't going to stay in it!

 

[samsmama]

This is our first year in the Olympic cycle being in a gym but I'll definitely keep an eye out for it. Thinking back to '12, it was definitely the Olympics that motivated my daughter to want to do gymnastics but it wasn't until two years later that she actually took up the sport. Bad daddy.

The Olympics got DS interested too. He was 5 when we saw the men's team perform on their post-Olympic tour and he was hooked. Didn't start real classes for another year and a half, but that's definitely what got his interest.

 

[Gymmommy71]

Our gym gets pretty crazy, but it's really only for the rec/pre-team wannabe parents and kids though. Our team girls, especially the optionals, are very segregated away from all that.

That's interesting how the poster above's gym was asking girls if they really want the private or is their parent forcing them. That would be really embarrassing if the kid said "no, I don't want to do it" . Honestly though, IMO 90%
of privates for very young lower-level kids are parent-driven - like how does a 6-7 year old who's just starting out in gymnastics even know what a private is? If a gym doesn't want to deal w/ kids who's parents are making them do privates, IMO they shouldn't even book them at the young ages cause that what most of that is. I also bet most of the little kids that say they do want to do the private are just socially mature enough for their age to know that that is what they should say .

 

[GymDad9.9]

LOL, you were probably better off! It weeded out all the kids that weren't going to stay in it!

I think about it often because I wonder what difference an earlier start would have made in my daughter's gymnastics experience.

 

[sce]

Ours got very busy after the last Olympics. They added lots of beginner classes, including one for 10+yo girls.

 

[3rd_time_around]

,

 

[mom2newgymnast]

It will be interesting to see what happens. Dd's gym is always really busy with the rec and the rec team classes.. hopefully it won't be too much busier. As for team, we seem to be shrinking more than growing. We've had a good number of girls leave and, so far, only a few join since the end of the season. I think our gym is a little "picky" though and they would rather have less girls than add girls they don't think are ready. I actually wish they would grow a little though as I think meets aren't going to be nearly as much fun with only 6-7 girls competing the same level.

As for gym parents, I haven't noticed any new craziness, but there is definitely a lot of talk about the Olympics! Dd's gym doesn't train elite though so it's pretty clear that no one there is going to the Olympics. Dd and her teammates all have been watching the meets and they all have their favorites. It's been fun seeing dd actually getting interested in all of the amazing gymnasts and wanting to watch them perform. They also have a just graduated college gymnast working as an assistant coach with their level right now, so they are all talking about college gymnastics now too. My dd is only 8 and in level 4, so this is all still kind of new to her. Fun times!

 

[Aussie_coach]

Doesn't really happen so much in Australia. Especially not this year. For the first time in 30 years we have not qualified a team to go to the Olympics for WAG. We onyy have one athlete attending.

 

[OrangeKangaroo]

Our gym definitely has an "Olympic bump" in enrollment. There's a fun "buzz" in the air that I expect will last awhile. Happened last time too. My DD really seems to enjoy the attention her sport is getting.

 

[vbdb]

Ours does. We had an athlete from our gym at the 2012 games when Canada had its highest team finish ever and our owner was the coach. I probably just gave away the gym we belong to....shhhh. There was quite a bit of local publicity. It was the year my DD started gym coincidentally. There isn't any Olympic Dream selling going on at our gym though. Given we've had high-ranking national athletes it's pretty easy to see its not a typical outcome for your typical kid. If your kid has potential they're in a good place but that kind of achievement is not blasted about by the staff or owner. I appreciate the reality check, no Burt Vickermans

 

[OzZee]

In all the Gymsports and gyms my girls have been in I have seen and heard of increases in numbers in rec / enquiries after the Olympics.
Great for gyms here as its term 4 of the year where numbers tend to fall off due to the popular summer sports. (Intersting aussiecoach hasn't seen it, maybe another difference between states).
Also know it's the same in many of the other smaller/lesser known sports around here.
It's great promotion for sports and lots of people get to see sports they would never normally come across like gymnastics.

Doesn't affect team type levels , though guess some of the IL clubs may get enquiries.

 

[AgingHippie]

I definitely like the fun buzz it produces in the girls. I don't like what it does to some of the parents.

 

[raenndrops]

We started rec in 2006. OG moved to team in the 2009-10 season. Rec added a bunch of girls after the 08 Olympics. Summer camp that year was 3x the girls of the year before. Every Olympics, our camp is much bigger than the non-Olympic years.
Our team grew from 6 girls to 50 girls over the years and many of those girls started rec in Olympic years.

 

[Deleted member 18037]

No

 

[dani4]

I started my kids in fall 2012 just by coincidence - my younger daughter was old enough for mom and tot class. I remember that registration was pretty intense but I had no idea it was because of the Olympics. To be honest, registration ALWAYS seems intense at the gym, you pretty much have to wait in a long line on Sunday morning to ensure getting the two classes you want. I think in my gym it is more correlated with economic growth and the real estate market in our city, which has been growing since 2011 but this year it's truly bonkers. If the Olympics make things worse I am really going to have to get in that line early .