Parents Lvl 9 dd change gyms after injury

[gymmom922]

So my dd has had a very successful optional career prior to a mediocre compulsory one. Her mediocraty clearly a function of being a part of a more recreational program and busying herself with other activities such as dance, theator, and competive cheer. I enjoyed her compulsory years but admit I was probably a bit overinvolved as I learned the ups and downs of the sport. We changed gyms to give her a competitive optional experience after finishing a year of lvl 4 cheer and travel which proved overwhelming and fraught with injury. Figuring she could always go back to cheer, we focused our attention on finding her an optional experience which would logisitically work with the family and one which was not only successful but with peers her age. To our surprise and pleasure she thrived for 2 years winning states both years in lvl 7 and 8. She had all her lvl 9 skills and competed one meet this year, when she suffered a slow onset concussion. This took her out of everything and took much too long to heal, but also brought on severe reactions to the pressure she had been feeling at the optional gym. So decision time, stay with the sport or shift focus. Decision time, stay at the optional gym or try somewhere new. Well since much of her angst came from the intensity of focus and lack of time to develop friendships, we set our sites on yet another gym. She was not willing to step back to a more recreational program closer to home, but wanted to follow fellow gymnasts further from home to the largest lvl 9/10 program in the state. Not necessarily the most successful one, but one with success and numbers and an hour away! So I am looking for feedback on when enough is enough. The hours are reduced, one less per practice and they finish earlier and with a carpool, this is somewhat reasonable from a logisitical point of view. However I do not like being so dependant on the carpool and the craziness of the flexible schedule. Right now we are only going 3x per week as she is just getting her strength back. She wants to also join a school team which will make it difficult to do much more than 3 or 4 days practice. With this schedule (12 hrs vs 22) I am not even sure she can regain her lvl 9 skills to compete and debate whether i should allow her to slowly ease in or to encourage her to completely return. With college recruiting just 2 years away, I feel like this is a critical point in her career. Can she waffle around for another year, and ever hope to get serious enough as a 9th grader to pursue college gymnastics? During the recovery I contended that she should not make decisions about her gymnastics from a place of illness but rather to recover and strengthen before rendering a decison.... now she is her prior pre-optional happy self, and getting skills back every day. Thanks for your advice!

 

[Granny Smith]

So here are my thoughts.... I think she will get back her 9 skills and possibly get newer skills (9/10) but at a slower rate than other girls doing the same level. She will probably be able to compete 9 again and possibly move to 10 but if she is only training 12 hrs v. every other gym that is probably training at the very least 20 hrs, I do not see her being as competitive with the other gymnasts. So, I think she might be able to obtain her personal goals of competing 9 again and then 10 and possibly achieving personal goals with skills, but there is just no way she will be that top tier in the level. There are many girls who are happy being able to compete the level and achieving that personal goal, but if her goal is to make Easterns/Westerns/Nationals, she will need more hours in the gym.

This is just my personal opinion and I know that there is always that one "rare animal" who can wing it with minimal hours, but that is the rare minority and not what most girls are.

 

[cathiann]

Totally agree with Granny Smith. I don't really have anything else to add.

 

[bookworm]

She wants to also join a school team which will make it difficult to do much more than 3 or 4 days practice. With this schedule (12 hrs vs 22) I am not even sure she can regain her lvl 9 skills to compete and debate whether i should allow her to slowly ease in or to encourage her to completely return. With college recruiting just 2 years away, I feel like this is a critical point in her career. Can she waffle around for another year, and ever hope to get serious enough as a 9th grader to pursue college gymnastics? During the recovery I contended that she should not make decisions about her gymnastics from a place of illness but rather to recover and strengthen before rendering a decison.... now she is her prior pre-optional happy self, and getting skills back every day. Thanks for your advice!

So here are my thoughts.... I think she will get back her 9 skills and possibly get newer skills (9/10) but at a slower rate than other girls doing the same level. She will probably be able to compete 9 again and possibly move to 10 but if she is only training 12 hrs v. every other gym that is probably training at the very least 20 hrs, I do not see her being as competitive with the other gymnasts. So, I think she might be able to obtain her personal goals of competing 9 again and then 10 and possibly achieving personal goals with skills, but there is just no way she will be that top tier in the level. There are many girls who are happy being able to compete the level and achieving that personal goal, but if her goal is to make Easterns/Westerns/Nationals, she will need more hours in the gym.

This is just my personal opinion and I know that there is always that one "rare animal" who can wing it with minimal hours, but that is the rare minority and not what most girls are.

I will basically echo what Granny Smith says in terms of competitiveness...with minimal hours she will likely do okay but you need to be more than "ok" to be recruitable....as we have just gone through this whole recruiting process this year , I can tell you that a good D1 program is looking for the cream of the crop...and you're not going to get there doing 12 hours a week...and that's ok and you can adjust your goals but they need to be realistic with what she is doing. My daughter has been level 10 for many years and gone to JOs every year and even won, but it wasn't an easy process for us so I can't imagine with the scenario you describe , that D1 gymnastics will be a possibility as it's just so so so competitive ...and getting worse with each passing year

 

[Tumblequeensmom]

Other than joining her high school team, you don't really mention what your DD wants to do in regard to college competition. Is she wanting to pursue a college scholarship? I know you said "we" a lot, but I've found that many times, it means more the parent than what the child really wants.... just asking.

I've been wondering why no one else mentions the concussion issue? Repeated concussions are NOTHING to be taken lightly. My son has suffered two in the past 2 years, and each one takes longer to recover from, and basically it's a little bit of brain damage each time. There have been many medical articles written lately on the dangers of concussion, especially with young athletes. I think knowing all of this, I would allow her to take it all at a much slower pace instead of the big push towards L10 and recruiting. She needs her good health much longer than she needs gymnastics.

 

[Deleted member D3987]

concussions are a very low/remote occurrence in gymnastics. now, ankles would be the thing to talk about...

 

[Tumblequeensmom]

I know they don't happen often in gymnastics, but once they have happened, if they fall and hit their heads, it's easier to have a reoccurence than if they'd never had one in the first place. Boy, what a run-on sentence! Anyway, the second time my son had one, he had simply tripped, felll down in the house (on the carpet) and hit his head on the floor (after hitting w/all other body parts first). He had post-concussive syndrome for several months afterward w/severe headaches and double vision. It was NOT a fun time.

 

[NGL780309]

Other than joining her high school team, you don't really mention what your DD wants to do in regard to college competition. Is she wanting to pursue a college scholarship? I know you said "we" a lot, but I've found that many times, it means more the parent than what the child really wants.... just asking.

I've been wondering why no one else mentions the concussion issue? Repeated concussions are NOTHING to be taken lightly. My son has suffered two in the past 2 years, and each one takes longer to recover from, and basically it's a little bit of brain damage each time. There have been many medical articles written lately on the dangers of concussion, especially with young athletes. I think knowing all of this, I would allow her to take it all at a much slower pace instead of the big push towards L10 and recruiting. She needs her good health much longer than she needs gymnastics.

I just have to comment on the response to the OP using the word "we" to talk about her DD. That does not mean that she as a parent is wanting the gymnastics more than her DD. That is my personal pet peeve on this board because certain people feel the need to always jump to that conclusion. Like it or not, changing to a different gym is a "we" decision. As a parent it impacts your life greatly, especially it it's going to be a long drive and many hours of sitting. Managing your DD's gymnastics life is also a "we" process. You have to help them weigh the options and look at different aspects from your adult perspective. If the child is young enough it's not even a we, it's a me decision. When I switched my DD to a different gym there was no we, it was completely "I". She was 5 and not in a position to understand why we were leaving.

 

[Tumblequeensmom]

In my experience, all too often we automatically think that we KNOW what our DD's want w/o having a sit down conversation about what THEY want. We see all the hard work/sweat that these girls (or boys) put into the sport and think that that's what they'll always want, even after injury, fears, whatever.