Parents overlooked rec gymnast

[onebusymama]

Is it possible for a gymnast in preschool rec class to be overlooked for the pre team? Why are some girls chosen for pre team & others are not. Especially if they seem to be at the same skill level & focus? Our gymis big & has multiple classes & coaches with a 10 (kids) to 1 (coach) ratio for preschool classes. I just don't understand how some kids are given a chance to progress & chance of the competition side & others are stuck doing the same class the have been doing for almost 2 yrs w/ 3 & 4 yr old 1st time students? Doesn't make sense...

 

[Aussie_coach]

There are so many things that different gyms look at when choosing or not choosing a child for team. It could be anyone of the many obscure reasons. Eg attendance, punctuality, paying bills on time, height, height of parents, body size, body type, body size and body type of parents, strength to body weight ratio, level of natural flexibility, muscle twitch speed, whether or not they will go for the harder skills with minimal spotting, whether or not they have flat feet, ability to point their toes and stretch their legs, if the team happens to be full at the wrong time, the year in which they were born (as in which year they will be Olympics eligible), length of the torso versus the length of the limbs, whether they feel the child can cope with the longer hours of training, effort, attitude, behaviour, parental attitudes and if the coach likes them.

some of these reasons make sense others aren't so important at but I have seen every single one of the above reasons used as a reason to not select a child for team.

 

[gymgal]

It's hard to know what is going on specifically in your gym but in general, there are several factors: the child and parent interest level (are they talking to the coaches about team? does the child watch the team girls during practice?), how quickly the child learns new skills, fear issues, focus, parent/child attitude (will both fit into a team atmosphere). These all play into invitation to team in many gyms. It can also be the coach's bias or the decreased ability to see potential, whereas other coaches might be better able to evaluate. Dd's gym has yearly try-outs for all "teams" from rec to competitive. All gymnasts are encouraged to try-out. This way, it is the family's decision to move to the next level. Also, it becomes a group evaluation with several coaches determining the gymnasts' readiness.

 

[gymgal]

There are so many things that different gyms look at when choosing or not choosing a child for team. It could be anyone of the many obscure reasons. Eg attendance, punctuality, paying bills on time, height, height of parents, body size, body type, body size and body type of parents, strength to body weight ratio, level of natural flexibility, muscle twitch speed, whether or not they will go for the harder skills with minimal spotting, whether or not they have flat feet, ability to point their toes and stretch their legs, if the team happens to be full at the wrong time, the year in which they were born (as in which year they will be Olympics eligible), length of the torso versus the length of the limbs, whether they feel the child can cope with the longer hours of training, effort, attitude, behaviour, parental attitudes and if the coach likes them.

some of these reasons make sense others aren't so important at but I have seen every single one of the above reasons used as a reason to not select a child for team.

your list was so much better than mine! LOL

 

[MeetDirector]

The coaches do have to be made aware that there is interest in moving to the competetive track; they may not seek you out if they don't know you are interested. I remember back oh so many years ago, that we had that kind of discussion with her preschool coach. More of a "what's next" rather than a "let's get her on the olympic track" discussion.

Good Luck!

 

[MaryA]

A coach once posted a list of things they looked for that included things like showing up for class and being on time, wearing a leotard to practice rather than shorts and a t-shirt, having her hair up out of her face, focus, etc. I was interested to see that, on that particular list, few of the things she was looking for were skills and more had to do with the "seriousness" and "readiness" of the kids to adapt to more rigorous training. Of course, that will vary from gym to gym, but at least those are some things you, as a mom, have some control over. And it doesn't make you a CGM to let the coaches know that your daughter is interested in pre-team, as long as it's not done repeatedly and accompanied by expensive gifts (though that might work...).

 

[SGMOM]

Yes, it's possible to be overlooked. At our gym, you have a much better chance of being asked to preteam if the kid is being taught by the preteam coach rather than a different coach. My daughter was overlooked, until the owner had to substitute teach her class. Then, we were pulled aside and asked to put her on the team, and why we hadn't done so earlier. We didn't even know there was a team. (We had no idea what we were getting into.)

 

[Seeker]

The coaches do have to be made aware that there is interest in moving to the competetive track; they may not seek you out if they don't know you are interested.

My daughter started a little later than "the 3 year old norm" (she didn't even live in this country at that age), but I thought she had talent and was interested in something more competitive down the road. The teacher of her first rec class was kind of a jerk and was wholly uninterested in her. I asked him about pre-team after we'd been there a while and he waved me off like I was nuts. Anyway, about 3 months later there was a huge staffing issue at the gym one day due to coach illness, car trouble, etc. and the head of the program wound up teaching her class. I saw him pull her off to the side and he had her do a bunch of different things, taught her a few new things and then he came out to talk to me at the end of class. Guess what? She was invited to join pre-team that day (which she did with glee!). She gained skills like a house-on-fire and was moved up to team 4 months later and the rest is history I guess. LOL

Best thing to do is ask if you're interested and even if you don't get the answer you're looking for right away, ask again.

 

[Faith]

I think it depends on the coach too :nod:

My dd joined rec at 18 months, and stayed there until she was 6.

Mind you, I'm a coach, and while I suspected she might have *something*- fast twitch, endless energy, strength etc, she showed no obvious signs of talent, too busy bouncing around and doing stuff as fast as possible. No natural flexibility, and she certainly didn't gain skills any quicker than the rest of the class. I just thought her talent maybe laid in a racing sport rather than gym..

I think kids like that can be difficult to spot at 4/5/6, especially if they gym is only small and they have limited team places like ours. They simply can't take every high energy kid, along with the more obviously talented ones (although in my experience, under 7, the kids with "obvious" talent are the ones that do dance/trampolining, or have more focus at that age so learn quicker, or have a mom at home coaching )

So DD was put on pre-team at 6, and team at 7. However, in a year she has caught up with all the kids who started team at 5 or 6, and overtaken most (and a lot have quit already). I don't think starting later has hindered her at all, in fact it's worked well for her.

 

[Jaks]

My dd loves gymnastics and has been doing rec classes for 1 year (pre school classes for 18 months before that), my dd has never been invited to what you call pre team classes ( development classes in the uk). Others from her per school class were picked for development classes when they were due to move to the rec classes ( start a 5 years in the uk), half of those girls have quit or come back to rec as its too much for them. My dd is interested in the floor and vault development group but hasn't been picked yet.

my daughter is:
short compared to her friends
light & lean.
Seems to have no fear flexibility is improving
seems to have strong arms.
always correctly dressed.
always has her hair tidy.
has good punctuality.
goes to any extra sessions they run in the holiday.
she started Ballet this year.
she often gets picked to demonstrate when they go round the bits of equipment.
she listens and behaves herself in class


Is she a good candidate for pre team (development classes in the uk)

 

[gymmomtoo]

I don't know how your gym works, but if your daughter is interested in team, then ask the coach about it. Can't hurt, right?

 

[Deleted member D3987]

Is it possible for a gymnast in preschool rec class to be overlooked for the pre team? Why are some girls chosen for pre team & others are not. Especially if they seem to be at the same skill level & focus? Our gymis big & has multiple classes & coaches with a 10 (kids) to 1 (coach) ratio for preschool classes. I just don't understand how some kids are given a chance to progress & chance of the competition side & others are stuck doing the same class the have been doing for almost 2 yrs w/ 3 & 4 yr old 1st time students? Doesn't make sense...

so, are these kids, including yours, now 5 & 6 year olds?

 

[profmom]

Second Dunno's question. While I can see classes with four year olds and three year olds together working out OK, it's hard to imagine beginner 3s with 6s who've been at it for a few years.

We had one recruited for team and the second one self-nominated. FWIW, which probably isn't much (small Ns and all), the self nominee seems to be progressing faster than his big sister did. Talk to the coaches!

 

[onebusymama]

so, are these kids, including yours, now 5 & 6 year olds?

Dunno, yes they add new kids 3 to 5 entering in classes all the time. Even if they have never taken a class before. They will put them in with kids who have been doing the same class for 1 yr/ 18 mo / 2 yrs. It's really annoying when your child needs to be working on harder skills and they are having to do a forward roll down the incline mat for the beginner kids.

 

[Moxiegrl83]

^^ That doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me. If the child is not ready to be moved to the next rec level, then we will split the classes so the ones who are a little more advanced, are not with the beginners. There are always exceptions, and nothing ever works perfectly 100% of the time, but just like you, parents aren't usually happy when their kid has to start at the very beginning, after doing rec for a year or more.

 

[GymBee97]

there are alot of things that go into a gym choosing kids for pre-team or team I think the first thing they look at is if the parents are willing to go down that road. No sense in choosing a good gymnast if the parents aren't also on board. Usually the kids are looked at and choosed yes on skills and coachability but in the end it will be up to the parents to accept the recommendation. I've seen alot of good gymnast stay at rec class because parents didn't want team for their child. Its expensive and time consuming. I've also seen good gymnasts not choosen because they weren't what is refered to as a "coachable kid" a kid can have all the talent in the world but if they don't behave, listen to the coach and make the corrections then it doesn't matter how much talent they have. In the end it comes down to is the kid coachable and are the parents willing.

 

[monkeysmom]

All you can do is let them know your daughter is interested and at some point look for a new gym if your daughter wants to compete and they won't give her a chance. The ones they pick will make the most progress (other than the one in a million phenom), because they are the ones who get the conditioning, training and coaching to see what they can do. I'm a broken record on this topic (I think the crystal balls are a bit cracked).

Oh my gosh, to the other poster who mentioned "parent body type." Yowsa, that is a HUGE crack in the crystal balls, splintered. No one at the gym has ever seen my daughter's dad or any of the grandparents. Nor do they have ANY idea (except for the very obvious ones) who is adopted and who is actually a biological child. It made me chuckle--my daughter's friend who is in rec class is brought to the gym only by her stepmom because of scheduling, and I'm sure the rec or team coaches have no clue it's her stepmom. She wants to get on team. It never occured to me that she needs to make sure the coaches know it's not her biological mom so her chances don't get spoiled, wow that actually turns my stomach a bit. That comment made me want to put on my new UGGS boots with the 4 inch heels when I pick my daughter up tonight to make sure I look REALLY tall, because well that's the kind of person I am. Tall and proud momma who sprouted a beautiful little girl on the shorter side who loves gymnastics. PS, the shortest kid on my daughter's team's mom is about 5'8". The second shortest one's mom is 5'1. I think preteam gymnastics coaches should steer away from moonlighting as genetics experts..... Especially since they don't know who is biologically related to whom (unless they are good friends with them in which case they already have an "in" anyway) . There is another girl on my daughter's team who is estranged from her dad and calls her stepdad "dad." I am fairly certain her coaches are not aware this, I knew here for a year before she told me. But he's six inches shorter than her biological dad, so perhaps that "genetic" connection helped her a bit...

Back to the original poster, once your daughter is a a little older it doesn't hurt for her to work on splits, pullups, toe ups, pushups, handstands at home for a few minutes if she wants to and if she wants to get a leg up. It will help her in team tryouts.

 

[onebusymama]

Yes the body type of parents, grandparents, etc is a little far fetched when you are talking about pre team. I am 1 of 5 kids in our family, and all of us are a different height (mom is tall, dad was average).2 of my brothers are over 6'0 & one is 5'9. My sister is 5'7 & me 5'4. But when we were younger our smallest was the boy (very petit as a child) is now the tallest @ 6'2. So seems a little pre cursed to assume a toddler will be tall or short. But that's just my opinion.

 

[Pineapple_Lump]

Oh my gosh, to the other poster who mentioned "parent body type." Yowsa, that is a HUGE crack in the crystal balls, splintered. No one at the gym has ever seen my daughter's dad or any of the grandparents. Nor do they have ANY idea (except for the very obvious ones) who is adopted and who is actually a biological child.

I think as coaches we look at the parents but mainly as another positive. A fair few of my gymnasts have very fit and sporty parents, that shows me that the the family hold physical well being and exercise in high regard and that they probably eat well. If I am looking at a potential rec child and they have a softer body and the parent is really large that would influence my choice, but it would never be the deciding factor. Personally I have written off a few rec kids because they are always eating biscuits, cookies, chips and cakes before every class. It shows in their behaviour, and they make a huge mess every week.

 

[greenmama29]

yeah, i agree.... coaches focusing on height of parents it a big extreme.... my hubby is 6ft, but his dad is 5'7, brother 5'8, mother 5'8! i am 5'6 and my mother is 5'3, dad is 5'9..... brother is 6ft, other brother is 5'10.... so who knows what my daughter will be?! she could take on my hubby's shorter family genes regardless of how tall we are.

i do think that like others said, a coach maybe take note of the parents physical shape and eating habits as cues on lifestyle. that makes more sense than predicting how tall a child will be in 10 years!