Not Ready for Competitive Gymnastics
Because this is a topic that I cannot fully address in one post, I will likely be making this a series on my blog. When I was working full-time at our local gymnastics club I heard so many different reasons that parents had for their child not to join the team, but the majority of parents said, "My child is only __ years old and two days a week for two to three hours per class is too much commitment. My child is not ready for that."
Let me decipher this statement for you. "Yes, your child is __ years old. YOU, THE PARENT are not willing to make the committment to two nights per week at two to three hours per night." If your young gymnast was given the option to join the competitive team without any of your thoughts or inputs implanted in their mind, they would join that team almost every time. The child does not have any problem with four to six hours each week at the gym.
Your child is obviously a talented gymnast with a positive, go-getter attitude that the competitive coaches are looking to work with. If your child is passionate and loves gymnastics, why not let them join the team? My daughter, who is now a 10-year-old Level 6, started in a team class when she was six-years-old. She was attending four hours per week in Kindergarten. I feel that I have given her the best start that she could have by letting her work with the best coaches for the most amount of years.
Please feel free to use my SHARE page to tell me the reasons you have given or heard either for a young child joining the team or not joining the team when they have been invited. I am looking forward to addressing those things as well.
Let's look at your comment from another angle. When I say that my child is not ready for it, I am speaking from the perspective of someone who knows her child better than ANYONE else. I am her mother and am committed to doing whatever my child needs, and holding her back from going competitive IS what she needs, and has nothing to do with sacrificing myself and my time. My child is scared and anxious of the idea of competing. Her coaches tell her she is ready to move up...all she hears is that she gets to do more challenging stuff. What she doesn't hear is what competitions are like, how practicing through dinner will give her ZERO time to do her homework, take forever to wind down before bed, and not get to eat dinner at the table with her family. These are all things that are very meaningful to my child. Those are things that her coach does not know about her. They see a highly motivated, competitive, dedicated, talented little 7 year old and that is super exciting and they evaluate her based on that. It is a little short-sighted to make a blanket statement of parents of not being willing to make the commitment. My daughter needs nutritious, home-cooked food for every meal for her well-being. She also needs her mother to be responsible about regulating her anxiety because she is still young and learning those skills herself. If I were unwilling to commit to these needs, my daughter would be on medication. Maybe it's just me, but 7 year old should not be on Prozac.
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