Gymnastics team
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Anonymous
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My 8 year old loves gymnastics and is great at it. He has an opportunity to join the boys team. It's 3 hours of practice, 4 days a week - all year. The moms that do it say the kids love it, yes, a lot of time but worth it. I just don't know. That's a lot of time. Forget doing any other sport. Homework during the school year will be rushed along with dinner... But he loves gymnastics.
Thoughts? |
Anonymous
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1. Very true that he won't have time for another sport. He needs to be okay with that.
2. It's great that he loves gymnastics. Will 12 hours a week of gymnastics over-saturate him and make him hate it? You know how if you listen to a song you love too many times you'll stop being able to listen to it? Well, will that happen, or will 12 hours a week feed his soul? Probably only he will know that. For me, it fed my soul ... until it didn't. Once it didn't, I couldn't stay at the same gym - I had to go to a different one, and that transition was hard. BTW, when I did gymnastics that much I had my school gym requirement waived, and was allowed to sit in the gym office doing homework instead of playing volleyball or whatever. So it helped with keeping up with homework two or three times a week. Also, the parent who picked me up from gymnastics was not the parent cooking dinner. |
Anonymous
| This was me (although I'm female). At 8, I was probably only at 2-3 days a week, but it increased until I was up to 25 hours a week, or more in the summer. I LOVED it. I didn't do any other sports, but I did play an instrument too. And I did a lot of homework and eating dinner in the car. It was great for me, because I loved it. I'm not so sure it was great for my parents, but they never let on that it was a problem. |
Anonymous
Thanks for this perspective! |
Anonymous
| Any siblings that this schedule will impact? |
Anonymous
| I did this as a child. I burned out at about 12, and then went back at 15. It has to come from him. And if he needs to stop, you've got to let him |
Anonymous
| I have three kids and am a single mom. bTDT. Yes the kids love it. It is a family commitment not just a commitment of the kid. It was really expensive. Worth it? Who knows. It's not like it's a career but then neither is swim team or any of those other things that take tons of time and money. I have found that some TAe Kwon Do programs offer tumbling. That's far less of a commitment. |
Anonymous
| No, I don't believe at that age anything should have that much of a time commitment. He can love gymnastics and be involved to a lesser level. He should be a kid too. |
Anonymous
For some kids, that IS fun. For me, it was. I thrived on it. |
Anonymous
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As a former gymnast and a gymnastics coach, obviously I believe you should let him try it.
However, make sure you know the financial commitment upfront. It varies by gym, but find out, and make sure you're okay with it. Also, the hours will obviously increase when he gets to a higher level, if he makes it and decides to continue. You should know these things going in. You should also know that gymnastics is like school and the kids will not necessarily be promoted to a different level every year. They will learn gymnastics at their own pace and be promoted when they are able to do the skills of the next level. To answer the question of whether it's too much, when I was that age I loved going to gymnastics and begged my mom to go. I skipped any parties,mets that were during gymnastics, and if I stayed home from school sick I always asked my mom to let me go to gymnastics and she usually let me go. When you get older it's a different kind of commitment, but at this age he will either love it or decide to move on at the end of the season. it's not like you're committing for life, but before you join the team, just research the ins and outs of your gym and make sure you're prepared. If you truly can't commit (can't pay the fees, he would have to miss practice a lot) then skip it because he will not progress and it will be a waste of time. |
Anonymous
| I was a competitive gymnast as a kid, but even at its most time intensive I think it was only 3 days a week for 2 hours each. What you're describing sounds like an unusual amount of practice to me. |
Anonymous
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MY DS 10 loves gymnastics and is on a team and practices basically that much. He loves it and while he does, I'm fine with it.
If he starts to not like it, we can quit at any time. He also took about 6 weeks off this summer for vacation and sleep away camp and I think that is good for him. He will be happy to go back when he gets back in town but it's also OK to have a break and that means he probably won't burn out. As kids get older it is normal to narrow down to one or two things to focus on and that's fine if the kid likes it, IMO. |
Anonymous
12 hours is pretty standard for the beginner competitive levels, particularly in this area. 6 hours a week just isn't going to cut it. Not unusual for middle schooelrs to be putting in 18-25 hours a week in the gym on top of full-time school. So, for OP mom: if he loves it, excels at it, is devoted to it, go for it. He can always decide to quit. You will probably be shocked at how well your son balances school and gymnastics. Most gymnasts I know are naturally driven, disciplined kids. They figure out how to make it work. They take great pride in the hours (weeks...months....) it takes to learn a new skill, and that translates to school--they're not likely to give up on learning, say, algebra. I never desired to do another sport. I did not care one bit that I was "missing" the classic school experience of football games and dances. I wanted to master that darn vault and win states, go to regionals, qualify for the next level. But always always always with the expectation that my grades would be kept up.
I heard this ALL THE TIME. I recall my 5th grade teacher calling my mother to say he was concerned about me, because I was so serious in school and never laughed--and he was convinced this was the result of my parents "pushing" being to be a gymnast. My mom invited him to watch me at a competition and you know what? I was an entirely different kid there. I went to school because I had to, not because I wanted to (and wanted As because I'm a perfectionist). Gymnastics was my element. Gymnastics was, in a way, my safe place. And I was very very very good at it. Keeping up grades at school was simply something I had to endure so I could stay in gymnastics. And, bluntly, no, you're wrong. One cannot be involved "at a lesser level" and be competitive even at the lowest levels, let alone advance. Gymnastics is like any other skill, but it is a particularly demanding one that requires lots of practice and dedication. |
Anonymous
So what if it's "fun?" 8 year olds should not be making this lifestyle decision. What if he decides he wants to quit school, too... are you going to let him do that? |
Anonymous
This situation is very different from quitting school. Her child has a passion and a talent - I would hope most parents would be supportive. |