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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I think what gives some people pause, and I admit I can fall into this camp, is often with the gymnastics threads, if you have no experience with it (I don't beyond some middle school tumbling classes) its hard to wrap your mind around how YOUNG the deep commitment needs to start in order to become even remotely competitive.

yes, around here it seems like all sports are like that..........but the reality is that for many team sports, no you are no where near your peak at 14,15, even 16. If you are intensely in those sports, the commitment is high but it can be something that starts a little later if you have a talent. Whereas in gymnastics it seem as if you have a talent for it you need to start that commitment at 8 or 9. So  I think the age of the kids makes some of us gun shy a bit compared to other competitive activities.

Just my observation.[/quote]

I think this is definitely part of it.  At the age of 5 or 6, I call complete and total "boshi" on the "my kid has a deep and abiding passion for gymnastics" (or anything at all)  5 and 6 year olds  should still be exploring the world!  If you are devoting 12 hours a week to something at the age of 6, you are significantly limiting your exposure to lots of other things - and those other things may be things that you would be just as - if not more - passionate about.  There is absolutely a huge opportunity cost here.

I have no doubt that there is the very rare savant who is totally and completely amazing and passionate about gymnastics (or violin or dance or whatever) in early elementary school.  [b]But those kids are extraordinarily outside the norm and are few and far between - there are certainly not enough of them to be filling up gym upon gym of "passionate and talented" 1st graders, which is what we seem to have in the area.[/b]
[/quote]

This quote is exactly right.  [b]The amount of parents that actually encourage just one activity all year long dreaming [/b]of D1 sports or a rising start has skyrocketed.  It is not normal for kids at such a young age to have such a huge amount of pressure on them.  Are they confident enough without this activity or does it now define them and the parents?  I see this in soccer, singing, instrument, lacrosse, gymnastics, swimming etc...  It is sad these kids aren't enjoying a normal childhood.  The ones all the pushy parents probably had but just perceive themselves as "average" and their kids must be "better, stronger, smarter!!"  [/quote]

I found that as the kids got older this was just easier from a scheduling perspective as do other parents.  Not having to worry about different sign ups, getting car pools to various practices, going off to different games each weekend was a huge relief.  When you get multiple kids, I think this becomes even more important.  So as soon as parents see that their kid is interested in something and can stick with it, the inclination is just to keep them doing that activity and sometimes the primary drivers is just convenience and ease and secondary are things like scholarships and Olympic dreams.[/quote]

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