Anonymous wrote:At our facility, summer practice is between 12-15 hours a week. Does that mean no camps to explore other interests? Does that leave time for lazy summer days? Does competitive gymnastics mean giving up those things?

My kid goes 9 hrs a week. Her facility has it set up so that she starts at 9 am till 1:30 pm twice a week. There's a camp afterward for working parents to allow their kids to join into for the rest of the work day if they'd like. We tried that but my daughter thought camp was boring. So right now her schedule is 9 am to 1:30pm on Tues and Thurs. This still leaves all day monday, wednesday, friday, saturday, sunday and 1/2 days on tues and thurs for downtime. It hasn't been an issue for us. She still has tons of time to play with her toys, go for bike rides, go to the park, to the pool, has playdates and sleepovers, and lazy netflix days. I'm a bit nervous about when school starts as her schedule will shift to 3hr sessions, 3 days a week.

14:31, we're in almost the exact same situation -- DD is 7.5 & started a level 3 program in June. I was really on the face about it -- it's a big commitment, but I want to be supportive.

I know a mom who did gymnastics through college, & I asked her; she said listen to DD & she'll let me know.

DD was very excited to make team, but less excited about all the work. I reminded her she could drop off the team & just do it for fun, but she said she wants to stay for at least do one meet & see how that goes before she decides. That seems like a really reasonable, concrete plan to me, so for now I'm content to follow her lead on it.

Anonymous wrote:My daughter recently quit competitive gymnastics. She got to the point where the hours- 15/week- were too much and she wanted to try other things. Gymnasts take about 2-3 weeks off per year on average so the pace is relentless. As they go up the levels, the hours will only increase more. Most level
7 are at 20 hours per week and it only increases from there

Can I ask how old your daughter is? Do you/does she regret going the competitive path?

My 8 yo is on a level 3 team, so she will be looking at 9 hours a week when school starts. That's a big jump for rec classes. She really, really wants to be on the team, but I'm nervous about how it will impact her ability to continue with other sports or extracurriculars. I'm even wondering about time to hang out with friends. I wish I knew other parents whose kids have been on the team, but I don't know them, yet. I understand that she's only 8 and taking a year away from other sports isn't going to be a big deal. I do know, though, that it seems like taking time off of gymnastics means you can't go back.

My daughter recently quit competitive gymnastics. She got to the point where the hours- 15/week- were too much and she wanted to try other things. Gymnasts take about 2-3 weeks off per year on average so the pace is relentless. As they go up the levels, the hours will only increase more. Most level
7 are at 20 hours per week and it only increases from there