Doing gymnastics helps kids develop self confidence, physical fitness, and self discipline, so if your kiddo wants to do gymnastics, you’re likely to say yes if possible. But you may wonder how to begin in the sport. My daughter competed in gymnastics for four years, and I’d like to share my top tips for parents of future gymnastics competitors.
Constantly reassess if the gym still works for your daughter. My daughter began gymnastics when she was 5 years old. Naturally, I took her to a small gym close to our home. It seemed great for the first couple of years. She moved up through the developmental levels and thought she’d compete for them some day. But in her third year there, she moved into the level just below the competitive team. And she stayed there. After a year or so in the same class, without her really learning any new skills, I wondered why she wasn’t progressing. Was it the coaching, or was this as far as she could go in the sport?
She and I discussed her moving to a different gym, but she was reluctant. She had friends at the first gym, and felt loyal to it. A year later, she finally did move to a larger gym, farther from home. Within a couple of months, she had gained several new skills. She was asked to be on their Level 1 competitive team six months later.
Learn the different levels of competitive gymnastics. In USAG, there are two different competition programs. Junior Olympics consists of levels 1-10, which increase in difficulty with each level. And there’s the Xcel program, which consist of levels Bronze through Diamond. Excel also increases in difficulty, but allows more flexibility on the skills required at each level.
No one explained it to me at the time, but the first gym my daughter attended didn’t compete at the lowest levels – Level 1 or 2, and they didn’t compete in Xcel at all. So their competitive gymnasts had to have the Level 3 skills, which included the round off back handspring. When she moved to the other gym, she was able to compete in Level 1 and 2 before she had the round off back handspring.
Carefully evaluate the coaching methods. At the first gym, each week I’d watch my daughter work with the coach on the back handspring. The coach would spot her, she’d attempt it twice, and that was that. The gym was smaller, and didn’t have much equipment to break new skills down. At the second gym, the coaches had a wide range of equipment, and tons of coaching tricks, to break down new skills, which greatly helped her learn (and finally helped her get the round off back handspring).
Some gyms emphasize doing well, others emphasize moving up. The gym my daughter competed with focused on success in competition. Before being invited to a team, the coaches carefully assessed each athlete’s ability to do the skill, and also her ability to improve. At the lower levels they wouldn’t put a girl on a team unless they were quite sure she would be successful and (probably) earn placements in competition. Not all gyms place an emphasis on doing well at competitions. At some gyms, the girls might be able to do the skills required for the level, but may not be able to do the skills well, so may not earn medals or trophies. At these gyms, the gymnast may move up to higher levels quicker. So it can be a trade off between doing well at a lower level, or having the experience (and bragging rights) of competing at a higher level. If you’re not sure what the gym emphasizes, ask how their competitive teams do in competitions.
Your job is to support and encourage your gymnast, not coach her. Your gym will likely remind you about this, but coaches teach her how to do the skills. They know what the judges are looking for, and can let your daughter know what she needs to do in order to improve. You don’t. So don’t “give her pointers” on how to do skills, even if you think you know what you’re talking about.
Enjoy every moment. Your daughter may do gymnastics for a month, or she may compete for many years even into college. However long she does flips, enjoy watching her work toward her goals. I will always treasure the time my daughter and I spent driving to and from her gymnastics class. I’ll always treasure watching her face light up when she mastered a new skill. I’ll never forget watching her fly through the air.
Gina Parsons - Writer 