Boys Team Gymnastics

Adam and Michael have been doing gymnastics for 2 1/2 years now.  After the first 4 months, they asked Adam to be in an invitation only class.  He was in that class for a year, and then they asked Michael to be in the same class, a class that met twice a week for 1 1/2 hours each week.  At the end of the school year last year, they asked them both to join the boys team.  As we got close to the end of last year, I got really burnt out on gymnastics and tired of hearing the boys complain every time we had to go to gymnastics, so I told them that we would take the summer off.  I then gave them the choice at the end of the summer to see if they wanted to go back to gymnastics and do the "team."  They enjoyed the break this summer, and then, to my surprise, they both wanted to join the boys team this fall.  When we went back to sign up, they made both boys try out again to join the team, but luckily, they made it.

Practices for the team are twice a week- Wednesday and Friday from 5:30pm to 8:00pm.  We committed to do it, even though our schedule was really crazy.  As soon as we started, it became really hectic in our family.  It was hard to get everyone fed and out the door in time to make it to gymnastics at 5:30 (Adam often gets home at 4:30-4:45).  There was never enough time to do homework on those nights.  That also left us home on Friday nights- we couldn't do anything else because we had to get the kids from their gymnastics.  The boys were really feeling stressed every time we went.

 I was starting to feel really overwhelmed with gymnastics, that it was causing a lot of stress on our family, and I didn't know if it was worth the stress.  The boys are good at gymnastics, but there are other boys at their gym who are better at it than them.  They are never going to be good enough to make the Olympics or to compete much more than at the local level.  I was having all these feelings, but every time the boys came home from gymnastics they told me how much they enjoyed it and how much fun they had.  They really enjoyed the coach and a few of the boys on the team.  (They also would tell me how rude some of the other boys were, and how many cuss words the boys would say).

 Because they enjoyed it so much, we kept going.  We paid for USAG numbers and for team uniforms, which totalled about $500.  Then they asked us to pay our first meet fee.  The meet would be held in January, they told us 2 days before it was due that we needed to turn it in.  Since I have never been to a gymnastics meet before, it was all new to me.  As I started talking to some of the other parents I found that they may be competing on a Saturday or a Sunday.  I explained that we wouldn't be competing on Sunday, and asked when we could find out when the schedule was posted so we could know if we should pay the meet fees (which were $75 a kid).  They told me that the schedules are not made up until a couple of weeks before the meets, but the meets fill up so we won't be able to sign up at that late a point, and the fees are non-refundable.  At this point, I finally asked the coach what we should do- since I was not willing to gamble on $150 to see if they could compete on a Saturday, and if the competition was on a Sunday, then just lose the money.  The coach then asked around to see what he thought we should do, and he told me that they sometimes make exceptions for girls to allow them to only compete on Saturdays, but never for boys.

 At this point, it seemed to me like this was the last straw we were waiting for. We decided to pull the boys out of gymnastics. They were very sad about the decision, but we figured if they could never compete, what was the point of them being on the team. 

 I actually am happy about the decision.  I was beginning to worry that the boys would be so busy with gymnastics that they might miss out on finding another sport that they would be good and enjoy playing through jr. high and high school.  We do have them in flag football, which they really love.
I also just signed them up for basketball.  They weren't so excited about that, but I want them to play one season and learn the rules so that if they have friends playing basketball at the church they will be able to play along.

 We'll see what else we end up putting them in.  We are thinking about putting everyone (except maybe Ellie) in jiu-jitsu.  The boys love wrestling with each other now and they are really strong, so I think they will like it.  They remember hating it when they were little, so they are afraid to try it again.

 They have learned a lot in gymnastics.  They are very coordinated now (well Michael still falls over his feet sometimes and runs into walls, but he can be coordinated if he is paying attention to what he is doing), and they have great core body strength.  Adam has a 4-pack of muscles and there isn't a gram of fat on their bodies.  I think this will help them in the other sports that they are in.

The nice thing about quitting gymnastics this way is that I am still friendly with the coaches and the staff at their gym.  That's good because we are still up there twice a week with Nate and Ellie going.  Ellie is progressing very well, so we may be there for many more years, Nate will probably be a short-lived thing.