to think 8 hrs of gymnastics a week is too much?

[ubik]

DD2 is 6. Each week she does a little gym class which she loves, it's a social thing with her friends and sisters.
We have been approached by one of the coaches asking if she could try out for the city acrobatic gymnastics team. She is very small, light and..um.. bendy.
To do this she would have to commit two hours on monday/weds night and Saturday mornings. It is at a leisure centre which is 20/30 mins drive each way. I have two other children and I work shifts.

She would have to give up dancing/swimming/music lesson (which are all activities she does with her friends and which she enjoys)

DP and I have had serious discussion about this - he feels it is too much and too much commitment, he feels it would be unfair to put her into a team sport if we were unable to take it seriously. He says he is worried it would interfere with school work.

I feel like we are letting her down, but am wondering whether this is more to do with my ego (I would love to see her do acrobatics)than what's good for DD2.

Any experience? Are we letting her down?

No personal experience,but a friends DD was talent spotted at 6 for ice skating.She is exceptionally talented and has been training for the past year.But,there is no ice rink here,so she travels to the next city,her,her sister and mum are up at 5am 3 times a week to get there for early morning training,she leaves school early to get to the rink in time for afternoon training.Her sister has to accompany them and this means she can't do any after school clubs,the cost of training,costumes,skate sharpening,competitions,fuel to get there is eyewatering.My friend has done it because she wants her dd to use her talent and her dd loves it,but because she is tiny,and so young,she is too good too young too quickly and can't take part in squads ect as the other girls of her standard are in their teens,and a 7 year old looks odd doing synchronised skating with much bigger children.

After a year of living out of the car,and working their lives around training,they have decided to call it a day and just stick to 1 lesson of figure skating instead.

I don't think 8 hours of exercise a week is bad.My dds ride and ride every day just about,and have done since they were 6 and 7.They probably ride for 12 hours plus every week.But they both do it so one child isn't hanging around waiting,although it leaves no time for much else.

My ds is a tumbler. He was picked out at 6 to join a club and initially trained for 6 hours a week. He now trains for 9 hours a week and competes regularly.

He is talented but he also enjoys it and as a nice circle of friends. It is intensive but it doesn't get in the way of school. Where he trains is only 15 mins away from home so no lengthy travelling.

He also does cricket as I think it's important to do a team sport.

My dd was also a tumbler. She trained for 9 hours a week. She was successful and won competitions. But she reached 13 and wanted to give up. So she left and now does running instead(harriers). Doing gym does make you really fit and she is 'gifted and talented' at school for PE and excels in all sports she tries.

I was disappointed when she gave up. But I didn't push her. It is a big commitment and if your heart isn't in it you need to know when to stop.

You could always ask the club if she could do 2 x 2 hours a week initially. Which would be plenty for a year or so and she could also still dance/swim.

My son is 8 and in the elite gymnastics squad. He trains 25 hours a week.

He began at 6 hrs, which became 9, then 16 and now 25. We have withdrawn him from PE at school and instead he does his homework.

It is hard work. He is working towards the national elite grades which are in November and so it simply practising routine after routine. Howev, this is the path to the British Championship so, if that's his goal, it's just what he has to do. He copes with the hours and we learn to fit in cello lessons, and swimming lessons. I am a single parent who works full time, and I have another son with ASD. It's a juggling act.

There is the pressure to recognise that if you are offered more hours then they think your child has potential. The more hours you do, the more coaching you get in the gym, the more practice time on the apparatus. It means you can get better.

Gosh Honda, I don't know how you do it. There were some amazing young people there, it was pretty inspiring.
I still don't know what to do.

I think its important to talk to your DD about it to gauge how she feels but you have to paint an honest (if harsh) picture about what it would involve eg. that the level of commitment would involve missing out on other activities and even events like friends parties/sleepovers etc if they clash with competitions etc.

At age 6 though it may be difficult for her to decide.

DD was encouraged by her gym coach to increase her hours, join the comp squad etc when she was about 8 or 9 but she chose not to. I think she realised that she enjoyed it as a recreational activity but didn't want to devote any more of her free time to it and certainly didn't want the pressure of competitions as shes not a 'performer'.

It was the right choice for her and she still does it, once a week 4 years on.