To not understand this gymnastics club?

[Pintere]

DD is 10 and she asked me if she could start at a local gymnastics club. I was thrilled tbh because she isn’t very sporty and keeping her active can be quite a struggle (yet I keep trying!). It isn’t like her to actually want to try something new at all, I usually have to force her hand a bit to get her engaged in anything active so I was super excited when she asked. I think the main reason is because her two best friends go above all else but it didn’t really matter, she was excited and keen to try it out.

I emailed them to explain she’s a beginner so doesn’t have any prior experience. I expected them to put her into the beginner group mentioned on their website but they replied saying that group is for small children so they’d add her to the more advanced group. She was nervous about going into this group with her friends because I think she thought she’d start with the beginners and only join her friends once she’d advanced somewhat and knew a few moves. She tried the taster session anyway which took a lot of confidence and in the end, she really enjoyed it. They said they would email me today with payment details etc so I had no idea when I collected her that there was any issue and DD is very up for continuing.

They emailed me today basically to say the group isn’t suitable for DD because she isn’t advanced enough? Yet she can’t join their beginners group either because she’s too old. I’m a bit perplexed by this because surely she isn’t the only child her age who is keen to try out a new sport. I can’t imagine this happening in many other clubs. It isn’t like when she started Beavers they told her she couldn’t come because she didn’t know any of their skills yet. The whole idea is to learn and progress as you go.

I’m just in a bit of a panic now about how I’m going to tell her without upsetting her and knocking her confidence. AIBU to think their set up is quite ridiculous?

Quite possibly she is the only one they’ve had contact them about an older beginners class. It might be worth emailing back and asking if they run a beginners course for older children in the holidays you’d be interested, but sadly if there’s not enough demand, it won’t run.

Yeah they said in the email they’d add her to a waiting list incase they ever do create a beginners group for older children. I just can’t really understand why they’d let her attend a taster session at all knowing she’s a complete beginner only to let her down afterwards like that?

I don’t really know how I’m going to broach it with her now so it doesn’t knock her confidence.

The thing is, these arent big businesses able to run a range of classes for all abilities with enough skilled coaches.

I think you just need to tell her the taste went well but they are oversubscribed at the moment and then try her on something else

You probably need to look for either a bigger club, or one more geared to beginners or recreational gymnasts. Gymnastics is a funny sport as beginners are rarely 10+, they usually start as little ones, but there might be another club near you that takes more beginners.

I’m worried that if I lie about it being oversubscribed her friends may tell her other new people have joined so she’ll figure the lie out that way. Also worried about her confidence being further knocked when it comes to telling her friends she can’t go. Just think it’s a bit crap of them to let her attend the taster session knowing she was a complete beginner.

Looking now for another beginners group in the area, fingers crossed one comes up!

I just can’t really understand why they’d let her attend a taster session at all knowing she’s a complete beginner only to let her down afterwards like that?

You can start a sport (at any age) and have an aptitude for it. So the taster session was to see what her skill level actually is.

I sympathise Op, friend and I once followed a leaflet to a beginners tap dance class for adults - no one in there was a beginner it was all the Mums of the sons and daughters doing tap dancing classes in the same centre. All seemed to know each other. We were left to stamp and wobble in the corner. Very misleading and disheartening.
I would go with previous suggestions of oversubscribed- are there any other activities DDs friends do?

I am a dance teacher and also manage the studio I work at. The earlier responses are correct. There simply isn’t enough demand to run beginner classes for older children and with a very small profit margin it’s impossible to run undersubscribed classes.
I do think their original email should have been clearer though that she could give the advance class a try but it might not be the best for sue to the children working at a certain level. The thing is though some kids are naturally good at gymnastics (as they can be at dance) in which case it wouldn’t have been an issue.

Just tell her, because you haven't done gymnastics before you need a class for older beginners but that club don't run one. I'm going to find you a beginner class for your age and then when you have more skills you could go back to the first club. Ask the first club what they'd want her to be able to do for the session she trialled for.

I would also go with oversubscribed at the moment and then try to redirect her into something else.

Don't tell her it is oversubscribed. Tell her what @Zola1 posted.

Only because if she finds another sport or activity to try out and the same thing happens, she will quickly realise you are lying.

That’s a great idea, I’ll go with this.

I understand they may not have the demand for older beginners but I just think they shouldn’t let older beginners have a taster session in that case. I explained in the first email she had no prior experience, she genuinely can just about do a forward roll so I was surprised she wanted to try gymnastics!

One of her friends does dance but she has no desire to try that, says she finds it embarrassing. Another friend does football so she did try that last year but hated it unfortunately. It’s a bit of a battle as I say to get her active, she isn’t naturally sporty.

There might be some similar activity clubs that are more welcoming and mixed ages? Juggling/circus skills clubs often have people doing acrobatics and lots of balancing things like tightrope and unicycling. If you have something like that nearby maybe her gymnastics friends would want to come along and show off their skills and they could all learn some new ones together. Or breakdance or capoeira might also hit the same spot?

The childrens beginners group could easily be from 4yrs though. Theres a big social gap and difference in ability to concentrate between that age and your 10 year old.
And if the correct age group are way more advanced then it would be an accident waiting to happen for your dc to try the same skills.
Lots of dc drop out of gymnastics before theyre 12, so theres less demand for beginners classes from age 9 or 10, but often a waiting list for 4 year olds. And, fundamentally theyre a business so...

Could you try other gyms, or something similar like Allstar dance, acro dance, trampolining?

This is the problem with gym. My daughter is really talented but you then get fast tracked for a billion hours a week. There's no just having fun 🙄.

Our local council are running beginner gymnastics aimed at older kids. Might be worth starting with council run facilities

It may just be a case of gymnastics not being for her then ultimately. It’s just sad because getting her engaged with anything sporty is difficult and she seemed to really enjoy herself last night. I’ll keep digging to find either a beginners class for her age or something similar like trampolining. Struggling to find one, guessing it is just something most children start very young.

10 is pretty old to start gymnastics, it is understandable that they can’t put her in a group but they should have told you from the start. They probably didn’t understand just how much of a beginner she is. She needs to try a different sport instead.

Most clubs r competitive so the older age groups will be advanced, u need to look for a for fun group, with her age it would be hard to find one as most start at age 3.
Often parents have no idea of their child’s level so that’s y they would have let her have a try out.
Good luck in finding something suitable.

Are any of her friend likely to be looking for a new hobby , something they could start together so both beginners? Lot's of girls start rugby and basketball where we are around that age.

Definitely try trampolining- it’s not at all unusual to not start until early teens!!!

Lots of not terribly sporty girls

Sorry - message posted too soon. How about martial arts or boxing?

Tag rugby or any of the martial arts worth a try also do they do swim fit for kids if she likes swimming? Like a coached session but not at club level.

How about a cheerleading group?