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?

Ice skating is a great sport for beginners.

There are children and adult group classes, with a full range of ages/abilities. Someone of 10 will quickly pass the first few figure skating grades and be with plenty in her age group.

There's also the option to have private lessons to get better quickly. It's a fun sport to do with friends and lots of other children to meet/make friends with at the rink. And you can go to public sessions to have fun with mates/practise.

Some great alternatives here, thank you. I found a different beginners group in the area, not sure if they’re also for younger children or not but I’ve asked them so will see what they say. Will ask her about the other things mentioned. I know she enjoys trampolining so will see if there’s a group in the area and ask if she wants to try if so.

She hated football so I think something like rugby may be off the cards! She’s starting high school in September anyway and I know they have lots of after school sports clubs so maybe she’ll find one she enjoys then. Thanks again for your advice, it’s really helped.

If she likes gymnastics and her friends go is it worth asking the class what she needs to be able to do and getting her to practice at home/try another taster when she can do cartwheels/forward rolls/bridge/handstand/whatever they want her to do. My daughter was surprisingly motivated by her friends doing it and they were very sweetly coaching her at school in the playground before she started her classes.

that way you don’t have to lie but gives her some motivation to practice and you could try with other sports like dance/strength training/climbing as a Segway into gymnastics?

Maybe enquire abuut trampoline classes for her?

Not sure its fair to say all gymnastics clubs are competitive with crazy hours.
Most have recreation classes, a lot also have "floor and vault" teams - because theyre not practising beam or bars, its usually 2 sessions a week, so 5 hours maximum for pre-teens rather than for tiny tots...but they still get to compete a few times a year.
Others are council run classes, or volunteer run clubs, or only have in-house competitions - something like that might be better for op, theyre typically still pretty ambitious about what the dc can learn to do, but way more relaxed and fun.

Myself and my son are not sporty and do aerial hoop. It’s great fun and more likely to have ‘beginners’ as it’s not a common sport.

I have asked them the question so hopefully they give a few tips on things she can practise at home in order to join.

She isn’t keen on dance and we have been climbing a few times at the local gym but again, she didn’t enjoy it. As I said, finding something she does enjoy sports wise has proven difficult over the years hence by excitement when she asked to do something!

Yeah I figured there must be a way for older children and even adults to start as a beginner as with any other sport unless it really is an exclusive elitist sport which I doubt!

DTs started gymnastics late, at 8. They were too old for the real beginner classes and they felt they werent good enough for the older rec classess and didnt want to be in with a load of toddlers. They sacked it off pretty quickly and instead found horses. expensive mistake on my part

Cheer is really popular here now, that might be a much better fit age wise.

Trampoline, parkour, Acro, yoga/pilates, cheerleading, contemporary dance (VERY different to tap/street dance/ballet) might all suit.

I think that’s completely unfair. It doesn’t work like that at my daughters club. It’s on ability so each class has little to older ones and then their split to go into their teachers depending on their ages that way. I don’t see why she can’t join the younger on and learn the basics she’ll be up to her friends level in no time: is there any other gymnastics club she can try?

My daughter started gymnastics at 10 years old and there was only the 10+ group which has up to 16 year olds in it.
Luckily she’s quite natural and all the hours of practice at lunchtime and in the garden paid off or she wouldn’t have been offered a place either.
Trampolining is a fantastic alternative as she can just do that for fun x

Round here you could definitely start learning to roller skate at 10, and they have quite a lot of acrobatics going on (and doesn't require an ice rink which means there may be a few more clubs). I think that or trampolining are likely to be the best options, unless you can find a recreational gym class (it does seem to be Uber competitive).

You are never too old to take up horse riding if she’s that way inclined .

Cheer is a very good option for older beginners and they can get stuck doing the stunts whilst they learn how to tumble

I think another gym club or similar activity might be happy to take her. Sometimes they will split the difference and start older beginners one class down from their age group. They often learn much faster than littlest and can go up (or she could move to the different club with her friends) in a term or two.

Unfortunately girls' participation in sports drops off a cliff in Y6 and it's much harder to find recreational level classes after that

Hello, sorry I haven't read all of the comments but thought mention just Incase it helps. My daughter gymnastics place and some others round here do 'gym fun days' in the holidays 9-3. They are for beginners or existing members and they split them into levels in the sessions. My daughter got so much out of it and is going back to it next half term. Just an idea to build those skills up then she could start the class later in the year

Have you looked at cheerleading OP? Might be a little more relaxed and she might be more able to develop skills at her own pace

Our local high school does trampolining clubs as they have the equipment and high ceiling in halls, might be worth a try? 🥰

What about climbing? My DD isn't particularly sporty but loves climbing

I am going to be brutal- unless she has natural ability which seems unlikely as they haven’t let her join the older group, at age ten she is really too old. Once they hit puberty their bodies lose the flexibility etc.
I have two daughters- one who did 18 hours a week and was just a natural gymnast build, and one who did a couple of hours recreational before giving up as she just isn’t the build for it, and having been at two clubs, most really are only interested in the girls who can be high performers as they get older. But very few continue beyond 14.
I would encourage her to try something else.

Gymnastics is a sport you tend to do when your younger tbh at 10 I could say it's been started too late. You could look around but I think the younger the better when it comes to dance related activities.

Hi, my daughter is now 16 but not sporty at all. We tried lots of things but ended up with drama and now golf.
There’s loads of Girls Golf initiatives going on at the minute and 10 is the ideal time to start something like that- my daughter is a bit late to it as a junior but can play with the lovely ladies! It’s a sport but quite different. There’s often summer sessions running at clubs that a friend could go with, they provide everything too!

Good luck, it’s really tricky!

netball? A team sport could be a great idea

You just have to be honest about this. Most people start gymnastics from preschool or primary latest. There just isn’t any demand for older children or adult beginner classes. I have told my children before about this hoping they understood if they give up an opportunity now, it’s sometimes hard to rejoin. A recent example I have is orchestras and string/wind bands. All the adult groups are very advanced and the only groups that suit beginner or intermediate players are children groups. You won’t easily find an orchestra to join at grade 1 or 2. Similar to swimming for adults. I can swim ok and I want to join a stage 5+ class to improve my strokes and learn butterfly. But all the adult group classes I can find are for people who can’t swim, not someone who had done classes and managed 30min of lengths already.