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?

Contact British gymnastics and ask if there are any local clubs that participate in gymfusion or gymnastics for all. Our club has age related recreational classes including for those of secondary school age so they do exist!

I’d make them explain it to her.

you don’t want to sugar coat it too much.

the club is being silly. I’m from a small town, you were just put in with your age range (ie grade 1-3,4-6,7-9,10-12) and if you didn’t have the advanced skill they would just have you practice one of the building blocks.

that being said, it was a small club, no Olympic hopefuls or crazy tumbling.

id tell it to her straight. Including your frustrations, and then go together to confront them.

I'd suggest trampolining - its a shame she'll not be able to join her friends, but (a) it is very fun, (b) it is gymnastics, just with added bounce and (c) you can generally begin at any age....even 40 in my case. It may also be a good way to learn some more basic gymnastics - I think the kids classes at my trampolining class also use the mats for forward rolls, cartwheels etc, so it might be a less pressured way of picking up those skills and maybe helping her get into the gymnastics class?

If the club is one that focuses on competitions then they won't have call for a beginner's class for older kids, they will have wanted to just see if maybe she had a natural aptitude they could use.

It's disingenuous to compare it to Beavers since that is aimed at a specific age range anyway and Scouting and Guiding both have an ethos of encouraging all abilities and teaching the skills.

From the gymnastics club point of view: they will have accepted your daughter to come try a se

The club will have allowed her to try out on the chance that she is a natural gymnastic. Some children are naturally flexible and just have a flair for these kinds of sports, whilst for others they need to be starting at 3 years old and train for years to reach a decent level. Although it's harsh , this is the nature of competitive sport and starting at 10 years old (for most children) just isn't going to work.

The club should maybe have been very clear in terms of their expectations for continuing should she attend a trial. As far as telling your daughter , be kind and gentle and try and find another fun club where she could build her skills base before returning back to the club with her friends. I know it's tough, it really is and a big shame if she is enthusiastic about going !

Some of the clubs my son does where children/adults are welcomed at all ages and can be complete beginners are martial arts, rugby (especially girls!) and cross-country skiing (appreciate I'm in north Scotland for some occasional winter snow but they use roller-skis most of the year and there are clubs around the UK who do it)

Rugby is very inclusive. Every child gets to play, develop and enjoy. I have a 12 and 14yo that Have a great time. It really supports the kids enjoying other sports. It doesn't cost ££££ and there's not a crazy amount of expectation. Most of all, it's fun.

It’s interesting as my kids both did gymnastics for a while. Both older. They were on a beginners group that definitely was full of much younger children. Even the advanced group were all younger. It was clear you need to start young. My dd2 is autistic and doesn’t like to quit things but she wasn’t really progressing. Thankfully Covid hit and all classes were cancelled and she got out of the routine of going and found something else before gym opened up again. Youngest did it and quit twice. She was much better at it but struggles to take to something long term. It was the same at the dancing they went to as well. They were in a beginner group with kids 5/6 years younger. They never seemed bothered by this though at either and neither had any policy to say they couldn’t join.

That's such a shame. I would either say it was oversubscribed, or try to think of another way to describe it. There are a few clubs around here and some are more serious than others my DS does one that's for 7-11 yr olds following the rise gymnastics programme it's for fun and fitness and they get little medals now and then - only joined at 9.

Even the bigger clubs have a recreational class and a competition class so might be worth looking around.

Would you really do this? I mean really? What on earth good could come from it.

Off topic...but just wanted to say that I've taken up gymnastics as an adult (luckily there is a club near me which offers classes to adults at any level, including complete novices). It's bloody brilliant and I'd recommend it to anyone. So it's never too late (even if many clubs aren't great at offering beginners classes to teens)!

Most children who want to do gymnastics start at about 4 or 5. She would not feel comfortable in the beginner class. What about an instrument? You can begin an instrument at any age. My son only started with the electric guitar at 14. Also what about karate? They take beginners of any age and as they get better they do grading and gain coloured belts.

It should have probably been made more clear that the taster session was for them to see if they could accommodate your daughter as much as for her to see if she enjoyed it.

There is a new Rise Explore programme available through British Gymnastics which is purely recreational and focusses on building confidence and skills for anyone regardless of ability.

However, most clubs offer the NDP (National Development Plan) pathway and their recreational classes are based on that. Larger clubs do cater for children who just want to do recreational gymnastics and have children starting late but the children starting late often come from dance or other sports which have enabled them to build up some strength, flexibility, and balance so they pick things up very quickly. For instance, most starting late can already cartwheel, do a handstand, a headstand, and a bridge albeit without much precision. They’re often quite springy too so find the vault easy to pickup.

I echo others and suggest Cheer or trampolining. Trampolining also offer the NDP pathway but as another poster said it’s structured in a way that older children can start later. Cheer is definitely not all dancing with pom-poms - in fact Pom is a separate discipline in it. Cheer mostly focusses on stunts, tumbling and jumps.

@Pintere

Look for a Trampoline club, they usually accept older children at beginner levels.
My child started gymnastics at 6 but stopped at 8. She wasn’t doing well. Then she started with Trampoline at 10.
She isn’t sporty at all either and needs lot of encouragement.

Other alternative - ice skating or skating or ski centers

I did this through joining a triathlon club. It wasn't lessons but coached sessions which were based on ability. I went from being more or less competent at front crawl and back stroke to having great form in all four strokes and getting quite fast. I'm no longer in the club, family life took over, but it was one of the best things I've done. I know some swimming clubs have similar approaches, though some are a bit more elite than that.

I think it’s best to look for beginners recreational lessons or maybe a private tutor to advance your daughter. My daughter started at 2 and she’s 13 now and been to 3 clubs in total and I don’t think they’ve ever had beginner classes for older children.

It’s hard to encourage regular exercise for children who are not naturally ‘sporty’ or interested in organised sport. Have you thought about hobbies or activities that coincidentally incur being outdoors and walking. My local council calls the ‘stealth’ activities e.g. bushcraft, photography (but you have to walk to places of interest to photgraph), bird watching, environmental activities, cycle rides etc

My GD (7) joined a group recently as a complete beginner. She was older than most of the others but is athletic and has been promoted to higher groups a couple of times. It does seem pretty odd that an older child can't join a beginners group, but perhaps they are over-subscribed and just don't have the teachers for another, older, beginners group.

There is a big safety dimension to gymnastics which isnt present in many (most) activities.For both gymnasts and coaches.My10 year old recs who have been coming a year or so would be learning handsprings and back handsprings. Whilsy i dont mind a bit of light support/spotting them on track ,there is no way i will be lifting a ten year who is a dead weight through that many times!

Could you get some mats and basic equipment and follow YouTube tutorials at home? Or even get her friends to show/help her with her some bits?

Was in a similar place with my daughter she did want to do gymnastics while younger but was on a waiting list for 18mths maybe even 2 yesrs she did karate. Later on wanted to try gymnastics again but was too told to start so she does trampolining. She loves it too. Would your daughter be interested in try trampolining ?

DD We are going to practise at home for a few months so your ready to start in September along with the new school year.. We have the summer to get you ready!
YouTube and maybe £40 on equipment you can do it together at home. It will build her confidence and something you do together

What about netball? 10 is a great age to start. It's a team sport and clubs usually have a good spread of age groups and ability. My DD used to do dance and gymnastics and gave it up for netball. Loves it. And the good thing is there are clubs right up through to adults.

Gymnastics is pretty brutal tbf! Sad as it is, 10 probably is a little old to join in with mates who've been attending for longer.
A really fun alternative could be aerial arts? I have 2 DDs who do this. One who's done gymnastics from a young age. One who quit gym coz she disliked the warm ups and how regimented it was! Both really love dangling about and doing cool tricks on the silks and hoop. It seems way more relaxed than gymnastics and I think you see a progression a bit sooner, which is nice for confidence building. DD2 is nowhere near as bendy as DD1, but she is at a similar level - they started same time