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?

I’m in possession of two not very sporty dc, so I sympathise with trying to get them to do something active. There have already been lots of good suggestions of sports that you can start as an older child and do recreationally. I’ll add some that my dc enjoy - badminton, table tennis, fencing. Their clubs were very welcoming and not intense like gymnastics can be.

This unfortunately is our experience too. We are in the enviable position of having two very well equipped local gym clubs, which receive some community funding. But their aims aren't community based. It is all about supporting and promoting the elite squad. DD moved to gymnastics as she was trampoliner, but when we moved here there was no trampolining club. She quit gym after a year of trying really hard with no support, she didnt want to be elite, just loved the sport and wanted to improve at her own pace.

I would absolutely recommend trampolining or climbing.

it’s really annoying isn’t it? Same happens with football. If you don’t start really young it’s very hard to get into clubs later. My friends son and the same issue / they put him in with kids who were his age but had been playing for years, so of course it didn’t work.

people saying there’s no demand - there is, because people do want to start these things at a later age but there are few classes. I understand that the trainers will find it more profitable to run fuller classes. But it’s sad that people are excluded from things if their parents didnt send them aged 5

I was going to suggest aerial arts, I do hoop and love it

Have you considered parkour? Look online for classes locally. DD also came up against the age problem with gymnastics, but discovered parkour and now coaches and competes internationally. Unlike gymnastics, it's quite a male-dominated sport which means there are plenty of opportunities for female athletes to progress or just enjoy the sport as a hobby.