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Abstract

point, they placed her on the team. She was my oldest at the time of five children, but I had help getting her to practice, so that made things very manageable.</p><p id="b529">For the next three years, she went from height to height, rising to the top of everything she did. She was able to skip several levels and within three years advanced to level 7 (of 10).</p><p id="6f3a">She gained many valuable skills as a gymnast. What I feel the sport is good about helping with:</p><ul><li>Goal setting</li><li>Coordination and flexibility</li><li>Strength and conditioning</li><li>Social skills and sportsmanship</li><li>Discipline and listening skills</li></ul><p id="8d95">Great, she had all of these exceptional skills, and my daughter was thriving, but I was not. She was now my oldest of seven, and the costs were piling up. The time commitment was intense. At nine years old, she was spending 24 hours a week in the gym practicing, and that didn’t include private lessons.</p><p id="7bc8">Two days in a row, she saw teammates get serious injuries where the ambulance had to come and take them away. One girl broke both arms in a tumbling pass, and another injured her back in a fall from the bars.</p><h1 id="a3c5">Second thoughts</h1><p id="6c54">I was spending several hundred dollars a month on tuition alone but then added in the costs of leotards, private lessons, gymnastics meets, travel and accommodations, coaches fees, and the prices quickly added up. We now were locked in a sport with a massive time commitment and a considerable financial drain.</p><figure id="2f06"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:800/1*vx398m830YzTiZLT0GF5XQ.jpeg"><figcaption>Photo by <a href="https://unsplash.com/@sharonmccutcheon?utm_source=unsplash&u

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tm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText">Sharon McCutcheon</a> on <a href="https://unsplash.com/s/photos/money-leaving?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText">Unsplash</a></figcaption></figure><p id="e6e7">Then my husband’s job moved us to a new state, and we had to look for a new gym. The quality just was not there, and my daughter, who had never even had a bad fall, started getting back pain.</p><p id="e1f1">I took her to the doctor, and she had an MRI. Thankfully she had no noticeable injury, yet, but they recommended her to go to the chiropractor regularly.</p><p id="a2e8">All of this intervention, on a little ten-year-old body, for a sport. We looked at other gyms, but I would see older girls with their arms and legs taped up, and scars from knee surgeries. The day before we tried this gym, one of the coach’s daughters had fallen from the bars and broken her back.</p><h1 id="02b9">I had seen enough</h1><p id="28c5">That was enough for me. As exciting as it was to see her shine in the spotlight, I didn’t want my daughter to graduate to adulthood with a broken body. I was excited about her accomplishments, and she learned very many valuable skills, but I could no longer justify the sacrifice of life growing up in the gym. I wanted her to have a real childhood with rest, freedom to play and be spontaneous, and try new things.</p><p id="4eab">She has used the skills that she gained to make her good at all other sports she has tried. It gave her a great foundation, but I have no regrets about us walking away. We learned through this time to be careful when new opportunities presented themselves. In youth sports, these little activities can very soon completely overrun your life.</p></article></body>

What It’s Like Having a Child in Competitive Gymnastics

And why we chose to walk away

Before my daughter was even born, she was doing summersaults in my belly. I remember my mother-in-law, feeling her movement and being shocked, saying, “wow, she is rambunctious!” Yes, she was in utero and even busier once she started to gain mobility as a toddler and young child.

I could always find her on top of the refrigerator, closet, playground equipment, and then trees. She was adventurous and brave and very competitive.

It was no surprise then when I took her to try out for a gymnastics class at the age of 5; they wanted to fast track her to get her ready to compete. She was a natural.

However, after speaking to an older and wiser mother, I was advised against it. She said, be careful, or it will take up all of your money and time. Later on, I seemed to have forgotten that.

We gave it a try

It was the Fall of 2012, and we had just spent our summer watching all the fanfare of the summer Olympics. Our favorite sport to watch like most other people was gymnastics.

We were inspired once again to try it out, and this time, being old enough to compete was put on pre-team. At this point, they placed her on the team. She was my oldest at the time of five children, but I had help getting her to practice, so that made things very manageable.

For the next three years, she went from height to height, rising to the top of everything she did. She was able to skip several levels and within three years advanced to level 7 (of 10).

She gained many valuable skills as a gymnast. What I feel the sport is good about helping with:

Goal setting
Coordination and flexibility
Strength and conditioning
Social skills and sportsmanship
Discipline and listening skills

Great, she had all of these exceptional skills, and my daughter was thriving, but I was not. She was now my oldest of seven, and the costs were piling up. The time commitment was intense. At nine years old, she was spending 24 hours a week in the gym practicing, and that didn’t include private lessons.

Two days in a row, she saw teammates get serious injuries where the ambulance had to come and take them away. One girl broke both arms in a tumbling pass, and another injured her back in a fall from the bars.

Second thoughts

I was spending several hundred dollars a month on tuition alone but then added in the costs of leotards, private lessons, gymnastics meets, travel and accommodations, coaches fees, and the prices quickly added up. We now were locked in a sport with a massive time commitment and a considerable financial drain.

Then my husband’s job moved us to a new state, and we had to look for a new gym. The quality just was not there, and my daughter, who had never even had a bad fall, started getting back pain.

I took her to the doctor, and she had an MRI. Thankfully she had no noticeable injury, yet, but they recommended her to go to the chiropractor regularly.

All of this intervention, on a little ten-year-old body, for a sport. We looked at other gyms, but I would see older girls with their arms and legs taped up, and scars from knee surgeries. The day before we tried this gym, one of the coach’s daughters had fallen from the bars and broken her back.

I had seen enough

That was enough for me. As exciting as it was to see her shine in the spotlight, I didn’t want my daughter to graduate to adulthood with a broken body. I was excited about her accomplishments, and she learned very many valuable skills, but I could no longer justify the sacrifice of life growing up in the gym. I wanted her to have a real childhood with rest, freedom to play and be spontaneous, and try new things.

She has used the skills that she gained to make her good at all other sports she has tried. It gave her a great foundation, but I have no regrets about us walking away. We learned through this time to be careful when new opportunities presented themselves. In youth sports, these little activities can very soon completely overrun your life.