It isn't the place to talk about other athletes in the gym but I do see the other side of this as well. Would you not be frustrated if your child had all the skills necessary for level 3 and then they move up a child who can't throw a back handspring? It isn't elitist to be disappointed that athletes are not on a level appropriate team. It is however immature to take it out on a child when the concerns should be directed to the coaches.
If the gym moved up a child to base level 3 who didn't have level 3 tumble skills as long as they were doing their "job" basing the lack of tumbling wouldn't bother me. One child without the tumbling skills wouldn't affect the scoresheet if the remaining original team members had the necessary tumbling skills.
I honestly don't have a problem with a child who doesn't have all the level appropriate skills as long as they are contributing to the team. If we were apart of a Cheer program that had been around for years I may feel differently. But our gym is only in its 2nd year, a majority of our senior tumblers come from gymnastics and learning stunting for several of these kids has been very difficult. Not to mention the amount of athletes we have lost throughout the season. People not paying their bills, athletes missing practices, injuries/illnesses (parents running their kids in to the Dr. for a sore throat or the slightest pain) or getting butt hurt cause they were replaced in a spot they weren't being successful in. I'm over it. I wish people would just pay their bill, attend every practice, stop running to the Dr. for every sniffle or ache & let the Coach coach. [emoji12]
If the coaches asked someone to cross up due to a need I assume the coaches chose said child because they knew child had the capability to learn the new skills not that he/she would have the skills the first day of practice.
Ok so maybe what I'm thinking is not what you see in your area. No one is leaving our gym to cheer elsewhere there isn't anything for a good 3 hr. Drive. I'm not thinking about a gym having a level 2 going up to a 5. However a level 2 going up to a 3 doesn't seem unreasonable or 4 to a restricted 5. Especially in a small gym that has maybe 50 athletes total to cover 4 teams. When you have varying skill levels it's too hard to build a team with 100% skill appropriate athletes. I guess I just don't get a parent who comes to a brand new program & expects to see a team full of level appropriate athletes when it takes a few years for the program to grow. Some of the biggest complainers are the former gymnast parents.
Gym isolation is the best method of athlete retention [emoji23][emoji23][emoji23]
Exactly! Winning isn't everything. You shouldn't switch gyms unless you have a valid reason.
But to some winning IS everything and no matter what you say to them nothing will change.
