10 year old elite gymnast.

[pookibum]

Hello everyone,

I am new to this forum but searched it out in order to maybe get some support or advice for my daughter. She has been doing gym for 8 years now and at an elite level for 5 years. She has just started to go through an awful time of it after a change of coach and is not coping well with the put downs, anger and lack of support. I really don't know how to help her through this and I would hate for her to throw her dream away under this circumstance. At state championships last year she got the highest score out of all the institutes gymnasts and now that she is struggling a little, they seem to have started focussing on a couple of others and left my daughter feeling like she is worthless. Has anyone else been through this? Do you have any advice for me or my daughter? I just want to rip her out of there and never look back, but I know that's not what she would want, so I am in a very hard place. Please help!

Juanita

[Valentin]

Hi

This is a hard issue to address without really being familiar with the situation. However, from what you say, it seems to me you only have a few options
1- You talk with the coach, and address the issue that your daughter is feeling cast aside (for a lack of better wording). If you personally watch your daughter training, and you have also noticed this, you should point out that this is obvious to you as well. I recommend you talk to your daughter about this before you talk to the coach
2- You look for a different gym that has Elite, or at least a realllly good levels program so that your daughter keeps up her level. Hopefully the coaching is also of equal quality
3- You could talk to the owner, but since this coach is new, i don't think you will have much luck getting any results. BUT then again if the owner is reasonable, and they do care, they will look into it.

You should talk to the other parents of the girls your daughter trains with that you may have noticed are being pushed aside as well, and see if they feel the same way.

Hope that helps

[pookibum]

Thank you for your reply. Some other gymnasts are in the same boat especially in terms of put downs etc. We are not allowed to watch our kids train anymore and if we stay for a few minutes when training starts we get dirty looks from the coaches and they make comments to us as they walk past. Unfortunately it is a government run facility (Institute of Sport) in Australia, so the only step from here is down and with a daughter desperate to vie for Olympic selection, it makes it very difficult. I have spoken to the coach and the head coach and feel like my only other option would be to take it to the head of the states program but have fears in doing that also.

[metermaid212]

why not try to find a private coach, or is that not going to happen?