Boy's gymnastics?

[JustJen]

Anyone have boys involved in gymnastics?

Austin went to a birthday party at his Dad's house at a local gym. The people there kept commenting on how naturally good at gymnastics Austin is. They said being little is a positive in gymnastics.
I've heard some negetive things about girl's being involved in gymnastics.
I'd love to hear some input from anyone with boys involved in the sport.

[Suzi]

I don't (obviously) but our Y has gymnastics classes specifically for boys. At Julia's age (3), the boys and girls are in the same class and Julia has 2 boys and 2 girls in her class. The boys love it and do very well!

[Brandi]

My brother and I both took gymnastics classes when I was little. We both loved them.

[Girlo]

I had Alex in a toddler gym class for a few weeks and he LOVED it! This was about a year ago, and he still talks about it. :lol: I take him to open gym sessions when I can and I would love to put him in structured classes in a couple of years. :)

[Dawn]

I've heard some negetive things about girl's being involved in gymnastics.
Obviously I don't have any boys ;) but I was just curious Jen, as to what negative things have you heard about girls being involved in gymnastics?

If it's something he has an interest in trying out, I say go for it. Can't hurt. You can even take him to a free trial class to see how he likes it, etc.

[Shanna]

My brother and I took gymnastics when he was little (I continued through freshman year) and he liked it and had no problems from it. I have back issues and some minor knee issues wihch could be attributed to gymnastics, but more than likely it is from my scoliosis :dunno: The abuse higher-level gymnasts' bodies can take can get fairly severe from the jarring impacts, but if it is something he is good at and would enjoy, as long as he goes to a reputable gym, I see no problems. I'm planning to put Jacob in next year :nod:

[Joan]

Sean was in gymnastics for about a year, when he was in 2nd-3rd grade. He really liked it. He was inspired by *NSYNC :)

[DarcyT]

I think it depends on the child. My oldest daughter was in gymnastics when she was younger and the boys that were involved in it were good for the most part, but there were these two boys in particular who were twins that were total rugrats, lol! The instructor spent waaay too much time calming them down and putting them in time out than she did instructing the rest of the girls. :rolleyes: They absolutely did NOT listen 90% of the time. I guess it was 55 minutes on a Sat morning that his mother could sit in the car on her cell phone and ignore them and have a break. :mad:

[Clare]

Harry did gymnastics when he was 3. He really enjoyed it but I had to stop taking him once Sam was too old to sit in the stroller and was intent on disrupting the class :rolleyes:

Obviously I don't have any boys ;) but I was just curious Jen, as to what negative things have you heard about girls being involved in gymnastics?

.

I think that if Austin wants to do it casually for a bit of fun then go for it. But Harry's instructor was great and very honest with us. She said it's a very hard sport on the kids, both physically and mentally. They have to keep their bodies light, there is an awful lot of discipline involved when it comes to diet and exercise. And she said that some of the instructors are very cruel with the mindgames they play with the kids. Not sure if those are the things that Jen has heard but that's the negative side of it that I've been told about.

[Dawn]

She said it's a very hard port on the kids, both physically and mentally. They have to keep their bodies light, there is an awful lot of discipline involved when it comes to diet and exercise. And she said that some of the instructors are very cruel with the mindgames they play with the kids. Not sure if those are the things that Jen has heard but that's the negative side of it that I've been told about.
Thanks Clare, for pointing out the negative side of what you've been told about. :)

Alexia's instructor, is very, very good and reputable. If there were to even be an instance(es) where cruel mindgames were being played or whatever, I would take her out immediately. I think that is totally uncalled for. We're in it because she likes it and has fun with it. If she ever decides when she gets older that it's something she wants to persue more, I will still keep my eyes opened with anything ever going on like this....and I would hope that Alexia and I have an open enough communication where she would tell me as well.

As for the diet and excercise, I'm not worried....she's such a petite little thing. ;)

That is a shame if such horrible things go on like that though. :disbelief: