Daughters in gymnastics or other high committment competitive sports

DD has a 6 to 7 hour skate schedule a week. We are talking ice skating, the one that spends your paychecks and the husband better make some nice dough to help keep up with the bills. She also has 3 hours of dance on Friday. Plus she is now getting back into syncronized ice skating. So, between her individual free skating and her syncro, what would you like to know? Gymnastics is not as expensive as ice skating is. Hockey and soccer are next in line.

As for competitions? She could compete every weekend if she wanted to, but we don't. She competes at least 3 to 4 times a year. I am not sure if her new free skate will be ready for the competition next month, but we sure are hoping it will. Syncro competitions are based on what the coach wants to do. Individual skating competitions are based on whether or not we want to go or not and will advance her skating career. Good luck and email me whenever.

I have a 12 yr old ds who is also an ice skater. Right now he does 5 sessions a week and works with 2 coaches on each session. He is not competing yet because we're looking for a dance partner. In the meantime, we're running through the tests in dance and moves. He has a great deal of natural talent and less so on the work ethic. He also works with Alissa Czisny on spins. We started that his winter because I knew he'd do anything she asked him to do. He just melts when he sees her! Nothing like a beautiful women to motivate a hormonal boy!

My dh and I also ice skate. We both only take one lesson a week so we have the money to get more coaching for ds. It really is an expensive sport. Our monthly skating bill is equal to our house payment on our last home.

I would love our DD to meet Alissa Czisny. I didn't know she was out of Detroit. Wow. Maybe I did. Yes, I agree, one house payment a month is about what we pay as well. Ann Arbor is sending a dance team to the Olympics this week. I think they leave Thursday. I am so excited for them. Our DD has Olympic fever and is pushing her two coaches even harder and yes, her axel is giving her hell but I never thought I would see her flying camel this soon. I would love to hook her up with a dance partner but right now her one coach is a dance coach and an ice dancer and he says her timing is so off. But she is getting it. I told him I'd like her to pass Preliminary dance in August. I want to see some dance under her belt. DD takes an ice dance class once a week. Sigh. Olympic fever is in the air. As for work ethic? LOL We are so there. Good luck.

Quoting PinkLight:

I have a 12 yr old ds who is also an ice skater. Right now he does 5 sessions a week and works with 2 coaches on each session. He is not competing yet because we're looking for a dance partner. In the meantime, we're running through the tests in dance and moves. He has a great deal of natural talent and less so on the work ethic. He also works with Alissa Czisny on spins. We started that his winter because I knew he'd do anything she asked him to do. He just melts when he sees her! Nothing like a beautiful women to motivate a hormonal boy!

My dh and I also ice skate. We both only take one lesson a week so we have the money to get more coaching for ds. It really is an expensive sport. Our monthly skating bill is equal to our house payment on our last home.

Curtis is working on his European Waltz and will be ready to test it soon--it's a pre-silver. He passed his 14 step last month with flying colors and I was so proud. I know what you mean about olympic fever since we also have Jeremy Abbott and Chalie White who represent DSC. It's an exciting place to be and I love watching the higher level dance teams especially. Curtis is doing a short solo with a little girl as part of the larger dance number this year. It's not a long term thing but will be good experience.

It's great that your dd has her flying camel spin--that's a difficult move. Let me know if you ever make it over our way. We have so many little girls in the 8 to 12 age group who are very talented. You probably see some of them at competitions. I just wish one of them wanted to do dance seriously.

We will be at the Onyx in Macomb March 20 for the Basic Skills if you want to meet up there. She has her compulsory in the morning and not sure what time for her free skate. Her free skate is to Cabarate. The dress she is going to wear is from her Lyrical dance class. She has two coaches and one cannot make it so the other is going to do both. By the way, Jeremy Abbot just created a new Zuca Bag. It is called when Pigs Fly. We needed a new bag and Rainbo Sports had advertised it. We pick it up on Friday. I was told this has his sig on it. Long story on how this came about. Congrats on your son. Keep up the great work. By the way, I thought Curtis was out of Artic. Unless it is Davis. So much fun to watch the dancers.

Quoting PinkLight:

Curtis is working on his European Waltz and will be ready to test it soon--it's a pre-silver. He passed his 14 step last month with flying colors and I was so proud. I know what you mean about olympic fever since we also have Jeremy Abbott and Chalie White who represent DSC. It's an exciting place to be and I love watching the higher level dance teams especially. Curtis is doing a short solo with a little girl as part of the larger dance number this year. It's not a long term thing but will be good experience.

It's great that your dd has her flying camel spin--that's a difficult move. Let me know if you ever make it over our way. We have so many little girls in the 8 to 12 age group who are very talented. You probably see some of them at competitions. I just wish one of them wanted to do dance seriously.

My daughter does soccer 4 days a week, games in our town on Friday, and then, she spends the week in another state

Jill

When we get close to the 20th and you have a time, let me know. Maybe we'll meet you there. That would be fun. I'll have to check out Jeremy's bag.

My oldest daughter who is almost 17 did gymnastics for many years. She doesn't do it anymore though because it became too much for her to juggle with school. She was on the competitive team so she would have practice 5 nights a week for 3 hours each night. Our gym was a 45 minute drive, so it really took a lot of time out of our day to go back and forth. During meet season she would have a meet (mandatory if you are on the team, you couldn't choose to go or not) about twice a month.

Gymnastics IS an expensive sport, I don't know how it compares to skating personally though.

At the time my daughter loved it. She still does but just can't keep up with everything with that kind of schedule. She was getting to the level where we would go to meets and compete against girls that had to turn to homeschooling because they couldn't fit gymnastics into a normal schedule. These girls trained about 6 hrs a day...an they were young teenagers! Which is fine, if your CHILD loves it and you can make it work. We just couldn't.

Let me know if you have any specific questions/concerns I can answer for you :)

I am guessing it is a discipline thing. Because the team that made it to the Olympics go to the Uof M. That is a hard school. I have seen children do homework and compete. So I guess it is all what you find you can and cannot do. Ours is in 7th grade and will enter 8th grade with Geometry as her elective next year. She says she is going to Nationals. I guess I am not sure how they do it either. Alissa Ciszney is a straight A student or is it Racheal? I get them confused. So who knows. Glad to hear yours made the right decision for her.

Alissa has already completed her bachelor's degree and Rachel is the AP student who gets A's. Many skaters are our rink are homeschooled and I have considered it, not because of skating, but because I think it's the only was my ds will get the education he needs. He has learning issues and even though we're in an upscale district, they have done very poorley at meeting his needs.

For the mom that was wondering about how skating compares financially, my ds ice time is from $200 to $250 a month and coaching is another $600 to $700 a month. I know that we spend a lot less than many parents whose kids do 3 and 4 sessions a day.