Subject: my mom says i am to old to start gymnastics again!

Sex: female
Age: 11
Gymnastics Level: 3

My mom says i am to old to start gymnastics again and i used to be in leap! is she right?

So all you want me to do is tell you your mom is wrong. Thanks a lot – lol. No matter what you and I talk about, you are going to need to sit down and have a serious talk with your mom about gymnastics. There are many things in life that affect a family’s decision about taking part in gymnastics, that maybe you don’t know right now and that I certainly don’t know about.

Another thing that your mom may be thinking about is the reason you stopped doing gymnastics. You didn’t say anything about that, but you may have to convince her that you really want to do gymnastics and are not just going to start and then stop again.

You and I both know that you definitely must have some talent if you were in Canada’s L.E.A.P. program. The program is for excellent gymnasts, so you must be good.

So back to your question about being too old for gymnastics. Let’s talk about high level gymnastics first. You have about five years until the 2016 Olympics at which time you would be 16, just old enough to compete internationally. Five years is a lot of training time and while it appears you have lost some training time and would have to get back in shape and get your skills back, for a talented gymnast, that is certainly possible and has been done before. You would have two more years after that to compete internationally, if you made it that far.

The next level of gymnastics to consider is the level needed to get a gymnastics college scholarship. There are many Canadian gymnasts who are getting gymnastics scholarships in the United States and more available in Canada. You have 7 years to prepare to win a gymnastics college scholarship. That is something your mom might be interested in and might convince her that it might be a good idea for you to get back in the sport.

You also have 7 years, before you go to college (hopefully) to win at the Provincial and National levels in Canada. That is certainly plenty of time to do that.

So I do agree that you are not too old to start back into gymnastics again and have a good chance to be successful if you do get back in.

But you still need to talk to your mom and convince her you are serious about this and also be open to other reasons that she may have as to why it is not an option or something that your family just can’t do. You need to be ready to understand when your mom has to make decisions and trust that she is doing the best thing she can for you and your family.

Good luck and feel free to talk to me again if you have any more questions. Tell your mom not to be mad at me – lol.

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