Welcome to Boys Team

Welcome to the GW Boys Competitive Team Program

CONGRATULATIONS! Your child has made the team! The next few months for your athlete will be filled with hours of hard work, learning new skills and putting them into routines. You will make what will feel like a million trips to the gym while you listen intently to your gymnast attempt to explain kips, flips, circles and springs. You will order a uniform, fill out forms, and, before you know it, you may even be heading off to your first meet of the year. Sometime between now and then the panic hits, the number of questions multiplies and you find yourself saying, “What have we gotten ourselves in to?”

It is impossible for us to answer every question that you might have but we have taken a sincere swing at answering the most common ones that come our way in the hopes that we clear away most of the fog and allow you to enjoy your child’s first meet and season while you learn the ropes.

What is Competitive Gymnastics

The Men’s Junior Olympic Age Group Competition Program provides training and competitive opportunities for beginner to elite gymnasts from ages 5 to 18.

The Junior Olympic Program is organized into 10 different levels of training or competition. Each level has multiple age groups and opportunities for participation and competition. Competition is carried out at the local, state, regional and national levels through USA Gymnastics sanctioned invitational meets and championship level meets.

You have shown the desire and have been selected to train in one of our groups dedicated to achieving competitive gymnastics.

Pre – Team in-house competition

Compulsory set routines for competition up to Regional level

Optional individual routines for up to National level

What is the Commitment

PRE-Team 4 hour a week commitment.

Tuesdays 4pm to 6pm and Saturdays from 12.30pm to 2.30pm

Level 4 Your commitment is 6 hours.

Tuesday and Thursdays from 4 to 7pm

Level 4 A commitment of 9 hours a week.

Advanced Tuesdays and Thursdays 4 to7pm, Saturday 12 to 3pm

Team Basics

We are going to do it!!! How do we get started? Your 1 and only stop is to visit our office to speak with one of the staff. There you will need to:

Verbally confirm your child will be a member of the GW Team and which group they will be training with.
Sign up to reserve your spot, we have limited spaces available.
Confirm we have your correct email and phone numbers for Team.
Pay any Team Fees due.
A secondary account will be created for you for competition purposes. These accounts are managed by the Team Accounts Manager who will contact you directly

Understanding all these fees! As a member of team, the fees you pay to the gym are divided into 2 categories, Training Tuition and Team Fees. Training Tuition is the monthly amount paid for your child’s practice time. Team Fees, which includes your Competition Fees, covers your costs of membership, competitions and other expenses related to competition.

Team Uniforms:. Warm ups, team bags and complete uniforms are required for all levels. These may be purchased new or used from other team members.

Training Schedules: Training schedules are designed to ensure an optimal training environment for participants. Careful consideration goes into the grouping of our athletes, selection of our coaches, training times and training days. While we will make every attempt to work with you to find that perfect balance in your lives between gymnastics, family and other activities, we also need to make sure that practices are safe, fun and productive for all.

Ways you can help: Please report all daily absences to the office as soon as possible so that we can adjust staffing appropriately.

If you are planning a vacation include us too! No, we don’t expect to come along but as soon as you know your plans please share them with us.
If your child has a short or long term schedule conflict that you would like us to consider as special circumstances for a training schedule change please let the Team Director know as soon as possible.

Summer Training: We all recognize the need for breaks, downtime and camp experiences for our athletes. Our training schedule remains unchanged during the summer months. Understand this is an important period for skill development, fundamental training and routine construction.

What should my athlete wear and bring to practice? All athletes must wear appropriately sized gymnastics specific shorts and fitted shirts. Socks should be brought to practice for pommel drill work. Warm up pants may be worn for warm ups or needed for some drill work. Speak with your child’s coach for more specifics. GK, Alphafactor, Turn are a few companies that sell appropriate apparel online.

What should not be brought to practice: No cell phones, iPods, MP3 players, DS or other handheld games should ever be brought to the gym.

Athletes and Medication: We do have gymnasts who utilize inhalers or other medications for medical conditions. Please make the staff aware of any issues.

Athletes and Homework: We all agree that school comes first, even before gymnastics. Some gymnasts bring their assignments to the gym to complete before joining their teammate for practice, others arrive late and some leave early. Please communicate with your child’s coach about any school conflicts that interfere with your child’s attendance at practice.

Communication: There is no doubt about it; there is a lot that goes on here. It is difficult to keep up with it all but we do our best. We only ask two things from you:

Whether it is over a meet, a practice or something else entirely, any time where emotions run high allow for a 24-hour cooling off period for all involved. Most everything is resolvable when cooler heads prevail.
Issues are only repaired when you go to the source. When you have a concern or question, go to someone that can answer it or fix it.

To save trees, minimize email overload and keep things manageable for our staff you can find out what you need to know in the following ways.

GW Team Handbook– Available through the GW website. Please ask the office if you require a hard copy to read and review.

o General Team Information –

o Facebook – POSTED BY: GW Office – Gymnastics World has its own Facebook page where we post shout outs about upcoming events and offer good luck and congratulations to our athletes. Be sure to “Like” us and check us out!

o Gymnastics World Web Page – POSTED BY: GW Office – On our website you can access our General Gym Calendar from our main page or visit our team page to see our Team Calendar. Check our team page for basic team information and for links to great resources to learn more about our sport.

o Coach Communication (General Issues) – Office Hours/Meetings by Appointment/Floor Side Chats before & after practices, time permitting– Our coaches keep tight schedules and have responsibilities to many athletes and their families. Be assured, their commitment to every child is equal. Each group has a main coach assigned to them who can address the day-to-day stuff. They will attempt to connect with a parent of each of their athletes once per week to touch base about how things are going in the gym. But, in order for this to happen, we ask that you make an attempt to come into to the gym with your child at drop off or at pick up at least every other week.If there is ever an issue of concern please be assured that the coach involved and/or the Team Director will contact you to arrange a time to discuss the situation with you directly.

o Parent Questions (General Gymnast Concerns) – Contact your child’s main coach via email or call the gym to ask for a return call – If you have a general question regarding a practice time, leotard issue, meet time or other items of a similar nature feel free to email your child’s main coach for answers. They will respond to you within 1 business day. If your concern appears to involve training issues or concerns your questions will be referred to the Team Director and he will contact you to arrange an appointment to discuss your issues.

o Parent Questions (Specific Gymnast Concerns) – Contact the GW Office to request a call back or email the Team Director directly to arrange meeting. Specific Gymnast concerns are only to be addressed directly with the Team Director – In order to address your concerns for your athlete fairly, appropriately and privately, please contact our Team Director first to arrange an appointment to discuss your issues. He will determine the next best steps, including speaking with other coaches involved, and find a solution that is in the best interests of your athletes.

Yikes! Now what!!

Don’t be afraid to ask a question!This is an opportunity for both you and your child to learn some amazing life skills and grow as individuals. Be supportive of them and we will have your back. Your fellow Level parents and the entire Gymnastics World family are here to help you along, as are your child’s coach and the Team Director. If you need to chat – come find us!!
Take time to learn: There are many resources available to help you educate yourself. The most important websites for our families are listed on the front of our Team web page. Also be on the lookout for clinics offered through our gym – these are great places to not only learn more about gymnasts but to meet other parents that can help you find your way.

The 10 Commandments of Gymnastic Parents

Thou shalt not impose your ambitions on thy child. Remember that gymnastics is your child’s activity. Gymnasts all progress at their own speed. It can never be a positive thing when a parent is forcing a child to do a sport that the child does not want to do. The best part about gymnastics that it does not matter whether you finish first or last; rather, the benefit comes from all the wonderful lessons gymnasts learn while striving to do their best.
Thou shalt be supportive no matter what. There is only one question to ask your child: “Did you have fun?” If meets and practices are not fun, your child should not be forced to participate. To help build your child’s confidence and development, adopt a positive attitude. A parent with a positive attitude can translate into a gymnast with a positive attitude and vice versa. When your gymnast is frustrated, injured or in pain, maintain a sympathetic yet positive and supportive attitude to help the gymnast work through the difficulty. Be patient with your child’s development. Understand that each child develops at his or her own rate, depending on variables such as growth rate, strength and maturity. Support the organization by meeting obligations and sharing your talents. Show your gymnast the activity is truly important. Get involved! We are a fun bunch!
Thou shalt not coach thy child. You have taken your child to a professional coach; do not undermine that coach by trying to coach your child on the side. Your role is to support, love and hug your child no matter what. The coach is responsible for the technical part of the job. You should not offer advice on technique or skill selection; that is not your area. This will only serve to confuse your child and prevent the gymnast/coach bond from forming. Gymnasts must believe in their coaches if they are to trust them.
Thou shalt only have positive things to say at competitions. If you are going to attend a gymnastics meet, you should cheer and applaud. Never criticize your child, the teammates or coaches (and never criticize gymnasts from another gym). Always look for something positive in your child’s performance. Remember not to berate your child if you see a performance you feel is not “good enough.”
Thou shalt acknowledge thy child’s fears. It is normal human reaction for a child to be scared when attempting new skills or competing. Do not yell or belittle your child. Assure your child that we would never have gymnasts attempt the skill or put them in the competition if they were not ready for it.
Thou shalt not criticize the judges. There is much more to judging than you think, and each judge had to test to do what he or she does. There are many routine requirements that the general spectator is completely unaware of which factor into the final score. No one is perfect, but it is without question that the judges know more than you do.
Honor thy child’s coach. The bond between coach and gymnast is a special one and one that contributes to your child’s success as well as enjoyment. Do not criticize the coach in your gymnast’s presence because it will only add to the many distractions to deal with during gymnastics training and performance. Get to know and support the coaching staff. Training a gymnast involves everyone working together.
Thou shalt not jump from club to club. The floor exercise carpet always seems to be bluer at another gym. Every team has its own internal problems, even teams that build champions. Children who switch from gym to gym are often ostracized by the teammates they leave behind. Often times, gymnasts who do switch teams never do better than they did before they sought the “bluer carpet.” However, one club will not please everyone, and you need to find the club where you and your child will fit best.
Thou shalt have other goals besides winning. Encourage your child to do his or her best. Giving an honest effort no matter the outcome is much more important than winning.
Thou shalt not expect thy child to become an Olympian. There are 71,649 athletes participating in competitive gymnastics. There are only 7 spots available for the Olympic Team every four years. Your child's odds of becoming on Olympian are 1 in 149,030. You can understand how difficult it is to become an Olympian because odds are you have never been one yourself even though you, as a child, probably wanted to be. Gymnastics is much more than Olympics! Chances are your daughter's coach was not an Olympian, but still received enough out of gymnastics that they want to pass their love for the sport onto others. Gymnastics teaches so many virtues while building self-esteem, life long friendships and much more. Olympians will tell you that these intangibles far outweigh any medals they may have won. Gymnastics builds good people and you should be happy that your child wants to participate.

Thank-you for choosing Gymnastics World and Welcome to our family