Quote:
|
Originally Posted by vsp
Ever heard the phrase "stage mother?"
There's a difference between competing and competing at an elite level. I played Little League baseball from 8 until 13, then gave it up when it became clear that the talent level had passed me by and it wasn't fun any more. So far, so good. But could my parents have guided me into "training" at a very young age, attempting to prepare me for a sports career, helping to mold my priorities towards what they felt would be best for me (i.e. spending hours in the batting cage or on the mound instead of out doing kid things)? Certainly, and I would've been too young to argue much.
99.9% of parents whose children participate in sports aren't stage mothers/fathers, so to speak... but every youth organization has its horror stories to tell about the parents who are nuts, and who will let nothing stand between them and Junior's budding sports career.
Nobody's saying that there are lots of Olympians who don't really want to be there, or would give it up if they weren't being held at gunpoint; far from it. What I'm saying is that the vast majority of Olympians in other sports are _adults_, who can make conscious decisions about their training, desires and choices. If you wait until an aspiring gymnast is early-teens to begin training strenuously, it's far too late by contemporary standards, because she'll be competing with gymnasts who've already been doing triple backflips for years. Plus, your daughter might've eaten a cheeseburger at some point and thus not meet the aesthetic ideal necessary for competitive judges to take her seriously.
Should young girls be prohibited from participating in informal gymnastics? Of course not. But the age ranges for competition should be increased dramatically, and the judges' expectations should be revised to focus on what actual, mature bodies are capable of. Nations should not be trotting out parades of sixteen-year-old eighty-pound waifs with the eyes of the world and the expectations of their countries upon them.
|
Let's see. Hmm - a lot of ideas in there.
- Yes, I know about stage mothers. I don't know, but am willing to suppose that this occurs for some of the gymnasts.
- According to the nbcolympics web site the current ages for the us team are 25, 26, 18, 18, 16, 16. That sounds, to me, old enough that they could make the decision themselves.
- Young, small-chested girls are on the gymnastics team because young, small-chested girls have the balance, coordination and stamina to do the best at the routines that make up the competition. It's the same reason all basketball players are tall.
- On the other hand I don't think kids should be forced into it.
- What would happen, if the age limit was raised? Most early teen girls haven't developed yet and are naturally skinny and flat. If you raise the age limit, won't girls that could have competed naturally at a young age be forced to have surgery and starve themselves if they want to compete? I don't know that this is the answer either.