Should my child go to gym class?

Your child seems to have the right skills for gymnastics or has expressed a desire to go to gymnastics class. Is gymnastics suitable for boys or is it a sport exclusively for girls? This article explores the pros and cons of starting gymnastics as a child. First of all, we will consider the pros.

1. Gymnastics builds incredible core body strength. You only have to look at the physiques of the men who compete on the rings at any major gymnastics competition to see that male gymnasts have muscles other men can only dream of!
2. Doing gymnastics can improve coordination and body control. This is useful for all sports, so that gymnastics can be a springboard to perform other sports at a high level.
3. Urban street dance is one of the latest youth trends and is regularly seen on our televisions. Street dance groups are now becoming famous and street dancing is performed around all the ‘in’ pop acts. Therefore, it is natural for children to aspire to become street dancers. Gymnastics is an essential part of street dancing with many moves requiring gymnastic skills, such as the plank, which is a semi-horizontal handstand.
4. Since the ratio of boys to girls is likely to be very much in favor of boys, gym classes can be a great way to find girlfriends with similar interests.
5. Gymnastics is a must for anyone thinking of becoming a stuntman. Stunting can be an exciting career, with appearances on television and in movies in different parts of the world.
6. Gymnastics is extremely important to anyone considering a career on stage or in the performing arts. Cirque de Soleil is full of talented gymnasts who push the boundaries of gymnastics with their death-defying feats and artistic performances. The fame and success of Cirque de Soleil show just how popular gymnastics is, even outside of traditional competition-based training.
7. The popularity of gymnastics acts on talent shows like ‘America’s Got Talent’ and ‘Britain’s Got Talent’ shows how useful it is to practice the sport. In fact, a gymnastics act called ‘Spellbound’ won the 2010 series of Britain’s Got Talent. Interestingly, the company has more boys than girls.
8. In the US, some universities offer gymnastics scholarships that could help with the high costs of taking a college degree course. With fewer men doing gymnastics, men would have an advantage over women to get one of these scholarships.

So what are the downsides to enrolling your child in gym classes?

1. Your son might be the only boy in gym class. Don’t assume this is automatically going to be the case. You will only find out by going to one of the classes to see it or by contacting the gym trainer by phone or email. You can request that your child do a free trial session to see if he likes you and if he is comfortable if there are not many other children. If your child resists going alone, a gymnastics-related gift like mitts, a keyring, or some gymnastics jewelry might cheer them up. Gymnastics jewelry comes in different types of metals like silver and gold. Be careful with gymnastics jewelry produced in common metals, as it can cause skin allergies. Alternatively, your child could bring a friend with him, if he has someone suitable. Talk to the parents of your son’s friends to see if any of their friends might be interested in going with him.
2. Your child could be teased at school. However, once she demonstrates how she can do backflips and somersaults, her classmates will be filled with admiration! Alternatively, your son could take street dance classes at the same time and argue that he does gymnastics to improve her street dancing. Everyone knows that street dancers are cool and they earn respect!
3. Your son may not have time for more traditional male sports like soccer and rugby. It’s true that no one can do it all, so you always have to choose which hobbies to pursue. However, your child may play traditional sports at school so he can use his free time for more specialized sports like gymnastics.
4. Some parents may worry that doing gymnastics might make their son too girly. However, men’s gymnastics has different disciplines than women’s gymnastics. The men’s gymnastics apparatus is Floor, Vault, Parallel Bars, High Bar, Rings and Pommel Horse. Women have 4 apparatus: Floor, Vault, Beam and Bars. However, even where women and men intersect, namely on Floor and Vault, the disciplines are different. The women’s floor routine is done to music and is usually performed in a ballet style. The men’s floor routine is not performed to music and is performed in a masculine style. The vault is also different in that the horse is placed horizontally for women and lengthwise for men.

To conclude, the advantages of children doing gymnastics significantly outweigh any disadvantages. Parents should not be discouraged from placing their children in gym classes, but rather embrace their talents. Gymnastics is useful in a variety of different arenas and can actually make a kid stand out as “cool.”