Is Gymnastics Just for Girls?

If you had a chance to peek at the Balance 180 class on any given day, I would see you nodding your head ‘yes’ right now. In fact, as a mother of two girls who are gymnasts, I can definitely confirm that seeing a boy at Balance 180 Gymnastics and Sports Academy is a real treat! Frankly, I get surprised when I see boys there. And it puzzles me why there are so few boys doing this sport.

Is it the stereotype of gymnastics being a ‘girly’ activity?

 Yes, that’s a big part of it. Every time I talk to my friends who are parents of a little boy, I hear them talking about his soccer practice, karate or baseball. Gymnastics just never makes on top of their list. And even a thousand sparkly colorful leotards and cute hair buns are not gonna do the trick to convince the boy or his parents otherwise.

 ''Gymnastics prepares for any sport" It was totally the opposite in my case. The two young ladies I am raising (6 and 4 years old) have been in gymnastics before each of them turned three. I don’t know how long they will keep doing this sport. There is no particular goal. Right now gymnastics prepares them for any sport or activities they would want to do in life. And they will be ready! My daughters are strong, toned and flexible. They are very disciplined with getting up early in the morning on Saturday to  go to one of their practices. They always remember to exercise at home if for some reason they missed a class (that only happened a couple of times).

Gymnastics teaches foundation skills.

I am sure there are multiple benefits in doing other sports. If you are happy with what your child does to stay active, that’s wonderful. However, in case you happen to still not be sure which sports to pick, try gymnastics. The foundation and basic skills kids are getting from gymnastics are tremendous. When they decide they want to do some different sport, they will be ready for anything – soccer, basketball, tennis, ballet or karate. Doing gymnastics at a very young age is like learning how to spell. Once you know how to do that, you can read whatever you want. Or you can become a Spelling Bee champion! Author: Olga Sinnreich