She's 3, is that right? (I think someone above mentioned she's 3). If she's three, the GREAT news is that she's young, and if she *is* going to be athletically talented (and even if she isn't!), you've got lots of time to try out different sports and activities with her so she can find what she likes - plus - there will be a lot of different activities to choose from because lots and lots of 3 year olds (and preschool through early elementary kids) are active, exploring, climbing etc so there are usually more classes for younger kids in most sports *and* the classes at those early ages are usually set up so that there are beginning classes that children of any ability can fit into.
I have to agree though that with most kids, it's very difficult at three to predict where they will be re athletic talent when they are so very young - so I wouldn't worry about needing to get my child involved in dance or gymnastics etc simply because other people were telling me my child was physically gifted = the one exception to that I'd make might be if it was a gymnastics *coach* for example, who was telling me he'd never seen a 3 year old perform a cartwheel as flawlessly as my child who was endlessly performing cartwheels because she was so driven she just couldn't stop. What I would do, however, no matter *what* my child's ability or potential appeared to be (ie, physically gifted *or* a total klutz), is to try out different sports either through classes or with them, because even klutz's like myself enjoy and need to have physical activity as part of their lives.
To give some perspective re my own family's experience, none of my kids are genetically related to each other. One has coordination challenges in a big way. One is a bit of a klutz when it comes to the type of movement and coordination needed in dance but happily bulldozes her way through physically demanding sports that require high energy and stamina. My third child is and has always been obviously amazingly coordinated and flexible. When they were 3-6-7 years old, we did the same thing with all three - took them to different kinds of sports activities. They all tried soccer, gymnastics etc. They had different degrees of fun vs being totally unhappy with different sports - but none of it really correlated with where they are today, now that they are older, and now that it's obvious what their passions are. My child with the coordination problems has a sport he's really good at - no, not competitively good, but an individual sport that he enjoys. My dd who is not coordinated has the sports she is good at and loves (which don't require that dancing-type flexibility and coordination) *BUT* she also loves loves loves to dance and is part of a dance group and is accepted and enjoys it in spite of not being all that great at it. And my always-obviously-physically-adept child, at this point in time, I feel comfortable saying, yes, she's athletically gifted. She loves most all sports and excels at most anything physical she tries. The funny thing is, she has quite a few friends over the years who started in gymnastics at really early ages. Some of the "stage moms" I knew from gymnastics insisted that if you didn't start your child when they were little, they would never be competitive because they'd lose out on all those years of training and competition. I thought my dd would be really good at gymnastics because of her ability to flip and flex, but she tried gymnastics out (twice) with friends and it didn't click either time and she didn't look all that good lol when she was in gymn classes, so we never pursued it. Then all of a sudden when she turned 8, she decided she wanted to try a gymnastics camp - and guess what? She was still extremely flexible and coordinated but now she *wanted* to try it, and she's latched onto it, loves it, and has landed at pretty much exactly the same place (or farther along) than her friends who have been on gymnastics teams before they started school.
On another note, someone above mentioned their child was in a dance studio where all abilities and ages were welcomed - not all sports places are going to be like that *but* the good news about being young and able to try out different activities without pressure to achieve is that you'll have a good chance of finding a group like that, and they are worth their weight in gold - not just for not-so-talented athletes but even for really talented kids.
Last thought - whatever you have your dd try - have fun with it! It's such a fun age
Best wishes,
polarbear
