Older children also run into time conflicts - if you stick with gymnastics and are competing, most gyms require a significant time investment - my dd, for instance, works out every night of the week right after school for three hours. She participates because she *loves* gymnastics, but even for a kid with her level of passion, the schedule is sometimes brutal. She's very aware of all the things her siblings are able to do with their time after school that she can't - they aren't cramming homework in on the weekends, they can go to after-school activities at their school or with friends, they can choose to participate in more than one sport at a time.
Yes, we expect this to be the next brake on our DD's interest, if/when they select her for the competitive team, and describe what that time commitment looks like. DD has too many other interests, I think, to go all in on this. She's at three hours of formal training per week at the moment.
Yesterday she had an orthodontics appointment late in the afternoon, then homework and dinner, then we had a movie on hand we'd scheduled to watch for the evening, and we were treated to a mild, "Rawr, playtime!", so that's a pretty good indicator. Luckily, I found an hour in there for her.
