Up to this point, she has dabbled in areas of interest, and always felt like she could do more than the class was offering.
But now, she is starting to feel pressure and she doesn't like it.
This sort of makes it sounds as though she's dissatisfied both ways - when she is challenged and when she is not challenged. I think more clarification in a couple of areas would be helpful:
Did she win everything in the 8 and under category?
Has she ever lost? How does she generally deal with losing?
What the schedule for participation in this activity like?
What is the level of competition? For example, how big is your district? Do the older kids typically go on to compete at the college level? Division I?
I just don't think it's clear what's going on here.
Maybe there is a lot of pressure. If it's real maybe she should quit. If it's self-imposed, maybe this is a learning opportunity.
If there's not a lot of pressure, maybe she does need to suck it up for the convenience of the family.
My children both dislike doing the piano. I couldn't care less. They are good at it and I think the lesson that consistent practice = progress is very valuable and not easy to demonstrate to young children. However, much as they say they dislike it, they consider it an inconvenience. It doesn't cause them any real distress and I think this is very healthy. Everyone has to do things they don't like and a healthy person should be able to deal with it.
But...if you daughter is practicing everyday and dealing with rushing to practices and showering in a noisy locker room and having to bundle up in the cold...well, that could legitimately be too much for an 8 y.o.
