Coaches Summer Practice

[PalmTree]

I'd like to ask both coaches and parents: what do you do with your summer schedule for Team? I know lots of gyms have morning practice, but what do you do about families that work during the day and can't bring their kids? Parents, what is your child's summer practice hours?

 

[MaryA]

DD will practice about 25 hours a week, starting at 8:30am every day. We carpool, take shameless advantage of relatives, and do whatever it takes. Our gym does offer a day camp that kids can go to after practice. DD doesn't go, but many families take advantage of it if both parents work.

Also, check your tax laws. Generally, if you are leaving your kid somewhere during the day while you work (even if it's gymnastics practice) you can count it as a childcare tax deduction. Hey, every little bit helps. And chances are you're not paying that much more for team gymnastics practice than you would be for a decent summer day-camp.

 

[cbifoja]

We will go up to about 20 hours and will also shift to day hours. About half of our gym is from a neighboring town so we carpool like crazy. We have several parents in our gym who teach so they do a lot of driving in the summer. We also do a day camp that includes an early drop off/late pick up option as needed.

I honestly don't know how working-outside-the-home parents manage without using others for lots of help!

 

[GymMom67]

Our hours also shift to earlier in the day. Our gym does not offer any kind of before or after care, so I guess parents who work just have to work it out somehow. I'm sure it can be a challenge.

 

[kayjaybe]

Dd practices 12 hours/week during the summer (same as the school year) but practices 2-5, M-Th. It is a huge pain because we both work. I have to hire a nanny/babysitter to watch the girls so I have someone to drive dd to practice each day. (I have a younger dd who does not do gymnastics, so the nanny drives odd to gym and ydd rides along. Then they come home and spend the rest of the day together.)

 

[JBS]

I'd like to ask both coaches and parents: what do you do with your summer schedule for Team? I know lots of gyms have morning practice, but what do you do about families that work during the day and can't bring their kids? Parents, what is your child's summer practice hours?

L5's on up workout in the mornings in the summer. Families that work during the day...either find a way to get their child to practice...or find a new team. A majority of our team families run on dual incomes...they carpool like crazy.

Interestingly enough...we used to offer two options. Morning and night...over 80% of our night families signed up for other activities in the mornings. Once we started tracking this interesting fact...we dropped all evening practices in the summer as of L5.

 

[pt coach]

We do a combination of morning and evening which changes every summer. Many of our coaches work full time at other jobs and are not able to coach during the day, myself included. Last summer dd had three evening practices (and I coached) and one morning practice (we found her a ride). If the gym decided to go to all morning practices we would have to find a way for it to work for dd, and I would enjoy a summer off

 

[JBS]

Another thing to consider...all four of our optional level coaches only work at the gym and they all have families and kids. Summer is the only time of year when we all get evenings off to spend with our families.

 

[iluvgym]

We switch to morning practices for all levels (4-10). Most of our families have two working parents, but the gym is open for early drop off (because they offer it for camp) and the kids who can't get picked up by 1 or 2 after practice can stay for camp after care, which I'm not even sure if the gym charges them for.

Like someone said above, all our team coaches are full time career coaches, and it is the only time of the year they get to go home and have family dinners at regular times. It's the same for the gymnasts and their families as well though.

 

[Pineapple_Lump]

Like someone said above, all our team coaches are full time career coaches, and it is the only time of the year they get to go home and have family dinners at regular times. It's the same for the gymnasts and their families as well though.

This is one of the big reasons we do morning training during holiday periods, the other reason is that the kids are free to do all their activities after training rather than coming to training tied because they have been sitting on the beach (super hot) all morning or some other activity. I hate hearing about how we did X,Y and Z and then seeing the kid exhausted and training in a way that is not even worth bothering with training.

 

[Deleted member 14190]

We have an option to pick up more hours, from 20 to 26, so two days are longer. Workouts are kept in the mid day to evening. We don't do mornings, because that is preschool time and well,,,,, it's just to distracting for everyone to have 2 and 3 year olds running around the gym with high level athletes etc...

 

[PalmTree]

Thanks for the input everyone. I am the head coach at my gym and set up the hours in the morning for the team girls. At first it was met with a little bit of concern, but I stood by it and everyone worked their schedules out. It will be so nice to have a gym open to just the team!! I'm glad everyone else seems to agree that morning practice works out.

 

[raenndrops]

Our gym keeps the same schedule over the summer (at least June and August) as we have during the school year (M, T, R, F ... pick 3 ... 5:30-8pm). In July, we have the first week off, then there are 2 weeks of summer camp where the team can come to be "Jr. counselors" M-F 5:30-7:30. They do not have to come every day or at all. The following week, we will be having a team camp (not sure if it will be 5:30-7:30 or til 8 yet). They will be learning the new compulsory routines ... and optionals will work on their routines too. This will be a fun time for all. Hoping not to have girls still figuring out floor routines THE NIGHT BEFORE their first meet! ... Which has happened at our gym 2x this season, lol