Parents Coach bringing child to work

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I'm not going to even phrase this as a question of whether this is okay or not, because I don't think anyone on earth would think this is okay.

Last spring her coach would occasionally have her 1 year old DD with her at the beginning of practice. She'd hold her or put her in something until someone came and got her. That didn't bother me. It was mostly during warm-up.

For the last few months she will bring her 1 year old child to every practice. Sometimes she will sit in her little playpen and not make a peep. Other days she will cry and she will get her out and hold her. She will be on bars holding her child in one hand and spotting with the other. Yesterday it was vault. This is not safe! It's not safe for our kids and it's not safe for hers. Yesterday the kid was just running around where the girls were doing bars.

I passed another mom on her way out last week as I was going in and she let off steam about how her DD wasn't being corrected on floor because the coach was too busy tending to her own child. To me this is just completely unacceptable. I really would understand if it was every once in awhile, but it's everyday.

I know I should speak up, but I feel like I'm already on the list of parents who speak up too much. I would completely say something if there were a little comment box where I didn't have to sign my name.

It just adds to how unprofessional I feel our coach is. How can she think this is okay? I don't bring my kids to work with me and let them run around. I'm paid to do a job and they would be a distraction. And how can the gym owner think that this is okay with parents? We pay money to have our kids coached. We already have 12 girls to one coach. So we get even less of her than we should. Next thing we know she'll be bringing her to meets.
 
Wow, how can you effectively coach and spot while holding a baby? I can't even imagine how that coach isn't scared something might happen to her child. Crazy IMHO.
 
Heck I think I live on the list of parents who speak up too much and don't care I pay for 100% of the coaches attention and Her in there with her baby is not what I am paying for. I would talk to the owner today on that one and request that the baby be left at home or child care or what ever.
 
No way would this be safe or acceptable to me. You either coach my kid or you get someone else to do it. If you can't save her on a fall or correct her on the beam you aren't really coaching.
 
that happened constantly at the first gym DD went to. Granted it was a recreational program but she was often tending to her baby and not paying attention to the kids. It was just one of many factors in us switching gyms tho..
 
The safety of your dd and her teammates is at stake here. I'd be in the owners face about this. It's not safe for the team and it's not safe for her daughter, either. Why must she bring her? Doesn't she have a sitter? You wouldn't be going in there complaining about some petty little thing. It's more serious than that. I would voice your concerns now......and LOUD!! :D
 
We have this happen occasionally--more with 1 coach than the others. It is distracting to the girls and they have to watch that they don't run a little one over. One coach who usually does bring her little one pays someone to watch her and play with her while she's in the gym coaching.

No real solution unless you do speak up. You're right its a safety issue for everyone.
 
Do not worry about saying anything to the person in charge. That is a safety issue and it needs to be handled right away.! If this is happening everyday then you are not getting your money's worth from this coach.

We have a very close knit gym and when our head coach had her baby, she actually paid one of the parents to babysit the child at the gym. This parent sat in during all the practices and was at the gym anyway, so she would hold the baby out in the waiting room, feed her, change diaper etc. The head coach never had to stop to tend her child and gave the team 100% of her attention.
 
That one is a no brainer, speak up, heck if you are afraid get all the other parents who are not happy to go in with you. It is a huge safety concern leaving aside the annoyance of her tending to her kid instead of doing her job. You can't not talk to them about this.
 
If you don't want to speak up because you don't want this coach thinking differently of you could you type up a letter and mail it to the gym. You don't have to put your name on it but you could put from a concerned parent or something like that. I'm pretty sure she checks the mail daily so she should get the letter. I know not the best way to handle it but hopefully it will get the job done.
 
Wow. This is not about being unprofessional, this is about the safety of your gymmie and the others. Not to mention that poor little baby. I can just see it being kicked in the head. And if it's at the running around stage the gymmies shouldn't have to worry about the child getting in their way while doing routines.

If the coach is not able to spot effectively then something needs to change. I personally would call the owner and tell them that my daughter would not be showing up to class until the coach can safely spot her and that I wouldn't be paying for the time missed either.

I'm not one of the parents that speak up too often but when I do they know I'm serious about the issue.

When Pixie was getting pushed off the bars and beam and being punched on by another girl on her team I called and told them that she would not be returning until the issue was handled and it was taken care of immediately!

This is one of those times to speak up!

Good luck with this one. I'm fuming mad for you.
 
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I want to speak up, but I'm kind of hoping another parent will do it first. I honestly don't have a problem when she brings the child and the child is contained. Yesterday the child was there, but not a problem. She wasn't holding her while trying to coach. Children this age are unpredictable so you never know when they are going to behave or need more attention. That's why it's just best to not bring a child. I'm trying to just let it be until my kid moves on in a few months. Some nights there isn't anyone in the office, but there's a little box to drop your tuition payment it. Maybe I will just drop in a little note and leave it unsigned.
 
Where else besides a daycare would it ever be alright to bring your kid along with you to work? You are paying a lot of money for this coaches full attention and whether of not she is paid enough to afford a babysitter is not your problem. Even if having the kid there if contained sits well with you, you are correct a 1 year old is unpredicitable and a mothers attention is always going to be with that kid. You are a mother how easy is it to ignore your kid and do other things? In the very least if the coach is only paying 50% attention I would ask for a 50% reduction in your dd's tuition. Hands down it is just not safe or in any way okay, you are not over reacting and you need to say something, some way. Speaking up is scary but not as scary as watching a kid get one handed spotted and break her neck on the vault.
 

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