For Parents Communication

[Gymmomsarethebest]

What are some reasons that you experienced parents would think coach talks meetings would be needed vs. Owner/Director conversion. Me and my gym bestie definitely disagree but there isn’t any rules on this? When do you determine to address a concern or let it ride?

 

[Sk8ermaiden]

Hmm. If I talked to the coach about an issue I think is pretty serious and the coach didn't handle it appropriately I would go to the owner.

If the issues is about schedules, meet choices, tuition, class ratios, etc - general policy things, then I would go to the owner. IME, coaches don't decide those things.

In terms of a formal "talk," I try to let most things ride. If there is something I am going to have to be "that mom" about, I want to be taken seriously. If I'm raising issues with every little thing that bothers me, then I likely won't be taken seriously if I have a real issue.

 

[Sk8ermaiden]

I tried to add, but ran out of time:

We've been at three gyms and I've never asked for a formal talk with anyone. All the coaches have been extremely accessible to us parents, for better or worse. At one, the coach was an institution in the place - she'd been in her position since before I was born. She was the main issue and I absolutely knew she wasn't going anywhere. At the second gym, the owner was also head coach and he WAS the problem, so trying to talk to him just led to narcissistic gaslighting.

I've always just been able to grab a coach and say, "hey XYZ is going on with my kid" and it's never been a big deal. Our current coaches also include the gymnast and parent in a great many of the decisions that are made, and thoroughly explain the others, so I feel less issues come up to begin with.

 

[dgraves92]

I can tell you from experience that there is nothing wrong with that. Some parents are really afraid to talk, they avoid general meetings, but I don't understand the reason. For the last year, we did all the meetings online, and everything was fine.

 

[Mom9024]

If it's about skills or an injury, I talk to the coach. For skills, I usually check in between competition seasons to get a feel for what level they think DD should compete in or what they think she should work on, but I usually let it ride during competition to avoid putting pressure on DD. I encourage her instead to set goals with her coach. If I get inconsistent feedback from different coaches, lack of constructive response from them, or need to address how the gym is generally run, then I go to management. Our management held some virtual meetings at the beginning of this competition season with the parents and it proved very helpful as we were able to ask questions and get a feel for the operating style of DD's gym.

 

[SupportingHerDreams]

What are some reasons that you experienced parents would think coach talks meetings would be needed vs. Owner/Director conversion. Me and my gym bestie definitely disagree but there isn’t any rules on this? When do you determine to address a concern or let it ride?

My daughter is 7 and has been at the same gym since mommy and me classes when she was 2. The only time I have talked to the owner was to tell him how happy we were with our coach and how thankful I was for the coaching style and atmosphere of the gym.

In my experience I have been able to get all questions or concerns handled by our coach or the manager, who is an old coach of ours. I think I would only go to the owner if I wasn't getting the help needed from coaching staff.