Offshoot from the gym opening suggestions thread

[FlippinLilysMom]

What states?

Some southern states. I think Georgia, Oklahoma, Tennessee, texas. I also heard parkettes was opening but no idea if that is true or not.

 

[FlippinLilysMom]

And not every gym in these states are opening, most are not. But there are a few that are planning to open.

 

[profmom]

Some southern states. I think Georgia, Oklahoma, Tennessee, texas. I also heard parkettes was opening but no idea if that is true or not.

If they are, they are in violation of the law. PA is under a stay-at-home order until May 8 (at least).

 

[Freddy's Fred]

And not every gym in these states are opening, most are not. But there are a few that are planning to open.

I live in Georgia. I don't think gymnastics gym can open for several weeks, but I can't speak to any other state.

 

[profmom]

I just think now about when my DD was a L5 and broke her arm near the end of the season. She was off of training for three months. At the time, it felt really devastating and she and I both worried that she would wind up hopelessly behind because she was going to miss a good chunk of summer uptraining even after she returned to the gym. That was nine years ago and in the final analysis, those three months off entirely and the month and a half it took her to regain strength and skills were completely irrelevant to her long-term progression in the sport. I suspect it will be the same for many if not most gymnasts. They can come back from long layoffs, and I think by next March, it will be hard to tell by looking who was back in the gym in May versus who was back in July. I just hope that none of these young athletes wind up getting COVID and having permanent respiratory issues.

 

[justkeepswimming]

What states?

Georgia

 

[Freddy's Fred]

Georgia

I live in Georgia. I don't know of any gymnastics gyms with immediate plans to open.

 

[JBS]

Clubs are opening on Monday... this is a fact.

Maybe "opening" was the wrong way to state this. Would "bringing in small groups of athletes under the radar" help everyone understand this better?

 

[justkeepswimming]

I live in Georgia. I don't know of any gymnastics gyms with immediate plans to open.

I live in Georgia and have emails with schedules starting Monday. There are some planning on reopening.

 

[Really]

Would people whose gyms are reopening please let us know when their gym's start date is and their county and state? I'd like to track the covid-19 rates two weeks from the start date. It will help inform my family's decision about whether or not to let my daughter start back at the gym when hers re-opens (no plans within the next 3 weeks, is what the gym owner told us).

 

[Cheryl]

We are in the N.Y. area, so I can’t us reopening until summer. I think when it does reopen there will be fewer kids. Some will drop off team (already a couple in son’s group) fewer parents wanting to sign up for rec.

I picture it being run a lot like our optional Sat practices. Three coaches on 3 events, groups are usually small enough that boys could maintain social distance (although my guess is they won’t for long). Rotate to different after 45 minutes, so you can practice 3 events for each practice. Between rotations, boys sanitize hands, coaches clean equipment. All conditioning done at home, so you can reduce practice time to about 3 hours so groups can be small.

I do think that the states that are reopening but have yet to really trend downward in new cases are making a big mistake because the new cases will grow at a higher rate.

as for the competition season, no idea...we only had about 5 meets, no states or regionals. Optional level kids can’t practice skills at home, and will lose many. Don’t see many kids moving up a level, which on men’s side will be difficult because of upper age limits. Really feel bad for the kids starting recruiting or in that process now

 

[skschlag]

as for the competition season, no idea...we only had about 5 meets, no states or regionals. Optional level kids can’t practice skills at home, and will lose many. Don’t see many kids moving up a level, which on men’s side will be difficult because of upper age limits. Really feel bad for the kids starting recruiting or in that process now

It has definitely added a wrench in the plans. Not sure how all of it will play out!!

 

[Gigi]

At this point, I don't see why gyms can't open. All around the world they are relaxing the rules. People are already out and about at recreational areas like any other summer day here (although when you go to the store it is still mask and social distancing). It doesn't make sense that all the small businesses are closed and dying by government order - cleaners, food services, fitness studios, hair salons, but many large corporations with over 500 people in the building are still open. Some people work from home, some don't. The economical impact outweighs the risk of getting very ill at this point for many folks. Families will lose their homes and have a hard time recovering.

Honestly, it has been difficult to keep it all straight. One day mask is bad, next day it is required. First, it is not airborne, then it is, then back to isn't (this one I heard the actual footage of the WH press conference when the doctor said the droplets are big and fall to surfaces quickly), and now I am reading on this forum that it is?! First, Lysol kills it, then Lysol does not kill this strand of coronavirus. First, only the immune comprised are at risk of death, the rest just miserable for a few weeks, then suddenly all you hear about are young people dying from it, then now most don't even show any symptoms! This makes people not trust the information out there and make their own assumptions. It is just human nature to look for the nuggets of news they want to hear.

 

[3rd_time_around]

How large is your population if you answered 10,000 to 80,000 than yes you’ve flattened the curve. here in California that # is less than 1% of the population so it is unable to actually assess how many people have it. Unfortunately, good sanitation in a gym will not stop the spread unless every gymnast wears a n95 masks and wash hands after they touch anything.
until antibody test are here and every gymnast can be tested weekly, scientifically, gyms cannot be deemed safe.

Weekly testing is not feasible. We need to proceed like we would with any other illness that we come into contact with. The majority of people will have mild symptoms, according to the data, even though there are always exceptions just like other illnesses. I know it’s serious, but I refuse to live in fear. That’s not living. We have to learn how to function again and adapt. I predict it will eventually be treated like any other seasonal virus. Americans have very short memories (I cite 9/11/01 as an example), and when the crisis is over, will go back to living like they did before—if our Walmart today is any indication.

 

[3rd_time_around]

What gyms are opening? Not gyms in Georgia. Gymnastics gyms are youth sports not "gyms".

Ours opens in a week.

 

[profmom]

I'm just thinking of when my DD had just moved up to L7. It was 2012 and a bunch of girls from the gym went to the Tour of Champions. One mom had spent a lot of money on tickets, so when her daughter wasn't feeling great, she loaded her up with Tylenol and took her to the event early in the week. She then sent her to practice the next day because OMG THE FIRST MEET OF THE YEAR was that weekend. My daughter woke up the morning of her meet with an upset stomach, but we thought it was maybe nerves. The coach sent her up to us after warmups because she said she couldn't compete. We drove back home and stopped at urgent care on the way to pick up her strep diagnosis. Three scratches in the next session, and the following day, half the L6 team scratched.

I wish I could believe that this whole thing will make people less selfish and more aware of the potential impact of their choices on others, but unfortunately it only takes a few selfish, careless people to put everyone else at serious risk. Those of you who are in areas where it hasn't been bad, I hope you keep doing things that keep it from getting bad. Hopefully we will have trustworthy antibody testing widely available soon. Areas where everything just opens back up willy nilly are going to be dealing with some very bad consequences, and it's going to be particularly bad in rural areas without much hospital capacity.

It's the nature of good science to update, so I'm not bothered by the reality that knowledge about the virus is changing. I do pay attention, however, to the sources of information I choose to trust. A Medium post isn't the same value as a peer-reviewed study. From what I've seen about the research design and interpretation of results, the NY study seems to be far better done than the Santa Clara study, though I'd still like to see a study with a truly random sample (in upstate NY, they had people volunteering to test at grocery stores, which may not have been a truly representative population).

We are fortunate to have a gym owner who's scientifically literate and will not reopen the gym until it's safe to do so and will look for valid advice about how to set things up safely. I hope you all have gym owners who put the safety and health of their athletes first.

 

[mommyof1]

I think the important thing to remember is that the shutdown was NEVER designed to keep people from getting this virus. Most of us will probably get it at some point, and a vaccine isn’t happening any time soon. The shutdown was simply designed to keep hospitals from being overwhelmed with severe cases all at the same time.

The shutdown was also supposed to buy us time to ramp up testing and contact tracing capacity. If states wait to reopen until social distancing has reduced the number of infections, and if they have sufficient testing and contact tracing capacity, they can try to implement some containment. States will also be able to tell when and where transmission has gotten out of control again and implement targeted closures to tamp down localized hot spots. All of this should prevent many people from being infected. Unfortunately, we don’t have enough testing capacity to reopen yet in any state.

When Is It Safe To Ease Social Distancing? Here's What One Model Says For Each State

Some states are moving forward, but many would be wise to wait, according to experts at the University of Washington. Here's their estimate for each state's safe date to reopen.

www.npr.org

Yes, people can choose to stay home if they think it’s not safe to go out. But it’s not all a matter of individual choice. If we relax social distancing too soon, it isn’t only those who choose to go out who will be harmed. We will all be at put at a much greater risk. Herd immunity through refusal to mitigate and contain isn’t an ethical or practical public health strategy.

 

[Aussie_coach]

Well gyms in Australia are still closed. We have had a total of 80 deaths in our entire country throughout the entire pandemic and the majority came from cruise ships, so I didn’t expect the US to open before us.

Apparently the country will consider easing SOME restrictions in three weeks, if we can get an entire month where every day less than one new person is infected in the country for each person who is infected. We are well on track for that though, infection rates are very low.

 

[Gigi]

I'm just thinking of when my DD had just moved up to L7. It was 2012 and a bunch of girls from the gym went to the Tour of Champions. One mom had spent a lot of money on tickets, so when her daughter wasn't feeling great, she loaded her up with Tylenol and took her to the event early in the week. She then sent her to practice the next day because OMG THE FIRST MEET OF THE YEAR was that weekend. My daughter woke up the morning of her meet with an upset stomach, but we thought it was maybe nerves. The coach sent her up to us after warmups because she said she couldn't compete. We drove back home and stopped at urgent care on the way to pick up her strep diagnosis. Three scratches in the next session, and the following day, half the L6 team scratched.

I wish I could believe that this whole thing will make people less selfish and more aware of the potential impact of their choices on others, but unfortunately it only takes a few selfish, careless people to put everyone else at serious risk. Those of you who are in areas where it hasn't been bad, I hope you keep doing things that keep it from getting bad. Hopefully we will have trustworthy antibody testing widely available soon. Areas where everything just opens back up willy nilly are going to be dealing with some very bad consequences, and it's going to be particularly bad in rural areas without much hospital capacity.

It's the nature of good science to update, so I'm not bothered by the reality that knowledge about the virus is changing. I do pay attention, however, to the sources of information I choose to trust. A Medium post isn't the same value as a peer-reviewed study. From what I've seen about the research design and interpretation of results, the NY study seems to be far better done than the Santa Clara study, though I'd still like to see a study with a truly random sample (in upstate NY, they had people volunteering to test at grocery stores, which may not have been a truly representative population).

We are fortunate to have a gym owner who's scientifically literate and will not reopen the gym until it's safe to do so and will look for valid advice about how to set things up safely. I hope you all have gym owners who put the safety and health of their athletes first.

Hi @profmom, I hope your reply is not a dig at my post. I know you are very smart and scientifically minded and I believe everything you say in all your posts. My point is more how the mass thinks and responds. Not everyone is smart like you, and most don't care to fact check everything, they simply rely on CNN, FOX, or Jimmy Kimmel to tell them what's going on. It isn't good or bad, just how the world works. And I believe people are confused or shaking their heads with all the conflicting daily information out here. It doesn't help that the media sensationalizes everything.

It is my personal opinion that ten girls at the gym with everyone spreading out and coaches keeping their distance actually is much less risk compared to the crowded parks and beaches. And let me tell you, the beach close to us was like any other summer day yesterday. Team workout is also less risky than work out gyms - because coaches can dictate the size of the groups and have the authority to manage social distancing and sanitizing. I am quite sure it would be much more difficult to manage random people working out at 24 Hour Fitness, and they can open now. Doesn't make sense to me.

 

[3rd_time_around]

I'm just thinking of when my DD had just moved up to L7. It was 2012 and a bunch of girls from the gym went to the Tour of Champions. One mom had spent a lot of money on tickets, so when her daughter wasn't feeling great, she loaded her up with Tylenol and took her to the event early in the week. She then sent her to practice the next day because OMG THE FIRST MEET OF THE YEAR was that weekend. My daughter woke up the morning of her meet with an upset stomach, but we thought it was maybe nerves. The coach sent her up to us after warmups because she said she couldn't compete. We drove back home and stopped at urgent care on the way to pick up her strep diagnosis. Three scratches in the next session, and the following day, half the L6 team scratched.

I wish I could believe that this whole thing will make people less selfish and more aware of the potential impact of their choices on others, but unfortunately it only takes a few selfish, careless people to put everyone else at serious risk. Those of you who are in areas where it hasn't been bad, I hope you keep doing things that keep it from getting bad. Hopefully we will have trustworthy antibody testing widely available soon. Areas where everything just opens back up willy nilly are going to be dealing with some very bad consequences, and it's going to be particularly bad in rural areas without much hospital capacity.

It's the nature of good science to update, so I'm not bothered by the reality that knowledge about the virus is changing. I do pay attention, however, to the sources of information I choose to trust. A Medium post isn't the same value as a peer-reviewed study. From what I've seen about the research design and interpretation of results, the NY study seems to be far better done than the Santa Clara study, though I'd still like to see a study with a truly random sample (in upstate NY, they had people volunteering to test at grocery stores, which may not have been a truly representative population).

We are fortunate to have a gym owner who's scientifically literate and will not reopen the gym until it's safe to do so and will look for valid advice about how to set things up safely. I hope you all have gym owners who put the safety and health of their athletes first.

Please stop calling people selfish. Sending sick kids to practice or a meet is selfish and irresponsible; returning to normal life and following all protocols to return healthy kids to gymnastics is not.