New user, but I have been reading through many threads.
My daughter is on her first year on competitive team new level one usag. We have had a frustrating first year. We are at a very small gym and lost our head coach (she was very good and a judge as well) before meet season even started. So, we have had a high school student filling in as one of the coaches all season (no prior coaching background), and our head coach has been in and out a good bit due to some personal issues. In fact, we have a parent filling in as one of the coaches at the moment (she does have a gymnastics background).
The communication has been poor at this gym. For example, the new head coach does not return phone calls and ignores emails unless it's to schedule a private. We found out a few weeks ago through parent grapevine that the gym has always had a rule that the girls must score a 38 AA in two meets to move up a level regardless of skills. This rumor was confirmed by one of us walking up and asking the head coach after practice. This seems entirely unreasonable as the scoring seems stricter this year with the level change and no one, not even girls winning 1st AA are scoring 38s. Not a single girl at our gym has obtained this score, and it is pretty doubtful given the current state of things that anyone will--the girls in general are not doing that great. So they are saying all of the girls will repeat levels one and two next year.
My husband (and I) are not paying to repeat another year of level one, and we are frustrated with the general lack of communication. We took our daughter for an evaluation at another nearby gym. They recommended our daughter join the level 2s and 3s, and they would make a formal decision about competing 2 or 3 when they do their evaluation in June after she has had a bit of time to work on new skills. If we were to move her now, the new gym said she would have to forfeit competing the rest of the season, which we are all fine with (including daughter who says she is "bored" at current gym). If she stays at the current gym, she can compete the remaining meets, but we already know she (and everyone else) will repeat one, and she will not be learning new skills.
From reading gym switching threads, it sounds like it is NOT a great idea to leave a gym during meet season. I am usually a stickler for seeing things through to the end. I made all my kids stick with dance until the dance performance and sports through the end of the season, but I'm not sure this is the best decision right now. Under what circumstances is it reasonable to leave a gym before the end of meet season? Thanks in advance.
My daughter is on her first year on competitive team new level one usag. We have had a frustrating first year. We are at a very small gym and lost our head coach (she was very good and a judge as well) before meet season even started. So, we have had a high school student filling in as one of the coaches all season (no prior coaching background), and our head coach has been in and out a good bit due to some personal issues. In fact, we have a parent filling in as one of the coaches at the moment (she does have a gymnastics background).
The communication has been poor at this gym. For example, the new head coach does not return phone calls and ignores emails unless it's to schedule a private. We found out a few weeks ago through parent grapevine that the gym has always had a rule that the girls must score a 38 AA in two meets to move up a level regardless of skills. This rumor was confirmed by one of us walking up and asking the head coach after practice. This seems entirely unreasonable as the scoring seems stricter this year with the level change and no one, not even girls winning 1st AA are scoring 38s. Not a single girl at our gym has obtained this score, and it is pretty doubtful given the current state of things that anyone will--the girls in general are not doing that great. So they are saying all of the girls will repeat levels one and two next year.
My husband (and I) are not paying to repeat another year of level one, and we are frustrated with the general lack of communication. We took our daughter for an evaluation at another nearby gym. They recommended our daughter join the level 2s and 3s, and they would make a formal decision about competing 2 or 3 when they do their evaluation in June after she has had a bit of time to work on new skills. If we were to move her now, the new gym said she would have to forfeit competing the rest of the season, which we are all fine with (including daughter who says she is "bored" at current gym). If she stays at the current gym, she can compete the remaining meets, but we already know she (and everyone else) will repeat one, and she will not be learning new skills.
From reading gym switching threads, it sounds like it is NOT a great idea to leave a gym during meet season. I am usually a stickler for seeing things through to the end. I made all my kids stick with dance until the dance performance and sports through the end of the season, but I'm not sure this is the best decision right now. Under what circumstances is it reasonable to leave a gym before the end of meet season? Thanks in advance.
