Asking a paid coach to volunteer their time?

[gym monkeys mom]

Most coaches are paid by the parents of the girls competing in the US. Usually their is a flat fee paid per sessiona dn this is added to the parents fee for the meet. Usually gyms/booster clubshave a number of gymnasts to coach ratio so they are not over or under coached at meets.

We at our club are still fortunate that the gym still pays our coaches. In these hard financial time i however do see this needing to change in the next year or so.

Hope this helps

 

[Geoffrey Taucer]

I and all the coaches at my gym get paid a flat per-meet session fee for meets.

 

[Deleted member D3987]

My gym expects their paid coaches (hourly not salaried) to volunteer at meets, parties etc. for free. The coaches are not even really asked if they can do it but told they have to and they do not get any kind of pay for it? Is this customary in gymnastics? Isn't that against labor laws? I guess I can understand asking for parents to volunteer but paid coaches? Does anyone else expect this from their coaches? I guess I figured the gym would make money off the meet fees, food/drinks, etc. And this is a for profit gym not some kind of charity organization.

no, it is not customary. i've never heard of such a thing. parents yes. coaches absolutely not.

 

[bogwoppit]

In the UK many coaches are volunteers and do not get for any of their time, even in the gym. But I have never heard of it here in Canada or in the US.

 

[gymdog]

It's not really customary and not (in my opinion) a great business practice. I'm sure it would be against labor laws in most states if they forced you to under threat of losing your job...but if it's just an expectation that there would be no provable consequences for breaking (probably even if it put you on someone's "bad side") then it would probably be hard to do anything about it.

However I've seen everything, so it happens. That's part of why working for the county is nice...this stuff never happens. If we are there we are getting paid for it. 15 minutes early and late to set up and clean up and you get paid for that. Not saying I haven't worked in private programs that don't have those practices but not all do.

I have volunteered time before without being asked or necessarily expected to. In those cases I consider it a favor to people I know who I know can appreciate the help. To be honest though I've also been "gifted" for it so it was only volunteer in gesture really.

 

[bogwoppit]

By the way if you are expected to give your time for free you are not a volunteer, really!!! You are a volunteer if you OFFER your help without coercion.

 

[gymch34]

I used to work at a gym that did this. We were never told we had to, it was just expected that we volunteer our time (at booster club fundrasing events). One night the other coaches & I looked around as saw it was only US & no parents, and we stopped doing it. The parents grumbled, but they had to accept it- after all it was a fundraiser for their kids!

I usually dont mind helping out; the parents group at my current gym & the coaches have pretty good realtionship. As long as they keep treating me like a professional, I dont mind helping out if I can.

 

[gymnut1]

In the UK many coaches are volunteers and do not get for any of their time, even in the gym. But I have never heard of it here in Canada or in the US.

haha tell me about it. I don't think judges get paid for judging either in the UK. That really sucks. Judging all day on a weekend for nothing. They usually get free food (big deal)

I think it is wrong. Prefessionals should be paid. You wouldn't expect your dentist to treat you free why expect your coach to work for free.

 

[BlairBob]

If my gym told me I would have to do it and not get paid, I'd probably give them the finger. If they asked me if I could help, that is another thing. At one gym, I was "gifted" at the end of the year by Boosters for Xmas at one gym. It wasn't specified what for, but to state, I was an hourly rec/team coach, not the head coach on any team.

I do remember at one gym, we were supposed to help out during cleaning. I think we were paid for it though and this was done on down time for the gym when the gym was closed for vacations (winter/spring breaks).

Back in September, I offered my help to the Boosters if they were gonna field a meet at our gym. In fact, I would probably help out Boosters during fund raising if they asked nicely since I know it helps them out. I'm not very interested in doing a car wash or some activities, but I might help out; especially if I don't mind it and can fit it in my schedule.

By the way if you are expected to give your time for free you are not a volunteer, really!!! You are a volunteer if you OFFER your help without coercion.

Bingo!

 

[bogwoppit]

I think it is wrong. Prefessionals should be paid. You wouldn't expect your dentist to treat you free why expect your coach to work for free.

I totally agree, being a coach or a judge demands a huge skill set, those things should not come for free.

 

[pt coach]

We are asked to work one session at the meets that we host, beyond the sessions that we actually coach. Since I also have a daughter on pre-team, either my husband or I have to meet the parent requirements. Generally all of the coaches are at the meet anyway and don't mind helping out between the sessions we are coaching. We have a great parents association that doesn't mind sending 5 plus coaches to the meets whether needed or not, so we want to make sure they have the funds to continue this practice!

 

[Optionals United]

are coaches are the ones who are with us at our parties but they do not privode the food whoevers birthday it is or the gymnasts bring all the food.i dont think they get paid for this since it is usually no longer than an hour.as for meets they do get paid.

 

[Optionals United]

also the parents have to work at the home meets and have to meet a sertain amount of work hours doing things sunch as help fiixing the floor, cleaning the pits(with gymnast help of course because we think i it is fun),setting up for meets,and voulenttering at meets

 

[NYgymfan]

My coaches have done it once or twice but there were some special circumstances involved. But that is the exception, not the norm.

Its not illegal to volunteer your time. Afterall, its a free country. But I think most coaches who depend on coaching time as a main source of income wouldn't be able to do it for free because they need the money to live on and need their free time to spend with their family or doing school work and such. If a gym required their coaches to work unpaid overtime, they would probably have a lot of coaches quit, especially since other gyms would likely pay the same and not require overtime.

 

[NYgymfan]

I think it is wrong. Prefessionals should be paid. You wouldn't expect your dentist to treat you free why expect your coach to work for free.

I think the key word is "expect". Many professionals provide "pro bono" (free for the public good) services (lawyers, doctors). But they choose to do this. And the people getting the service are typically very grateful for the help as many are unemployed or poor. Their attitude is key though. So long as the people are grateful, the volunteers will likely consider it effort well spent. When the people cop an attitude and expect free stuff with a sense of entitlement, the volunteers are not likely to want to help that person again.

So sometimes you can get free service when there is a need, but it should be treated as a gift and never be expected. And of course there are limits to how much pro bono service a professional can provide...they need to do enough paid work to feed their family and pay off their student loans (which for a lawyer or doctor are usually pretty big).

 

[bogwoppit]

It is not okay to be told that you have to work for free. Parents can be asked to volunteer, they usually do when they realise that their hours will benefit their child.

For the coaches to work for free there is no benefit to the coaches, so why would they do it.

Sounds like time the coaches met with the owner and demand they be paid for this extra work, and to let her know that as a group they will no longer be available to work for nothing.

I don't know many coaches that could afford to give their time for nothing.

 

[gymdog]

I don't think anyone is saying it's okay. As the answers reflect, it's not a standard practice. You could contact your state labor bureau if you think this will cost your job or will otherwise be discriminatory in your work environment. Otherwise I would say I have a doctor's appointment or some other event to attend.

 

[Deleted member D3987]

Okay some of the replies are getting a bit off so let me clarify a few things. The owner is asking the hourly paid (minimum wage) coaches to work for free at meets and events, actually she is telling them they have to unless they can provide a very good reason as to why they cannot. She expects you to work the full meet, all days from morning until evening. She has a couple of coaches that will be on the floor actually coaching and they are salaried, the rest of them are expected to do things like set up, selling tickets, food drinks etc. They are not provided with any coaches fee or gifts or freebies or whatever. They are strictly coaches not coaches that also need to meet volunteer requirments because their kids attend. And it is not a once in a while thing, there is something going on every month that the owner wants free help with. Also the parents are asked to help to meet volunteer needs. And this specific gym is a very for profit gym, they rake in loads of money from classes, meet fees, coaches fees (that coaches don't actually get) etc. etc. It is not some community center that works off volunteers and donations it is a business that makes money. I guess I am just confused as to how it is in any way okay to be doing this. If I worked at walmart as a cashier would it be okay for them to ask me to come on on my day off and run the register for free for a free hours??? I guess I am having a hard time understanding why this seems okay for some people in the gymnastics world. And I am sorry that I was not clear enough, the owner told these coahes that they were expected to help with these things, he did not ask for people who could or who wanted to help.

i understood you perfectly clear the 1st time. it is not okay. period.

 

[Deleted member D3987]

It is not okay to be told that you have to work for free. Parents can be asked to volunteer, they usually do when they realise that their hours will benefit their child.

For the coaches to work for free there is no benefit to the coaches, so why would they do it.

Sounds like time the coaches met with the owner and demand they be paid for this extra work, and to let her know that as a group they will no longer be available to work for nothing.

I don't know many coaches that could afford to give their time for nothing.

right! exactly!!

 

[Deleted member D3987]

I don't think anyone is saying it's okay. As the answers reflect, it's not a standard practice. You could contact your state labor bureau if you think this will cost your job or will otherwise be discriminatory in your work environment. Otherwise I would say I have a doctor's appointment or some other event to attend.

right! exactly!!