WAG Attendance Policy

[Pea'sMom]

Our gym does not have an attendance policy as far as I can tell. All of our girls miss gym for one reason or another but most parents schedule vacations etc around the meet season. It hardest for new parents since they don't have a feel for when meets are scheduled etc. That being said, taking days off does weed kids out. Our girls are at the 'we CAN'T go away and miss practice' stage. We were supposed to take a long weekend next month, and Pea shut it down. Husband and son will take the trip, Pea and I will bond on the way to practice That being said we are taking a week over winter break off, because states falls over our spring break!!! and the gym basically gives us a week off plus a smattering of holidays.

 

[Anna's_Mom]

Wow--I'm envious of those of you without a policy. I keep meticulous track of my daughter's attendance so that we don't run afoul of the following policy. I'll note that this is a team of just level 3 and 4 gymnasts, about 25 total who practice 3-5 times per week at varying times each day (minimum days per week are defined by level and beyond that girls take what the family can afford to pay for and what works in their schedule). We pay meet fees for the season upfront with a "no refund" policy plus monthly tuition. My own daughter has just moved from 4 to 5 days a week so that we can qualify for a independent study PE waiver from her school.

1. Absence for any reason the week (7 days) before a meet disqualifies from competing.
2. No more than 3 weeks of vacation for family vacation, camps, etc. This is in addition to the 4 weeks per year the gym is closed entirely (Christmas week and such). These must be scheduled in advance and approved.
3. No more than 5 (for girls who go 3 days/week), 7 (4 days/week) or 9 (5 days/week girls) other absences during the year.
4. Absences for documented illness/injury and required school events do not count as absences. However, if the gymnast doesn't have an explicit "cannot practice" from a doctor, she is still expected to come to practice and do what she can (judged by the coach, which is the only part I actually disagree with since what he considers safe for someone with an injury and what I would consider safe are really different).
5. All absences must be made up -- either by attending practice on additional days (if you don't already do 5 days/week) or attending open gym and completing a set practice assignment (no just showing up and playing).
6. Girls sent from practice for a discipline infraction are counted as absent. At our first meet our top girl didn't compete because she had been sent from practice for talking.

 

[Iwannabemargo]

^^^ Yikes !!

 

[Quadqueen]

No attendance policy at our gym. Kids miss for illness, and occasionally for vacations and school/family obligations. I think if it became a problem, the head coach would talk to the parents.

 

[leotardmakermum]

My daughter is in the Australian international stream. All girls are expected to be at training unless they are sick or out of town. If it is a very important family occasion, such as a wedding or a grandparent's 70th birthday then that's ok too. No-one sees this as harsh. It's just the way it is. If the girls aren't there, they lose fitness, and they don't get the practice in. No-one takes a day off because they "feel like it". These girls are incredibly driven and quite frankly, sometimes it is hard to keep them away when they *should* be at home (sickness etc) because they love it so much and want to be there. Of course, if my daughter is sick, I keep her home despite any protestations - I'm the parent!

 

[ascarter1]

We don't have an attendance policy. The coaches do take it into consideration when changing levels at the end of the season.

 

[bookworm]

I'll note that this is a team of just level 3 and 4 gymnasts, about 25 total who practice 3-5 times per week at varying times each day (

.

A bit ridiculous for levels 3 and 4...and remember , you're paying for this...

 

[windydays]

Wow--I'm envious of those of you without a policy. I keep meticulous track of my daughter's attendance so that we don't run afoul of the following policy. I'll note that this is a team of just level 3 and 4 gymnasts, about 25 total who practice 3-5 times per week at varying times each day (minimum days per week are defined by level and beyond that girls take what the family can afford to pay for and what works in their schedule). We pay meet fees for the season upfront with a "no refund" policy plus monthly tuition. My own daughter has just moved from 4 to 5 days a week so that we can qualify for a independent study PE waiver from her school.

1. Absence for any reason the week (7 days) before a meet disqualifies from competing.
2. No more than 3 weeks of vacation for family vacation, camps, etc. This is in addition to the 4 weeks per year the gym is closed entirely (Christmas week and such). These must be scheduled in advance and approved.
3. No more than 5 (for girls who go 3 days/week), 7 (4 days/week) or 9 (5 days/week girls) other absences during the year.
4. Absences for documented illness/injury and required school events do not count as absences. However, if the gymnast doesn't have an explicit "cannot practice" from a doctor, she is still expected to come to practice and do what she can (judged by the coach, which is the only part I actually disagree with since what he considers safe for someone with an injury and what I would consider safe are really different).
5. All absences must be made up -- either by attending practice on additional days (if you don't already do 5 days/week) or attending open gym and completing a set practice assignment (no just showing up and playing).
6. Girls sent from practice for a discipline infraction are counted as absent. At our first meet our top girl didn't compete because she had been sent from practice for talking.

Eeeks is all I can say!

 

[gymgal]

have you talked with the hc or owner about the days you are worried about missing for school events? if they are required by the school, they may be excused by the gym. also, as for the 3 days/mth, if you have an average of 20 practices a month, thats about 85% attendence policy. thats better than most gyms, which is usually 90%. i also question how strict they really will be for girls who consistently show up for practuce except for the occasional absence. i really believe attendence policies are to take care of the habitual repeaters.

 

[Tbrov]

There is no official attendance policy at our gym, but if you miss practice the week prior to a meet there's a good chance you won't get to compete (unless there are extenuating circumstances, and you do a private make-up if required). Meet fees are part of the annual fee, except for qualifying meets such as Regionals, and if you miss a meet you would not get a refund. Being able to compete is based on safety and skill consistency, so if you miss too much you wouldn't get to compete because you wouldn't have been able to show that you have the skills (girls have to do a certain number of clean routines to qualify to compete the event, and you pretty much need to be there every day to get the number needed). And parents pay the same monthly fee whether kids show up or not. So... I think there are some girls who miss more, and you see it during the season when they only get to compete one or two events. Then there are other girls who show up every day, even when injured. I do think it's self selecting, because girls who miss a lot fall behind, and then quit, and also parents don't want to pay the money if they are not getting to compete. It's more a part of the culture than a stated gym policy.

 

[Tbrov]

I forgot to add that we dropped other extra activities pretty early on. Gym and school are it for us. I think Excel is great for girls who want more balance in their lives; JO gets really intense - more and more so the higher the level. There is just no way we could do more without having melt downs every single night.

 

[emilykatherine]

It's not really strict at my gym, but if you're not coming or are late they like to know. I missed the whole week before state and still compete. In fact tonight I was told to go home because I lost my voice and looked like I was dying apparently

 

[Canadian_gym_mom]

I've never experienced an attendance policy, but like some others have said:

It's almost impossible to keep my daughter home from school or gym even when she is sick... But I do.

We do not take any vacation during the competition season because we have committed to her training.

There are 2 weeks off in summer and a week off during Christmas that we have available for vacation that we use.

My daughter just doesn't get sick very often, and I think that is because of her extremely healthy lifestyle and diet.

She also attends a high performance athlete school that caters to many different sports and schedules, so school functions do not play a role in the potential for missing gym.

This all being said and as our personal family commitment to our daughters sport, I get that there are gymnasts and families that don't want or are unable to make such a commitment. I think expectations should be laid out prior to signing on to the team, and if they aren't conducive to your family, then you don't sign. A gym that hides the expectations for attendance until you have signed up, well then maybe you need to reconsider the gym.

 

[OzZee]

4. Absences for documented illness/injury and required school events do not count as absences. However, if the gymnast doesn't have an explicit "cannot practice" from a doctor, she is still expected to come to practice and do what she can (judged by the coach, which is the only part I actually disagree with since what he considers safe for someone with an injury and what I would consider safe are really different).

Great so a kid with a cold either has to go to the doctor or go to gym and infect everyone else!!!!!

 

[COz]

^ Do that a few times and perhaps the policy will change

 

[aerials]

Great so a kid with a cold either has to go to the doctor or go to gym and infect everyone else!!!!!

That's what I was thinking too. You could easily have a 24hr bug on Monday and be fine to compete on Saturday, but this would violate the "policy".

 

[gasrgoose]

Wow--I'm envious of those of you without a policy. I keep meticulous track of my daughter's attendance so that we don't run afoul of the following policy. I'll note that this is a team of just level 3 and 4 gymnasts, about 25 total who practice 3-5 times per week at varying times each day (minimum days per week are defined by level and beyond that girls take what the family can afford to pay for and what works in their schedule). We pay meet fees for the season upfront with a "no refund" policy plus monthly tuition. My own daughter has just moved from 4 to 5 days a week so that we can qualify for a independent study PE waiver from her school.

1. Absence for any reason the week (7 days) before a meet disqualifies from competing.
2. No more than 3 weeks of vacation for family vacation, camps, etc. This is in addition to the 4 weeks per year the gym is closed entirely (Christmas week and such). These must be scheduled in advance and approved.
3. No more than 5 (for girls who go 3 days/week), 7 (4 days/week) or 9 (5 days/week girls) other absences during the year.
4. Absences for documented illness/injury and required school events do not count as absences. However, if the gymnast doesn't have an explicit "cannot practice" from a doctor, she is still expected to come to practice and do what she can (judged by the coach, which is the only part I actually disagree with since what he considers safe for someone with an injury and what I would consider safe are really different).
5. All absences must be made up -- either by attending practice on additional days (if you don't already do 5 days/week) or attending open gym and completing a set practice assignment (no just showing up and playing).
6. Girls sent from practice for a discipline infraction are counted as absent. At our first meet our top girl didn't compete because she had been sent from practice for talking.

Great so a kid with a cold either has to go to the doctor or go to gym and infect everyone else!!!!!

Actually no, if the kid practices 5 days a week they are allowed 9 of these type days per year. 9 days out of practice just because is alot especially considering the following. 3 weeks of vacation and 4 weeks the gym is closed throughout the year. That is total of 8 weeks and 4 days the kid is not practicing. This sounds like a very generous attendance policy to me.

 

[kayjaybe]

It looks like a lot of the gyms with tighter attendance policies also seem to close for a period of time (or several periods) per year. I wonder if that is part of this -- they figure you can do vacations during that time.

While our gym will close for specific days (Xmas eve & day, NY day, Easter day, etc --- basically the major holidays), we don't have other shut-downs.

The only exception is we close for 1 week in the summer, but many of the girls attend Woodward with the team that week. So while we are closed, it is encouraged to attend the week-long camp anyway.

 

[Anna's_Mom]

It looks like a lot of the gyms with tighter attendance policies also seem to close for a period of time (or several periods) per year. I wonder if that is part of this -- they figure you can do vacations during that time.

While our gym will close for specific days (Xmas eve & day, NY day, Easter day, etc --- basically the major holidays), we don't have other shut-downs.

The only exception is we close for 1 week in the summer, but many of the girls attend Woodward with the team that week. So while we are closed, it is encouraged to attend the week-long camp anyway.

If your gym rarely closes, how do they keep things clean? Two of our closed weeks are done so that everything in the gym is thoroughly cleaned -- carpets cleaned or replaced, walls painted, all equipment inspected and such. The other weeks are mostly to keep the rec classes on an even schedule -- so the gym is likely to be closed for the entire week for Thanksgiving week so that the classes that meet on Mondays have the same number of classes in the session as the classes that meet on Thursdays. Especially since the vast majority of rec students are from the same school district, so the gym follows their holiday schedule. There are probably 500 rec students compared to 50 (boys and girls) on the team, so we end up following their schedule.

 

[skschlag]

Our gym gets cleaned nightly. Any replacements or deep cleaning is done Saturday afternoon or Sunday. Even if rec is cancelled, the teams are generally there!