- Mar 29, 2025
- 9
- 9
Is it ok for a head coach or any coach to accept vacations from parents? I ask because the head coach at our old gym (we just left due to other red flags) uses gymnasts vacation homes every year. I don't personally feel like it's ethical but wondering if there are any rules against it? The worst part is he doesn't even hide it from the other girls.
We left because the gym started making the teams and training groups so large that the girls stand around a lot during practice waiting on turns. The coaches have 10-15 min meetings with each other and other gym staff during practice, which also leaves the girls standing around. Girls, who do not have the gym required skills (a lot due to fear), are moved up to the next level even though the coaches tell all of the gymnasts they have to have certain skills by a specific date. Last year there were a lot of girls who had to scratch multiple events in one level because only a few of them had all the skills for all 4 events. The coaches ended up pushing the girls to compete all 4 events at the last competition before state so they could compete at state. All of those girls were moved up to the next level this year, and once again are struggling with the skills. My daughter's smallest training group was 10. They are so big the coaches aren't able to focus on the details and help the gymnasts make corrections. Last year my daughter was a level 5 and was told by the optional beam coach that her BHS was unacceptable for optionals because her legs were too bent (completely agree that she needed to correct it; it had been ok but then she went through a wonky phase and couldn't figure out what to do to fix it; no help from coaches; we researched drills and did them at home), but this year one of the girls, whose older sister is a favorite, has the same bent legs in her BHS and the beam coach tells her how great her BHS is. There are only 2 full time coaches. The others are part time and are consistently not there, and the girls get divided into only two groups of 15+.
We left because the gym started making the teams and training groups so large that the girls stand around a lot during practice waiting on turns. The coaches have 10-15 min meetings with each other and other gym staff during practice, which also leaves the girls standing around. Girls, who do not have the gym required skills (a lot due to fear), are moved up to the next level even though the coaches tell all of the gymnasts they have to have certain skills by a specific date. Last year there were a lot of girls who had to scratch multiple events in one level because only a few of them had all the skills for all 4 events. The coaches ended up pushing the girls to compete all 4 events at the last competition before state so they could compete at state. All of those girls were moved up to the next level this year, and once again are struggling with the skills. My daughter's smallest training group was 10. They are so big the coaches aren't able to focus on the details and help the gymnasts make corrections. Last year my daughter was a level 5 and was told by the optional beam coach that her BHS was unacceptable for optionals because her legs were too bent (completely agree that she needed to correct it; it had been ok but then she went through a wonky phase and couldn't figure out what to do to fix it; no help from coaches; we researched drills and did them at home), but this year one of the girls, whose older sister is a favorite, has the same bent legs in her BHS and the beam coach tells her how great her BHS is. There are only 2 full time coaches. The others are part time and are consistently not there, and the girls get divided into only two groups of 15+.
