Parents Coaches Backing Down To Parents?

[Sasha]

Well, I can sort of see why someone might complain about 6 or 7 a.m. start!! Especially the 7 a.m. after being there till 8:30 the night before??

That schedule's a bit odd...

When I read that schedule, I thought "I don't think they'd be able to retain any coaches with those early hours!" lol. Our gym doesn't open for anyone until 9am.

 

[cbifoja]

Yeah, that's not even 12 hours of recovery time. Kinda hard on a body.

 

[gymbeam]

oh gosh- the times aren't so bad to me as there being so many different times to keep up with!

 

[LJL07]

The 7 am and 6 am sound awful for compulsory level kids. and working parents?

Otherwise, I don't think families should sign up for competitive/club teams if they can't fully commit.

 

[mommyof1]

That schedule is just nuts. If you are going to do 6:00 a.m. practices, then you need to do them at the same time every day so the kids can get into a routine of going to bed early. And for young compulsory kids who need 10 hours of sleep a night, that would mean something like a 7:00 p.m. bedtime., which is not feasible for parents who get off work at 5:00.

 

[Bess]

I think what would drive me the most crazy about that schedule is trying to work around the vastly different hours each day. I could not imagine 5 different start times, how would you plan for life outside of gym? Forget having both parents working outside of the house unless your children had their own chauffeur. Give me all 7am's or all 3pm's or whatever. Even if you alternated days/times. But 5 drastically different? I couldn't keep track...add an assistant to the chauffeur on payroll

 

[gymdog]

I would leave over that schedule or at the very least not come Tuesday. That literally does not leave enough time for some little kids to get enough sleep. Some kids need more sleep than others.

Your coaches must be really busy because gymnastics coaches don't work before 9am unless there's a very good reason. I'd never wake up at 5am to coach level 5 in the summer. That's literally nuts.

 

[Deleted member 14190]

I would leave over that schedule or at the very least not come Tuesday. That literally does not leave enough time for some little kids to get enough sleep. Some kids need more sleep than others.

Your coaches must be really busy because gymnastics coaches don't work before 9am unless there's a very good reason. I'd never wake up at 5am to coach level 5 in the summer. That's literally nuts.

==
I SECOND THAT!

 

[Deleted member D3987]

i 3rd that!

 

[2G1B]

Yeah, my kids would likely miss both of those morning practices. Our gym is best case a 30 minute drive from our house. In the summers we live at our cabin and it is an hour and 15 minute drive from there. I wouldn't be willing to do that at all. Even if we just stayed at the house all summer, I still am not going to have my kids up and out of the house at 5:15 in the morning in the summer for compulsory level. Maybe if they make it to like level 9 or 10; but not level 4 or 5.

 

[kandkfunk]

If some of the other decisions your gym/coaches make are similar to that practice schedule, there may be a legitimate reason that people are often fighting those decisions. There is no way that schedule is healthy for any young kiddo, let alone an athlete. The first question my kiddo's doctor, who has a dual specialty in pediatrics and sports medicine, asks them is how much sleep they are getting. Younger kids need at least 10 hours per night and older tweens/teens could need more.

Interesting research just came out linking sleep deprivation to permanent brain damage. It's a thought provoking read.

Link Removed

 

[2G1B]

Oh, and definitely with 8:30 pm on one night and then 7:00 am the next morning... no way. Best case that would be my kids getting to bed at 9:15 and up at 6:00 (assuming they could get up and out the door in 15 minutes - which is doubtful). And realistically they likely wouldn't be in bed until closer to 10:00 since we walk in the door at 9:15 after their current 8:30 practices. That schedule is absolutely awful.

 

[curlymop]

That schedule is insane. I'd complain about the 6am and 7am start, too-- especially after ending at 8:30 the night before. That's an issue I'd leave the gym over.

 

[txgymfan]

I can't stand when practice for a level is at different times and days. For the lower levels I wish the schedule could be MWF or TTHS as much as possible to allow for another fun activity on alternate days for those that need or want it. I also want the times as consistant as possible. The body and mind gets used to doing certain activities at certain times and I don't like anyone mixing up my sleep schedule.

 

[3LittleGymmies]

I assume that the early mornings are 1) so they can have the equipment and 2) a test of commitment maybe? It's not a huge gym.. two full sets of bars (and one extra high bar over a pit), one floor, two vault tables, etc. So with every level needing practice time and the gym running rec "day camps" every day, all day.. I am assuming that is a big part of it. There is also no a/c, so maybe that is another part of it. Either way, I have no issue at all with parents deciding what is best for their child and missing practices if that is the case. But there is a trend of convincing the coaches to change how they do a lot of things (not doing 3 day meets because they *may* need to miss school, ending practices even earlier before meets even if we are not in the morning, etc) that are not unreasonable to begin with, instead of just worrying about their own child, that bugs me... because they present it as it's what "the parents", collectively, want. If I had an issue with the schedule, I may not send my child... but I would never think to complain relentlessly until they change it or take away hours entirely for everyone.

 

[3LittleGymmies]

And thank you all for your responses... an interesting read for sure!

 

[2G1B]

In general I agree; but honestly that schedule is awful. There has to be a way to do it with out resorting to that type of schedule. Between my 3 I will be at the gym 5 days per week This summer with a crazy schedule that I don't love. But that is what I get for having 3 kids in the sport. With only 1 I really would be annoyed about that different time each day. And those mornings are crazy.

I'd also be frustrated with too many 3 day meets. Our poor level 3s ended up with 3 Friday mornings. That really stinks.