Parents Concerned

[cfriday]

This is my first time posting although I have been following for a couple of months now. I love this sight and thought that you may be able to provide me with some insight on whether I have cause to be concerned.

My DD is 9 years old and competed level 7 this year. She attends one of the most reputable clubs in the country but I am starting to be concerned about the level of supervision. We recently lost one of our head coaches and with Nationals and Olympics, our other two head coaches are focused on the older girls. Fair enough. But DD has been becoming increasingly frustrated because she and her other 2 teammates are mostly being left to their own devices with little supervision. This all came to head for me last night when she came home and told me that they were working on their Yurchenkos, by themselves on the vault. The head coach was on the other side of the gym and would only look over at them every few minutes.

Do I have cause for concern or am I helicopter parenting? I’m hoping that things will improve after the Olympics and I very much like and respect her coaches but in the meantime I’m concerned about safety.

 

[Deleted member D3987]

you're in Canada? ^^^

 

[profmom]

This all came to head for me last night when she came home and told me that they were working on their Yurchenkos, by themselves on the vault. The head coach was on the other side of the gym and would only look over at them every few minutes.

Level 7s? Full Yurchenkos with no one nearby? This would not concern me. This would scare the hell out of me, unless your gym does a heck of a lot more uptraining than my kids' does.

 

[cfriday]

Sorry, I should have said Yurchenko drills. They are not yet doing full Yurchenkos.

I'm going to talk to the coaches about my concerns tonight and see what their plan is going forward because I feel very uncomfortable.

 

[Canadian_gym_mom]

Proper supervision in the gym is so important. I agree that you should definitely be talking to the coaches and letting them know your concerns.

 

[cadybearsmommy]

Yes, you have good reason to be concerned, I would be a nervous wreck watching that! Let us know what they say!

 

[bookworm]

We left a gym because the focus was just on the Olympic hopeful and no one else...everyone was "coaching themselves" and things were just going south in terms of skills , and there was zero supervision of anyone but the one girl so we left....and couldn't be happier. Our experience was that it was not going to improve after the Olympics (if she makes it) because they were already talking about Rio!! With safety issues like you describe, I'd be gone.

 

[niklum]

I was a coach in a gym where the HC neglected to supervise the team girls, then reamed them for not doing what he wanted. My DD was one of those team girls and she begged to quit or go to another gym within a month. No matter how you paint it, it's wrong. The girls need supervision for their safety and so they'll master proper techniques. I'm curious to see what the coaches have to say.