Coaches Discipline options?

[ginnymac]

I agree with Aussie coach. I don't see the big deal about wearing shorts over a leotard at practice, especially the spandex/lycra shorts. It is very different for a young girl to deal with her period through a 3-4 hour practice as opposed to a meet. In a meet situation, you can use a bathroom in between events and make sure that every thing is OK. You are out on the floor/beam/bars/vault for under 2 minutes...in a practice I'm sure that you wouldn't want them to hit the bathrooms that frequently.

I'd say that like a parent, a coach (particularly a new coach) needs to "choose your battles". Doesn't seem to me that the shorts are your issue...they need to respect their coach. I just don't think that this is an issue that should cause the bumping of heads!!

 

[Linsul]

I worry about a rule of no crying in the gym. Crying, especially in female kids and teens is not a sign or weakness or a form of manipulation. It is often an essential release. Many females between the ages of about 10-16 have little to no control over their tears anyway. Their bodies have all these new hormones and they don't yet have the skills to deal with them.

Tears in the gym are often a sign of passion, a child would only cry if they really cared about what they were doing. A kid who doesn't care if they don't get that skill, or if their performance didnt go as well as it should have won't cry. A child who cares deeply about it will.

I have to agree with this. Not all girls cry, but in my experience the ones that have were having a moment with an inner demon regarding a skill. They also don't tend to draw it out from what I've seen, they actually wander away from the group for a moment. I said in another post that despite maturity and toughness, they are still kids and don't always have sophisticated coping mechanisms for frustration. They aren't 'weak' and only a distraction if you let every other athlete run over and quiz them on why they're crying. I'm all for giving them a few minutes to get it out, they usually come back better for it.

I personally believe that we push many kids out of the sport because of the leotard thing. It's not just a body image thing, but girls are experiencing mentruation often for the first few times. As an adult you deal with a period the same way you deal with anything, but for a young teen it is a very traumatic and complicated experience. Some kids will not be preprared to wear a tampon, some kids will not be allowed to wear a tampon, some will be far to frightened, others will wear one but fear it wont work. Most of these kids are so worried about their periods that they would prefer to sit the whole lesson out rather than face wearing just a leotard.

Sooooooo true. At a young age dress code vs. nature is an argument thats going to end in tears or a complex. A little consideration and empathy goes a long way into getting a kid who's new to their period back into a leo minus the shorts much faster than all the unwanted attention a conflict adds to the issue. As coaches we've all (hopefully lol) been through puberty and that experience should allow us to sympathize and overcome those issues with grace and dignity.