Parents Do you let your child go with coach to big meets?

[skschlag]

Oh, parents can watch. It is an awesome weekend for gymnasts, parents and coaches. Seminars, workshops, etc. Very beneficial for all!

 

[Deleted member D3987]

and let me clarify something if you will. the "chance" of "something" happening is very low compared to the chance of injury, asthma attack, sudden illness, etc; i have been in these situations with my own athletes as well as witnessed others in the same predicament. always best to have parents there. i have a responsibility to my entire team for competition. understand?

in the case of the Ranch or the OTC in Colorado Springs, there are personnel on duty for these kinds of things so coaches can still tend to their other athletes. and under NO circumstances will any "funny business" be taking place at these 2 locations.

 

[Anna's_Mom]

And we are grateful that the chances of things going wrong, in any way, are low. But given that they are not non-existent is the reason that there should always be more than one adult available, especially in situations where there are multiple athletes involved. Be that coaches, parents, facility staff or someone else. For everyone's sake, this would seem to be basic safety 101.

I suppose a single athlete traveling with a single coach (no parents) MIGHT be acceptable if they would be housed in separate locations and all interactions between coach and athlete would be in a public place -- airport/plane, shuttle bus transfer, gym facility, dining hall, etc. AND the housing situation was such that it would be near impossible for coach and athlete to be alone together. And even then, I'd probably still be very leery of the situation. And of course this assumes that the facility would then have adequate staff to deal with medical emergencies and such.

But still, being asked not to go would raise all sorts of questions in my head as a parent, not the least of which would be "what am I doing that is impeding my athlete that the coach would want me elsewhere?" But then, I'm the paranoid type to begin with.

 

[profmom]

And no coach, no matter how dedicated or invested, will work quite as hard as a parent to do things like find . . . important things . . . that have been misplaced at the OTC.

 

[auswi]

And we are grateful that the chances of things going wrong, in any way, are low. But given that they are not non-existent is the reason that there should always be more than one adult available, especially in situations where there are multiple athletes involved. Be that coaches, parents, facility staff or someone else. For everyone's sake, this would seem to be basic safety 101.

I suppose a single athlete traveling with a single coach (no parents) MIGHT be acceptable if they would be housed in separate locations and all interactions between coach and athlete would be in a public place -- airport/plane, shuttle bus transfer, gym facility, dining hall, etc. AND the housing situation was such that it would be near impossible for coach and athlete to be alone together. And even then, I'd probably still be very leery of the situation. And of course this assumes that the facility would then have adequate staff to deal with medical emergencies and such.

But still, being asked not to go would raise all sorts of questions in my head as a parent, not the least of which would be "what am I doing that is impeding my athlete that the coach would want me elsewhere?" But then, I'm the paranoid type to begin with.

All other things aside, and as I have clearly posted I do not dismiss them- any chance even if very small is too high-Every athlete does better with a supportive non- coaching adult present.

 

[auswi]

And we are grateful that the chances of things going wrong, in any way, are low. But given that they are not non-existent is the reason that there should always be more than one adult available, especially in situations where there are multiple athletes involved. Be that coaches, parents, facility staff or someone else. For everyone's sake, this would seem to be basic safety 101.

I suppose a single athlete traveling with a single coach (no parents) MIGHT be acceptable if they would be housed in separate locations and all interactions between coach and athlete would be in a public place -- airport/plane, shuttle bus transfer, gym facility, dining hall, etc. AND the housing situation was such that it would be near impossible for coach and athlete to be alone together. And even then, I'd probably still be very leery of the situation. And of course this assumes that the facility would then have adequate staff to deal with medical emergencies and such.

But still, being asked not to go would raise all sorts of questions in my head as a parent, not the least of which would be "what am I doing that is impeding my athlete that the coach would want me elsewhere?" But then, I'm the paranoid type to begin with.

All other things aside, and as I have clearly posted I do not dismiss them- any chance even if very small is too high-Every athlete does better

 

[auswi]

All other things aside, and as I have clearly posted I do not dismiss them- any chance even if very small is too high-Every athlete does better

Oops darn tricky phone has done its posty thing too soonLOL Every athlete does better with a supportive non- coaching adult present .

 

[Anna's_Mom]

And no coach, no matter how dedicated or invested, will work quite as hard as a parent to do things like find . . . important things . . . that have been misplaced at the OTC.

Although it doesn't apply for the OP, I don't think my daughter would ever agree to go to a meet, especially a travel one, without me -- she's currently terrified that she will start her period mid-meet. Nothing I can do will convince her that, even should that happen, it wouldn't likely by a huge flow and it would be easily dealt with. Mind you, she's 11, weighs less than 60 pounds and isn't likely to start any time soon. I've heard of gymnasts having fear issues, but this one isn't the typical one. Anyway, I cannot for the life of me imagine what would happen if she were with a male coach (1 of 3 of ours is male) and that should actually occur.

 

[suebee]

Do you know the story of Kayla Harrison, USA Olympic gold medalist in judo in 2012? She was sexually abused by her coach when they traveled together for international competitions from age 13 to 16.

Link here: http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/spor...s-healing-tough-love/51127236/1?fullsite=true

 

[auswi]

A good reminder to all parents/ carers of kids participating in activities that we have to stay vigilant , not only to protect our kids but to protect the reputations of hundreds of thousands of coaches and volunteers who give their time so generously around the world .

 

[curlymop]

Is your son good enough friends with any of the other regional qualifiers to stay with them? Regardless of all the concerns about misconduct (which I do take seriously), I just think that's a lot of pressure to be with a non-family authority figure 24-7 for the entire time he's out there. I don't know about your guy, but my guy works VERY hard to be on his best behavior when he is with his coach. He never lets his hair down, so to speak. That's fine for a practice, a meet, or even a very long couple of days of clinic, but he needs a little time to unwind and step off the stage, so to speak. Seriously, he would worry about whether his coach was critical of the way he brushes his teeth. For your guy, depending on his maturity and whether he has more trouble focusing with the fam around, I could see letting him go solo, but I think it is very important for him to have some down time when he's not expected -- or expecting himself -- to be on his absolute best behavior.

This is a good point. Even if I could somehow be 100% sure of my child's safety, I still wouldn't let him go alone with a coach, because I know he would feel like he could never really relax. I know that when I'm stressed about a big event and feel pressure to perform, I need to come home afterwards and completely turn off. I don't think my son would be able to do that as well if he were under the supervision of a coach rather than a parent. And maybe I'm a softy, but I think 12 is too young to expect a child to not need the comforting presence of his mom or dad after a high-pressure event like a big meet.

As for the safety issues and possible misconduct, it's just a bad idea for one adult to be alone with a child, no matter how unlikely it seems that the adult would do anything wrong.

 

[my4buffaloes]

It is the the one-on-one thing that bothers me. A bunch of coaches and a bunch of gymnasts? That would be fine. As a parent I do prefer to go though.