Coaches Finding a gym

[Coachd]

Hi! I'm a coach who also has competitive gymnasts in the sport. I am looking for a new gym to attend and introduced myself in this way- that I am looking for a gym for my kids as well as myself. Gym owners have been very unresponsive- and I have always been offered a job in the past and met with enthusiasm with every inquiry! Do gyms just not want to have a coach with kids on the team-? Are gyms not needing coaches like they once did? Should I be inquiring only about my kids and not a job or leading with my resume and then mentioning my kids later? Any insight appreciated!

 

[Sury]

I was just talking to a friend and we were agreed that courtesy is not a thing anymore…. At least it feels that way. Sorry you aren’t getting any responses. Not sure were you are but out gym is hiring. It’s a newer gym owned by an ex Olympian, but starting from scratch. We have a small team and slowly but surely growing. We are in Hazelton PA and are looking to hire rec and team coaches. I hope you have luck in your search.

 

[ORgymmom]

One of my daughter’s teammates’ mom is a compulsory coach. It took her 4 gyms before she was offered a job at our gym, which is arguably much more competitive in terms of hiring and team tryouts. It was a newish gym at the time so I agree with the advice to find a gym that is just starting out. Owners at more established gyms sometimes get stuck in their ways or are afraid to upset whatever balance they have in place with their current coaches.

 

[Coachcoco]

Hi! I'm a coach who also has competitive gymnasts in the sport. I am looking for a new gym to attend and introduced myself in this way- that I am looking for a gym for my kids as well as myself. Gym owners have been very unresponsive- and I have always been offered a job in the past and met with enthusiasm with every inquiry! Do gyms just not want to have a coach with kids on the team-? Are gyms not needing coaches like they once did? Should I be inquiring only about my kids and not a job or leading with my resume and then mentioning my kids later? Any insight appreciated!

Are you a team coach? Only asking because maybe the gym owners are worried about bringing on a coach/gymnast duo because they could be worried about you showing favoritism or special treatment to your child. I've seen this happen at my own gym as well as heard stories from other gyms of this happening. Not trying to insinuate you would do this, but it could be a reason that you're not getting responses maybe?

 

[gymcoach34]

Hi,
This seems strange, bc every program I know of is desperately looking for experienced team coaches. I would expect a professional to apply for a position outright- and any discussion of children & their gymnastics needs would come after the fact. Are you looking in your local area? Are you applying for a job to coach your own children? Have you worked at a lot of gyms? When I see an applicant that has bounced around every year or two at a different program, its a a little bit of a red flag for me. I am not trying to be facetious, I'm just thinking of different scenarios that might make a gym owner cautious.

 

[Coachd]

Hi,
This seems strange, bc every program I know of is desperately looking for experienced team coaches. I would expect a professional to apply for a position outright- and any discussion of children & their gymnastics needs would come after the fact. Are you looking in your local area? Are you applying for a job to coach your own children? Have you worked at a lot of gyms? When I see an applicant that has bounced around every year or two at a different program, its a a little bit of a red flag for me. I am not trying to be facetious, I'm just thinking of different scenarios that might make a gym owner cautious.

Thanks for the reply. Honestly the gym owners who were unresponsive or stopped communicating did not even get to the point of finding out my experience. I inquired about the team, introducing myself and saying I'm looking first for a program for my gymnasts and then once we have taken trials and find the right place for them then I would love to talk about potential coaching needs they have. Fortunately I have now spoken to several gym owners who have been very responsive- so hopefully one will be the right fit for our family. But after being ghosted and not replied to/called back by two gyms it was becoming discouraging. There was one other gym that was not being responsive initially but they finally reached back out with an explanation. It was just odd- this has never been my experience as typically like you said everyone needs coaches.