I really hate that some gymnastics coaches (and some teachers come to that) have this attitude towards parents. Who do they think pay the fees and drive the children there? Without parents, there is no club, therefore no job for them. And a lot of the comments are so insulting, rude and downright offensive.
We have had a variety of coaches over the years between both my dds, some good, some bad. I have noticed that it is the good ones who are quite happy to have a quick chat with the parents when they see them 'she had a good session today', 'a bit tired today', nothing major, just a feeling of working together. The unprofessional, lazy, biased coaches, (luckily not many of these!) were the ones who wouldn't answer even the simplest question, and would walk on past instead of saying a word or two, fostering an unpleasant atmosphere.
Why, if they think they are such a good coach, are they so defensive about parents watching occasionally (I'm talking once a month) or asking the odd question (maybe something the child is worried about before a competition but is too shy to ask the coach)? Because they are afraid they won't be able to answer them. A professional coach, confident in their ability, and knowing they spread their time fairly evenly and coach everyone in their group, has no need to be so unpleasant to, or about, parents. We want to work as a team with them and the other gymnasts for the good of our children, not to be at odds with everyone. At the end of the day many gymnasts are still young children, they get the wrong end of the stick at times, and can be very shy, or scared of being told off, so don't speak up themselves.
One of our dds has diagnosed communication problems, so we often had to have far more chats with her coaches than those of our other dd, who we pretty much drop and run, as she was unable to communicate effectively herself. It is precisely coaches like this one in the article who have driven her out of gymnastics. Like it or not, she needed her parents support as well as her coach's, she needed everyone to work together, and the majority of coaches were unable to cope with this. It's very disappointing as she truly loved the sport. Our other dd, although she is a bit shy, is able to cope pretty much by herself, so it's not so much of an issue for her. We did not 'interfere' for fun, or because we are crazy gym parents - but because for that dd there was no other choice. What a shame some coaches can't accommodate it.