Parents gym overcrowding?

[SPX]

I'm very new to this and would like some advice on how to handle this situation.

Background: we have been informed that the gym would like to advance our son to pre-team this summer. DS loves gymnastics and wants to do this. We are ok with the increased time and $ commitment but a bit concerned for his safety because of the schedule and some trends we have noticed over the past year. We like the gym and the coaches, they are well equipped and do a wonderful job working with the kids. It is a pretty big gym in a major suburban area.

The trouble: over the last year the number of rec classes offered has grown dramatically. This would be ok if the gym were expanding the hours of operation but it seems like they are just cramming more classes into the already crowded times (evenings) which overlap with the team and pre-team practice times. From what I can see the rec classes and the teams all share the equipment. There seems to be little advanced coordination of who will use which equipment when. I have seen the coaches working this out on the fly during class, which diverts their attention from the kids. This might be OK with the older kids but my son is 6. He is easily distracted by the 8 other 6- to 9-year-olds in his class and not always aware of nearby hazards. The schedule that just came out would have 7 rec classes (ages 4 to 15), 5 girls teams and 2 boys teams and the boys pre-team simultaneously. At a low estimate that is 140 gymnasts at one time, plus coaches. There are not well defined travel paths from one part of the gym to another. For example they end up walking across the runs for the vaults and squeezing past 4 or 5 beams to get from the bars to the trampolines and ropes. They have stopped running as part of their warm up because there is simply no room. Several other parents have been commenting on the crowding and diverted attention. The coaches and the gym are trying to work with the parents to retain as many boys as possible in the pre-team group. There are other times when the gym is less crowded. Even keeping the same time but changing from T, TH, Sat to M, W, F would mean dropping from 14 to 10 simultaneous groups.

So my questions are: is this kind of crowding normal? or am I right thinking this is an accident waiting to happen? I know at least one of the other kids parents would like a schedule change too. Should I ask the gym to consider this? If so how should I go about it? Any other suggestions?

I appreciate any feedback you might have. I don't want to be a pain, I know the gym has a difficult logistical balancing act.

 

[cbifoja]

The thing that would concern me is the lack of planning. We are a small gym and are very crowded until we build our new gym. But our HC spends so much time working out a schedule so that each level and each rec class has adequate time and space. I know it gives her a major head ache and sometimes she does miss a group and they have to share or wing it. But that is and should be RARE! I can't imagine that having coaches haggling over space/apparatus while a bunch of kids...especially active, wiggly boys...are just hanging around waiting. Sounds like a recipe for misbehavior.

 

[MILgymFAM]

Agree with above. Space at DDs' gym is crowded, but each group is on the schedule- it is in 15 minute blocks, all day, every day.

 

[Bess]

Sounds like our gym a bit as far as numbers are concerned. However, our teams and rec classes have very strict schedules that they adhere to and rotate events so as to avoid the issues you mentioned above. I think a lot of pre planning can go a long way

 

[GYM0M]

Managing large amounts of enrollment are difficult for some of the largest and most seasoned gyms. If these numbers are new, give them a bit to adjust. We have a large number of children enrolled, but classes run very smoothly. I'd say on any given day there are sometimes upwards of 150 kiddos at the gym. We have 70+ just on team & preteam. It kinda stinks sometimes, though.

 

[barcrawler]

Planning is key. My DD's rec classes are at the same time as team practices, so the gym is always packed. There is pretty much a group (team or rec) on every piece of equipment at the gym, and then they all rotate at the same time so there is no overlap. Clearly, they've planned it all out in advance.

 

[Fliptwisttumble]

Wow and I thought our gym was crowded.

I think it would also depend on the amount of overall space in your gym, how much equipment, etc. Our gym is crowded with 50 girls, which is an old refurbished single ice rink.

Our girls (higher levels/optionals) don't train at the same time as rec (most of our rec classes are in a second facility).

 

[Seeker]

I know that it is a delicate balance and takes a lot of careful planning to make it all work. Our former gym was very crowded, to the point that I was becoming very concerned about injuries (there were some in other groups), never mind the fact that there were issues gaining access to the equipment as needed. It is a concern though and I think that you're right to at least be thinking about these questions....they all go into what makes for a successful team experience. I would say that it probably doesn't matter as much for the lower-levels/younger kids, but it does matter as they move up in both level and age (they're bigger and learning harder skills so they need more space and more time on the equipment).

 

[gymmomx2]

Planning is key. My DD's rec classes are at the same time as team practices, so the gym is always packed. There is pretty much a group (team or rec) on every piece of equipment at the gym, and then they all rotate at the same time so there is no overlap. Clearly, they've planned it all out in advance.

Yes, it is the same at my dd's gym. I've never seen coaches negotiating equipment time on the fly, that would be unacceptable. Also there are very clearly defined paths for moving around the gym and all the kids learn that in their first lesson.

 

[SPX]

From reading other posts on here it seems our gym is a very big one. I actually counted the other night when the gym was busy but not crowded and there were at least 90 kids out there with plenty of space. So in retrospect, I think they could handle 150 if there were a bit more planning, especially with the little kids. GYMOM, you may be right, they may just need some time to sort it out after expanding the schedule. Also, it occurs to me that planning probably was not as critical while they were no where near capacity. Thanks for all your feedback and help. I appreciate having someplace to go to get some perspective. Learning how other gyms handle the crowded times provides some good ideas and I like being able to suggest some solutions not just bring up problems .

 

[twinmomma]

Our gym also has a lot of kids out on the floor at any given time, between the teams (compulsory, optional, xcel, acro, boys) and the rec classes. The compulsory groups start at 3:30, which gives them a decent hour and a half before the majority of the rec classes really get moving. The optional girls don't start until 5:30, and Xcel starts at 6. The staggering helps a lot, but once the evening rec classes start it can get a little crazy. But I've noticed that it's a controlled chaos. Every once in awhile there's a conflict and coaches are working out equipment scheduling on the fly, but the team coaches seem to have their set days for which apparatus they focus on and don't seem to have an issue. Usually it seems to be a matter of a team running long on an apparatus rather than a true conflict of scheduling. What seems to help is that the team kids will focus on two apparatus generally on a given day. So while L3 might be splitting groups between beam and vault, the L4 girls are doing bars and floor. It gets a little harried when the optional girls come in, but since the seasons are opposite, that helps a lot. My concerns have more been around adequate access DURING our team's time on the apparatus just because we have a lot of girls.