WAG Gymnast and coach meet behavior

[Sari]

1. Unless I'm judging at the session my gymnasts compete in, they absolutely get a high five!

2. Uhm, no clapping here, but my team always high-fived / "high-tenned" (haha) eachother after a routine.

3. No clapping, no candy after the meet! Just kidding, I do try to encourage clapping and as a coach I certainly clap the loudest whenever my team or one of my gymnasts makes the podium!

 

[gymratmom]

Our coaches high five/fist bump at every routine.
The girls cheer during routines, especially on floor, yell out c'mon or you got this before tumbling passes. This year they have started mimicking the dance moves while a teammate performs. We have always encouraged our daughter to do this and she watches a lot of college meets and loves that team mentality. I assume our coaches encourage it also since everyone does it.

 

[profmom]

One of DD's teammates has a section of her floor music where they all clap along in rhythm.

 

[cbifoja]

DD's coaching hug, back pat, or high five everyone. The girls cheer for each other and do the "signature" moves with them during routines along with the "you got this" encouragement.

I've not really noticed teamwide clapping during awards on our team or really any other team. Mostly teams and parents just acknowledge the gymmies from their teams. I don't mean it out of disrespect, it is just a bit much to clap for 9 girls over five events and four age groups. My hands begin to hurt after a bit.

 

[2gymnastand1soccerplayer]

1. I'm not super fond of the way one coach goes about this but he is an amazing coach and has helped wonders with my oldest dds gymnastics. It is very, he thinks you did the best you could you get a high five and a hug, if he thinks you could have done better or you weren't trying then it's a good job and move on to the next kid. Her other two coaches are complete opposite they are very I don't care how you did you went out there and tried your best you get a high five and a hug no matter what.They are also younger and haven't been competition coaching very long

2. Our optional team is very supportive of each other, at one competition in November we had the whole optional team ( not very big about 12 kids) + some ex gymnast at the meet running around to get the best view of each every routine and cheering each other on, I thought it was great team spirit.

3. Same as before we are very supportive team of each other, every time someone from our team places they cheer.

I'm not sure if this was taught or we just have kids who are great friends that like to see each other do well and achieve their goals.

 

[ErinEclectic]

My DD is on preteam, but she trains with the level 2s and 3s about half of the time. Sometimes, especially with vault, they all line up like at a meet and perform for each other in practice, cheering and clapping. In December we had a rec showcase and none of the rec kids made a peep at all but the preteam girls were cheering everyone in their rotation on, including the rec girls that ended up with them. It really gave a team vibe vs a class vibe and I thought it was really cool. Definitely something they've been encouraged by the coaches to do.

 

[Gymgem05]

1. Yes always a hug or high-five
2. Our girls aren't allowed to watch each other on beam or bars (one falls, they all fall mentality). But they do watch still congratulate each other on a job well done.
3. Coaches rule is that all girls sit together and show support/cheer for each other until awards are complete.

 

[suebee]

I think you all are confirming what I thought.

As much as the coach always tells the parents that the scores aren't important, especially at these lower levels, I don't feel like the coach actually encourages this with the girls. I guess I don't feel like a high-five or a hug or a "good job"from the coach after a routine is asking for too much, and I am wondering because the coach doesn't do this, if that encourages the girls to focus more on scores and placements.

I noticed at the last meet that a lot of these young girls were visibly upset at awards. Some girls who didn't score as well as usual were crying and some girls who often don't win medals were complaining that it isn't fair that they never medal, etc.

I would love to see more team camaraderie and support, but with these younger girls, I feel like it needs to be explicitly taught.

 

[wgymmom]

I have seen high-fives and hugs after a routine, but not from every coach, mostly just level coaches.

Yes, they are definitely encouraged to cheer for teammates. Our group is always audible! Teammates also often give hugs after routines. A photographer got some really sweet pics of that this year.

Cheering at awards... our girls are always "backstage."?

 

[profmom]

Cheering during/after routines is more important than at awards, IMHO, though good sportsmanship is essential during awards. Suebee, it sounds like your coaches and perhaps the parents may need to talk to the girls about being better sports. But I don't think there's any correlation between how a coach reacts to a routine and how girls/boys behave during awards, unless the coaches clearly only care about the score when it's flashed.

For our boys, though, nothing compares to the sheer ecstasy and delight on their faces on those occasions when they are announced as the first-place team. I have this set of pictures I love from the first meet where this happened for them last year -- they were so surprised. Traditionally, the banner or trophy travels home with a boy who did not win a medal, and he proudly brings it back to the gym.

 

[SignHere]

DDs gym is very team oriented. The girls line up and watch the other girls compete, they cheer for everyone. Coaches congratulate and have a talk with each girl after each event.

They also watch and cheer each other on in practice while running routines the week before meets. The coaches really encourage the team mentality.

 

[profmom]

Watching each others' routines and investing in each others' successes both at practice and in meets help to build the relationships that will sustain them when things get tough.

 

[SignHere]

Watching each others' routines and investing in each others' successes both at practice and in meets help to build the relationships that will sustain them when things get tough.

Definitely! I have noticed the girls at this gym ( DDs new gym) talk about " beating" other teams and girls from other gyms. At DDs old gym, the girls talked about " beating" each other. It was a friendly rivalry, but it was still there.

At the new gym, DD was the highest scoring girl from her team at the first meet of the season. Her teammates were thrilled for her placing / scoring so well. At her most recent meet, DDs new " gym best friend" won 1st place AA. DD was thrilled for her and happy that she herself placed second on beam. She was happy their team won 1 st place team award.

It is a really team focused gym and I think the COACHES work very hard to maintain that.

 

[kayjaybe]

One of dd's friends at gymnastics posted a pic of a bunch of them together and said this: Hate competing against them, LOVE competing with them!

I thought that was great and really sums up the team environment & spirit.

 

[stxrdusty]

Yes to all three things. Typically during routines (except for floor) my team would tone down cheering for teammates, but in general we are very vocal in our cheering for teammates. In fact, at travel meets our coaches make it a requirement that we go to most if not all of our teammates sessions as well and cheer them on from either the stands or move around with the rotation group on the floor, depending on how the meet's structured.We cheered for other girls in out rotation groups as well. Hugs and high fives between teammates and coaches always occur as well. During awards we are super vocal as well.

 

[flips123]

1) Double high five and a small hug.

2) My team cheers a lot. Not excessive, but we are obviously supportive of each other. Normally we cheer before the routine, before a tough skill and at the end of the routine.

3) We congratulate and cheer a little. Mainly a "woooo!!" type thing.

 

[Deleted member D3987]

a lot of this stuff is over rated but there needs to be some positive communication.

 

[3gymgirlsmom]

Coach does high five or the least smile and tell them they did great
And yes the coach does encourage team encouragement and team cheering on each other

 

[Faolmor]

Hugs and high fives from the coaches and everyone in the team at DD's gym, plus words of encouragement and advice from the coach. They make a particular point of encouraging team spirit and team behaviour, even in training. There are probably more than 30 coaches at DD's gym...and well over 200 kids across all programs, including Rec. I think most coaches in the gym would know the name of every single child at the gym - they always stop and say hi if you're just walking past. They always ask the kids how they're going. Love DD's gym.