Is a gym club a business? Yes. However, the relationship between client and business where gymnastics clubs are concerned is a lot different than that of AT&T and its clients. I don't think the analogy fits.
The communication issue aside, here's how I see it when it comes to having the kids clean the gym as opposed to hiring janitors and parents thinking it's not their shared responsibility- that they pay tuition and that covers gym maintenance:
Having the kids clean the gym- whether it's once a year, once a month, daily, or each rotation, is more about character-building; not about the gym taking advantage of you and your kid(s) and making them do work that employees or hired cleaning crews should do. It's about taking ownership for what amounts to your second home; and taking responsibility for the actions of yourself and your teammates- making a mess; being inconsiderate and wasteful with the chalk.
I realize we're in America and not in Japan; and culture is different. However, when you read
One of our former gymnasts moved to Japan. At her gym there, every single day, the kids are required to spend an hour before practice even begins to clean the gym. It teaches a lot of those intangibles that don't get measured and reflected in meet results yet are invaluable investments in time and money paid to the gym: Learning respect, ownership, personal responsibility.
While out for my morning run to the park this cloudy morning, I was doing sit-ups at a station and watched a woman randomly picking up trash as she was walking. As she passed by me, I told her she was awesome and thanked her for the act and the inspiration. I was done running, and walked to the next station for push-ups, picking up some litter along the way. Not much of a trouble, either, considering there are trash cans conveniently placed throughout the park.
During summer and winter camp in previous years, other coaches and myself would on occasion, give a speech to the girls after noticing how not everyone was pulling her own weight in cleaning up after lunch. Some girls would be pretending to clean; or making a concerted effort to
not put in much effort. Other gymnasts would occupy cleanup time with mostly socializing.
And then there were the few teammates who were actually engaged in quality work on cleaning.
Is this fair to the teammates who are shouldering most of the workload? Does the job get done more efficiently when more people help or when less people help?
Is it ever fair when a person has to clean up after herself,
and the mess left behind by others? Who benefits? The person working hard, disciplining herself to do the right thing? The person being lazy and inconsiderate of others, not pulling her own weight?
When I phrase it in those terms, the answer is quite obvious.
The girls have been talked to as well, regarding the state of the gym, in general. At the end of the day, used athletic tape is discarded in a twisted mangle; paper wrappings to chalk blocks litter the floor by bars.
The gym is like a second home. How do you treat your home?
If you see trash lying around, do you pick it up? Or wait in hopes that the responsible party will return to do it, himself? Or trust that someone else will do it? Just not you?
When it's time to move mats, either to set up drill stations or clear some space; or to move mats to make it easier for the evening clean-up crew to do their job of cleaning up after us, I notice who is helping and who is not helping. Your coaches might not always say something. But they notice.
Have some character and integrity: Do the right thing. Clean up after yourself and others. Don't wait around for a coach to tell you; don't expect to be recognized or praised, either. Do it because it's the right thing to do- and do it
especially when you think no one is looking.
Take ownership of the gym. It reflects who we are. Respect it. Think of others. Don't expect the cleaning crew to do as good of a job as you can do. (And please take the time to thank them when you see them).
When you're at an away meet, how do you behave? Treat the host gym with more respect than you are willing to treat your own gym. How you act and behave is a reflection of the kind of athletes that are groomed at your gym- athletes who know how to conduct themselves on and off the competition floor. You represent yourself; but you also represent your family, your gym, your state, your country....the human race.
I once did an off-site for the gym. The rec director Laura was in charge. When it was time to pack it in after several hours of promoting gymnastics and making sure no children died on our obstacle course, Lara said something that made me proud of her and the gym:
"Clean up any trash you see. We represent the gym and our standard is to leave the premises cleaner than we found it."
When you are cleaning up, and doing so with enthusiasm and pride in doing it well, you are doing so much more than just cleaning up physical trash....
If everyone would clean up after their own mess, and the mess of others here and there, it would be a much cleaner world.
[/soapbox]
“There’s only one corner of the universe you can be certain of improving, and that’s your own self.”
~ Aldous Huxley (paraphrased)
. Any gym I have ever been a member of there is an expectation you wipe down the equipment you use.
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