Parents Has the whole world gone mad?

[Jenny]

Yes, in the UK in our region, it's the norm for the 'big' gym clubs. At the competition, I spoke to a few of the other mums and they all train those hours and take afternoons off school every week to fit it in. I think other regions are not so bad, but apparently ours is known for it... I wish it wasn't like this - I think the US system is better where there seems a greater flexibility for those coming through a little bit older...

The elite system in the US is probably even higher hours from earlier and a lot of home schooling. You can take more time in the non elite system which is exactly the same in the UK non elite system.

 

[TumbleTimes4]

I wonder if there would be a way to track the burnout rate from these kids or if someone is doing something or has done it? I imagine it’s gotta be high.

I’m also annoyed by the justification of “but she wants to be in the gym that much.” Maybe she does, but it’s your job as the parent to set healthy boundaries and protect their physical and mental health. My children would also love to eat ice cream every night for dinner, but I know that’s not healthy for them and don’t allow it.

 

[Jenny]

I wonder if there would be a way to track the burnout rate from these kids or if someone is doing something or has done it? I imagine it’s gotta be high.

I’m also annoyed by the justification of “but she wants to be in the gym that much.” Maybe she does, but it’s your job as the parent to set healthy boundaries and protect their physical and mental health. My children would also love to eat ice cream every night for dinner, but I know that’s not healthy for them and don’t allow it.

I agree with you so much. You can also turn it on its head and say 'my kid doesn't want to spend any time doing chores or going to school, but guess what I'm making the decision that they do that'. I have come to the conclusion that people know what they know and they they really don't want any of us telling them any different lol.

 

[Gymcoach93821]

It is what it is. It’s a choice. It’s a sport. Obviously trained coaches aren’t going to push the children until they burn out. Gyms have been doing long hours with young children for years. If they all burned out say over the past 5 years then people would obviously start to see a huge problem and reassess the hours. And then it’s the parents choice to let their child train those hours and help them to manage their time. Gymnastics is the best sport to learn time management. And if a parent chooses to put their child through it that’s their decision. We don’t really have a say in what other parents choose to do with their child. If parents want to let their kid eat junk food 24/7 or choose for them to be vegan. It’s completely up to them. There’s no negligence in allowing them to train the hours and the gym is providing large amount of hours which they wouldn’t if it was harming them. If a gym was training young children with overly excessive hours to the point where so many children were burning out. You would one hundred percent see the decline in that business.

 

[Gymcoach93821]

I wonder what these gyms and coaches are thinking putting such young kids in the gym that many hours. Do they view these young girls as nothing more than disposable sources of income? How can anyone with a solid coaching/exercise science background find this acceptable?

How can you say that. Seriously. If a gym is training kids so many hours to the point where they burn out than their income would be less as less years the kid would be training with them. Coaches and gyms are around to train and teach gymnasts it’s what they have chosen to do as their career. Not to mention usually if a child is doing more hours in the gym their costs per hour is less. So more hours wouldnt mean more income. More years the child is in the gym means more income for the gyms. And if a gym allowed them to train so many hours just for the money then they’d burn out and loose out on money.

 

[MILgymFAM]

It is what it is. It’s a choice. It’s a sport. Obviously trained coaches aren’t going to push the children until they burn out. Gyms have been doing long hours with young children for years. If they all burned out say over the past 5 years then people would obviously start to see a huge problem and reassess the hours. And then it’s the parents choice to let their child train those hours and help them to manage their time. Gymnastics is the best sport to learn time management. And if a parent chooses to put their child through it that’s their decision. We don’t really have a say in what other parents choose to do with their child. If parents want to let their kid eat junk food 24/7 or choose for them to be vegan. It’s completely up to them. There’s no negligence in allowing them to train the hours and the gym is providing large amount of hours which they wouldn’t if it was harming them. If a gym was training young children with overly excessive hours to the point where so many children were burning out. You would one hundred percent see the decline in that business.

The rate of attrition in gymnastics is staggering. Of course kids burn out- when they have to choose between sport and a life it’s no surprise. The thing is that there are always replacements. It’s not really a business model built on longevity as turnover.

And just to be clear, if a parent went on a forum and said their kid really loved to play video games and eat chicken nuggets 20-30 hours a week while taking shots of espresso.. well I would tell them how unhealthy that was too. Sure, your kid equals your choices, but don’t ask opinions if you just want an echo chamber.

 

[Gymcoach93821]

The rate of attrition in gymnastics is staggering. Of course kids burn out- when they have to choose between sport and a life it’s no surprise. The thing is that there are always replacements. It’s not really a business model built on longevity as turnover.

And just to be clear, if a parent went on a forum and said their kid really loved to play video games and eat chicken nuggets 20-30 hours a week while taking shots of espresso.. well I would tell them how unhealthy that was too. Sure, your kid equals your choices, but don’t ask opinions if you just want an echo chamber.

But the original post never said she has a kid that does a large amount of hours in the gym. It was a blatant there are younger gymnasts doing so many hours at the gym let’s all talk about how negative that is.

 

[Mish]

But the original post never said she has a kid that does a large amount of hours in the gym. It was a blatant there are younger gymnasts doing so many hours at the gym let’s all talk about how negative that is.

Yes, I wrote the original post. I did make a caveat for the girls/gyms who are really working toward an achievable goal.. My problem is with the competition-like atmosphere of some parents who boast that their 6 y.o. lv 2 is making the jump from 9 to 24 hours next year', and then ask what everyone thinks of that. Then you get all of the comments of hundreds of parents of 7 y.o. phenoms who go to the gym upwards of 25 hours a week. Plus privates, plus TOPS. Ummm OK, seems excessive to me. I am entitled to my opinion; I've seen littles burn out with less than that.

 

[beachgirl]

I joined that group to see what you were talking about. I lasted 2 days and had to drop that. Crazy is right for the name.

 

[TumbleTimes4]

Obviously trained coaches aren’t going to push the children until they burn out.

With everything that has come out in the past twelve months about abusive coaches who are well trained “pushing” their athletes, I’m going to disagree with you.

Teams are not where they make their money, it’s the rec programs, so they probably don’t care too much about burnout if gyms are allowing such high training hours. My guess is they are making enough money off of all the private lessons and rec programs that a high burnout rate isn’t really affecting their bottom dollar, especially with the boost they get from the Olympics every four years.

 

[Gymcoach93821]

With everything that has come out in the past twelve months about abusive coaches who are well trained “pushing” their athletes, I’m going to disagree with you.

Teams are not where they make their money, it’s the rec programs, so they probably don’t care too much about burnout if gyms are allowing such high training hours. My guess is they are making enough money off of all the private lessons and rec programs that a high burnout rate isn’t really affecting their bottom dollar, especially with the boost they get from the Olympics every four years.

It’s so sad that a few wrong coaches make parents place all coaches in a negative view as a whole.
But that exactly what I mean. Their not making money from more hours of training so to say their being money hungry for that reason is wrong as they make their money from rec

 

[RTT2]

It’s so sad that a few wrong coaches make parents place all coaches in a negative view as a whole.
But that exactly what I mean. Their not making money from more hours of training so to say their being money hungry for that reason is wrong as they make their money from rec

Your arguments contradict each other. You say coaches wouldn't push high hours inappropriately because it would cost them lost revenue down the line, then you say they wouldn't do it because it doesn't earn them much money in the first place.

No one has said they view all coaches in a negative light, but I think blindly trusting that coaches all have the kids' best interests at heart is foolish. It seems like with social media there is a lot of cachet among parents and gyms to have young girls doing very high hours and wowing the internet with big tricks. Many parents here have expressed that they feel this might not be ideal for very young girls. Obviously, parents can choose to do this, but it doesn't mean it's a good idea.

 

[John]

@Gymcoach93821 My thoughts on the subject. Team success is the marketing tool used to attract young potential gymnasts and their eager parents. So the desire to have state and regional champions can lead a coach/gym/owner to attempt to win at any cost.

 

[MuggleMom]

While I bet there are bad coaches that sell Olympic dreams at high hours I am sure that there are also crazy parents that are a contributing factor as they push for the higher hour groups and private lesson etc. Coaches may not be the driving force I have seen our gym try and push back on the higher hours with some kids only for the parents to push through and get their kids in what they believe to be the best group. If they are on this facebook page seeing Suzie Q is doing 24 hours at 6 years old they might think why isn't my future Olympian on the same track and push at their gym for the same thing. I am sure some coaches may just get tired of hearing from the crazy parents. Parents get uber competitive and in that mentality number of hours is just as high a status symbol as competition level.

 

[kitkat]

I know some kids that are age 9 and 10 doing 30+ hours. Unfortunately the coach has IMO planted a fairy tale romance to these parents.
Sadly they do not understand the power of burnout. Having been there with Alex and her coach training her 30+ hours, 3 days of lift, on line courses. It was just too much.
Burn out is real... quality of training should over power quantity of time at the gym.
Keeping up this pace no matter how much you think your gymnast love it will be tough.

 

[TumbleTimes4]

While I bet there are bad coaches that sell Olympic dreams at high hours I am sure that there are also crazy parents that are a contributing factor as they push for the higher hour groups and private lesson etc. Coaches may not be the driving force I have seen our gym try and push back on the higher hours with some kids only for the parents to push through and get their kids in what they believe to be the best group. If they are on this facebook page seeing Suzie Q is doing 24 hours at 6 years old they might think why isn't my future Olympian on the same track and push at their gym for the same thing. I am sure some coaches may just get tired of hearing from the crazy parents. Parents get uber competitive and in that mentality number of hours is just as high a status symbol as competition level.

I completely agree with you. As long as those types of parents exist, it will be difficult to change the culture I think. There are some parents that will pay coaches for gold medals no matter the cost to their child.

 

[Jenny]

It is what it is. It’s a choice. It’s a sport. Obviously trained coaches aren’t going to push the children until they burn out. Gyms have been doing long hours with young children for years. If they all burned out say over the past 5 years then people would obviously start to see a huge problem and reassess the hours. And then it’s the parents choice to let their child train those hours and help them to manage their time. Gymnastics is the best sport to learn time management. And if a parent chooses to put their child through it that’s their decision. We don’t really have a say in what other parents choose to do with their child. If parents want to let their kid eat junk food 24/7 or choose for them to be vegan. It’s completely up to them. There’s no negligence in allowing them to train the hours and the gym is providing large amount of hours which they wouldn’t if it was harming them. If a gym was training young children with overly excessive hours to the point where so many children were burning out. You would one hundred percent see the decline in that business.

I have to disagree with you too. I think your attitude is extremely naive. When you have been around as a parent and coach as long as I have I can tell you unequivocally that there are many many reasons why coaches push young children into high hours, some well meaning and some self serving. There is an endless stream of hopefuls to replace the burn outs. Throwing high hours at young talented children will get you so far. Their success impresses. Other people buy in to the dream. The stream continues. Very few might get to senior at top level but no one really notices. There are endless excuses to why (usually blaming the child). And I actually think it is negligence to provide/ allow children to do something which might harm them down the line. It is an interesting debate and savvy coaches are learning more and more how to handle such things. Gymnastics needs big hours, but when to start that and how to structure it is the issue to solve.

 

[LJL07]

With everything that has come out in the past twelve months about abusive coaches who are well trained “pushing” their athletes, I’m going to disagree with you.

Teams are not where they make their money, it’s the rec programs, so they probably don’t care too much about burnout if gyms are allowing such high training hours. My guess is they are making enough money off of all the private lessons and rec programs that a high burnout rate isn’t really affecting their bottom dollar, especially with the boost they get from the Olympics every four years.

That’s exactly right, and they will find a brand new talented 7 year old to do 30 hours per week in the blink of an eye. A sucker is born every minute!

 

[txgymfan]

I just keep reading the thread title and thinking Yes, the whole world has gone mad. At least significant parts of the US have.

 

[bogwoppit]

@Gymcoach93821 way too many awful coaches out there who totally take advantage of the situation. It takes more than over zealous parents to create a burned out child. In the 10+ years of running this place I have lost count of the number of "super talented" kids who have come and gone due to crazy coaches allowing ridiculous hours and privates in addition.

To say it doesn't happen is really disingenuous.