Women Have you ever seen this happen!?

[Lilly]

I would love to know if any of you have encountered this in your gyms; I can not fathom why this is difficult to understand: We OFTEN have parents who are very angry because they want their child to work out with the team but not actually be on the team. In other words; "please let me come to one team practice per week and prorate tuition for me because I don't want to devote to team but I don't want to be in a rec class of any sort". When told no, they insist we are kicking them out of the program, to which of course we respond that the child has been invited to the team and it is their decision to not be a part of it wholly. Have any of you experienced this? Has anything worked to explain the absurdity of such a notion? Thank you so much!

 

[AgingHippie]

Wow, no words.....

 

[cadybearsmommy]

I can definitely see how it's frustrating for both sides. Sometimes you have a family whose kid loves gymnastics and is very talented but is getting bored in rec classes and the family just doesn't have the financial resources and/or the time to commit. Our gym has a program for girls in this situation, they call it an in house team. They work out about the same number of hours as a pre team would and they work higher level skills. It seems to be a happy compromise for most. Some of them have come over and joined team later when their families were able to do so. I think some girls who have been on team have even dropped back to this program b/c team was just too much for their families. It's a small program only 6-8 girl I believe and their is some range in their skills but with the small size the coach is able to work individually with each girl. They do small in house exhibitions from time to time, not scored just for fun and to give them a chance to perform.

I can certainly understand why girls whose family is not ready to commit to team cannot be allowed to train with the team, but if you feel like there might be a demand for this type of thing at your gym, it could be a great option. Gives the girls a chance to continue to grow in the sport without such a high level of commitment and also keeps them in your gym. =)

 

[Gymmommy71]

I hate to use the word never, but I think I can confidently say that our gym would never allow such a thing. We pay too much for boosters both financially and in volunteer hours (above and beyond tuition), that I think too many people would flip if someone who wasn't a booster member got access to our team training.

If someone wanted gymnastics training on all 4 events that was at a higher level than our highest Rec class (which does go up to level 5'ish skills), I think our gym's response would be "you need to pay for privates".

 

[2G1B]

We actually have a few girls who work out with team for most of the year but don't compete. They are all on their high school teams and only want to compete high school; but have to stay in shape the other 9 months of the year. They don't do quite full hours for the upper level girls... Maybe 8-12 hours per week. I'm sure that they likely pay more per hour than those of us with kids doing full team. I don't have a problem with it, especially since they don't practice with us at all during most of meet season, since they are with the highschool practices then.

 

[Deleted member 14190]

No but sometimes people cannot financially commit to team so making up another excuse to leave is much better....

 

[Sasha]

I would love to know if any of you have encountered this in your gyms; I can not fathom why this is difficult to understand: We OFTEN have parents who are very angry because they want their child to work out with the team but not actually be on the team. In other words; "please let me come to one team practice per week and prorate tuition for me because I don't want to devote to team but I don't want to be in a rec class of any sort". When told no, they insist we are kicking them out of the program, to which of course we respond that the child has been invited to the team and it is their decision to not be a part of it wholly. Have any of you experienced this? Has anything worked to explain the absurdity of such a notion? Thank you so much!

Are these children that are 'graduating' from Rec, and so there is nothing more that your gym offers for their abilities? Do they want to compete on a team but not practice as many days (like Xcel permits)? I assume you don't have an Xcel program to direct them to?

If you are getting a lot of demand for higher level skills training in your gym, perhaps it is possible to add a class/stream that is between Rec and JO team?

There was one girl who wanted to work out with Xcel team but not compete (due to nerves, only 8 years old at the time). They let her do that for one season (hoping she would mature and want to give competition a try), but when she didn't, they sadly told her she would have to change to Rec. I understand both sides. The team is a team, and they compete together - that's what a team does. I was sad for the girl who loved her team mates and gymnastics, though, and was quite skilled and focused (fit better with team kids), but just was scared to death and couldn't be talked into competing. So she quit.

 

[Deleted member D3987]

yep. common.

 

[azara]

I'm leaning towards the side of the gymnast here. I'm teen getting bored in the "teen" class because it's very easy and I'd really like to go into an actual (low) levels class - not necessarily compete, but do harder skills with more focus. The problem is that as I'm in my last year of school, I'm very busy with work and can't commit to the hours required per week, even though they're totally reasonable for younger girls. I do a tumbling class too, which is more my ability level, but it's only for one hour once a week and I'd like to do more - just not as much more as levels requires. Why is it so inconvenient to have someone train, but not compete?

 

[Deleted member D3987]

for a million reasons that you can't understand because you are not a coach. i mean that nicely.
and in most gyms worldwide, there are barely enough coaches to service the kids that we are coaching.

 

[azara]

@dunno - I understand this if the class was a one-level class, or a high-level class. But we're talking the level 1-4 class. Everyone is already at different levels and improving at different speeds, so I don't think wanting the team to progress together applies here. I do understand that a serious gym with a serious "team" should be more committed, but we're not a serious gym and it's not a serious team, just a low level mixed class. If there's any other reasons, I'd love to hear about them, because I'm always open to learning

 

[CCGymbug]

As a team parent who spends hundreds of dollars a month for my child to train, having more bodies in the group means less time for coaching kids who are compeating Azara. My DD is level 3. You are not thinking about the am out of kids who are training at the same time needing the equipment. If an owner makes 1 or 2 exceptions there are 10 more people who would want the same. So you need to look at the issue of space, equipment, coaching. We do have a couple of kids on our team who only do in-house meets because of financial restrictions but they still pay the same coaching fees etc.

 

[Aussie_coach]

This is only an issue if the gym does not offer classes that allow recreational gymnasts to reach higher levels.

Many gyms only offer rec classes teaching novice-intermediate level skills. Then once kids hit that ceiling many gyms only have team as an option to move onto more advanced skills.

If gyms offered advanced rec classes this will no longer be an issue.

 

[BachFlyer]

My younger dd is in this boat. She has exceeded the skills taught in rec, even their advanced rec. She has the skills to be excel gold, but i can't afford the Leo/booster/comp fees for her to compete, because her older L10 sister already costs me an arm (and two legs). She could take another rec class, but she's bored and it's a waste of money since she really wants to work on bars and vault, but they mostly focus on tumbling which she has L6 skills on. But unfortunately, even if we pay team tuition, she can't opt out of the competing part. I get it, the team is a team, but sure is hard for our family!

 

[IreneKa]

I agree with those who said that if there is a demand there should be a solution. If it happens "OFTEN", as stated in the original post, why can't you organize a class for those kid, something in between rec and team? Is there a pre-team in the gym, Xcel? You can't be mad at those parents, if you don't offer them any alternatives.
Our gym doesn't really have pre-team, the kids start competing at level 1. And we do have girls sometimes working out with level 1-2, but not competing. I don't see any harm in that, if they pay their tuition, and there are enough coaches. Of course I'm not saying to let the req kids practice with L9-10, or even 4-5. But levels 1-2-3 are just a little above req skill-wise, but with a lot more focus. I can see why the kids who are bored in req classes would want to practice in those groups, while not being able to commit to competitions for whatever reason, whether those are financial reasons, or maybe they are just not ready.

Someone might remember me posting a few months ago about a friend's daughter wanting to practice with Xcel bronze team, but not ready to compete. Back them she just started team and just wasn't ready for competitions yet. Now 6 months later she is getting ready for her first meet in March. She now has all the skills, knows all the routines, and is a lot more confidant. Why pressure someone into competing if they are not ready? We have another girl who started at about the same time, but was competing right away. She came in dead last in every meet. I just don't see how it could be good for girl's confidence or for gym's reputation.
I know it's not exactly the same situation as in original post, but I thought I would update on that girl, since so many took the time to respond to my post back then.

 

[GymCMLA]

I think many gym who have the space, the faculty/coaching and the demand make classes for these kids (many names for them Educational invite, preschool invite, Bronze/Silver/Gold/Plat/diamond ed classes, rec teams) At our old gym, there were 6 levels of rec gym (beg, int, adv, EI I, EI 2, EI 3) and were split into 1-3 grades, 4-6 grades and 7+. The rec team was from the EI 2-3 program IIRC.
Current gym has rec team and many invitational classes as well to keep kids developing and loving gym.
I will say dd's dance studio does a great job providing the highest level of dance training to everyone even if they aren't on comp team and we appreciate that b/c there's no way to do dance and gym both competitively at her age/level or my budget.

 

[cbifoja]

DD's former HC would tell anyone who wanted to train with team but not compete that they could not. She said that it was distracting to the other kids who needed to be in a mindset of preparing for competitions. She said that no matter how serious or hard working a non-competing gymnast was, that they just weren't in that same state of mind.

As a mom, I agree with consig. Depending on the size of the program, one or two extra girls can mean less time for team members and since I am paying for a team experience, then I want my child to have all the turns that she can fit into her practice.

At our new gym, I can't see how it would even be an issue. Our rec gym and team gym are housed in separate facilities. Even the Xcel program doesn't practice at the team gym. And adding another girl wouldn't affect turns since the gym is so big but team coaches are expensive and I would sort of resent paying what I pay for these coaches and then another parent paying a fraction for the same level of expertise.

 

[Vivianflips]

My gym has a rec team so this isn't as much of a problem. They learn level 3+ skills and only practice 1 1/2 hours a week so it's a great option for those that can't commit to more. They also use the gym when team isn't practicing so they have access to all of the equipment.

 

[LizzieLac]

This is essentially why we open Xcel Bronze to any rec child who wants more gym but not a big commitment. Our hours for bronze are a low commitment (and still very flexible), low cost compared to any other Xcel or JO level, and even meets are more flexible in terms of attendance, closer and less expensive.

As the parent of a child who is coming back from an injury and needs solid coaching to regain skills lost during her recovery, and at a gym where we are low on coaches to begin with, inviting a rec kid to a team practice just means exponentially less coaching for my kid.

All that being said, I don't know that this has ever happened at my gym. Also, you wouldn't really see that happen in other sports. A baseball team is a baseball team. There are tryouts for anything beyond rec. You make a team based on the tryout. Practice for that travel team isn't just "open" to anyone who wants to play more baseball.

 

[Lilly]

The problem isn't that the students have nowhere to go; they have access to recreational classes and are able to work on progressing through skills. These people are demanding to be on team and want to COMPETE and they only want to compete in the J.O. program, but want to come for part of 1 or 2 practices per week and pay for only that. I am just so surprised that this is reasonable sounding to them.