Head coach missing meets

[superflipgirl]

Okay, I used to have 3 coaches, one of them just quit. I always realized that my head coach would be missing the meets that we prepared for for so long. I know that she has her own life, probably very busy, and I respect that. However, sometimes it greatly annoys me. The meet usually only goes well if she is there, one of the other coaches was very grumpy at meets, and believe me it was not a joy if she was the only coach there. The other one just sometimes seemed inexperienced at meets, it was kind of annoying because she didn't really know how to coach at meets and sometimes it could be really annoying. However, if the head coach is there, she seems to be the best coach at meets and everything goes well. But she misses coming to our meets a lot! Last year, a week before a meet, we found out that she wasn't going to be at the meet because she was taking her daughter bowling! I know she does like spending time with her family, and I respect that, but it seems pretty ridiculous to me if I think about her planning to go to this meet ahead of time and she cancels at the last minute because her daughter wants to go bowling and she has to take her the exact day of the meet! At the meet after that, we figured out a day before the meet that she was missing it because she was having company over. I can understand if it was planned before the meet was scheduled, but it makes me mad to think that she cancelled again at the last minute, when she could have had company over another day. And once this season, we find out during the week of the meet that she is going to be out all week because she is taking care of her children. This reason I do respect, but it still seems kind of unprofessional for a head coach to miss coming to so many meets. Really, I end up having a better time at meets when she is there. I know she has a life outside of gymnastics but does anyone have an opinion on this?

 

[cathiann]

I agree with you--I think part of the job of a coach is to be at meets--especially the head coach. I think it's unprofessional to miss so many meets--especially for reasons you've listed.

 

[superflipgirl]

Thanks for agreeing. The thing is though, our team isn't very competitive. It's rec optional, kind of like prep optional, but no requirements and no professional judges, just coaches who are judging. So it's not like she should be in trouble for missing non competitive meets, even though she is the head coach. I do get annoyed when she doesn't come to meets however, for some reason, all my "bad meet days" are on the days when she isn't there! The other coaches don't seem experienced enough to take care of our team by themselves.

 

[Flippers Mom]

Seems to me that it might be a good idea to sit down and talk. You may be putting expectations on the Head Coach that don't line up with her job as she sees it. While I don't see being at all meets as a requirement to be a Head Coach, I do think it would be wise to outline what gymnasts can expect. Flippers Head Coach (gym owners) at both gyms have only gone to meets on rare occasions (when the coaches that usually attend have a conflict and can't be there). However, the gymnasts went into the season knowing what coach they could expect at meets.

I will try to be delicate about the following statement. It bugs me that gymnasts are talking about the coaches family life outside the gym. In my view, it just isn't the business of the gymnasts. Likewise, it would bother me if coaches were discussing the life of gymnasts outside the gym. If you have concerns (and it sounds as if you have some very legitimate concerns), talk to the Head Coach so that you can all know what to expect!

Of course, all of this is just my opinion and it is worth exactly what you paid for it!

 

[gymdog]

I would say in my experience it's fairly unusual that a head coach would be at every level, every meet, but I guess size of the program does matter. If a head coach at a gym with many levels and many programs went to every meet in addition to coaching and managing the program, it would be ridiculous. That's why you hire other coaches to be level coaches and go to the meets of the level they're coaching. If HC is the main coach for a certain level (in my experience usually the highest levels) then I would think it is reasonable to expect them to go to the meets. When I did gymnastics my HC coached level 9 and 10, and wasn't a regular presence at my meets until I was a level 8 (at which point the meets starting lining up better with the ones her group did...then I was moved into her group).

Of course standards for employees is important and I can't say I haven't seen programs fall down in that respect...whether from mismanagement, slight desperation, whatever.

 

[Panda-girl's Mom]

Maybe you should discuss with your head coach issues that you are having with the other coaches at the meets. I do not think you should be concerned as to reasons why your head coach is not going to the meets, that is her personal life. I agree with the other posters if you have a large team of alot of levels if would be impossible for the head coach to attend all of the meets. My daughters head coach almost never goes to her meets but she mainly coaches the upper level gymnasts and goes to their meets. My daughters main coach who coaches her goes to all her meets but we are lucky because she does an excellent job at the meets.