Women How are you all doing?

[gymisforeveryone]

How are you all doing at home?

How are you all coaches making it financially?

How are your gymnasts doing at home? Are you monitoring them in any way?

Do you miss gym?

Parents, how are your gymnasts doing? Are they doing their conditioning at home or not? Are they in touch with the coach?

Let's just discuss how it's going. We are in very similar positions all over the world.

My situation: I was a full time coach, but my club put everyone else but me on unpaid vacation. In my country we have this thing called lay-off, and it means that the employment relationship is still there but the employer can cut your hours to anything between 0 and the normal hours. If you belong to a labor union the union basically pays your salary for that time (up to 3 months), but if you don't then the government steps in and pays you a daily allowance. I'm on that allowance because I'm young and stupid and never thought of joining a labor union. My work hours were cut in half. I can make it but it's hard. Fortunately I'll have my paid annual leave next week so I'll get full paycheck for that 10 days.

It's been 3 weeks of social distancing for us so far. I'm now in charge of up to 70 team gymnasts and their home conditioning. They send me their practice diaries weekly. We have done some zoom sessions too. I really miss my girls! They are doing really well at home though! They send me videos on What'sApp. Many have improved their press handstands and handstand holds. Those were our weaknesses. And many were really unflexible but I'm already seeing improvement (they send me pictures of certain stretches every week). Most of them have home equipment outside and trampolines but this week it started to snow again so they have not been able practice on trampoline this week.

Oh and I really, really miss talking to my coach friends! I live alone and only go to grocery store twice a week. That's the only social contact I get.

How are you all doing?

 

[Zivaah]

Heyhey,

I miss the gym a lot. I miss my girls, I miss teaching gymnastics. Now I try to teach my boyfriend a handstand. Still not the same.

Our club cancelled all contracts for the coaches (however, they are claiming this is not a full cancellation, because they have substitution jobs like cleaning the gym etc... but they also don't know how to proceed after the pandemic and if we can go back to full hours). However for me it is not that bad, because I am on a fellowship for my PhD work, so I am not allowed to earn any money next to it anyways. Still for the younger coaches in our club it's very bad, they are really struggling right now.

We had vacations before the government shut down all the gyms, so my girls are now on week 4 of no gym. They have to write a strength and stretching diary. From next week on we will do zoom sessions.

Let's see how this is going. My girls are all in their teenager years or already starting university, one of them wanted to go for an exchange year from June on, so I might not train her for a long time.

 

[Aussie_coach]

The government closed down all gyms and indoor sports facilities in Australia almost two weeks ago. I own a gym, we were shut down. My coaches have all lost their hours, as there is no coaching to do at the moment, and I am trying to do all I can to provide home conditioning work to all the gymnasts.

The Australian government are introducing a new payment, called the Job Keeper payment. Any business (like gyms) that have lost 30% or more of their revenue, are eligible. Basically for every employee we have we will receive $750 per week to pay to them as a wage, for the next 6 months. This same wage goes out to all employees regardless of whether they were casual, part time or full time. So even young 16 and 17 year old coaches, who were assisting in a few classes per week, will apparently also receive this $750 per week wage payment from the government.

Then anyone who has lost their job totally, can get the Job seeker payment, and they get $550 per week for the next 6 months.

Our landlord has been amazing and has said they were don’t have to pay any rent for at least the next three months.

We are only 1/4 of the way into the school year here in Australia, and they are talking about it being as much as 6 months before COVID 19 peaks here. As unlike most of the rest of the world, we are heading into Winter instead of out of it. So with 9 months of the school year left, no idea what sort of impact this will have. We are still very early on in the pandemic, as we have only had 30 deaths in the country so far.

 

[mommyof1]

My daughter’s gym will be closed at least until June. They have just started Zoom workouts, which she enjoys.

It looks likely that once we pass the peak of the first wave of infections, states and localities will lift social distancing requirements and gyms will be able to reopen until the second wave gets going in the fall. I am not planning to allow my daughter back in the gym until she’s acquired immunity one way or another. It’s going to be very difficult for her to have to stay home while her friends go back to the gym.

The bigger question is what to do if school reopens in the fall. My guess is that there may be more reluctance to implement a second round of closures, so we may feel it necessary to pull her from public school and homeschool next year. It is a tricky decision. If we declared that we were homeschooling and school ended up closing anyway, we probably wouldn’t have access to any distance learning resources provided by the school. Homeschooling would also interfere with her progress in the IB program.

 

[SMH]

Our gym sends emails, updates, workouts every day. They do live conditioning classes 3 times a week (they get workouts via email the other days) and Zoom meetups.
They are not asking that tuition be payed at this time, but many parents who are still financially able, have offered. We will pay as long as we are able- having a gym for my gymnast to go back to after this is so important. I don’t know anything at all about the financial state of the gym, but I worry about how long they can stay closed without having to close their doors.
Our state is closed until April 30th but I fear it may be longer.

My gymnast does her conditioning every day, some online stretch classes, and tries to stay otherwise active. She’s also a dancer, and there are some online classes her studio has been doing. She misses her gym, coaches and friends very much. She’s extroverted, and used to (and likes) being busy, so being inside 4 walls with the same 5 people for about 3 weeks now is wearing on her. She was one of the lucky few who had a state meet before things shut down, and she was just starting uptraining after her last compulsory season, so there is some anxiety about losing skills, especially on bars.

 

[raenndrops]

I am going crazy. For the most part, my life BP (Before Pandemic) consisted of tutoring a student doing regular online schooling 9am - 12pm or 3pm or 4pm or later Monday - Friday, tutoring YG 3 days a week after school, doing taxes, going to gym 3 days a week, and working on losing enough weight to get my colostomy reversed ASAP so I could stop living on Benadryl - 50mg, 6x a day.
AP (After Pandemic), I am still tutoring the online student for the same time - he walks to my house from his house (our back yards are connected). I am SUPPOSED to be tutoring YG, but she hasn't made it here yet, so I text her what she needs to do - and she either does it or doesn't. I am also doing over the phone tutoring for 3 kids as needed. I haven't gone anywhere since the gym closed, so all my "steps" are done in the house. I am still working on losing the weight, but the surgery will have to be pushed back until at least NEXT April and I was originally HOPING it would be late this summer.
I miss the gym - the team gymnasts, the rec girls, the coaches, the parents, and the refrigerator in the back where I keep the bottled water (I drink at least 3 bottles during the 2 hours I am at gym ... and I make sure the other coaches stay hydrated).
We are doing flipgrid videos and zoom "munchie" meetings, but I can't see anyone on zoom (not even myself) - my computer just shows black screens with their names even though I know the camera works - and other people can see me when my camera is on.
I was so bored last night that, while I was making my bed, I recorded a video about my blankets - one has gold metallic stars on it and our team is the stars ... and another one is light blue which was one of our team colors for the first 5 years.
I am behind schedule on my steps for today so I will end here.

 

[gymisforeveryone]

Really nice to hear from you all!

This pandemic is giving us so many different kind of new challenges. Not just the obvious ones.

I am going crazy. For the most part, my life BP (Before Pandemic) consisted of tutoring a student doing regular online schooling 9am - 12pm or 3pm or 4pm or later Monday - Friday, tutoring YG 3 days a week after school, doing taxes, going to gym 3 days a week, and working on losing enough weight to get my colostomy reversed ASAP so I could stop living on Benadryl - 50mg, 6x a day.

I had started healthier lifestyle just months before this all happened. I was on right track, getting a lot of steps like you @raenndrops, because I walked to the gymnastics gym twice a day and coaching is also quite physical. I also went to the gym gym at least once a week. Then all of that stopped and eating healthy and staying active became much much challenging. I know I still could keep up with the healthier lifestyle but right now I'm kind of paralyzed. Worrying takes all of my energy.

Just recently I've started to go on walks more (it's still OK here, and I only walk in the woods anyway) and I have started to entertain myself with all kind of new hobbies. I got a sewing machine and serger for Christmas gift and now I've made tons of pouches and tote bags and teddy bear or doll gym leotards. I think I'll try to make an actual leotard now, to give out to some of my girls.

The government closed down all gyms and indoor sports facilities in Australia almost two weeks ago. I own a gym, we were shut down. My coaches have all lost their hours, as there is no coaching to do at the moment, and I am trying to do all I can to provide home conditioning work to all the gymnasts.

The Australian government are introducing a new payment, called the Job Keeper payment. Any business (like gyms) that have lost 30% or more of their revenue, are eligible. Basically for every employee we have we will receive $750 per week to pay to them as a wage, for the next 6 months. This same wage goes out to all employees regardless of whether they were casual, part time or full time. So even young 16 and 17 year old coaches, who were assisting in a few classes per week, will apparently also receive this $750 per week wage payment from the government.

Then anyone who has lost their job totally, can get the Job seeker payment, and they get $550 per week for the next 6 months.

Our landlord has been amazing and has said they were don’t have to pay any rent for at least the next three months.

We are only 1/4 of the way into the school year here in Australia, and they are talking about it being as much as 6 months before COVID 19 peaks here. As unlike most of the rest of the world, we are heading into Winter instead of out of it. So with 9 months of the school year left, no idea what sort of impact this will have. We are still very early on in the pandemic, as we have only had 30 deaths in the country so far.

Good job Australian government! That sounds like a really nice and helpful gesture! We are still waiting for decisions about financial support. Good thing is that we have a really good social security in place already so no one is likely to starve because of this. But my heart breaks for all who have just lost their small businesses.

Luckily many of my gymnasts come from families where at least one of the parents works in health care so not many are suspended without pay. I hope that they'll all be able to still keep doing gymnastics in the fall (if it's possible then otherwise)

 

[Sari]

Hey!

I'm considered an essential worker so I'm still working and getting paid as usual. (I'm in residential child care. Think Annie, but modernized, and I'm the sensible older sister of Miss Hannigan. Yes, I've signed up for Disney+.).
Gym is my side gig, you could say. So I'm fortunate in that regard.
But three of my four colleagues have called in sick or are on special leave (they're part of a risk group) so my work schedule is really chaotic right now. I have to call someone every other day to find out when and where I can work next week because the entire group of girls I usually work with has been moved to another house that doesn't need my hours as none of their colleagues are currently out sick.

Now gym-wise, we haven't trained since March 13th which was the last day schools and gyms were open (in Germany). I created a quarantine training program of mostly conditioning, stretching and press handstand work. It's not monitored. I wish we were doing more to keep the girls busy but with work being so crazy right now I don't have the mental capacity to organize anything more elaborate.

To those doing Zoom meetings: What sort of training are you providing on Zoom? I'm worried about the risks of breaking furniture, TVs and in some cases younger siblings.

 

[Aussie_coach]

As far as Zoom and things like that, one big question is in regards to insurance. If you do a zoom class, or even just send a program home to do and the kids do any part of that program and hurt themselves, the gym/coaches can still be held liable. So there is a limit to what you can do.

We were told that we are covered by insurance (through Gymnastics Australia) as long as the activities are coach led, by a qualified coach, associated with a registered gymnastics club, only coaching within the coaches qualifications and the gymnasts ability. We are allowed to do strength, conditioning and basics skills. But no aerial skills of any kind. In all skills at least one hand or one foot must be in contact with the ground at all times.

Gymnastics Australia also strongly recommend that gyms do not use any program where they can see the gymnasts in their homes etc. The kids should be able to see the coach but not the other way around, for child protection issues. Most clubs are doing this anyway. But now we are all treading with the issues of adults privately connecting with children online. Often there are no parents present, the coach is often by themselves without any other adult overseeing, and the kids and coaches are sending each other messages etc. When the whole situation with Larry Nassar came to light, coaches all over the world were told this was unacceptable, but now it’s how gyms are run.

 

[Geoffrey Taucer]

I'm in a wierd place because I'd planned on this being my last season, and had planned to spend the last few months of the season finding another job.

Then the season ended overnight and a lot of the potential jobs vanished. I live in the US so..... can't really finish that thought without getting political, but suffice to say being jobless sucks severely.

Some of the other coaches are doing zoom workouts for the girls, but at this point I consider myself done and the gym isn't paying the coaches for this time, so I haven't been joining.

It's been good for my various injuries to be out of the gym for awhile, but everything shut down right when I was about to start PT.

I don't miss being in the gym at all, which I think means that making this my last season was the right call.

I have been leading zoom workouts with various family members who no longer have access to their gyms/trainers; seems to be going well. I've also been hired to record some banjo for a project; the recording hasn't happened yet, but I'm looking forward to it.

Occasionally streaming practice sessions of juggling, or banjo, or starcraft.

Being at home is actually pretty nice. Been spending more time with my wife and my dog. Catching up on some of my gaming backlog. Doing various things I've wanted to for awhile, but lacked the time and energy for.

I've been handling all the outings/errands/shopping, since my wife is immunocompromised and her dad has chronic respiratory problems. That part is stressful as all hell, and I'm feeling more and more agoraphobic every weak. Being at home more is great, but every time I go out I'm constantly afraid I might put my wife's life in danger just by touching the wrong thing or breathing in the wrong place.

 

[JessSyd]

My daughter’s gym has the girls mostly working on home programs and keeping a gym diary, but mid and upper levels are meeting by zoom once a week.

I am comfortable with how child-safe they are. They are not offering private sessions, correspondence goes through the parents, and each session seems to have two coaches. The coaches can see the girls, and the girls can see each other but most of the girls are using a novelty background which removes the privacy issue.

So far it has just been strength, conditioning, turns and presses. It is just a desperate attempt to keep them all strong enough for when gym returns in six months or so. It is easy now, but I imagine it will get harder as the months go on for them to keep pushing through the boring part of gym without being able to work on actual skills. Especially as this will be a lost year for them as it will take our entire competition season away from us.

 

[Sk8ermaiden]

We're homeschoolers, so that part of life hasn't been disrupted (much to my children's dismay.) I've started making floor bars and the little hexagonal clear hip roll bars and paralettes for people and that's taking up a lot of my time, but it's fun to develop a skill. After all our friends got theirs, I put it online and should be busy for a few more weeks.

I'm still holding out hope gyms can open in some capacity in May. I know it may be unlikely, but I've just got to take it one ex. order at a time. I'm also on the board of our summer league swim team which would normally be starting in 10 days. We've postponed the season, but if the stay at home orders get extended again, the season is just canceled. It's frustrating to spend all this time in board meetings re-doing all our plans when I'm 90% sure there's not going to be a season anyway.

Zoom meetings are sent out via the team remind, which means they come to me. It's Mon-Thurs for a1/2 hour and it's always a big group and usually there are at least two coaches on. I'm not remotely concerned, especially since I can be right there. They usually are just conditioning or stretching. I wish they had workout diaries! It would make her accountable to someone else, not me. In an "shoemaker's son goes barefoot" situation, in the week since I've been spending all my time outside, building workout equipment, I don't think my kid has worked out. The workout plan is not in a kid friendly format and both our panel mats are employed in a giant fort (which was also a gym challenge).

 

[mommyof1]

We're homeschoolers, so that part of life hasn't been disrupted (much to my children's dismay.) I've started making floor bars and the little hexagonal clear hip roll bars and paralettes for people and that's taking up a lot of my time, but it's fun to develop a skill. After all our friends got theirs, I put it online and should be busy for a few more weeks.

Ooh, please tell me more about this clear hip gadget!

 

[Flyaway]

Our gym is one that cannot do ZOOM workouts due to insurance restrictions. I am worried about them. They've taken their enrollment to zero and we are just praying they can hold on to June when (fingers-crossed!) we can hopefully begin working some workouts back in. They are obviously not charging tuition right now and honestly I doubt any rec families would voluntarily pay. I do think many team families still are though. Unfortunately there are not enough of us to keep them afloat alone.

 

[Sk8ermaiden]

Ooh, please tell me more about this clear hip gadget!

 

[Sari]

View attachment 7784

Those look great!
May I ask what kind of saw you used to make the octagon shape for the Forster type bar? I have two wooden bars left over from some floor bars I built and I've been meaning to turn them into Forster bars.

 

[Sk8ermaiden]

I used my miter saw, which is what I was using for the floor bars anyway. I <3 <3 <3 my miter saw, I use it for everything.