Coaches How to run a class of 18 kids aged 10-12 on a gym field trip?

[coachkazoo]

Hi fellow coaches. Originally I had a group of 10 kids coming to our gym as part of a Christmas camp through another organization. Today, I found out it's 18. My lesson plan is useless now and I'm in a panic how to handle 18 kids on my own (with two of their sports camp instructors).Does anyone have any suggestions? Should I just do "free time" for the entire hour? Or how can I incorporate something challenging so they get a taste of gymnastics? This is the first we are doing anything like this in our newly opened small town gym...any ideas would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

 

[coachmolly]

That's a lot of kids! Will any other coaches from the gym be helping you? How about a circuit? A few stations they can do on their own, a few you can teach their sports camp instructors how to manage (so nothing too challenging), and a station of something a bit more difficult that you can man? You can have them use the whole gym (if it's a small-ish space) or do smaller circuits on individual events (maybe a VT/FX one and a UB/BB one). Stick to fun basic stuff- running, jumping, swinging, walking on the beam, stepping over things on the beam, jumping off the beam. If you have a trampoline, maybe take them in small groups to try it out.
I used to work at a gym that had school groups attend and they weren't so much looking to develop gymnastics skills or get a specific lesson, but mostly just wanted to play around in the gym, try the equipment out, and bounce around. So it doesn't need to be anything too gymnastics specific, but definitely plan enough that you don't have 18 kids running wild!
Start with a fun and active warm-up (relay races, Simon Says, etc.) and you could conclude with some type of game.
Good luck!

 

[gymdog]

No other coaches from your gym will be available? I would recommend you charge more for a second instructor due to the amount of kids. The official answer is you shouldn't try to run a gymnastics class with that ratio of novice children to safety certified instructor. If you have to, I would recommend you "move" only 8-10 children at a time in the gym and have a craft or coloring set up for the other ones and go in shifts.

 

[Aussie_coach]

18 is quite manageable if you are organised. I would not just give the free time because that could get dangerous. Set up a major circuit around the gym, but incorporate lots of safe activities. Cartwheels over boxes, forward rolls down the wedges, seat drops on trampoline, jump to front support and casts on low bars, bear walks across the top of P bars, kicks on low beams etc. I presume these kids have no prior gymnastics experience.

Start on the floor, as you can easily fit 18 kids on there and they can be easily supervised. Do a warm up and stretching and then you can do basic tumbling skills across the floor. Demonstrate various basic skills like forward rolls, handstands and cartwheels and have them practice both on the spot and then across the floor.

Then take them around and show all the circuit activities in the gym. Choose activities that don't need a great deal of supervision. Station each of the teachers on a different side of the gym and you go around watching all the activities.

 

[gymdog]

USAG safety regulations and often insurance would find a problem with the 18 kids scenario. I assumed the OP was in the US. Yes, there is a relatively small chance of something going wrong, but if it does your safety certification essentially says you were negligent. Most gyms will simply require the larger group pay a fee to cover the cost of a second instructor.

And as someone who fairly regularly does 18+ birthday parties and camps (with a second safety certified instructor), I would disagree that it's no big deal. You have an entire group of completely novice kids coming in, 60% are wearing completely inappropriate attire, some kids may be apprehensive about the gym for the first time, and they all have existing friendships so the potential for rowdiness is worse than a group of 18 random kids.

Just getting everything signed and everyone ready at the door is a nightmare, no matter how many times you told them the apparel policies, etc. Maybe people in other countries are better at following instructions, but here it seems there's no way to spell it out and have people do it.

Consequently, I find doing birthday parties very stressful, and only do it for kids I coach. The kids generally have a fantastic time but it's much harder than a normal class.

 

[Aussie_coach]

USAG safety regulations and often insurance would find a problem with the 18 kids scenario. I assumed the OP was in the US. Yes, there is a relatively small chance of something going wrong, but if it does your safety certification essentially says you were negligent. Most gyms will simply require the larger group pay a fee to cover the cost of a second instructor.

And as someone who fairly regularly does 18+ birthday parties and camps (with a second safety certified instructor), I would disagree that it's no big deal. You have an entire group of completely novice kids coming in, 60% are wearing completely inappropriate attire, some kids may be apprehensive about the gym for the first time, and they all have existing friendships so the potential for rowdiness is worse than a group of 18 random kids.

Just getting everything signed and everyone ready at the door is a nightmare, no matter how many times you told them the apparel policies, etc. Maybe people in other countries are better at following instructions, but here it seems there's no way to spell it out and have people do it.

Consequently, I find doing birthday parties very stressful, and only do it for kids I coach. The kids generally have a fantastic time but it's much harder than a normal class.

Does USAG not allow 18 gymnasts to a coach? My apologies I was not aware of this. In Australia it is a fairly common scenario as you will often go in and teach a gymnastics class to a school class and schools classes have 25-28 kids.

 

[gymdog]

Does USAG not allow 18 gymnasts to a coach? My apologies I was not aware of this. In Australia it is a fairly common scenario as you will often go in and teach a gymnastics class to a school class and schools classes have 25-28 kids.

Well I mean USAG doesn't really control much in the sense that gyms operate independent of USAG. It's not quite like some countries. There's not much USAG can do to shut someone down (but, a lawsuit could). But safety certification allows a 1:8-10 ratio max for school age children (depending on level). Going beyond that could be an insurance issue although I guess I can't state that with certainty, I can state that USAG safety standards say that you shouldn't do this.

Therefore on the off chance something did happen, there would be a strong case for negligence in the US. I can't advise that anyone knowingly break the safety standards. It's accepting greater than necessary risk.

Gymnastics classes in a USAG program of 25 to 30 children to one instructor simply would not occur here. I've never seen anything like that. Not even in the 90s when I was a kid. Maybe in the 70s or so.

So, I would always advise that if you have to accommodate more children, you either separate them into two shifts or have a second instructor and two rotations. Minimizes risk, keeps quality of class.

 

[coachmolly]

Does your gym do field trips? A club I used to coach at was very good about no more than an 8:1 ratio during classes, but did not always apply those rules to the numerous school groups that came to play in the gym- because it wasn't really an instructional class and the teacher was in attendance. I think it would be about 2 coaches, in addition to the teacher, for classes of 25ish kids. I never coached there, so I can't say if it was a system that worked well or not. It's not a system I would prefer as I would likely be a nervous wreck, but I think these types of situations are likely much more common than you think. Does it mean they are ethical? Nope. But it does happen, and happen in a reasonably successful way in lots of places.

 

[gymdog]

Does your gym do field trips? A club I used to coach at was very good about no more than an 8:1 ratio during classes, but did not always apply those rules to the numerous school groups that came to play in the gym- because it wasn't really an instructional class and the teacher was in attendance. I think it would be about 2 coaches, in addition to the teacher, for classes of 25ish kids. I never coached there, so I can't say if it was a system that worked well or not. It's not a system I would prefer as I would likely be a nervous wreck, but I think these types of situations are likely much more common than you think. Does it mean they are ethical? Nope. But it does happen, and happen in a reasonably successful way in lots of places.

I have worked in multiple gyms in different areas. All of them have done special activities/trips. 25 kids for one safety certified teacher in the gym is asking for trouble. It might happen, but that doesn't mean I will advise a program to do it. It's not a good idea.

You should always follow USAG safety standards in your gym. That is the best and simplest way to protect yourself and the business.

Two teacher would be slightly better for 25 kids but you're still taking on more risk than you need to.

The standard policy to charge a certain amount for groups up to 10. Then charge $x amount more per child (this is going to vary regionally but will probably be $5-10 specifically) AND a second instructor fee (around $25). This will pay the salary of the second instructor for the time frame. Usually these things are 1.5 hours that I have seen plus the instructors have to set up and clean up so almost two hours, that is why $25. But for 1-1.5 hours maybe more like $15-20.

That is the policy I recommend. 18 kids? Great! We will need a second instructor so this is our fee.

If it's too late for that, then tell them you planned for ten kids so they can go in two 30 minute shifts. The counselors can supervise coloring/craft time as it's not a gymnastic activity.

Having outside counselors or schoolteachers is pretty much meaningless as far as risk assessment goes. It actually adds more risk because those people could become injured or act outside of safety standards since they aren't trained. If they even step foot into the gym part of your facility, they need to sign a waiver as well. and they should not instruct/spot any gymnastics.

 

[coachmolly]

That's good to know. I do know that this particular gym did not do everything "by the book" and I questioned some of their policies from time to time, so I can completely see them overlooking something like that. It's good to hear another side of it. I know I wouldn't want to be in a gym with 18 kids with no prior training and no other coaches.

 

[CoachTodd]

Find gymnastics related games to play.
shuttle runs
rope climbs
handstand contests
pull ups or chin rockers
Make the guys walk on the beam and such
Time will move quickly and most of them will have fun.