I'm posting this here because I'm hoping to get parents' insight as well.
My group of gymnasts is quite heterogeneous. The girls are 10-16 years old and range from about level 6 to 9. Not all of them want to reach their full potential so we have them train 3-5 days a week, depending on what they want. All in all, this arrangement works.
The only issue we have is a 12-year-old who talks (back) a lot. The talking back I can handle but the talking to and distracting of other gymnasts is what's a big problem. She's basically hovering over an 11-year-old who is usually the most hardworking and goal-oriented (talented and has lots of potential) gymnast of the group. She constantly asks what she's doing ("hey, how many reps have you done, i've done x"), chats about OT things or follows her around. We have had a conversation with her and the mother and it got better for a hot minute. I feel childish separating them. Other than that I feel it's very unfair to everyone else that I have to spend a significant amout of my ressources on telling this girl to talk less and stop bothering others. Also, I have to be very careful because girl + mom have a very warped perception of the truth and twist our words. "You need to talk less and stop distracting this other girl" became "I need to respond less to this girl because she distracts me". Go figure......
Suspension or any other super strict measure is not really an agenda because we are not an elite gym.....
Thanks!
My group of gymnasts is quite heterogeneous. The girls are 10-16 years old and range from about level 6 to 9. Not all of them want to reach their full potential so we have them train 3-5 days a week, depending on what they want. All in all, this arrangement works.
The only issue we have is a 12-year-old who talks (back) a lot. The talking back I can handle but the talking to and distracting of other gymnasts is what's a big problem. She's basically hovering over an 11-year-old who is usually the most hardworking and goal-oriented (talented and has lots of potential) gymnast of the group. She constantly asks what she's doing ("hey, how many reps have you done, i've done x"), chats about OT things or follows her around. We have had a conversation with her and the mother and it got better for a hot minute. I feel childish separating them. Other than that I feel it's very unfair to everyone else that I have to spend a significant amout of my ressources on telling this girl to talk less and stop bothering others. Also, I have to be very careful because girl + mom have a very warped perception of the truth and twist our words. "You need to talk less and stop distracting this other girl" became "I need to respond less to this girl because she distracts me". Go figure......
Suspension or any other super strict measure is not really an agenda because we are not an elite gym.....
Thanks!