DD is in a small gymnastics program, level 3-5 only with about 30 girls total in the program. Currently we have 5 team coaches. DD is level 3. 3 of our coaches are leaving this summer- including the HC and assistant HC. 1 is going away to college and the other 2 are moving because their spouses jobs are relocating them. This leaves us with 2 coaches, 1 of whom has already stated to parents that he does not want to take over as HC. As for the other coach- this season has been her first experience with team gym and she still has a long way to go. The HC only allows her to do the conditioning for the girls, she apparently hasn't had enough experience in spotting to work with the girls on skills yet. So I'm a little concerned about the future here. I've posted about our gym before- last fall I had a few concerns but they've all smoothed out and we've been very happy here this season. It was great to see that our tiny gym- 1 beam, 1 set of bars, not even a regulation size floor- could hold its own with scores at meets up against much bigger gyms.
The HC has said that the gym owner- who is a cheer coach and is very good at that sport- is going to "learn" gymnastics and take over as HC. This kind of makes me shake my head. We've got girls that will be moving up to level 6 this summer and it just seems dangerous to have a HC who is just learning the sport. Is it unrealistic of me to expect a HC to have some experience before taking over a program? When talking to other parents about this they've all pretty much decided to leave the gym. There are 2 other gyms close by- they're both actually closer to me than the one we're at now. The other gyms are both bigger and have gymnasts up to level 10. Both do well at meets. The hours go up quite a bit- our level 4's here do 6 hrs a week, at the other 2 gyms in town their 4's do 12 hrs a week.
I guess my question is this- Should we stick around after the coaches leave and at least give the new coach a chance? We do like the gym and it's very affordable. I hate to abandon it just because of coaches leaving but I'm just worried about someone taking over the program that has never done it before. Move-ups are done in May at our gym so the girls begin working on new stuff then and over the summer. Should I start communicating with the other gyms to see how they run their programs and if they would even place my DD on a team? Or am I jumping the gun too early? Coaches leave this summer so we're definitely finishing the season here. I appreciate any insight or recommendations .
The HC has said that the gym owner- who is a cheer coach and is very good at that sport- is going to "learn" gymnastics and take over as HC. This kind of makes me shake my head. We've got girls that will be moving up to level 6 this summer and it just seems dangerous to have a HC who is just learning the sport. Is it unrealistic of me to expect a HC to have some experience before taking over a program? When talking to other parents about this they've all pretty much decided to leave the gym. There are 2 other gyms close by- they're both actually closer to me than the one we're at now. The other gyms are both bigger and have gymnasts up to level 10. Both do well at meets. The hours go up quite a bit- our level 4's here do 6 hrs a week, at the other 2 gyms in town their 4's do 12 hrs a week.
I guess my question is this- Should we stick around after the coaches leave and at least give the new coach a chance? We do like the gym and it's very affordable. I hate to abandon it just because of coaches leaving but I'm just worried about someone taking over the program that has never done it before. Move-ups are done in May at our gym so the girls begin working on new stuff then and over the summer. Should I start communicating with the other gyms to see how they run their programs and if they would even place my DD on a team? Or am I jumping the gun too early? Coaches leave this summer so we're definitely finishing the season here. I appreciate any insight or recommendations .