Parents Parent "Team Spirit"

[cbifoja]

* embarrassingly puts "World's Greatest Gym Mom" t-shirt in the back of the closet"

 

[Bajanswife]

I want a Fabio .......

 

[cbifoja]

I want a Fabio .......

We all do, hun.

 

[Bajanswife]

We have a pretty good group of moms on team - some are more "rah rah" than others, but that's OK. Some are aloof, but not in a mean way. We don't have team mom shirts, but some of us wear Barbados shirts at overseas meets, and most of us sit together. Some of us wave little Barbados flags. We also watch some sessions that our kid isn't in (when we aren't shopping ....) - we are very supportive of the whole team.

 

[GymBee97]

Its hard to be a team group when you really don't interact with the whole team. I have been at our current gym for 2 years and if you asked me who the parents are of my Daughters team mates I couldn't tell you. But at the upper levels you real just drive and drop for practice. For meets we talk a bit and when the end of they year banquet comes around there is a meeting or two to plan it but that's really all the interaction there is. We do have t-shirts the gym likes us to wear if we get them, we do try to sit together as a group at meets but I can't say I'm really friends with the other parents except for maybe 2 I car pool with.

I think the dynamics of gymnastics in general are just very different from other team sports and doesn't lend itself to the same opportunity for bonding.

 

[reillysmom2]

Go on and pass Fabio around. I hope he cleans houses, too. I'd rather much have him do that than feed me, lol.

The first year my DD competed, it was the first year in a long time that our gym even had a competition team and everybody was pretty much on the same level. We even had t shirts made although it only had the gyms name on the front, but my dd's name was on the back. It was a lot of rah rah going on, I felt everybody pretty much just cheered each other on and it was good times. Fast forward to now--

Some are still in complusories and some are optionals. Not so much rah rah now. It's really beginning to feel a lot like everyone's out for themselves. Theres a lot more drama , ie; Whys the coach spending time with Suzie and not Sally? Why's Suzie doing this skill instead of the skill Sally's doing? and so forth. It's draining and if I didn't drive so daggone far, I'd do a drop and dash and avoid it all together. All I want is for DD to get through with her body and self esteem intact. I do have 2 close friends that have made it through the rah rah stage that I feel honestly that they support my child and I theirs. That's about it. Sad, but true.

 

[GymBee97]

Yea my Rah Rah days are over too. I've been in those bleachers for 16 years for son and daughter - that's a lot of bleacher butt!

 

[Deleted member 15064]

@JoyAvenueMom

I fumbled my way into the importance (and fun!) of team culture as well. At first, there was absolutely no guidance from the optional parents (we compulsories were a new bunch). Looking back, my husband & I figured it was because families of younger lvl gymnasts come and go, and no one wants to invest in them socially until they've proven their staying power. Who knows...
We had no clue what to expect at meets; from the practical stuff like when to arrive, to the social niceties of sitting with other parents. Slowly we formed our own tribe, like you, and figured it out. I've come to realize the social culture just adds to the total experience. It's what my athlete will remember and appreciate looking back, as much as the medals.
I'm trying to show active interest in the new families who've come aboard since. It's not easy, I'm introverted by nature. But we all benefit from a club where members are enthusiastic about being a part of the team, and take pride in their gym.
On another note, I've never heard of a parade for gym. Could that be a regional thing?

 

[Becauseisaid]

Is Fabio free on Saturday?

Oh Fabio is not free. Fabio is very, very expensive.

Unless you have a coupon.

 

[Becauseisaid]

On another note, I've never heard of a parade for gym. Could that be a regional thing?

When I speak of parades, I'm talking about parades put on by the city that our gym takes part in. Ex. the annual city Christymas parade. We decorate a float and the kids tumble/walk/etc. through the parade route.

 

[berrisweetness]

I laughed too!

 

[MaryA]

I hope he cleans houses, too. I'd rather much have him do that than feed me, lol.

All I want is for DD to get through with her body and self esteem intact.

With these two statements, you made it onto my list of "CB parents I would like to have a drink with someday."

 

[wgymmom]

Ours is kind of in the middle, and I am fine with that. I've seen some other gyms get downright territorial over seating and they seem a little freaky and cultish to me. We cheer for all the other girls and sometimes other gymnasts/parents will come to another level's session. No "gym mom" shirts, no pompoms (yes, I have seen this), but we do try to sit together and such.

Now, as far as interaction in the gym goes, it's not quite as friendly IME. Some parents have known each other for longer; their kids probably all came through preteam and rec together and my DD did not. So we feel a bit like outsiders, DD included. We've been there for over a year now and it's not letting up. They'll cheer for her at meets, but nobody really seeks me out in the lobby for a chat. DH seems to have befriended a couple of other gym dads though.

 

[Amusibus]

I just want to add that at our gym at least, it seems like parents are pushed as far away from the whole gym scene as possible which could contribute to a lack of community. I mean, we are not allowed to watch, and the coaches get this parental attutude towards our kids, telling them what they can and can not do even when they are not at practice. They appreciate us driving them, paying the bills, and doing large amounts of mandatory "volunteer" work, and that's about it. Many a parent at our gym has expressed similar sentiments, like, excuse me, WHOSE kid is it?? The only concern is the gymnasts and the program - and while it is great that the gymnasts are well taken care of, there is no sense of parental involvement being valued or important, nevermind the concept of simply showing some respect to the people who are paying customers. It's frustrating.

 

[iwannacoach]

............ with their head buried in their phone/iPad barely in time to pick their child up and are always trying to con someone into carting their kid around............

I believe the improper term is having your head stuck in your apps........

 

[Natalia]

The parents of the little ones are all smiles and kindness.

The parents of the older girls slow down just enough to allow their kid to leap out of the car,before they spin the wheels to get away from the gym.

After the emotional roller coasters,the excitment and dissapointements,the little bumps and bruises to the broken bones and shredded ligaments,the first place missed by a fraction of nothing,the great coaches and the horrid ones....

You reach a point where there's no rha rha,go girl go,left in you.

You just become the living breathing safety net ready to catch your kid,and that's a good thing.You `re the calm safe shore that always offers respite from the challenges.

And then there's Fabio waiting by the pool while the kid works out.

 

[Seeker]

We are mostly a no drama gym. Sure there is always a bit of that, but it's small for us thankfully (and not in DD's level). The optional parents all seem to get along well and the girls do too. I think it probably helps that we've been on this road longer, but it is also the personalities involved...we're all pretty chill.

The compulsory parents seem to have more anxiety about meets (some more than the girls) and I can see that continuing just based on personality. There is that jockeying for position and 'top dog' status that happens, but there are so many really good little ones that no one has emerged from the pack yet. We'll see if my predictions come true...I am very curious!

Mostly though, we are all happy to cheer for one another. We do all sit together at meets...there was one family last year that had divorced parents and Dad sat with us and Mom sat by herself, but they moved to a new gym. We're kind of like the Clampett's with our bags and all the junk we have. We kind of look like a travelling circus, but it is what it is.

 

[seoulmama]

I bet if I search hard enough I can find a Groupon for Fabio......my house could use a good cleaning!!

We have a pretty happy gym culture in my dd's level-it's mostly moms who come to the meets with the exception of my family and 2 others. That always surprises me-but our son is a teen and would much prefer being left home for the day to play on the computer than come to a meet, not everyone can leave their other kids for the day. We do have Team parent shirts from a few years ago that some parents wear, I always try to wear the gym colors and last year, a bunch of us got carried away and knit a ton of those ruffle scarves in the gym's colors! I am also friendly with moms from levels above and below my dd, but don't know the dynamics of their groups. We all cheer for each other's kids-and mostly sit near each other. As the girls have been together longer, some of the moms have gotten closer-FB sometimes makes me feel left out when other people get together (last year, right before States, a mom had some of the girls and their moms over and posted pics-we weren't invited and I felt crummy about it, it felt like being in Jr. High all over again). However, I can't let that get me down-I see these moms 5 days a week and I honestly want to see all the girls on the team do well, they all work so hard.

 

[JoyAvenueMom]

My ds' football team were the Texans. Most of the mom's had obnoxiously loud cow bells we rang after a good play. Bet those would bring out some team spirit at a meet! ;-)

 

[Becauseisaid]

My ds' football team were the Texans. Most of the mom's had obnoxiously loud cow bells we rang after a good play. Bet those would bring out some team spirit at a meet! ;-)

My daughter has a meet today. I should pick up a vuvuzela and cow bell so she knows I'm rooting for her.