MAG Parents off Limits at your gym?

[uniqueRN]

Does any of you feel that gymnastics promotes a anit-parent environment? In our gym, the coaches never come out to talk to the parents unless approached first. The only information I get is through my son, which isn't much.

Recently, my son took a bad fall off HB. I motioned for him to come see me but later found out the coach told him no, he couldn't. Even after practice, he never even came out to talk with me. I understand the importance of getting my son back on the HB because of the "fear factor" but a short "I'm okay" seemed approprate.

Should I stay clear of the gym and just him "do his thing"? I want to be an active participant but feel the cold shoulder. Thanks.

 

[Brandon]

It's definetly a hard thing to balance. On one hand, the parents need to have some kind of contact with their kids if need be, but on the other, you don't want mommy running in screaming every time they get a rip. Of course, it depends on the kind of parents that are there, too.

I couldn't really tell you how my gym handles it because I've never witnessed anybody take a bad fall during a regular lesson. I do remember one time during a private lesson, where it was just me and my coach, and my mom in the bleachers. I twisted my leg pretty badly on the floor after a full. After a few minutes my mom walked out to see me, with no problems. but like I said, that was with only us there, and it turned out to not be too serious.

If I were in your situation I wouldn't worry too much. I can understand the coaches not wanted him to see you right after the fall. It not only helps the fear factor, but it teaches them to handle things on their own. plus, there's nothing stopping your son from yelling across the gym, "I'm alright!" to you. That said, if anything serious ever happens, like broken bones or he hits his head or something, and they still don't let you go out there to see him, then I'd be mad. Honestly, I'd just be pushing through coaches at that point.

Hang in there!

 

[profmom]

Our gym encourages watching but discourages interaction during practice. The idea, I believe, is that the coaches need the kids' full attention to teach skills properly and correct errors, and having a parent drawing the child's attention isn't helpful for the coach or the child. I think this is wise, because if Johnny is simultaneously trying to listen to Mom tell him to point his toes and stop bending his knees while Coach Jorge is telling him how to bail safely on a dismount gone wrong, there's a real potential for injury. For things like a scary but non-injurious fall or a rip, the coaches handle it. I'd say any injury where the kid is not back on his/her feet in about a minute is where the coaches are fine with or even want some parental involvement.

As my kids are 8 and 10, they and their teammates tend to get dropped off at practice a lot, though occasionally parents will come by early to catch the end, so the problem for the last few injuries we've seen is not one of parents rushing on to the floor, but rather trying to get the parents on their cell phones.

Was your son hurt, RN, or "just" scared? (Quotes because fear is quite real and significant in this sport!) And how old is he?

 

[gymgal]

I think it depends on age, level, and the degree of injury. Its important for any athlete to look toward their coach for reassurance and help when injured. I know its hard to sit on the sidelines when this happens but if The child is really hurt, the coach is going to get/call the parent. If the child gets back up and trains again, you know he/she is fine.

Sent from my ADR6400L using Tapatalk

 

[uniqueRN]

Thanks

Thank you everyone. I'm not one of those side line parents. Usually I'm not even at the gym. My son is 9, level 6 and he landed off high bar on his head and neck. He was down for maybe a couple minutues. When I found his coach after practice, she said it knocked the wind out of him and he couldn't breathe. As a mom and a nurse, it was just hard watching him continue practice with ice on his neck. He's still my little boy. I'm fully aware that you can be injured and still move around. In the end, he was okay with no injuries just soreness.

I am not going to "make any waves" with the gym. My son is happy with his coach. Just needed to vent and get some advise. Still don't like that I can't be a active participant in my son's sport that he is in 5 days a week.

 

[Deleted member D3987]

he was at high bar with a female coach? that's a 1st for me.

 

[profmom]

My son is 9, level 6 and he landed off high bar on his head and neck. He was down for maybe a couple minutes.

That would probably be enough to make me stroke out (especially the down for a couple of minutes part)! Glad your son is OK. I agree -- it would be hard for me to sit on the sidelines for that one, but I'm guessing that if that happened at our gym, the coach her/himself would run over and confirm with the parent that the kid's OK after assessing him. (In fact, I'm recalling that a few weeks ago after one of my daughter's teammates had an accident and was sitting on the sidelines for a while, the HC gave a quick report to the team parents generally, none of whom pertained to that particular child.)

 

[uniqueRN]

he was at high bar with a female coach? that's a 1st for me.

Sorry, typo, "he"

 

[Deleted member D3987]

whew!.........

 

[Geoffrey Taucer]

Does any of you feel that gymnastics promotes a anit-parent environment? In our gym, the coaches never come out to talk to the parents unless approached first. The only information I get is through my son, which isn't much.

Recently, my son took a bad fall off HB. I motioned for him to come see me but later found out the coach told him no, he couldn't. Even after practice, he never even came out to talk with me. I understand the importance of getting my son back on the HB because of the "fear factor" but a short "I'm okay" seemed approprate.

Should I stay clear of the gym and just him "do his thing"? I want to be an active participant but feel the cold shoulder. Thanks.

My opinion is that, when a kid crashes, unless they need medical attention, the workout should not be interrupted any more than necessary; as hard as it is for you as a parent to just sit out there and watch, interrupting the practice due to the crash would have caused far more problems than it would have solved. The coach did the right thing, and it wasn't out of any sort of anti-parent sentiment.

That said, the coach absolutely should have been available to talk to you about the crash after practice. Refusing to stop and interact with the parents during practice is completely appropriate, but refusing to interact with the parents at all is a completely different story.

 

[Iwannabemargo]

as GT said - we don't have viewing areas ( no room) Any accident requiring professional mediacl attention - parents are called, otherwise any minor bumps and scrapes are reported to the parents at the end of practice, together with details of any treatment (Ice, band-aid etc)