Coaches Preteam retention/commitment to team

[BarCoach]

We have three groups that have been doing one day a week for an hour and a half. We want to turn it into a preteam group and so invited most of them to 2 days, 2 hours during the summer. Out of 16 kids we have two that said yes they want to do that. Others are saying they can do one day but not another, or are going away too much in the summer. They have been told that the group will most likely lead to one of our team programs and that it is important to continue to practice during the summer so they can keep progressing. This has been an issue in the past as well. We currently have 6 preteam kids who will do 3 in the fall. We will have no new 4s or 5s. What can we do to get kids and parents to be excited about the idea of team and really commit to the hours? For this year I think we're going to say they have to agree to coming to 7 of the possible 14 summer practices and then they'll have to agree to the 4 hours in the fall. Is it the wrong time of year to start? Financial? Something else? How do you recruit new preteam kids onto your team?

 

[coachmolly]

I reworked the summer schedule to get my young pre-team kids in 2x week (1.5 hrs each) and was greeted with a similar response when I approached the parents- most of whom had previously seemed interesting in supplementing their 1x/week pre-team class with a rec class. I got 2 who said yes (with the exception of the weeks they would be away) and the rest were either flat out nos (taking the summer off) or a very vague maybe. It's frustrating.
At the same time, I started out current pre-team group last spring (March or April) and continued through the summer. Some kids decided in the first few weeks that competitive gym was not their thing, all of those that stuck it out for those first 2 adjustment months stayed through the summer with good attendance.
I think it's a matter of finding the right kids and parents (who aren't already overcommitted and understand that gymnastics involves a bit more than 1x/week rec league soccer). I've had a couple kids who other coaches have told me "love gymnastics" only to come to find out that it's really the idea of gymnastics they love- not the hard work that it entails.
I think summer is a rough time to start a new program too, especially in parts of the country where gymnastics isn't among the more popular sports. There are just so many other options to choose from that involve less commitment- community swim teams, soccer, baseball/softball, camps.
Good luck and let me know if you find something that works, I'd love to hear it!

 

[gymcat]

I agree that summer is a tough time to start. We have 3 kids who agreed to move to preteam and a few others who asked to come in the next few months. Last year we moved kids up in March/April and didn't have this problem because by summer, coming the 2x week was normal (which isn't to say that they were there all the time, kids still went on vacation, but they came to gym when the were in town whereas when we invited them later more preferred to just postpone their start date).

 

[GymRays]

What if you made it a "tryout" situation? State that there will be an opening of a new group, how many kids you are looking for, and send out invite letters to those you have your sights on.
Maybe this would spark some more interest by making it feel special. Then after tryouts (once the kids are excited about it) send a handout to the parents with if their kid made it or not and if they did state what the requirements and expectations for the new group will be.
you may only get a couple but you gotta start somewhere and build it. You could also have a tryout in the spring/summer then again in the fall. Maybe pick some kids from rec classes too.

In our gym we have pre team which is xcel and does compete. Use to be JO lvl 3-5 then Team is JO optionals. We always have eyes on the rec groups, before the end of spring we send out letters to specific girls inviting them to pre team. We usually send out 12 and get maybe 5 that join. Then we also have the Team head coach pulls however many he sees fit his optional group. Usually 3-4.

 

[raenndrops]

We don't have a "pre-team" at our gym. We have Progressive rec levels 1-3. In March, HC has a meeting with all of the P3 parents. She explains the tryout process and what team entails (time, money, and parent commitments). Then the girls sign up to try out (individual tryouts done by HC, so they sign up for a date and time). At the end of the tryout, HC talks to the parent and gymnast. There are 3 possibilities:
1 - Not ready (have less than 60% of L3 skills) ... stay in P3 longer and add a 2nd day if they only come 1x a week (often these are the girls that JUST moved to P3 in the last few months)
2 - Close (have 60-75% of the L3 skills) ... Move to "Team with Skills Emphasis" (this is as close to pre-team as we get... the girls are focusing on getting the skills they need to compete, but aren't learning routines yet)
3 - Ready (have 75-95% of the L3 skills) ... Move to Team!
There will be another set of tryouts in August for the P3s and at gymnastics camp in July, anyone who is good enough, regardless of rec level, is invited to team.

NOW, in reality, the 2s and 3s from tryouts are actually together the whole practice... working skills AND learning bits of the routines (and if I had known that would happen, I would not have had HC put the girls' little step-sis on team with skills emphasis. In hindsight, I would have had her stay in P3... she CHOSE to miss her first practice on team AND yesterday, she claimed to be sick so she didn't have to go... we ONLY go 2 of the 3 days a week as it is AND we leave 30 minutes early BOTH days! ... When my gymmies started on team, they wanted to be the first ones there and the last ones to leave EVERY NIGHT!!! and they hated when they could only do 2 days a week due to other commitments!)

 

[Aussie_coach]

Sometimes parents of young ones tend not to want to specifically commit to much to any one thing. They want their child to taste lots of sports and activities and then specialise when they get older. And for most sports this is actually the ideal thing for that age, but gymnastics is an early specification sport, and parents don't realise that if they miss the boat when they are younger it's much harder to catch when they are older.

Parents are more encouraged to commit if they feel their child is good or talented, or that they have been specially selected for something due to their ability. Has this been emphasised?

If they see this is not just something they can do at any time, they are more likely to jump up to take the chance, I would not agree to any of them doing just the one class a week. I would say something like "that's okay, for those who can't commit to the 4 hours we have x program. There is a chance the offer will come up again after summer".