Sending DD alone with coach to national tops testing

[bookworm]

Are parents/chaperones allowed to stay with the gymnast at the ranch? The housing info certainly liiks like chaperones can stay with their gymnast. But our hc says parents are not allowed to stay in the cabins or hotels at the ranch. When my husband was waiting at the ranch for my dd to finish testing, he said it appeared to him parents were actually staying at ranch.To those who have actually stayed at the ranch, what are the pros and cons? Is it better to stay at an offsite hotel?

I think some of your confusion on whether or not parents can stay is the use of the word "chaperone"...the chaperones referred to as staying at the ranch are usually a female employee of a gym sending multiple girls who are staying at the ranch. In my experience, the chaperones have not been the parents of gymnasts.

And in reading your post about your daughter's prior experience there, I would be going to Texas with her or she wouldn't be going , period. You can hang out at the Ranch but you can't watch the actual testing so you could see her after the testing was over for some hugs and hellos...and I'd get her a Verizon phone in case she needed to call me later in the evening..but I'd definitely put a positive spin on it going forward so your daughter will be in a better place heading into testing.

 

[gymcoach34]

Parents are allowed to be a chaperone and stay in the cabins for TOPs testing. There is a little bit of everything that happens: Some parents stay w their daughters at the ranch, some gyms that have many kids attending have 1 parent or coach chaperone the group at the ranch, some parents stay off site (hotel) w their daughter, some coaches or just 1 parent acting as a chaperone stay off site.

The cabins are in fact cabins-- in the woods. Some are nicer than others- but its very rustic and NOTHING like the Woodlands-lol. There are bugs and the bathrooms are pretty gross. Hilton just made some upgrades there, but I dont think they went and did the cabins, just where the national team and coaches stay. All the hotels (even the ones that are closer) require that long ride down that dirt road.

I used to travel w just the athletes and be the chaperone, but I no longer do that. The kids I currently coach have a harder time leaving their moms than kids I have coached in the past. Also, I get to have more fun w my coaching buddies when I am able to turn over the kids to the parents at night.

Unless you can talk to the coaches, and get them to change their minds, you pretty much have to go along with the plan if you want her to attend. I could totally see how your dd would not want to stay w her coach w no other athlete access all the way ay the woodlands....if it was me I would feel wierd too and be begging you to go. Would def be easier if there were other kids in the equation. Good luck. Parents are NOT allowed to stay for the camps- but I do know some parents (whom I assume have lots of $ and time) stay in a hotel in houston while their kids are at camp.

Maybe you could request you and your dd stay in a closer hotel? I know those are usually listed on the website.

 

[clrmom]

Sounds like you made a decision that will work best for your family. On a side note about the car sickness, a friend of mine has a dd that gets extremely car sick. This last spring they travelled to NY from Florida via car. Per someone's suggestion, her dd ate sour patch kids (or I think some other type of sour candy would work) while in the car and didn't get car sick at all. It was the first time her dd had been able to travel comfortably. It has something to do with the amount of saliva the sour patch candy produces which alleviates the nauseousness. I suppose that is always worth a shot while driving down that long, dirt road.

 

[ginnymac]

Also, green apples help with motion sickness!!

 

[Muddlethru]

Thanks cirmom and ginnymac for the car sickness suggestions. I will definitely give them a shot. Thanks also to bookworm and gymcoach34 for the camp and other valuable info. And thanks to gymdog, dunno and everyone else for their post. Every post has provided me with things to ponder. This thread has been a tremendous help. I am making airfare and hotel reservations for my daughter, her hc and for me. My husband took my daughter last year. So, I get to go this year and looking forward to going as well as not having to cook, do laundry, pick up toys, drive (hc likes to be in control and prefers to drive the renta--fine with me) for 3 days. Yipee! (don't get me wrong, I love my kids and enjoy being a stay at home mom. Just need a little r&r).