Should I say something?

[MamaofEnS]

Hi Coaches,

My L7 DD mentioned something to me that has me concerned. Although there is a policy for coaches about not using cell phones, I heard yesterday that one of the coaches spent a lot of time yesterday playing games on his phone, and then drawing pictures on a notepad feature of his phone. She said that he still watched the girls as they practiced, but I'm not convinced.

I spoke to him as he was leaving the gym last night, and asked him about my dd's hair. She told me that the coaches were concerned that it was getting too long, and becoming a safety concern, so she got it cut. I asked the coach if the length was okay, and he answered that he didn't notice that it was different. Ugh.

What do you think I should do? I am pretty non-confrontational, and the last thing I want to do is get him in trouble, but my dd's safety should come first.

MamaofEnS

 

[gym4life123]

Talk to the club owner. Say that you don't want to see it happen again. Just report what you saw. If you don't want him to know that it was you write an anonymus letter to the gym (no return address) and explain. Make it from a level 7 Gymnasts parent. It is a big safety issue having coaches doing something other than coaching. And if the coach if playing games your DD is not improving the way she could be if she was being coached. If it continues you might want to think about swithing gyms (if worst comes to worst)

 

[canadiangymnast_eh]

Sounds exactly like my old coach! i would defiantly say something to either the head coach or the club owner because it can be a safety issue. Coming from someone who experienced this last year, it interferes with training and i lost a lot of skills because of a coach who didn't coach. We lost a lot of training time waiting for him to get off his blackberry and spot/correct us. One thing we would have to do, is every time we saw the coach on his cell phone when he was supposed to be coaching, we would yell at him to get off it. After a while, he got the message and started to spend a bit more time coaching. hope it starts to get better for you! I know how annoying it is!

 

[Kiwi]

I would talk to the coach's manager, as it sounds like he is not doing his job. I've never seen anything like this at our gym, the coaches are always coaching.

 

[Gymnast1775]

Has this happened a few times or really just the once? I coach and I gota tell you sometimes coaches just get burnt out and are flat out, out of it. It's a lot of hard work and some nights its just plain tedious. Don't get me wrong I love my girls and I love the job, but it's a lot sometimes. I doubt safety was really an issue especially if other coaches were around. However that is not appropriate behavior for a coach, he knows better. We'd get a kick in the keister at our gym if we did that. You are rightly concerned so defiantly bring it up. I would go strait to the coach himself, no need to get him in trouble. Unless the problem persists then absolutely go to the club manager. And don't attack the guy, just let him know that it concerned you. He probably didn't realize how foolish it made him look as a coach. It happens. That's just my opinion though.

 

[CoachTodd]

Wait a minute. They have a safety issue with someone's hair but not with a coach that isn't paying attention?
I've had what would be equal to Bozo the clown tumbling (right GT) and girls whose hair came to their back side with no safety issues. I'd be quick to bring up an issue with the coach having their phone on the floor. I leave mine in the coaches' office unless there is something I need to keep an ear out for.

 

[NGL780309]

Hi Coaches,

My L7 DD mentioned something to me that has me concerned. Although there is a policy for coaches about not using cell phones, I heard yesterday that one of the coaches spent a lot of time yesterday playing games on his phone, and then drawing pictures on a notepad feature of his phone. She said that he still watched the girls as they practiced, but I'm not convinced.

I spoke to him as he was leaving the gym last night, and asked him about my dd's hair. She told me that the coaches were concerned that it was getting too long, and becoming a safety concern, so she got it cut. I asked the coach if the length was okay, and he answered that he didn't notice that it was different. Ugh.

What do you think I should do? I am pretty non-confrontational, and the last thing I want to do is get him in trouble, but my dd's safety should come first.

MamaofEnS

You said you "heard" he was playing on his phone. I generally don't act on things I hear. Maybe spend some time at practice and see if you see this happenning. If it really did happen and it was a lot then other parents at practice would have seen it. I'd let those that were there to witness it do the complaining.

I'm not defending this person, but just for arguments sake let me give you an example. I teach private lessons on an instrument and close to competitions I will often score my students on their etudes and scales. At the end of the lesson I'll use my cell phone to add the scores. I had a parent come and complain that I was texting during their child's lesson. It probably really looked that way, but I was really using my calculator on my phone. Once I showed the parent they understood and said they were sorry for jumping to conclusions. I didn't mind them asking in the least as I was really using it for a legitimate purpose.

 

[Aussie_coach]

Yes, report this, it is totally inappropriate. The girls safety is at stake, a coach who is playing games on his phone can't have the same awareness of the energies of the girls. A good coach will be able to tell if a child is at risk of hurting herself by her energy before she even does a skill, but not if they are playing games.

This coach is being paid to coach, and most coaches are paid by the hour, he is not being paid to play.