This is the crux of my issue. Except that I don't find it understandable at all. This gym isn't just owned by a person interested in gymnastics. Its owned by a team, investors who know how the business world works.
I can't speak to your gym in particular, but a lot of gyms run on tighter profit margins than you might realize. Even in the best of times, they're generally reluctant to spend money on new and untested equipment, especially when that equipment brings no tangible training benefit -- and now that most gyms are in much more of a financial squeeze than usual, they REALLY don't want to spend money on new equipment right now. (That said, one of the biggest expenses, I believe, is insurance, and I think if insurance companies -- particularly those providing liability insurance -- were smart, they'd encourage gyms to install video streaming systems to discourage abuse).
As for whether or not a parent watches gymnastics practice.....that's not what this thread is about but I have a whole lot of opinions on that subject too. Do you really think there would be the pervasive mistreatment and abuse of gymnasts if parents were encouraged to watch practice? Would coaches talk the way they do to child/tween/teen gymnasts if parents were within earshot? I am so tired of the gymnastics community supporting the notion that parents are the problem. That we are beholden to the coaches and the gyms. Some how its been lost that we are customers, paying for a service.
I think coaches should have the knowledge that at all times they are POTENTIALLY being watched, and you're not wrong in feeling that far too many in the industry think of parents as "the enemy." This problem can be partially solved with good strong communication between parents and coaches.
However, if coaches are ACTUALLY being watched at all times it introduces certain complications to training:
1) Good coaching is not always intuitive, especially to parents who in most cases do not have the detailed technical knowledge of the sport that coaches do. For example, it is often beneficial to delay a kid from performing a skill that they are fully capable of performing, in the interest of cleaning up basics to improve long-term performance of that skill. Susie's mom might want to see her get her backhandspring, and Susie might be capable of learning it today, but I'd rather she have a good clean backhandspring a month from now than a sloppy dangerous one today. Some parents understand this, and some don't.
2) Parents who are overly-invested in their kids gymnastics progress often put far too much pressure on their kids. In such instances, parents watching every single thing in the gym is only going to exacerbate the problem, for both coach and athlete.
3) I firmly believe that kids need to be able to have some level of control over what they share with their parents and what they keep in confidence. Obviously this can be very tricky and change depending on the circumstances, but if an athlete wants to discuss her fears and struggles with a coach without their parents being part of the conversation, they should have that option. Conversely, they should be able to share (or not share) their thoughts about any given practice with their parents on their own terms.
I'll put it another way: for a gymnast to be successful and gain the maximum benefit from being in the sport of gymnastics, there are three important AND NECESSARILY DISTINCT roles that must be filled.
1) The athlete's job is to put in the time and energy into learning the sport. They are the ones feeling the soreness after a hard workout, they are the ones putting themselves at risk when trying a new skill, they are the ones dealing with the frustration of an unsuccessful rotation, in a way that neither coach nor parent can. In the big picture, the athlete should have the ultimate say in what level of risk they are prepared to take and what level of time and effort they are willing to put forth.
2) The coaches' job is to provide technical expertise and guidance. They are the ones who bring technical expertise and experience, in a way that neither athlete nor parent can. In the big picture, the coach should have the ultimate say in what skills the athlete trains, how they train them, and when they train them.
3) The parents job is rather complex, but in the context of gymnastics it is primarily to provide emotional support. They are the ones able to provide the athlete with a safe place to rest and recuperate -- both physically and emotionally -- from the demands of gymnastics in a way that neither coach nor athlete can. This is best accomplished when parents DO NOT openly share the frustrations and fears of the athlete; when an athlete goes home after practice -- particularly after a rough practice -- she should go home to parents who love and support her with zero care for whether she had a good practice on any particular day.
Now, in my experience, parents who watch all practices all the time tend to start blurring the line between the roles of coach and parent. Its only natural to become invested when you're watching practice all the time, and I don't fault parents for this impulse. They get frustrated by their kids' struggles, they get invested in their kids' advancement through
But suppose a kid has a frustrating beam practice where she's falling on her backhandspring every time she tries it. Generally, she will not want to go home to a parent who saw every single one of those falls and is just as frustrated as she is; she wants to go home to a parent who is proud of her and will cook her a nice after-practice dinner, and with whom she can decide when and whether to discuss her frustrations and struggles. The athlete should be able to have that discussion (or not) on her own terms, in her own time.
I'm not a parent. But it is my opinion both as a coach and as a former athlete that parents can best-support their gymnasts when they don't actually care whether they're doing well in the gym, and when the athlete has the ability to share -- or decline to share -- details about practice on their own terms.
(However, all this presupposes a healthy training environment, which sadly is not always a safe assumption -- hence the need for parents to have the option of watching, and for coaches to always know they are potentially being watched).
