Coaches Sucked into the negativity

[GymRays]

I am slowly finding out the amount of negative gossip that happens amongst the gym parents. I'm not new to coaching but I'm only now more in contact with parents more then ever before. One of my coaches was in the stands watching a meet ( not cert. to be on the floor). She got railed with questions from parents about scores and other confusions regarding the meet. None of which she had anything to do with or had any answers for. She filled me on all the negative talk that happened and I was astounded. They have a mentality of their kid competing against all the other girls, including their own team mates! I'm always explaining to my girls that its an individual sport first and you support your team members in achieving their goals. I don't want to get sucked into their drama but want to have enough of a coach/parent relationships as well. Any advice? Do you find that just teaching the kids to have a team mindset is enough or does the parent negative outlook over shadow that and drag the kids down with it? Most of the confusion comes from parents not understanding the ins and outs of a meet. I'm assuming it will be more clear with more meets under their belts ( majority of my girls are new to competition). Should I encourage them to ask questions? Thanks again for everyone's help.

 

[gymjunkie]

I try to keep my parents educated to avoid all of the above, but one thing that I stress to them is that I expect the same behavior from parents that I expect from the kids. If their child had a bad attitude during practice or a competition, there are consequences. Same for the parents!

 

[Deleted member 14190]

Well,,, if you have one of your coaches sitting in the stands with them, you are just asking for it! that's just a free ticket for them to ask and complain away. Lesson learned I hope!

 

[GymRays]

I didn't ask her too. It was the only available area to sit and she had a daughter of her own competing, but yes I agree, not a good idea, lesson learned