Parents Switching gyms

[Sweetbrunette00]

so we are on Lvl 3.
We are thinking about switching gyms after this year because her current gym does not go past lvl 8. The coaching staff is limited to 3 coaches with experience.
The team girls never seem to have room to practice including sharing the floor with Rec classes and cheerleading practice.
I just think that she is not being given the best opportunities and frankly I don't feel that the coaches believe in her.
We are in the middle of season and I have looked into a few other creditable gyms in our area but when is the best time to switch gyms?
I want to switch after season now while she is in a younger level to make sure she can adjust and can grow with the new gym.
We love our current gym but looking down the road it's just not what we want.

 

[GymDad9.9]

I would consider doing so after the season. In the meanwhile I would pay attention to the other gyms at competitions if you compete against them; watch the coaches, see how attentive the girls are, watch the interactions between them.

 

[Sweetbrunette00]

How do you go about switching?
Should I take her to all the choices to try out?
So they go by meet scores or a trial practice?
Do the gyms go and tell her old gym that she tried out?
Our handbook said we will be kicked off the team if we transfer or even try.
We aren't even allowed to go to an open gym at another gym.

 

[CTMOM]

How do you go about switching?
Should I take her to all the choices to try out?
So they go by meet scores or a trial practice?
Do the gyms go and tell her old gym that she tried out?
Our handbook said we will be kicked off the team if we transfer or even try.
We aren't even allowed to go to an open gym at another gym.

That's crazy that they put that in the handbook! We have had girls leave and come back. They are welcomed with open arms!

 

[txgymfan]

Search Chalkbucket. There are numerous threads on this topic. The short version is...
Do your online research
Pick a few gyms that you are interested in based on drive ability etc.
Quietly observe team practice
When you are ready to make the switch
Pay your gym bill, leave nothing behind
Take her to your top two or three choices for a trial
Accept a new team offer.
Send an email to old gym thanking them for their efforts.

 

[beachgirl]

If you have several options watch all of the gyms at competitions that you are considering. Look to see how the coaches are with the girls and how the girls are with each other. If you are interested in high scores check out those gyms on My Meet Scores, but if you are doing that you might want to look at specific girls to see how long they were in each level. Some gyms look great because they have a lot of high scoring girls, but the gyms may actually keep their girls in each level a couple of years. Check to see how many they have in upper optionals and how well they do. If it's a newer program they may not have this, but could still be good. Then you might want to go to a practice at each gym alone and watch. When my daughter switched gyms I went to the 3 we were interested in around what I thought pick up time would be and just sat there and listened and watched. After you have done your research then call each gym and set up a try out. None of the 3 gyms I called alerted her gym prior to the try out. One of them did call the owner of my daughter's gym after the try out. At each gym after the try out she was invited to come back and work out with the team. I declined at one gym and the other gym was a one time team work out and then commitment and the other was a 2 week trial. From there you will have to decide what you want to do and what will work best for your daughter and family. I know it's common, but the idea that you can't try another gym and go back doesn't sit well with me. Are you sure it doesn't just say it in the handbook? My daughter's first handbook said it, but we were told she was welcome to return if we wanted to.

 

[Sweetbrunette00]

That's crazy that they put that in the handbook! We have had girls leave and come back. They are welcomed with open arms!

Yes it's in the handbook no open gym at other gyms and no visiting other gyms to consider transferring or automatically off the team..
Which is what I'm most worried about.
I don't know if other gyms would be like hey ur team girl tried out here

 

[3rd_time_around]

Yes it's in the handbook no open gym at other gyms and no visiting other gyms to consider transferring or automatically off the team..
Which is what I'm most worried about.
I don't know if other gyms would be like hey ur team girl tried out here

I'm sorry. One thing you could ask them to be discrete, but you never know who's watching and reporting. It's sad that you're off for even considering. It's kind of like getting a 2nd opinion with a doctor. My dd's gym has had people leave and come back and then leave and come back again. No hard feelings. But I do see both sides of this coin.

 

[Deleted member 18037]

First you call the other gyms for information, and you make sure you block you number and say your will be moving into the area and looking for information on their program. You can do this now. Ask all the questions you think are importaant. Cost, training days/hours. Do they up train. How do they do move ups.

Then just you visit, observe the coaches, training etc... And don't just observe gym, what is going on during pick up and drop off. Are all the kids happy, look stressed, how are the parents, do the grown ups and kids look cliquey. etc... And go more than once.

Then arrange for you child to visit and work with the gyms you like based on your scoping them out.

Make your decision and go.

 

[GymSnax]

We were forced to change gyms because my husband is in the Navy and we were reassigned to a new location. I agree with everyone else, it's difficult to transfer mid-season because I found that each gym has a slightly different way in which they coach the various skills and the way the girls progress throughout the season. I also found out the hard way that your first choice in gyms might not be interested in offering your daughter a try-out.

 

[NY Dad]

I'll start by letting you know that you have more experience at this than I do but I thought I would share my thoughts anyway.

I’m playing devil’s advocate because I could potentially see myself in a similar situation down the road. (My DD recently started at level 2 at YWCA (a new gym for us).)

The first issue you mentioned is that the current gym doesn’t go past level 8. I had a similar concern when I got a better understanding of how YWCA works vs other gyms. (I didn’t know about the levels at the time, I was concerned that YWCA not being the right place for the long-term.) Here’s the advice I got from MeetDirector

To be completely honest with you, at Level 2 it really doesn't matter where the gymnastics is done, just that they are getting some training in the fundamentals while having F-U-N. As you begin the journey into the formal parts of the USAG compulsory program (Level 4 and beyond), I would want my dd at a formal gymnastics-specific training facility. This is not a knock on YMCA/YWCA, just a statement of fact as to the focus of the particular entity; a gymnastics training facility is focused on training gymnastics while a YMCA/YWCA is focused on providing recreational opportunities to the community at large.

You are concerned with the gym only having 3 experienced coaches. Have you felt like there weren’t coaches available for your DD? I’m guessing the rec classes don’t use these experienced coaches.

Another concern is that they share the floor with rec and cheerleading. I know they share the floor at my DD’s gym too but as far as I can tell from asking her, it doesn’t sound like that interferes with their gymnastics. In my opinion it makes it seem more vibrant and active. Do you feel like other gymnastics/activities in the gym are interfering at your DD’s gym?

You feel like she’s not being given an opportunity and that they don’t believe in her. I’m just curious what that’s based on. My DD had previously been in a rec class at another gym. Over the summer she did a 1 week gymnastics camp at different gym (her old gym didn’t offer camp). The new gym invited her to join level 2 team. I hadn’t gotten any feedback from the initial gym so I accepted the offer. Then I got a letter in the mail from her original gym offering my DD to join level 2 team (but it was too late). I just assumed b/c I hadn’t heard anything from the coaches that they weren’t interested in her. At her current gym I’ve emailed and spoken to the coach to make sure he knows that I’m available to talk and to introduce myself a few weeks after she joined. I told him she’s loving her classes and feels like she’s learning a lot. He said it was very unusual to hear from a parent unless it was a complaint.

That having been said, does she enjoy the classes? Is she happy? That might be the most important at this point for the long term. I'm not sure if you are anticipating needing to change gyms in the future if it's better to do it sooner or wait to make sure the move is really necessary.

 

[munchkin3]

Good insights and I will echo the fact that you dont have to move gyms because of this reason alone. If there are other reasons, than I would address them with the gym first as you need to know that other gyms may be no different. All gyms have floors that are crowded, L2 and L3 seem to have more fun than L4s/5s.....Question- how do they compete? How do the kids like their coaches? How do the group of girls get along?

Just my 2 cents, at this level you want your child to learn to love gymnastics and to gain experience with competing and dealing with pressure. Sometimes, putting a young child into a high caliber gym can kill the whole thing. It depends on your child. These years are perhaps the most important for fun, and for 'learning the basics'. Coaches that are good at teaching L2-L5 are VERY different than coaches who do L6 and up....so if you say they are experienced, that is a good thing.

Mine started at a YMCA.....had great years learning good basics and had truly a great time competing with her friends. She was a solid scorer, never at the top but occasionally took a 2nd or 3rd on something.....The team was small, and they were like sisters. They all loved their coaches and in general, the Y was a great compulsory place...
By L4, she was ready for more. At this point I already had some gyms in mind (from competing against them for a few seasons) and had done some research. We moved right after L4 and the new gym was intense and moved fast. she was ready for it.

Relax- you have time. If she is happy and moving along and learning skills. As txgymfan said, observe, plan and commit. Its her journey.

 

[Gymmommy71]

If it were me, and my gym had something like that if you try out elsewhere you can be cut in the contract, I would probably wait until the season was over to make any direct contact. I just wouldn't want to risk anything that would traumatize my kid mid-season, and I know from experience that word travels really fast in all kinds of ways whenever any team kid does a trial class at a different gym - even if the coaches and owner keep quiet (which many will), the parents and kids all talk and find it very exciting that they may get a new teammate, and everyone knows someone at other gyms so word travels fast. Add to it, there are, unfortunately, a lot of backstabbing parents who are more than eager to rat out another kid to their coach/gym owner for doing a trial elsewhere in the hopes of getting brownie points for their own kid - I've seen this happen more than a few times at more than one gym. I wouldn't even make phone calls, cause some gyms have parents answering the phones and it could have the same effect as above if that phone-answerer is the gossipy type.

What I would do though is observe other gyms from afar as much as I could till the end of the season. I would watch them at meets (looking for where my kid would be the best fit), I would also "stalk" any public facing social media pages they have (Facebook, Instagram, etc.,) and look at their web sites. I've found that you can tell a lot about the culture of a gym from watching the types of things that they post on FB.

Then the day after your daughter's state meet (or the same day if she's in an early session ) start making phone calls/sending emails to the gyms you want to look at.

 

[dancingimmie]

[QUOTE="Gymmommy71, post: 479954, member: 11731" ...and I know from experience that word travels really fast in all kinds of ways whenever any team kid does a trial class at a different gym - even if the coaches and owner keep quiet (which many will), the parents and kids all talk and find it very exciting that they may get a new teammate, and everyone knows someone at other gyms so word travels fast. Add to it, there are, unfortunately, a lot of backstabbing parents who are more than eager to rat out another kid to their coach/gym owner for doing a trial elsewhere in the hopes of getting brownie points for their own kid - I've seen this happen more than a few times at more than one gym. I wouldn't even make phone calls, cause some gyms have parents answering the phones and it could have the same effect as above if that phone-answerer is the gossipy type.

What I would do though is observe other gyms from afar as much as I could till the end of the season. I would watch them at meets (looking for where my kid would be the best fit), I would also "stalk" any public facing social media pages they have (Facebook, Instagram, etc.,) and look at their web sites. I've found that you can tell a lot about the culture of a gym from watching the types of things that they post on FB.

Then the day after your daughter's state meet (or the same day if she's in an early session ) start making phone calls/sending emails to the gyms you want to look at.[/QUOTE]

This!! This happened to me and my dd. I was pissed at the HC/owner because of lack of communication and what looked like a lack of a training plan for my dd. We went to another gym for a trial practice to see if it was a good fit. By the next day EVERYONE knew and rumors were going around that we had switched gyms. A friend of mine in another state across the county even herd the rumor. Lucky for me she called me to find out what was going on. So I had a heads up when the HC finally returned my calls/emails to discuss the plan. He never brought it up but I know he knew and I also know that loosing my dd would have been a tough pill to swallow. I was able to prepare my DD for being confronted by her older team mates (she's 8 they are 12-14) in the locker room and she was. I told her exactly what to say and she was able to shut them down. It was a very stressful couple of days!! But I have to admit I'm glad we did it. Things have never been better at the gym!! We were lucky.

My advise is don't start looking unless you are ready for EVERYONE to know.

 

[NY Dad]

My advise is don't start looking unless you are ready for EVERYONE to know.

Wow, that's crazy. Good to know. Luckily for me between rec --> level 2 no one seemed to care but then again

... I know from experience that word travels really fast in all kinds of ways whenever any team kid does a trial class at a different gym - even if the coaches and owner keep quiet (which many will)

Also, I think my situation is different because I recently found out that level 2 (at my DD's gym) is actually considered pre-team. I assume they make this distinction because they don't compete until level 3. As I mentioned above, I'm still learning.

 

[Gym Beam]

I find it odd that a gym that only goes up to Level 8 would have that kind of language in their handbook. What happens when a gymnast is ready to go to Level 9?

 

[duyetanh]

I find it odd that a gym that only goes up to Level 8 would have that kind of language in their handbook. What happens when a gymnast is ready to go to Level 9?

Apparently they don't allow it to happen.
Ok, sorry for the sarcasm. But it's asinine.

 

[Gymmommy71]

I find it odd that a gym that only goes up to Level 8 would have that kind of language in their handbook. What happens when a gymnast is ready to go to Level 9?

Agree. She also said the team gymnasts often need to share the floor w/ cheerleaders and rec kids. That's very serious contract language for a gym that doesn't sound like it takes the gymnastics team all that seriously.

 

[mobeans]

With what your handbook states, I'd consider a leave anyway! I'd honestly quietly do your research during this current season, via online, checking out meet scores, and observing at meets - great advice from others on watching coach/gymnast interactions at meets and how the gymnasts are with each other. Then, after states, visit other gyms, try out, etc. If you are "kicked out" at that point the season is behind you. Best of luck!

 

[GymDad9.9]

That language in the handbook reminds me of the lyrics in "Hotel California"....

You can check out any time you like
But you can never leave