Parents team parents removed from gym

[unsure]

I am just wondering if anyone has ever run into the situation where team parents are no longer allowed in the gym (there is only one waiting area for both rec and team with a television monitor to watch) to watch their children? I am not sure yet as to exactly why, but have heard that there has been some negative comments by team parents and they don't want it affecting rec parents. My DD is only 7 and we do not live in the same town as the gym to easily drop off and pick up. Please if you have any thoughts on this let me know.

 

[TexasRose]

The only time I've heard about something similar was when our gym- which has both gymnastics and cheer teams- started closing the blinds on the cheer room so the parents couldn't watch anymore. Supposedly parents were overheard making negative comments about some of the kiddos. So the gym fixed that problem by closing the blinds during team practice. I haven't ever heard of parents not being allowed in the gym tho. Seems like that would be really hard to enforce if they need to pick up kids, pay, etc.

 

[unsure]

It is a very small gym. It seems to me that the move they are making will do nothing but cause more negativity. There is no where else close enough to where we live to take her to a different gym. I do not want to break her heart by taking her out, but I feel offended. The odd thing is that some people seem to think it is totally fine.

 

[gymmomntc2e6]

would be smarted to have a meeting with all of the team parents. clear the air. resolve issue & set rules for future behavior.

 

[Faith]

In our gym until recently you couldn't watch at all. Now they open the blinds once a month, after parents requested it.

Parents are not allowed in the gym at all. There is a reception area to pay fees, pick up/ drop off or whatever. I think this a good idea, parents wandering about, trying to talk to coaches, distracting their children etc, as well as the hygiene issue of tracking outside dirt through the gym area.

Perhaps something happened with a parent in the gym for them to introduce this? I'd ask and see what they say...

 

[Gymmonkeymomma]

At our old gym, team parents were banned because we raised issues like safety, fairness, bullying, disrespecting coaches - from things that we had observed!! !!!

 

[cher062]

at old gym parents can watch for the first 15 min and the last 15. then the last practice of the month they can stay for the last hour. At new gym they ask you not to stand at the wall watching the team more than 20 min before or 20 min after but you can stay and sit at thetables in the waiting area the rest of the time so long as the girls can't see you.

 

[AlwaysCuriousMom]

My DD has attended both kinds of gyms: 1. Where parents are allowed to watch from a balcony freely and 2. Where parents are not allowed to watch on the balcony, only during specified "viewing weeks." In the second scenario (where DD is now) parents are still allowed to take a peek from the drop off area, or through the windows. I don't feel like the gym is hiding anything - just that it gets distracting having the gymnasts look up to see who's on the balcony (which can be dangerous.) I think there is also noise distraction when there are people on the balcony (due to the build of the gym.)

At DD's first gym parents would watch - ALOT. Gossiping, busybody-ing, talking.... it just comes with the territory. I was a MUCH happier person NOT being on that balcony. Gym parents on balconies are not bad people, but the environment seemed to really foster comparison, gossip, cliques, etc. I can see why any gym would prefer not to have parents sit there and watch for hours at a time.

 

[unsure]

You all must understand it is a very small gym. We were never allowed in the gym proper. Only a totally separate room with a flatscreen tv on the wall hooked up to cameras in the gym. We now can not be in the building as that was the only waiting area.

 

[gymmom-in-training]

Wow! Seems like something seriously wrong was going on in that viewing area!
They must have said some pretty bad things to have all the team parents be not allowed to be at the practices any more. What were the comments?
At our gym, we are not allowed to watch daily practice either. We can watch only on the last Friday of the month.

 

[gympunkin]

Any chance it has to do with parking? At one point we considered a gym for my daughter that did not allow team parents to stay in the gym at all, but rec parents could. The head coach told me that it was because the gym had limited parking and rec parents complained about the lack of parking. Since the rec program basically paid the bills (the coach's words), the gym decided to solve the parking problem by basically banning team parents. In theory you could park on the street and come back and watch, but in reality it was a very difficult area to park in. I should add that apparently before the parking restriction team parents could wait in a conference room but only watch once a month, so it apparently wasn't as big a change as at your gym. The rec parents had an open viewing area.

 

[unsure]

We all have to park on the street as the only tiny lot is for employees. My daughter has class tomorrow and I will sit in my car on the street for two hours in case someone wants to talk to me to let me know what is going on. This is a disturbing situation since they don't want us in there but will only talk to us face to face as to why. FYI we were just told this online Tuesday night and my daughter has wednesdays off. If anyone tells me something that makes sense tomorrow night I will let you know.

 

[gymmom-in-training]

I will sit in my car on the street for two hours in case someone wants to talk to me to let me know what is going on. QUOTE]

Have you asked to speak with the coaches or owner? Seems like your just sitting back and waiting for them to come to you. Perhaps you need to go ask them why this is happening.

 

[unsure]

Owner and coach are one in the same and this person has been hunting down people that they want to talk to. I am not just sitting back, trust me. Owner/ coach biggest pet peeve is being interrupted during class. If she wants to talk with me specifically my daughter can tell her where to find me. I know what the general issue is and I believe that I said it. Supposed certain team moms saying negative things in front of rec parents. They will only speak to you on an individual basis.

 

[gymmom-in-training]

You say, "I feel offended. The odd thing is that some people seem to think it is totally fine." If you are not one of the ones saying bad things, why are you offended? I would think that you would be mad at the people saying bad things. I wouldn't want people saying bad things about my DD's coach or gym.

Nobody has asked yet, but you say that you stay during practice because you live out of town. Have you actually heard what was said, or is there any truth behind what the owner thinks is happening? or is this all a misunderstanding? Surely there has to be some truth behind this for them to take such extreme measures and make you parents so upset? Hopefully, they will seek you out and tell you what's going on. But if it were me, I would be asking for a meeting. Perhaps you could come to a compromise. Like I said, we get to watch on Fridays. Maybe they would be open to letting you come in one day a week or something.

 

[unsure]

It is rather simple. I feel offended because we are not one of those big gyms with a large well known team. Yes, there is some truth to what has been said, but the comments were based on truths also. It seems wrong to jump the gun and boot everyone before taking a first step and finding out the truth of things. I personally am not in it to get my kid to be some major competitor. She just likes her class and I would never choose to go to a gym where I am not allowed to watch my child and see what my money is paying for. I hope that I don't sound rude, but my child's gymnastics started out as something fun for her and is becoming something that is not remotely pleasant. I can't explain it any better than that to an outsider I suppose. I only posted to see if it had happened to other people.

 

[gymgal]

We have had the problem of negative comments by team parents in the past. There is an official rule that team parents can only watch on Fridays, which is an all team day (no rec). The owner felt that any negative comments by team parents would reflect badly on the gym and the team. These rec parents are potential future team parents. We do not want to give them a bad first impression. And it's just improper behavior to gossip like this in the waiting area. So, officially, team parent are not allowed to stay when rec. parents are in the waiting area, but this rule has been enforced inconsistently and it seems to be related to how much negative talk is happening. Most parents stay a little at drop off and pick up. Only a couple parents stay all of practice.

Personally, I am not offended by it at all. I know the owner is not trying to hide anything from us by not letting us watch. If that were the case, I would never a loow my child to stay at the gym, regardless of whether I was watching her. It purely is an attempt to keep things positive. Also, the area is not large enough to fit all the rec and team parents so it's logistics.

As for you having no place to go while you wait - are there no stores or a library around? My dd's practices are now 4hrs long so I often make the 1/2 trip back home but when they were only 2 hours, it wasn't worth it. I used to plan my shopping during practice. I also went to the library and either read or caught up on work. Sometimes I would just go to a local fast food restaurant and lounge for a while (when it was too cold to stay in the car for 2 hrs. just some thoughts.

try not be offended. The gym is just trying to protect its reputation by decreasing the negative comments in front of rec parents. That is a positive for everyone involved even though I understand that it makes it harder for you during practice times.

 

[Deleted member D3987]

You all must understand it is a very small gym. We were never allowed in the gym proper. Only a totally separate room with a flatscreen tv on the wall hooked up to cameras in the gym. We now can not be in the building as that was the only waiting area.

for whatever reason, they did what they had to do.

 

[Gymmonkeymomma]

I get that some gyms have a 'no watching' or limited watch time for team parents and as long as the rule and reason are communicared to all, then that's accepted as policy.

I'm confused by the OP saying you are 'offended' and how you would never choose a gym where you are not allowed to see. What you're paying for, but now you're just going to sit in your car till the owner seeks you out? Seems like a team parent meeting with everyone is in order, to clear the air... How about a 'no bad mouthing the gym on the premises rule?' lol.

 

[happychaos]

I live in an area that has several gyms, and as far as I am aware, all allow parents to observe whenever they want. I like to watch my DD practice if I have the time. I would become very suspicious if I were not allowed to watch. My DD is SEVEN-years-old, and any activity that involves young children should absolutely allow parents to watch WHENEVER they want. My DD's (private) school encourages parents to drop in whenever they want. If there is something going on in the gym that is a concern to parents, it should be addressed. Banning parents from watching seems like it would breed more distrust and bad feelings. Just my humble two-cents!

Also, I have NEVER been exposed to any crazy-gym-parent behavior, so maybe I am still just naive.....