Anon What should I say or do?

[Anonymous Post]

There is a coach that when they get a gymnast who is a former gymnast I coached - they tell me that the gymnast is not doing well with their beginner skills. Here is the lowdown. When I started I came in and saw huge holes in the skill levels of the gymnasts skills across the board at the facility. I implemented a USAG progression forward program to show the coaches what the gymnasts need to have before they can move from one level to another. I saw that the higher level gymnasts didn't even have basic skills (i.e. bar holds, no bent knees on beam skills, etc.) yet had been moved up to upper level classes to train higher skills without these basic skills. I felt this was an unsafe practice and used the USAG progression guidelines for us to see who needs to move up. I also personally assessed each gymnast in the facility to see what they need to work on so we can follow all proper safety guidelines (I refuse to coach a girl in a front tuck if she doesn't already have a proper front handspring first - for example). Recently, some of my former gymnasts have started attending the gym from my previous gym and I personally know their skills and levels. I made sure to follow the same protocols and even assessed them like all the others so that I made sure everything was the same across the board. This specific coach is not a former gymnast (which as a coach - I don't think this matters as much as long as the coach is willing to have a learning spirit about themselves), and is learning about gymnastics through their own children (which I also think is a fantastic quality to have). They have been placed in a higher coaching class role (which I didn't feel they were ready for yet, but I digress....) and when my former gymnasts were placed in their class they have complained about the gymnasts not having the basic skills and needing to move back down to a lower level class (which I refuse to do). This coach this week - moved one of those gymnasts down (without consulting me first).....I am at a loss for words. Not sure what to do, nor how to go about even approaching this coach about this activity. I feel it is blatant and purposeful because this coach might have been feeling personally attacked by my original change of the programs.
What would you do?
I am now sitting on two gymnasts who are in a lower level class - are my former gymnasts and are slated to move up in the next month. I am fearful this coach is going to be detrimental to their progression in the gymnastics program and might hurt their hard worked and earned progress.

 

[JBS]

I'm having a hard time following this... can you give me a shorter summary?

It sounds like you need to work together and talk about curriculum... standards... etc. Honestly... just because someone does a cartwheel with bent legs doesn't make it unsafe or wrong for recreational gymnastics. It will mean that they receive a lower score in competitive gymnastics though.

(I refuse to coach a girl in a front tuck if she doesn't already have a proper front handspring first - for example)

A front handspring is not a progression for a front tuck... completely different skill. I have no doubt that I can easily teach someone a front tuck without a front handspring. I look at forward rolls and dive rolls to go towards front tucks.

Compulsory gymnastics states that you need a cartwheel before a kip... this is just not the case... they are not related.

 

[Anonymous Post]

I'm having a hard time following this... can you give me a shorter summary?

It sounds like you need to work together and talk about curriculum... standards... etc. Honestly... just because someone does a cartwheel with bent legs doesn't make it unsafe or wrong for recreational gymnastics. It will mean that they receive a lower score in competitive gymnastics though.



A front handspring is not a progression for a front tuck... completely different skill. I have no doubt that I can easily teach someone a front tuck without a front handspring. I look at forward rolls and dive rolls to go towards front tucks.

Compulsory gymnastics states that you need a cartwheel before a kip... this is just not the case... they are not related.

I apologize. I shouldn't have given an example lol I just threw two things together while typing and wasn't thinking about the progressions exactly.

What I am asking for help with (not the example or the progressions) is the coach that is targeting my former gymnasts specifically.
A better explanation:
I am trying to be vague just in case this coach sees this post....hence the really long post running around the issue.
Gymnasts were being moved up without following proper progressions. Therefore, I was seeing Advanced gymnasts that couldn't even hold a pike hold on bar for longer than 3 seconds. this is a very basic skill. This is just an example and should be taken lightly with this scenario please.
I made progressions based (all recreational levels should always be working towards team - that is what I was asked to do) assessments and assessed all gymnasts. Two of my former gymnasts could do all the beginner level skills and were placed in the Intermediate class. The coach is telling me that they are not showing proficiency in beginner level skills and therefore can not stay in Intermediate - the coach has a total of 4 gymnasts per class (very small class) if this coach is seeing problems with any gymnasts - they should be working with them -not moving them back down just because they are my former gymnasts so they didn't have to have them in their class.

 

[JBS]

Is the coach a co-worker... or is the coach your boss or above you? Either way... have you talked to them about this issue? That would be the first step.

Doesn't the gym have a basic curriculum for the recreational classes that all of the coaches follow?

I wish I could say that recreational skill tracking and assessment was easy... in theory it is.... but in practice it is not. Coaches have very different ways of seeing the same skill. Without a head coach / manager looking over the process as a whole... you will always run into these types of issues.

We are having growing pains with our recreational system right now. We will work through it... but it's going to take some time. Progress tracking (and reporting to the parents) in a recreational system is a major part of the business that many many gyms have issues with.

 

[Anonymous Post]

Definitely talk to them.

 

[Anonymous Post]

I am confused. Where are you and this other coach on the hierarchy? Is one superior to the other? Were you brought in to "square-up" the rec program progressions or did you take this upon yourself? Sounds like the program is not working as a cohesive unit and the coaches need to sit down and agree to the skill progressions that will lead to moving up to the next level. Also, have you talked with this coach about why what skills they feel the gymnasts are missing? Are they correct in their assessment? Making assumptions that it is "just because" they didn't like what you did isn't a good way to move the program forward.

 

[Anonymous Post]

Yikes. As a parent I would be super unhappy if my child was moved back down after being promoted if it was for anything else than my child’s terrible behavior. Is this coach so out to get you that they would crush kids’ self esteem?