What's your best guess at what next season will look like?

[raenndrops]

I have a friend who works in education, placing teachers and she was told several states schools that are putting plans in place to continue ‘elearning’ into the fall. In one of the states at least (Ohio) this has been partially verified by friends who have received communication from their school district saying the same thing.
How will high school sports proceed? If you can’t attend in house schooling, then certainly things like high school football teams will be unable to continue. How far will ‘keeping the kids safe’ roll down?
I can say without a doubt that my kids mental health is improved with sports, not just their physical health. I don’t know what will happen but I’m very nervous....

In Ohio, the governor has said that they are "working on" plans for the fall. Some districts (like mine) have a 1:1 initiative where every student is given a computer to use. We have had the program long enough that it covers all grades K-12 now. Originally, the younger students left their devices at the school, but the 4th graders were able to take theirs home the last day of face-to-face instruction and the K-3 got theirs when Governor Dewine extended the order to the end of the year. The little ones went home with paper packets for the first part of the closure.
With everyone having devices, the problem (for some) is just Internet access - extremely rural areas, dead zones, and poverty can all affect this access in our district.
For districts that don't provide the devices, I can imagine it is much more difficult to make sure everyone has the access needed for eLearning. I could actually see some parents opting to enroll their students in schools that are DESIGNED for eLearning ... the ones that provide the equipment AND Internet access if necessary. The one I am most familiar with is TDA and they give the student a laptop and an iPhone (if the parent allows it) which can also be used as a hotspot for up to 4 devices at a time in addition to having unlimited data.

One idea that I have heard as being "kicked around" is a hybrid learning situation where small groups would come in to the school for instruction at a time. Either that or at least allow them to use the school for the Internet access. If it happened at our school, they would take half the tables out of the cafeteria (so there is plenty of social distancing space). The other half of the tables could be put in the gym and on the stage. Parents would sign their student or students up for a 2 hour time slot. One student per table - wearing a mask. They would have time to download anything needed so they could work on offline AND submit completed assignments / send emails / etc.

 

[JBS]

Different... it'll look different... that's all I got.

 

[kendo348]

If competitions can happen next winter (pretty sure they won’t in the fall), I do wonder if there will be an increase in the number of gyms competing a full season of L5? The norm in our area is to score out but with all of the lost time, moving from 4 to 7 in one year might not be feasible for most athletes. I know there’s a contingent here who believe in the long-term benefits of having competed 5... so who knows - maybe that could be the silver lining for some!

 

[Aussie_coach]

Well here in Australia, many of our comp seasons had not started. Because it’s still quite early in the school year here. So still waiting to see if it’s even going to happen, and if so when.

 

[RosellaJam]

Western Australia has cancelled all comps for the rest of the year. Our level 7-10's managed to get one comp in before everything closed. With our schools open from Wednesday, I'm hopeful that sports will follow soon.

 

[PeanutsMom]

This is my fear too. I can see the argument being “if we can’t have school then we are definitely not having sports because school is important while sports are an unnecessary risk.” But there are less people at a team practice than there are in a school. Often less than there are in just a classroom. A group of 10 kids training in a large ventilated gym vs 25 kids in an enclosed classroom and sharing hallways with a few hundred other kids all day? I know some will disagree with me, but... I’d take gym.

Plus, sports are the one thing I cannot provide for my children at home, therefore they are the thing I want reopened first. We (meaning my family; I know not everyone has this flexibility) could figure out ways to keep doing school, church, work, grocery shopping etc. from home for a very long time yet. But I cannot provide them with team sports. I don’t even care about competitions/games... just let them get back to practice!

I wish it was just 25 kids in a classroom. My smallest class this year was 28. Most were 32-33 (at one point 34). Our entire Optional Team (levels 6-10) was 45 (ish) kids. If we broke into levels with our coaches, the groups would be 10 or less which allows for meeting the state guidelines of limiting groups to 10 or less when things "reopen"...at least that is what I have heard the first phasing will look like.

 

[MILgymFAM]

My DD does college club gym and my best guess is that there is no next season at all. Her first college club meet may very well have been her last- the college may cut club sports to save money even once it’s safe to participate again. Lots of colleges will be cutting lots of extras to save money due to this, I think. I’m sad thinking that she never even wore her college comp leo- it arrived between the first meet and the second that never happened. At least the first meet was a good one, close to our home so we could watch and with her getting a first place medal.

 

[profmom]

MIL, I wouldn't be quite that pessimistic. I think NAIGC will survive and there will be a season next winter. Colleges and universities know that clubs of all sorts are an important part of student life. They are likely to try to protect those pieces of the student experience.

 

[mommyof1]

MIL, I wouldn't be quite that pessimistic. I think NAIGC will survive and there will be a season next winter. Colleges and universities know that clubs of all sorts are an important part of student life. They are likely to try to protect those pieces of the student experience.

But will students be back on campus next season? I'm hearing rumors that colleges will continue with on-line instruction next year.

 

[MILgymFAM]

MIL, I wouldn't be quite that pessimistic. I think NAIGC will survive and there will be a season next winter. Colleges and universities know that clubs of all sorts are an important part of student life. They are likely to try to protect those pieces of the student experience.

I don’t know what next year will look like, but I do know that as of this spring semester my D was the only person on the school’s club team. That’s an easy budget cut and she couldn’t afford to travel to training without their subsidizing it- she fervently hopes that if they’re on campus in fall she can convince others to join. Her school puts gymnastics in an awkward position imo. It’s an official school club with funding but they declined her request to join naigc. That means that though they fund training twice a week (travel to a club gym to train with a coach) they don’t compete. She competes as an individual, on her own dime. That’s a super hard sell to people who aren’t as passionate as she is. Time will tell.

 

[profmom]

But will students be back on campus next season? I'm hearing rumors that colleges will continue with on-line instruction next year.

Responsible campus leaders are saying now that they haven't decided about fall yet. Faculty at many institutions are being told to plan for multiple contingencies (traditional face-to-face, entirely online, blended formats that can accommodate both types of students, and online for large/face-to-face or blended for small). I am relatively confident that most residential institutions will be back to some form of face-to-face environment by spring term of 2020 unless we have the dreaded far worse second wave in the fall/early winter.

 

[profmom]

I don’t know what next year will look like, but I do know that as of this spring semester my D was the only person on the school’s club team. That’s an easy budget cut and she couldn’t afford to travel to training without their subsidizing it- she fervently hopes that if they’re on campus in fall she can convince others to join. Her school puts gymnastics in an awkward position imo. It’s an official school club with funding but they declined her request to join naigc. That means that though they fund training twice a week (travel to a club gym to train with a coach) they don’t compete. She competes as an individual, on her own dime. That’s a super hard sell to people who aren’t as passionate as she is. Time will tell.

That is a tough situation for her. I hope she gets a few like-minded fellow students next year!

 

[RTT2]

If there were no meets next season and I were a gym owner I think my plan would be to have every kid train up one level, then do an in-house score out meet in the spring. If a kid wasn't ready to move up the following year, they'd continue to train the next level and try to score out in the fall. Otherwise, they'd compete their last level. This would cover levels 3-7 maybe- I realize it wouldn't encompass the upper levels and training toward regionals and nationals, but I'm just trying to think through something that might make sense. Of course, we all have to just wait and see how it all plays out.

 

[SMH]

If there were no meets next season and I were a gym owner I think my plan would be to have every kid train up one level, then do an in-house score out meet in the spring. If a kid wasn't ready to move up the following year, they'd continue to train the next level and try to score out in the fall. Otherwise, they'd compete their last level. This would cover levels 3-7 maybe- I realize it wouldn't encompass the upper levels and training toward regionals and nationals, but I'm just trying to think through something that might make sense. Of course, we all have to just wait and see how it all plays out.

If there is no actual competitive season next year, that’s what I’d like to see happen. My gymnast is set to score out of 5 and compete 6 in the fall. If there are no competitions they could slowly ease back into training and focus on uptraining without having to worry about drilling routines.

 

[Aussie_coach]

If there is no competition season, we may see some amazing program from the gymnasts. 12 months straight of skill development, without the disruption of a competition season makes a big difference. So does being able to devote all training time to upskilling and not having to worry about routine learning.

 

[RTT2]

If there is no competition season, we may see some amazing program from the gymnasts. 12 months straight of skill development, without the disruption of a competition season makes a big difference. So does being able to devote all training time to upskilling and not having to worry about routine learning.

I'd love to see what could happen if gymnasts could just focus on training skills for a whole season.

 

[profmom]

I still think that if there can be meets starting in 2021, there will be meets. They are an important piece of financial support for teams, though I suppose team costs decrease if there are no meets.

I do worry that if the solution is to make sessions smaller, this will mean that meets stretch out over more days. Also, the financial model for meets depends upon charging admission for spectators. If spectators are strictly limited, what will meet directors do? Raise admission fees? I guess I could imagine a gym with the right (tech savvy) parents setting up a system where they put cameras on each event and charge a modest fee for a subscription to watch.

 

[GymMamaX3]

I still think that if there can be meets starting in 2021, there will be meets. They are an important piece of financial support for teams, though I suppose team costs decrease if there are no meets.

Personally, I love the idea of training for a year, no meets. However, I know our gym's meet is booked and at least some money has exchanged hands. It will be a real hardship to not have that meet, in addition to months (years?) without receiving regular tuition from gym families, both team and rec.

 

[SMH]

Personally, I love the idea of training for a year, no meets. However, I know our gym's meet is booked and at least some money has exchanged hands. It will be a real hardship to not have that meet, in addition to months (years?) without receiving regular tuition from gym families, both team and rec.

Our gym was set to host both a state and regional meet this season. Venues had been booked, plans made. I don’t know if they were offered refunds (both meets were being held at Universities) I cant imagine the financial hardship that must have created.

 

[skschlag]

I hope that there are comps next year. Otherwise, an entire class of juniors have had their last JO meet, and are done. Even a few. I plan to tell my son to treat each meet as though it is his last.....