Need Ideas to improve competitive program

[Ingymmom]

Our competitive gymnastics team program has only been in place for about a year and a half, and we are trying to find ways to help it grow. Our gym also has a T&T program, and this program seems to have no problem staying full - although they also have a big turn around. I would love to hear any ideas out there to improve numbers (especially for our optionals) .

Our story, we only have 2 coaches that train some rec classes, a mini team class and our L5-10's, and already seem to be spread thin. They are great, but tough coaches that expect their gymnasts to work - which seems to be our biggest problem. We lost an incredible L8 last week to softball/cheer and now we only have a few optionals left. 1 L10, 1 L9, 1 L7, and 1 training L7/8.

any ideas/help to improve numbers would be greatly appreciated.

[ZJsMom]

Since it's a new program, you probably just need to give it time. The way to have more optionals down the line is to funnel more compulsories into the program now. Making sure there's a strong level 5 team will build the base. And hopeful the girls who have come up through the program together will stick together through the optional levels. Of course, there'll be some attrition, but there should be a core that loves gymnastics, the team and their teammates and will stick it out as the training gets harder.

[JBS]

The #1 priority of any gym looking to have many team kids should be developing a great preschool and rec. program. This is were all of your team kids come from.

[bogwoppit]

Two coaches will find it hard to develop a full team and rec programme. Even if they work all the hours there are in a week.

With two coaches, in reality, no more than 20 kids can be in the gym at any time. To maximise the potential of the club and the space it obviously has, they should consider hiring some good rec coaches. As JBS pointed out, most of your team girls will come from rec and tiny tot development classes.

This would allow your two coaches to focus on team, which would perhaps help to retain the present girls.

As for how hard the coaches are, would they be prepared to change to help increase gymnasts retention? If they are open to ideas, you could suggest some team activities, i.e. team sleepover/pyjama party at the gym night, a reward system for new skills etc. In order to have gymnasts stay in the gym they need to create a strong sense of belonging and team spirit. They can still be strict and expect a lot, but perhaps giving the gymnasts a carrot to chase would be more beneficial than just the stick approach.

They must be strong coaches though, your vids certainly show very strong basics and even more advanced skills, therefore it is not the quality of the coaching that makes girls leave.

Just IMHO of course, every gym is different and that's probably a good thing as most girls are different too.

[gym law mom]

I think the larger team programs basically resemble a pyramid---large base and it does get smaller at the top. Obviously, you won't have as many L10s as pre-teamers, but that large solid base is where you hope to develop some of those future optional girls. It will take time and more coaches. The 2 you have may be very good, but for many reasons(safety etc) they can't coach everyone. Many rec coaches are part time and maybe looking to work their way up to coaching a team, so it would be worth it for the gym to look at some college students etc. to help build the rec team.

Another fact of life is there is a big drop around L6, so you're not going to keep all those girls anyway. Most optionals are in or starting middle school and they have that pull of doing other activities, more homework etc. Also optionals get more expensive and if the parents are paying for meets, coach fees etc., it can just become too much of a financial burden.

Our gym has been rebuilding the comp team and they started out by redoing the whole pre-team structure and getting more girls involved which has given them fairly good sized compulsory teams. Now, we're seeing it pay off with the optional program growing. We should go from 2 L9s to 5(1 L9 may move up to L10), 3 L8s to 5 or 6 and 7-8 L7s.

Another thing to look at is how many gyms are there that are close to you and already offer competitive teams? Can your gym come up with some different classes etc. not offered elsewhere? The 1st step to a larger team is to get those little ones in the door for classes. With this being an Olympic year, maybe that will help.

[kvgymnast]

wow! that is a super small team! does your gym have any advertising or commercials, that could be a way to make them known at least.

[Ingymmom]

Thanks for the replies, advice & comments - I agree with the program taking time and starting from the bottom & working up. We had a very successful compulsory season (a great optional season as well) & this next season is geared to be even better - it seems like things are taking off, but unfortunately our gym owner wants the program to be very strong right now without adding our much needed equipment (mainly a pit bar). I have tried suggesting ideas, but all she does is complain to the parents and compare our program to others in the gym - not taking into consideration that many admittedly started because of our gymnasts. She is making our program feel seperated from the other programs in the gym. Is this a normal occurence for gym owners to discuss financials & coach problems with customers? I am trying to stay positive and see things from her perspective, (from the monetary side). I have referred many people to our gym but they did not all join the gymnastics team. Some are in rec, some joined T&T team. Don't all programs add to each other in some way?

I really want to stay positive & I would love for this program to work out because it is only 5 minutes from my home & it can be incredible - the coaches are great, it is a huge facility. What kind of marketing do other programs do? Is it unethical to advertise in the paper, or via flyers for competitve gymnasts to work out with our coaches (the team) for a week at no charge to try the program? We only have 2 coaches so to have a safe successful program we are somewhat limited in how many can work out at one time are we not? Is there a guideline for coach to gymanst ratio? Is there a positive way to approach the owner and show her how a pit bar would only benefit her program? She is currently adamant about doing nothing for our program, and the coaches are finding it difficult to safely move girls to the next level (especially our optionals).

Tx again for your replies and help, it is much appreciated

[Ingymmom]

Quote:
Originally Posted by kvgymnast wow! that is a super small team! does your gym have any advertising or commercials, that could be a way to make them known at least.

very small, we also have a few L5's and L6's. No advertising for the team at all - except what people see when they come in.

[KBT]

Is high school gymnastics big in your area? If so, you could offer a high school prep class for your middle school kids who still like gymnastics, but don't want to be spending 20+ hours a week in the gym doing USAG competitive gymnastics. You could also offer a summer high school class for kids to learn new skills in the off-season. You'd need someone to be well-versed in NHSF rules, but that's not a huge obstacle.

[JBS]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ingymmom What kind of marketing do other programs do?

Word of Mouth
This is the most important marketing that can be done.

Mail Marketing
Try a mailing list from someplace like InfoUSA. You can target your results to a radius around the gym, zip codes, household income (we use $40,000 +), houses with kids between the ages of (we use ages 2-12), and many more options.

We use the same list for about a year and we send postcards (full color high gloss) to save money on postage. We have sent out 3 mailings of 5,000 postcards over the last 6 months.

Website
Make sure you have a great website. We are currently redoing ours.

Local Business
Customers of the gym have a lot of buying power. Offer to put fliers from other local businesses in the gym if they will display yours.

Car Window Stickers
Sell car window stickers to as many people in the gym as possible. Great to see them driving around the town.

Gymnastics Car Window Decals & Stickers

There's a few to get you going.

Quote:
Is it unethical to advertise in the paper, or via flyers for competitve gymnasts to work out with our coaches (the team) for a week at no charge to try the program?

Yes. That would signal "war" to any local gym around you. Just advertise that you have a team.

Quote:
We only have 2 coaches so to have a safe successful program we are somewhat limited in how many can work out at one time are we not? Is there a guideline for coach to gymanst ratio?

See the following post: Hours in the gym?

Quote:
Is there a positive way to approach the owner and show her how a pit bar would only benefit her program?

If the program is in financial trouble, then anything that costs money can harm your program. Try getting the booster club behind you. Then you could do some fund raisers and buy the bar for the gym.