Crazy gym parents

[midwestgymmom]

Has anybody seen something like this: At our state meet a few weeks ago apparently at one of the level award ceremonies a parent was watching and waiting for their dd to get her medal and while they were announcing the placements started ARGUING WITH THE ANNOUNCER LOUDLY ABOUT HER DDS SCORE AND PLACEMENT I guess according to the judges sheet the medal placement was right but they kept on arguing! If I was their dd I would have been so embarrassed.The rest of the parents were so disturbed I knew these people existed but until you see them ...........does this happen very often ?

[JBS]

No...it doesn't happen very often. It happens in all sports every now and then. Any parent can get a little carried away when in involves their kids.

Their are some parents that are just plain crazy, too.

Hopefully they'll look back on it in a couple of years and laugh.

[gym law mom]

I agree with JBS that you don't see parents out there arguing over scores very much, but this kind of behavior is seen in anything kids do from music to soccer to dance etc. I would hope the gym owner sits this mom down and not only tells her what she did was completely inappropriate, but that until she can control herself she is not welcome at meets. It might be interesting to see if the state USAG association gets involved.

Thing is, this type of behavior embarrases everyone from that gym--coaches, other girls on the team and parents. Probably if you could ask parents from that gym they would say this mom is no "wallflower" at practices---one of those constantly pushing her kid or in the coaches faces. What I've found with many of these parents is the pressure they put on their kids at home is worse than anything you see around the gym and many kids just quit so they don't have the push to always be on top.

Just curious---what level state meet was this?

[hammy]

It's one thing to check with a coach if you think your gymnast should have placed--sometimes the score that is flashed after a routine is different from what was entered into the computer (human error when displaying the score). One thing to keep in mind is that in the case of a tie in score the higher placement goes to the gymnast with the higher all around score.

In Feb. i was coaching my level 4s at their 2nd meet ever and when it came to the team award we weren't given an award. We (the coaches) went up and argued with those who entered the scores into the computer, showed them what we scored and we were given recognition for taking 2nd place, but we were not given an award because the other team had already left. It ended up being that they entered us in the computer incorrectly----this was sad seeing as we were one of the two teams hosting the meet.

[midwestgymmom]

Quote:
Originally Posted by gym law mom Just curious---what level state meet was this?

The state meet was for level 4-10. I believe it was the level 6 session. And it was an error in that the score was recorded right in the computer but when the score was flashed the score thingy (?) wasn't working correctly. I think it could have been handled a lot more quietly and respectfully than screaming and calling names in a very small area at the announcer who had nothing to do with it. I'm sure most parents at the meet will recognize those parents anytime there is a meet.

[gym law mom]

Ok, well my daughter is a Level 6 and I've never started screaming about her scores while awards were given. So, not all Level 6 parents are whackos!

Hammy discussed the proper way for this to be handled and that is by the coaches---not the parents. At one meet this past season, one of our Level 6s did her bar routine and it was good---not great, but good. They held up a score of 6.85!! Now, to get that she would have had to have fallen and left out at least 1-2 elements which didn't happen. Her parents(and the rest of us) sat there shocked/surprised. Our head coach went to the bar judges and those tabulating the scores and found that the person holding up the score had MISREAD the judge's handwriting. They thought it was a 6 when in fact it was an 8. The score sent to accounting was correct--8.85, but the score held up was wrong. Unfortunately, the girl did get a glimpse of the score and totally messed up her beam routine even though the coaches told her it had been corrected.

No doubt about it---this parent was way out of line!

[gymbabisMom]

That's why I love the electronic score boards. Not that they are completely infalible, but they seem to work better than the score cards, which at the meets we've been at have usually been flashed by kids.

[MomChefKathleen]

At our State Meet, they started the awards for Level 4 9-year-olds, going out 14 places. They called 8 places, all with All-Arounds in the high 20's... the parents in the audience were shaking our heads and saying "No..." Turns out they only had the totals from the first three events. My daughter wasn't in the group that was called. So here these poor girls were standing up there and then had the medals taken OFF their necks and they were told to sit back down. Someone brought the correct scores. My daughter then placed 13th, so I know there were probably girls who initially thought they placed who didn't.

The announcer had been announcing during the meet itself, so she should have realized that an All-Around of 27 isn't going to place at the State Meet.

I felt so bad for the girls who had to take off the medals and sit back down. But no one challenged the announcer or argued at that point. There had been some corrected scores posted earlier as well.

Kathleen

[medic3188]

You know what I find difficult is when you are at the gym and parents are screaming at their kids who are down below. The try to coach their kids from the viewing area. The other thing that drives me crazy is the parent who sits there for the entire practice bragging about how great their kid is. Has anyone experienced this?

[Monkeygirlsmom]

I think its the coaches job to go and handle the situation with Class and not rudeness!! I can see a parent go up to the coach and say is this correct but then let the coach handle it. I know while at the gym I watch and let the coach be a coach if we are at home and she is doing cartwheels etc I might say straighter legs etc. but no more than that!! Im a parent not a coach!!