Parents Leaving is SO hard!!!!!!

[munchkin3]

I have been part of my kids gym for 7 years. I have had the great pleasure to work closely with the coaches to help them with leotards, warm ups, fundraising, parties, you name it. A group of us parents also raised thousands on behalf of the team for the facility and for underprivileged kids.......it has truly been rewarding.
Over the last 6 months, I have watched the larger entity drive the gymnastics program into the ground. It is understaffed, there is no gymnastics director and the parents are all going crazy. The coaches are stressing out and finally, my last bit of fundraising money was mis-spent by one of the 'big cheeses'.
I have decided to take my DD to a private gym that is a closer, bigger, and I presume less stressful. I am sure there will be many things I still may not like or agree with in the new gym, but I'm sure my kids will be very successful there. They have many high scores, and some national team members. It's a bit more expensive, but at the end of the day, my sanity is more important.....my DD asked to try out while we were picking her sibling up and she loved it. I did my homework on the gym to make sure about coach stability, and issues....etc.
I am just so sad to leave these two coaches. They have watched my kids grow up. I feel like they are part of my family. They are hard working, highly skilled coaches. I am sad to go.
DD is sad to leave her friends, but she knows she will make new ones. After her tryout, she said the girls were all super nice, and she just wants to do gymnastics......she didn't want to go back to her old gym....sniff sniff.

 

[wallinbl]

It's hard, but not long after, you'll look back and wonder why you waited so long. If the new gym is doing things the right way, don't look back.

 

[profmom]

So sorry about all of this, but it sounds like you are making the right decision.

 

[2G1B]

It is tough to leave; but it sounds like it is absolutely the right thing.

 

[SignHere]

I found it was harder to contemplate leaving than to actually leave.

I am determined not to get as involved as I was with the old gym. I left the old gym with lots of bitterness on both sides. There were things said by the coaches and myself that should never have been said by either side. I have slowly come to the realization that there was a LOT of gray in the situation - it wasn't strictly black or white.

The truly truly sad thing for me is that a relationship of 7 years was destroyed. They instilled a love of the sport in both my daughters. There are still a lot of things I admire about them. It's really a shame they won't forgive me for leaving.

 

[munchkin3]

Craziness surely comes from both sides with this sport. I need to move on however. My DD is mature enough to handle a real gym now. She has outgrown the current place and the coaches have given her an excellent gym foundation, love for the sport and a sense of belonging.
As for me, I am excited to get away of the negativity and paranoia of the place. Even the head of the facility, who has nothing to do with the gymnastics program, is scanning chalkbucket, an anonymous place with hundreds of thousands of posters!!! Imagine how crazy that is!!! At least gym parents are assumed to be crazy right????
I am just one parent, with one kid who is leaving....not the first time, and certainly not the last. I will never have anything bad to say about those coaches. Just time to go..

 

[Deleted member D3987]

I have been part of my kids gym for 7 years. I have had the great pleasure to work closely with the coaches to help them with leotards, warm ups, fundraising, parties, you name it. A group of us parents also raised thousands on behalf of the team for the facility and for underprivileged kids.......it has truly been rewarding.
Over the last 6 months, I have watched the larger entity drive the gymnastics program into the ground. It is understaffed, there is no gymnastics director and the parents are all going crazy. The coaches are stressing out and finally, my last bit of fundraising money was mis-spent by one of the 'big cheeses'.
I have decided to take my DD to a private gym that is a closer, bigger, and I presume less stressful. I am sure there will be many things I still may not like or agree with in the new gym, but I'm sure my kids will be very successful there. They have many high scores, and some national team members. It's a bit more expensive, but at the end of the day, my sanity is more important.....my DD asked to try out while we were picking her sibling up and she loved it. I did my homework on the gym to make sure about coach stability, and issues....etc.
I am just so sad to leave these two coaches. They have watched my kids grow up. I feel like they are part of my family. They are hard working, highly skilled coaches. I am sad to go.
DD is sad to leave her friends, but she knows she will make new ones. After her tryout, she said the girls were all super nice, and she just wants to do gymnastics......she didn't want to go back to her old gym....sniff sniff.

"the long and winding road" (Lennon) this too shall pass.

 

[mimi]

We made a switch to a bigger, more successful gym just a few months ago. My dd had "peaked out" so to speak at our old gym. It is significantly farther away, and more expensive but it is still the best thing we have ever done.

 

[Seeker]

We did the same after state last year. Dd would have progressed eventually, but it would have been a much harder and longer road than necessary. I wanted her to enjoy gymnastics and she wasn't. Moving was good.

 

[munchkin3]

We did it!!!!!! I had to wait all week to tell coach face to face.....he was on vacation. I only cried 3 times....no biggie.
He was happy in the end....he said if it was good for us, then it was the right decision for our DD. DD was sad and said she loves her coaches......sniff sniff.....
In the end, I know it's better for her for these next two years..(10-13 are critical)
She can be as good as she wants at the new gym, with no limitations. I will truly miss these two people and the families we have spent so much time with.....7 YEARS!!!! They have been so wonderful to my children and they will always remember them with fondness, even as adults.
As for the rest of that place where they work, good riddens.....have fun with yourselves, leave the gymnastics department alone!

 

[wallinbl]

He was happy in the end....he said if it was good for us, then it was the right decision for our DD.

Get the guy a gift card for something nice. More than a gymnastics coach, that's a good person, and surely a good bit of that rubbed off on your DD over the past few years. I hope your DD saw that conversation and how the coach handled it, and from the sounds of it, how well the coach has handled an ongoing difficult situation.

 

[munchkin3]

I got him a gift card and some wine.....he'll need it at his current employer.....