Am I being a psycho gym dad? I need experienced advice because I'm clueless!

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So here are the facts:
  • My daughter is 4 1/2 years old, and we live in [city], CA.
  • She's been at [gym] for around a year and a half.
  • She was in the toddler class, but her former instructor asked us to advance her early because she believes she is talented and ready for whatever more advanced kids do. I had my concerns over her safety because of some of the comments I've read on this very forum concerning bridges and such, but the instructor assured me my daughter is plenty strong enough to keep up with the older kids. So, she's now been in level 1 classes for about a month or so, going once a week.
  • We found out at class today that the instructor I mentioned above, who we really liked, was let go. Since we've been at [gym], my daughter is now on her 5th instructor (we really liked 2 and are undecided on the current one), and the one today doesn't seem like a permanent selection (she teaches some of the older girls.). It seems that every time my daughter develops a rapport with an instructor, they abruptly leave or are let go. I'm really frustrated and am simply not convinced the gym's management is committed to the younger girls.
  • While I prefer my daughter play golf or softball, mostly because I know nothing about gymnastics and was a baseball/football player in college, I want her to have the best opportunity for success in anything she chooses to do. Right now, my daughter loves gymnastics, so I want her to have good coaches that stick around and actually care about her.
Here are my questions:
  1. Am I being a psycho gym dad for wanting continuity in my daughters coaching, and is our experience typical, or should I just deal?
  2. If I'm not being psycho, does anyone have a good recommendation for a gym reasonably close to Danville, CA where my daughter can get a good coach that will stick around and have the opportunity to excel competitively, if that ends up being her path?
I appreciate the advice.

Thanks,

Dan
 
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I don't have a lot of advice & know nothing of California but I wanted to welcome you to CB.

first off, you don't sound crazy, so giving you the benefit of the doubt on that :D you seem quite level headed & i think your concerns are normal. I would keep an eye on the amount of bridges / bridge work she is doing & would not allow her to practice them at home, she has only one spine. I generally only do tabletops with my preschoolers. I have a couple who have bridged on their own, but I never force a bridge. if we work on them at all it is on a cheese mat & they each only try 2 or 3.

as for the relvolving door of coaches, hard to say. Without knowing the reason for departure it is really a guessing game as to if it is an issue with the gym or just timing etc. All gyms lose & gain coaches & gymnasts so changing gyms may or may not solve that problem. At 4 & 1/2 as long as she is safe & happy I would not worry about it. you can always research other gyms in the area & see if one may be a better fit but next year at this time she might be in ballet or soccer, you just never know. again, at her age as long as she is in a safe & posituve enviroment having fun & happy, I think you are ok.
 
I think its pretty common to have a higher coach turn over rate in the rec and beginner development levels. These positions usually pay less and are part time. My dd saw several coaches come and go in the early stages. Once she got to team, things settled down and she has consistently worked with the same 3-4 coaches for 3 years.

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Welcome jindx20. You can find all of the gyms close to you on the Norcal Gymnastics website: NCWGA Home Page
If you are looking for continuity, you should ask at prospective gyms about getting her into their developmental program. These are the classes for girls that stream into the team program. They tend to have more consistency and less instructor turnover. She may however be too young or not at a skill level yet to be accepted in a developmental program, depends on the gym.
 
I think its pretty common to have a higher coach turn over rate in the rec and beginner development levels. These positions usually pay less and are part time. My dd saw several coaches come and go in the early stages. Once she got to team, things settled down and she has consistently worked with the same 3-4 coaches for 3 years.

I agree.

Welcome to CB. :)
 
I agree with gymgal also... regarding the higher turnover rate at the lower levels. Check out the Norcal gymnastics directory as mentioned above. You might be surprised that there are several established gyms near you. I know of one in particular- Edge Gymnastics in Dublin. They host a big meet every year (which to me says alot about how organized a gym can be!) and it looked like a great facility.

Keep in mind that each gym has it's specialty and flavor. You may want to visit several gyms and see which fits your DD's personality best. Also, look into the team (compulsary and optional) at the gym where you are now... you may find that they are better than your other options!
 
Coaching doesn't usually pay enough to live on long term, so you'll get college and graduate students coaching, you'll get young people out of school who are contemplating graduate school in a year or two, or have not many options in this economy and are reluctant to give up the coaching hours, and then when you're lucky you'll find some "professional" long term coaches who have figured out how for it to work, often, because their passion won't lead them anywhere else, or because wife or husband makes the benefits.

I think now's the time to shop around though, make some calls, see what's out there, because once she's on team then the current gyms tend to get really pissy if you shop around. Go watch some practices, see what you think of the overall program.

It's also always a good day to swim! (My kids swim too, and the sports compliment each other nicely.)
 
Was going to avoid mentioning particular gyms, but since someone already did, Diablo Gymnastics in San Ramon is probably closest to you in Danville(and no, it's not my gym). But i do know they have lots of long term employees.
 
Thanks for all the advice everyone. I have visited a few gyms in the past, and it's definitely been a mixed bag. As folks have indicated, there have been a lot of young instructors that can't control younger children. I guess this is just normal, and I'll have to deal with it and explain it to my daughter. At least I have my expectations in line now.

I spoke to the administrator of the gym, and she apologized for the disruption. She indicated that the new coach is lined up to teach until June, but scheduling changes in the summer, so she can't guarantee that the coach won't change. She also indicated that my daughter would probably have moved to level 2 by then and would have changed coaches anyway. I'm still not completely at ease, but I'm thankful for the education you all have been providing. Sorry for being such a noob.

I do have two last questions:

1) Does anyone know which gym(s) in my area have the best competitive girls program? If my daughter does go that route, I'd like to know which gym(s) I should be looking at before she gets to that level. I've already taken a look at Edge Gymnastics (It looks like a gym more focused on the competitive girls, it's closer to home (yay), but the preschool program was not good because the instructor couldn't control the kids at all.) and Diablo Gymnastics (it's really close to home, but they didn't seem like a serious gym, and it looked like they topped out around level 5).
2) What does "dd" stand for? Yes, gymnastics jargon is completely over my head (for now).
 
dd is forum speak for Dear Daughter , ds is dear son, dh is dear husband etc, I'm not sure about with you but OH over here is "other half"
 
CGA in Livermore probably has the most successful team program relatively close to you right now (And I would expect their preschool program to be a little more focused than Edge). But Diablo's team program is also in the growing process, so don't judge it completely by how it looks right now. Their entire team program left a few years ago (the current Edge team) and Diablo has been rebuilding since then. The man in charge of Diablo's team program now is very experienced.
 

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