Coaches Copycat from Parent forum: How sick is sick?

[CoachGoofy]

Have you ever had a gymnast come to the gym obviously sick and had your internal reaction be "go home and to bed and have some chicken soup"? I know I have! Where do you draw the lines of ok to be at the gym vs please, please stay home?

Mine are:

-If you've thrown up in the past 24 hours, do not come to the gym. I know, gym is wonderful, we have trampolines, but if the kid is a bit ehhh I don't want them tossing their cookies on our equipment. And of all contagious things, that one is probably my least favorite to catch. Sharing is not caring when it's a stomach bug.

-Coughing. Please get that checked out. Bronchitis is yuck, & whooping cough has been sited around here. Once a kid is checked out, ok, but those are things to not share. And regardless of what the coughing is from, even if it is not contagious, if they are coughing hard enough to wear themselves out they should be at home.

-Ear infections. Air awareness is important. The worst thing about this one is when they feel ok except for random attacks of dizziness. That scares me. Safety issue.

 

[aerialriver]

My theory is that gymnastics is an optional activity. It is not work you do not need to go to feed your family or risk being fired if you don't so just be respectful! If you kid has a fever then no, if she/he is puking or has puked that day then no. Diarrhea-um no! Ear infection-probably no, flu, bad cold that just came on (not a week later getting over it) no. Another biggie no school that day is no gym that day! I hate when parents send their puking in the A.M. kid to gym cause now she feels better!

Another consideration is age/level does your 3 year old need to be at tumble tots in spite of her raging ear infection-no. Also time of illness is it summer no meets on the horizon? Probably okay to skip a practice. Not that I agree with throwing Tylenol at your kids raging fever so she can compete but it may makes more sense if she had a big important meet not to miss if possible.

Lastly other nasties, if she has a weird skin infection, poision anything or goo coming out of anywhere then no! I have had kids with active staff and MRSA infections come to gym! Get that treated please coaches don't want to touch it and other kids don't need to be getting it off the equipment. Also head lice, please make sure that treatment is done, school doesn't allow them there why should gym? Ick.

 

[Aussie_coach]

That's a tough one as its so individual. I am not a beleover in the no school no gym rule. Our kids usually come to gym even if they don't go to school. Many come in the morning with their siblings for pre school class so we know they are sick and they still come in the afternoon and its not really a problem.

when a kid feels off it is generally always worse first thing in the morning after they have been lying down for 8 hours, they often feel better by lunchtime and there is no need to keep them home.

obviously if the kid is contagious its not a good idea but a lot of the time kids just feel off because they have indigestion problems and they throw up and then they are fine.

 

[Deleted member 14190]

I had a girl come up to tell me that she wasn't feeling well and in mid sentence proceeded to projectile vomit all over the mat in front of me, THANK GOD I WAS STANDING ON A SPOTTING BLOCK AT THE TIME! Her nick name was barfs a lot, after that.

 

[Gymsanity]

For me, if they have any sign of an active illness it's a thumbs down. I can't afford to get sick (and I hate it), nor my staff or other gymnasts. One of the first signs you see when you enter is just that. 'For the courtesy of others, please do not bring your child to gym if they are sick. We are happy to schedule you a free make up class. Thank you.' We also have half a dozen large bottles of hand sanitizer everywhere that the staff and kids use non stop. Also, for liabilty I don't want a gymnast in gym if they aren't feeling 100% as I feel that just invites injuries. If nothing else, I'm not a big fan of puke as mentioned above!

 

[gymgurl]

Okay, coach me and gymnast me are currently at war debating at this one.

*Coaches hat on*
- If a gymnast hasn't been at school I don't want them at the gym. Gym is a lot more tiring than school and if they don't have the energy to go to school they shouldn't be at the gym.
- If they have vomited in the last 24hours - this probably means they haven't eaten either and therefore are not properly fuelled for a training session anyway and could be dangerous not to mention I don't want to be cleaning up vomit of a trampoline because the jumping upset a kids stomach
- bad cold/flu should stay home as they won't feel up to training, i know that training with the flu/cold is like having someone hit you in the head with a hammer repeatedly, not to mention breathing is an issue
- As a coach I want to say stay away with a nasty cough - they can be made worse with exercise.
- skin conditions - not too fussed as long as they cover it with a bandage or long clothing or both.

*Gymnast leotard on*
- Coughing - no big deal, this could be me being silly but I get a nasty cough for about a month twice a year. I can't just take a month off twice a year - we don't go to the doctor 99% of the time because they tell us its simply a mystery and just my reaction to colds. This also means we don't pick up on bronchitis very quickly and I was training for quite a long time with bronchitis and when it got to the stage I could hardly breathe I went to the doctor and they ordered me not to exercise and if i did it would progress to pneumonia.
- cold is okay to train, flu no way.
- vomiting - definitely not