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Reply With QuoteGenerally, I don't think the gyms will tell, but there is always someone who knows someone, who "might have saw you there"
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We are not seriously considering changing gyms at this time, but there are some things that are making me think we may need to at some point in the near future. There is another gym that may be a good fit for my daughter, but I don't want coaches from our current to find out if we visit there. I'd rather not wait until we HAVE to change to start visiting other gyms, but since I don't know for sure if we will change I don't want to cause issues at our current gym.
Thoughts???
THANKS!
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If the gym is crowded and you don't talk to a single soul...no parents, coaches, etc., you may get away with it. Otherwise, gymnastics is a small community, and everyone knows everyone. Last year we went to check out another gym and the head coach/owner already "knew" my DD...told me how she did at states last year, etc. Word most definitely got back to DD's gym. But, if you're willing to take the chance to see what else is out there, go for it!
We visited a large gym before Bella made team just to see what all the fuss was about. I didn't broadcast it but a few times it came up in conversation and I just stated in matter-of-factly. Because she wasn't on team yet, it wasn't that big of a deal. Our gym had just been bought by its current owner and there was some uncertainty about her personality and all of the changes she was making.
Three years later and it's another story. Now we have a relationship with the coaches (who we love so leaving is a moot point). We made a different kind of commitment to the gym so now I would handle it differently.
If there was some "issue" making me want to leave, I'd sit down with the coach to see if we could resolve an issue. If it didn't get resolved, I would just be honest and say that I'm not sure the environment was the best for my daughter and then visit another gym. If I loved it, I would tell the staff that we would be leaving at the end of the month/term/season and move on.
Now, I say all of this knowing that our coach is not vindictive nor hateful toward children. If you felt the staff would punish your child for your decision, then I would sign up at the new gym, go to the old gym to get your belongings and say goodbye. Make it a clean break that way because no way do you want to let petty, mean people have access to your child. But I think that those kind of coaches are in the vast minority.
Gymnastics is a small community..if your athlete is on the competitive team more than likely your current coaches will find out.
Yeah...I agree it's pretty likely her current coaches will find out. Most likely it would be another parent or gymnast that talks more than the coaches/owner of the different gym. Like a scenario where a girl at the new gym knows a gymnast at the current gym and will say "I saw so and so work out at my gym, do you know her?"...then the girls at current gym all know, and it only takes one of them to say something to or in front of the coach.
Same deal w/ parents who are observing while you're there. Parents tend to know other gym parents at different gyms...there are always several kids who used to train at another gym, so the parents still know each other.
Possibly getting a new gymnast on your team is a exciting news...people naturally just want to talk about it.
Maybe you could just do the "research" end of things now? Get the HC of the other team to answer your questions via email, get any sort of literature that they have available, talk to parents you know who go there or who have been there in the past. Maybe visit all by yourself at a time when the gym is crowded with lots of other parents just to get a feel for how the coaches interact with the gymnasts. Hold off including your DD in the process for as long as possible. Starting to think about changing gyms is likely to be stressful to her, especially if she's going to her regular gym and not supposed to mention it.
Of course, here on CB, I always read "if you're thinking about changing gyms, then it's probably overdue."
There is a mom on our team that decided to take her daughter to visit a gym 25 min down the road, they met with the coach there & talked....turns out that coach called our coach as soon as they walked out the door lol .... So, I'm not sure about your state, but in AL the coaches are all BFF's... It's almost impossible to switch unless you move & your coach calls the new gym to tell they you are coming!!
I would say the visit wouldn't be confidential at all. Does this other gym have a pro shop? Maybe you could go there under the guise of "looking for new leos and don't want to pay shipping?" Another thought is to visit 2 or 3 of them and ask about anything from rec to team and say you're doing research "for your niece"?
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