Ariekannairb
Proud Parent
I am new to the gym mom thing only being in my second year, but I am curious to know if our gym is typical. I was given the level 3 team mom title, my role being to help orientate parents who are new to the gym as well as help the other team moms arrange team events. When I came in as a pre-team mom there was A LOT of tension with the team parents. On the other hand the pre-team parents got along famously and we have become friends inside and outside the gym. When my DD moved to team this year I was SHOCKED at the lack of...care? from the other team parents outside of the other moms who moved up with us. During the summer there was a bit of a mass exodus and along with the parents who left, the obvious drama left, YAY! I don't know if it is the nature of the sport, but in every other sport my children have participated in the parents have been excited to be there, excited to help with team events, willing to meet outside of gym hours to make parties special or to walk in the town parade. We have tried various events from parades to parties to mom's nights. We have tried sitting in various places in the observation area to get to know the other moms but they really have no interest in getting to know us or participating in events. We realize work schedules and school schedules can be prohibitive so it isn't like we expect 100% participate 100% of the time, but our team is relatively small and for it to be such a small team there is an amazing amount of complacency from the parents when it comes to building a team spirit. Last year this carried over into meets where parents arrived at various times, we really didn't sit together or cheer together. Other teams did and this really bothers me! Some of these issues are being addressed by the coach this year, but is this typical? Where are the gymnastics moms who wear "Team Mom" shirts and who sit together and cheer on the team together? I realize my daughter is competing against her own team mates, but we are still competing as a team as well. I miss what we had with the pre-team and I am very curious to know why it doesn't exist with the team moms, even a tiny bit. Thankfully, this has not carried over to the girls. They all get along very well and are very sad when not everyone shows up to an event. It really seems like some of the girls are missing out just due to their parents not wanting to make the effort to be at events.