Parents Coaching philosophy.....

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Flip4funmom

Proud Parent
As many of you know my son is new to team training. I left practice for a bit tonight and find out "the kids are coaching themselves" because they weren't listening/cooperating/helping. Is this a normal way to handle that situation? I would expect them to be made to condition or something. I understand the frustration of them not listening but I pay for my son to be coached, not do whatever he wants in the gym.

Thoughts????
 
Our old gym would do things like that, and I did not like it. he was 13, and old enough but still it wasn't what should be happening.

Did you hear this from your son or the coach? It might be worth a question to the coach... you could address it as hwat you could do to help your son if he was the issue....and maybe you can hear more bout what happened...
 
Ugh. that makes things more real. Hopefully it was just them trying something..but it is something to watch for.
 
I spoke with his coach and found out weslan wasn't the big issue. I guess it was the older boys who have been with the coach for a lot longer and knows what he expects. My son was simply following the others (who are around twice his age). I made it clear to coach that if there is an issue in the gym i want to know, causing trouble in the gym is the same as causing trouble in school. There will be consequences at home. Was that the right thing to do? I don't want my son to pick up bad habits/behaviors.
 
I would say at his age, it is always good to have some "got your back" moments with the coach. As he gets older, you may be able to back that off a bit. Now, with my ds (15) I expect him and his coach to work things out. If it is really really bad, I will get involved, but it really never is. He is in the gym 20+ hours a week, so they have to figure things out. At the younger ages, I definitely stayed more involved, especially since my ds tends to be a bit head strong at times :)
 
I think that's inappropriate considering your son's age. Coach could have done that with older boys (I still don't think it's a good idea) and continued to coach your son since he is younger. My son is the youngest by a couple years on his Level 4 team and his coach definitely cuts him more slack since he is very different developmentally.
 
Hard to judge if appropriate or not without more details on what transpired, but as others have said, something to watch.

I can see a coach giving multiple warnings to boys about paying attention and, if ignored by a large swath of the group, in an shock-tactic effort to solicit appreciation for his coaching efforts, try to show them what it is like to be without a coach for a spell.

Now if this become a regular thing where boys are left on their own (especially a young guy who is not the instigator), then the tactic is not working anyway, and coach needs to find a different approach.
 
OK I understand your son is young. But as he is working with the team so it goes with the team....

And one or the occasional "thing" doesn't make a coaching philosphy.

Good to ask, clarify with the coach. Good to speak with your son. To to be clear on expectations by coach and parent to the kid.

But overall my parenting style is if consequences have been issued by the coach or teacher. No more consequences need to be issued. We talk and consider the issue handled and done.

If the problem was a recurring issue then I would rethink that philosphy. As gym is an optional thing not required like school. A consequence for most kids would be to not go to gym. That wouldn't work for my kid because she would be fine with a day off.

Also, when kids work that hard at a sport, they need downtime. And how you pay is not minute by minute. If you keep at this there will probably be times where it might not look like they are being coached. They are doing something fun. They are working independently (as in without the coach) but together as a team. All is part of the process called gymnastics.........

My kid is on her 4th day of summer training, a full day week. Yesterday they were playing in the pit for a bit. She has been working her behind off. Is sore. So tired she was cranky and took a nap yesterday (she is 11). So yep she played in the pit yesterday. And I paid for it, happily.
 

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