Parents Considering a gym change - high school age coaches at the lower levels?

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suebee

Proud Parent
DD will be 5 in a few months. She is currently on what her gym calls preteam, but this is the equivalent of developmental classes at most gyms. Her gym has level 2/3 compete some meets, so level 2/3 at her gym is considered to be team.

I chose her current gym largely because her friend was going there. She and her friend did rec together, but dd was invited to join preteam and friend wasn't, so they aren't doing it together any more. I think the gym is a good gym. They do very well at the optional levels, but not as well at the compulsory levels. However, they don't seem to train as many hours at the compulsory levels as other gyms. They do train a lot of hours at the optional levels.

The main issue for us with dd's current gym is that it's 20-25 minutes away when there's no traffic during the school day, which is when she currently does preteam. However, she starts full-day K in the fall, and if she continues at this gym, it will be after school. We're almost certainly to hit traffic, at least one way, but probably both ways. With traffic, the drive is 45+ minutes.

I haven't visited other gyms yet, but I have been asking other parents in my town about their experiences with other gyms that are closer. Apparently the couple of gyms that are closer have their high school gymnasts coach the pre-team and the lower levels teams (2/3) that dd might be on. DD's current gym has a very experienced coach for the pre-team and the level 2/3 team.

My initial reaction is that having high school aged gymnasts coach the lower levels may not be a good thing, but I'm not sure why. I guess I fear that they may not have a lot of experience coaching or with young kids, although I'm sure some of them might be great. I would feel better if the high school aged coaches were assistant coaches, under the direct supervision of a more experienced head coach, but as I understand it, this is not the case. There is a head coach, obviously, but the head coach is not out there supervising practices for these lower levels, just the high school age coaches.

How would you evaluate the coaching at these gyms in this situation? If the coaches are high school age gymnasts, I'm also thinking that whoever is coaching now may not be coaching next year, if they are graduating, etc.

DD is still young, and although she loves gym now, I'm not sure if she'll continue to love it and how long she'll want to pursue gym for. I think that if she was to really pursue it fully, I'd keep her at her current gym, but since I'm not sure, I have to say that I'm really considering a closer gym to make it easier for me.

Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.
 
we swapped to a closer/more convenient schedule gym when my twins were 5. It wasn't bad; but I realized when we had to swap back to the original gym (because the 2nd gym dropped their boys program) that I wish we had just stayed there the entire time. My kids all loved gymnastics from the time they started. Before swapping to gym #2 we took 6 or more months off from gymnastics and they regularly asked when they were going back; but I still didn't realize that they would all 3 end up wanting to do team...

As for HS kids being coaches. For my son's team they have 2 coaches and 1 asst. coach. The asst. coach is a HS kid, level 10. He is great with the boys and they love him. I think he does a solid job. I can't say that I'd be OK with just the HS kids being the coaches though. For one thing, they also have to have time to get their own training done. When are they going to do that if they are coaching all of the lower level kids? What about when they have out of town meets?

Also, the skills that the kids are learning in pre-team and levels 2/3 are skills that they need to build on in the future. You want to make sure that they are solid on these skills.

Finally, SHOULD you need to swap back down the road, think about how much your DD might hate it. There are many of us on here who have posted about how upset our kids were when they had to swap gyms. They make friends on their teams, those are the kids they spend hours per week with and they don't want to change teams down the line. Sure, many of us have had to make our kids do it for various reasons; but I do think that had I known that I'd be swapping back that I never would have changed in the first place.

In your situation - between that you would want to swap back if she sticks with it and having high school kids as the coaches... I'd try to stick it out where I was. Maybe try to set up carpooling.
 
At our gym, the rec classes are taught almost exclusively by high school kids, and high school kids (either current or former optional gymnasts) also coach the lower levels at the team level, but they are just assistant coaches. However, they do a GREAT job. I do like that they have an adult coach as the head coach of each team. It usually ends up being 2 adults and 1 or 2 teenage coaches for each of the lower levels. I'm not sure I would be comfortable with high schoolers being the only coaches, though. Most of the adult coaches at our gym are 40-ish years old, so they've been around a while. They know what the judges are looking for and what they will count off for. I'm sure the teenagers know all that too, since they are either current or recent gymnasts, but I like that there's a little more experience there as well.
 
I doubt the high school age coaches know any more than how they themselves learned the skills they are now teaching. I know that sounds ok, but it isn't. They need to know how other kids learn, understand, listen, and misunderstand. It's also helpful if the coaches know what makes the skills work so they can solve the individual problems their group will present.

Okay you say? You'll just move back to the current gym when it's time to work with good coaches. Sorry, too late! The early years are when kids learn that gymnastics works the way it does, and if they learn that lesson well they'll realize the sport isn't so complicated after all........ there's no shorter drive in the world that can do that!
 
My daughter, who is also on pre-team, is coached by a high-school student one day a week, and a much more experienced professional coach one day a week. The difference is obvious. The professional coach knows how to explain the physics of each skill and gives corrections that result in immediate improvement. The high-school student just has the kids practice the skills over and over. This is one of my biggest frustrations with the gym, but I tolerate it because the high-school kid spends a good portion of practice on conditioning and the professional coach is so good. I would move my daughter to another gym if she were being coached full time by high-school kids.
 
Most gyms I know use High School and college students as Coaches for the rec classes or pre-team classes. My 15yo is one of those coaches. She teaches the tot classes on Sat for this past season and the parents think she is just the best thing since sliced cheese. My Son who is now 20 in college has been teaching since she was 14yo first rec classes but when he turned 16 he became one of the boys team coaches and still is- He looked older and the parents absolutly love him (still do) and usually his rec classes will be one of the first to fill because parents are asking for him.

These "kids" usually know what they are doing because most of them have been doing gymnastics since they were 2yo and have been on a team since they could be on a team. They have alot of experience with this and really know alot to be able to coach. Both my son and daughter were trained by the gyms they work for as well so they do things the gyms way. Both have taken the USAG Safety training, both have CPR/ First Aid training. Both go to local workshops offered for coaches. My son has gone to the regional workshops since he was 16. Don't rule out a gym because the kids are in High School - many of these "kids" know more than some of the "adults" out there.

I would suggest you look at the program and see if they offer what you are looking for. Remember too your DD is ONLY just turning 5yo so you have plenty of time for a gymnastic career. Most likely you will change gyms at some point. The younger the child the easier the move. But I always say go and check it out yourself because what one mom says is awful might be just the right fit for you. Every gym is different and what works for one child may not be the best fit for another. You also have to considere what is best for your family too. A long drive later on down the road may not fit into your schedule. so pick convenience too at this stage. If she should "outgrow" the program then consider moving again.

There are 2 gyms in my area that are considered the "best" and "highly competitive" We use to be at one of them and it just wasn't the right fit for my DD. We are now at what would be refered as a "Less competitive" gym and my DD is thriving there.

Choose a gym because you like what you see, ask to do a class or two and see how your DD fits in. Most of all no matter how into the team DD gets she should first and formost have FUN!!
 
In our gym, the director of the boys' program coaches preteam for the boys, and one of the co-owners coaches preteam for the girls.
 

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