Parents Frustration !!!!!!

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flippymonkeysmom

I really need to vent. My dd's gym is having some major problems right now. Her gym is very small - really great coaches but the owner is an idiot who has absolutely no business sense whatsoever. Anyway - there are serious rumors floating around that the gym is going to have to close - the owner is behind on taxes, etc. It is at the point that the girls aren't leaving anything in their lockers anymore in case we show up and the doors are shut one day. Since this is going on several girls have defected to one of the other 2 gyms in the area. Both are large gyms with well established team programs. One of them we were at and did not like it there - very impersonal. The other is a much more intense program - they have quite a few elite gymnasts. My dd's best friend from the gym left a few weeks ago (to the more intense gym) and now last night we found out another good friend is planning on leaving. This will leave just her and one other girl her level. There are still a decent amount of compulsories - but pretty much all the optionals have left. My dd does not want to leave - she absolutely loves her coaches and is a very loyal person. I am completely freaking out about this whole thing though. Everything was going so well - she was happy - had a great group of friends at the gym. Why can't life just stay easy for once - I really just feel like screaming !! Anyone else ever been through something like this or have any suggestions. Thanks for letting me vent.
 
awwwwwww I totally understand how you feel:( That really puts your team, you and your daughter in a rough place. I guess since your daughter really loves her coach... I would have her stick it out but I seriously would get into contact with the other gym if the unthinkable happens and your gym suddenly locks its doors with no warning. I pray that everything works out for your gym and the girls.
 
Thanks. My dd has pretty much decided she is going to stick it out to the end. I guess the good thing is she will already know a bunch of people at both other gyms so if we do have to go to one she will know people. I just keep trying to have faith that everything is going to work out the way it is meant to be.
 
My advice based on personal experience is leave now. We belonged to a small gym with ongoing financial problems. My daughter was there level 5 to 8. Basic equipment, no pit, etc. At end of level 8 season, they lost the building due to not paying rent. We left and went to a bigger, better equipped gym with higher level athletes (my duaghter was the smaller gym's star and one of only 3 or 4 optionals). She also loved her coach and it was really difficult for us to make this decision. Now we realize it was a no brainer. They could never have coached her to Level 10 (where she is now) without the financial resources and stability. Plus fewer optional gymnasts mean they haven't coached a lot of these higher levels and there are no other gymnasts to "push" or learn from. When we tried out the new gym (with full knowledge of our old gym) the coach disowned her basically and won't speak to her (very adult wouldn't you say? THEY HAD NO BUILDING)

We had 5 level 9 and 10 athletes go to Regionals, 2 to Nationals and the opportunities for college recruitment exist where we are. Her old gym is in a really small building with very old, unsafe equipment and 4 optionals (highest level 8) only competing AAU and only making 33 and below. My daughter feels God was watching out for her when the eviction happened because otherwise she never would have know what the "other side" was like.

Also, we used to think our gym was "uppity" and the coaching was extreme..Our old coach perpetuated this belief so as not to lose gymnsts to the better program. Once we were involved...none of it was true and the gym is THE BEST.

If your situation is anything like I just described, leave now. Your loyalty needs to be toward your daughter's gymnastics...not to the coaches. If they really care about her, they will keep a relationship with her even if she leaves. If they don't then they don't have her best interests at heart.

Good Luck.
 
It sounds somewhat similar - but not totally. The gym itself is a decent size and we have pits, enough equipment, etc.(though some things could definitely use some updating). The coaches have actually trained optionals to level 10 and had them qualify to regionals and nationals. The only reason girls leave is because of the way the owner runs the gym. There is no booster club, so as it gets more expensive there is no fund raising opportunities to offset costs. Also as the girls get older, the social aspect becomes more important and they want to be at a gym with more girls their own age. This past year we had a few AA state champions at the compulsory levels and the few optionals there held their own and did well. If it weren't for the fact that I really think the coaches are fully capable and great coaches, we would have been long gone. Last year my dd competed at one of the other gyms. She was a first year level 5 at the gym and they require all girls to do 2 years at level 5(they don't compete until then). She was miserable there and actually lost skills (we moved from another state where she did compete level 4). When we got there she had her bwo on beam, back tuck, etc. - and they had no idea. After she was there for about 3 months I finally went to a coach and asked her to watch something and had my dd do her ro bhs bt. The coach was like - wow - when did you learn that. I said - she's had it -how did you NOT know that??? The gym was run very cookie cutter - not much individual attention at all. Anyway after the season my dd wanted to switch gyms because she wasn't happy there. She also had some health issues and was out of the gym altogether for 3 months. When we started at our current gym she was way out of shape and was going to repeat level 5. After a month of working her butt off, they decided to move her to level 6. This was in June, so she only had the summer to get ready. The other gym would not have let her do level 6. Her old gym had 14 level 6 gymnasts (all of them did 2 years at level 5). By the state meet my dd scored higher and went home with more medals than every single on of their level 6's. This is where her and my loyalty to the coaches come in. Her coaches are awesome. The other gyms in the area do run their optional teams different than compulsories though - different coaching staff, etc.

Right now the current owner is talking about selling the gym (and all us parents are praying she does). With the current coaches and the right management, I have no doubt that this is the best place for her. The question is whether the owner can sell the gym before it is too late. The good news is that 2 of the girls who left just came back - turns out the grass wasn't greener after all.

Thank you so much for your input - only someone who has gone through this stress can understand. Just keep your fingers crossed and say a prayer for us that someone comes along to buy the gym that knows how to run a business. I don't want to have to move her. She is soooo happy right now.
 
That is the most important thing. Good luck and I hope it works out. I just know the financial aspect and bad management can be such a huge issue to overcome. We waited too long to make our change becasue of loyalty. I really thing DD would have been much further along and I would have been much less tired from moving equipment to the various buildings we had due to evictions! As long as she is happy and advancing that is great.
 
I hear ya- I really hope I don't end up kicking myself down the road!!! It's a fine line to figure out when loyalty becomes stupidity, lol. I have a feeling if the owner doesn't sell I'll be talking to you for help quite a bit :D
 

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