Parents Leaving a gym gracefully-- advice needed

[carrieboj]

I'd love to hear advice on how to leave a gym gracefully. With my daughter increasing her time at the gym, I'd like to change to the gym that is closer to where we live. I went to visit the gym and she had one practice session and will go again to try another practice this week. My daughter is 9 years old and has been asking to go to the gym closer to home for the past year. The gyms are comparable in price/size, etc. However , after observing a practice at the new gym, I did notice that they fully use their time and there isn't a lot of down time during practice, which I do find good. That being said, the drive and the occasional lack of professionalism are the turn-offs from the current gym...well, and now I see the practices could be more productive. To be fair the driving time the new gym saves me is only 10 minutes but with my son getting into his own activities, it will be helpful to be in the town we live in, with a gym 5-7 minutes away from home. So how do I leave my current gym that my daughter has been going to for the past two years (from rec to level 3) without burning bridges?

 

[MeetDirector]

Schedule a meeting with the coach or owner; don't try and have a conversation "on the fly" before or after practice. Follow the old adage - honesty is the best policy. Just be straight with them and lay out the reasons; keep it simple and don't turn it into a soap opera.

Good Luck

 

[rjb123]

I would schedule a meeting and go heavy on the positive wonderful things about the current gym, and that it is a difficult thing to move her BUT the drive is just too much with your other child. Present it as you regret leaving, it is a wonderful place but the family time balance issue just makes it necessary. Gush a little over them. I wouldn't bring up the negative issues, just that this is strictly for family reasons. Hopefully that will keep the door open if you ever need to go back.

 

[munchkin3]

Keep it professional, how great current gym has been for your DD and how she has learned so well there. The decision was based on what YOU feel is best for her, and your family. Thank you so much for everything, my DD will miss you and all her friends.
Don't get into better gym, better coaches, more hours....
The best reason that no one can ever argue with is logistics for your family, and cost.

 

[lovemygymnast]

Well, I would say face to face meeting with a lot of positives about the gym also but you know the situation better than us. We recently went through something similar and we sent an email. I know, it wasn't very personal but the very few conversations I had had since last year with the owner, seemed to not end well. I'm sure it could have gone better but it was a very sensitive situation with my dd moving to a competitive gym in the area. While this other gym is about 10 minutes closer as well, it had nothing to do with the drive. We just felt it was a better fit for our DD. Good luck & I hope it ends amicably.

 

[Deleted member 18037]

Truthful, you made a decision that best suits your child and your family. Keep it about you and not them.

And you may burn bridges anyway. Just the way it goes sometimes.

 

[bookworm]

I would just send an email, after you have left....the fact that you cite " lack of professionalism" as one of the things you don' t like about your current gym leads me to believe a face to face meeting will end poorly....or at least not the hearts and flowers you'd like it to be. Keep your email polite and to the point ( "thanks for all you' be done for Susie but for family reasons, we are leaving X gym.") And be done with it.

 

[Deleted member 14190]

Just tell them as soon as possible. Odds are they either already know or will hear quickly that you were in the other gym via social media.

 

[2G1B]

We swapped gyms for one closer. I sent an email saying that it was a difficult decision, that DD would miss her wonderful coaches and friends; but that it was the right decision for our family due to logistics. Thanks for all you have done, blah, blah, blah.

 

[refugee]

Do you know anyone else who has left the gym recently? Talk with them and see how the gym owner/coaches reacted...it will be a valuable guide on how you might proceed

Even if you have that face-to-face meeting (and you should if there are no indications to the contrary), be prepared for an upset owner/coach. And be prepared for them to burn the bridges.

In my experience, more than a few coaches/gym owners have a more ego than business sense.

 

[MaryA]

Quite frankly, I think it's unusual for your DD to be asking to switch to a closer gym. I think if everything was hunky-dory at her current gym she would be putting up some resistance to leaving the coaches and teammates she's been with for the past two years. It makes me think it's not a great fit for her anyway.

Just agreeing with what others have said... make a decision based on what you know about the coach(es) as to whether a face-to-face or email discussion is best but do it soon and don't plan on your DD continuing to train there at all after you tell them.

 

[wgymmom]

I would just tell them that you guys have appreciated the training, coaching, whatever, but say your family's logistics would work better with a closer gym, and leave it at that. I would neatly leave out the other drawbacks of the current gym.