Parents Risky activities during comp season?

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SurpriseGymMom

Coach
Proud Parent
As some of you may know, I'm also the mom of a serious ballet student. In the ballet world, the dancer (once they reach a certain level and get in the student company) have to sign contracts stating they're not going to engage in risky behavior such as skiing etc. injuries can happen in lots of ways, of course, but the idea is that the dancers agree to not put themselves at higher risk. There are a lot of plans in place for the year that the dancer agrees to follow, and to be out with an injury could mean sometimes difficult adjustments or consequences for the whole company.

The current thread in the off topic forum about trampoline parks have me wondering if such contracts or agreements exist in the gym world, or is it such an individual sport that the coaches don't have a say? I mean, it's really too bad for the gymnast (and parents) who pays for all the competitions, train all year and then if injured doesn't get to compete... But unless the gymnast is a very high scoring athlete that the gym counts on for the team score, I guess honestly it's no sweat off the coaches back if a single gymnast doesn't compete..?

Do any gyms have similar contracts? We have the financial obligations and commitment contracts, but nothing as far as the conduct of the individual gymnast. I'm just curious. :)
 
To add to my own discussion, lol... I, as the paying gym parent, would not allow my dd to take part in any "higher risk" activities leading up to and during competition season. Just like I don't allow older dd to do risky things during our main performance season. Before now, younger dd was allowed to have a little more freedom because there was really nothing riding on it. If she had a sprained ankle or broken arm it would stink of course, but there was really nothing it would impact as none of her activities were that serious. This year things are different and the rules have changed for her.
Yes, I understand that a kid can get hurt playing at recess or during practice etc, I'm talking about more risky stuff that the odds are higher to get injured during. Do you as a parent limit your gymmies activities even if the gym/coaches do not..?
 
It took 2 yrs, but last Spring I watched LL cartwheel her way down a steep concrete sidewalk on a walk with her dad and I, and it hit me for the first time. Whaaaat? Since then I've come up with a saying - "Your body is a finely tuned instrument." I bring this saying out when I want to stop her from doing something with unnecessary physical risk. Her teen sibs roll their eyes now when I say it, but who cares. ;-)

I think my attitude changed after LL injured herself on the eve of a meet last yr. cartwheeling in the living room & slamming the top of her foot on a corner of furniture. She ended up going to the meet the next AM, but scratching 2 events.

Too much money and excitement invested in the competitive season - LL lives for meets! Why take chances?

But to be honest, this was an attitude I developed only after 2 yrs of competition and hard work. Earlier on in her gymnastics, I didn't see it that way. Her body wasn't so finely tuned then...

As for our gym - I haven't heard of any restrictions.
 
I have mixed feelings. I cringe when DD is invited to a birthday party at the ice skating rink or roller skating rink. This year, for the first time, she has mentioned an interest in trying skiing. On one hand, you just want to wrap them in cotton... not just during competition season, but all year long. On the other hand, they already sacrifice a lot for gymnastics. Should I really be telling her she can't go to her best friends' skating party or go skiing with her dad and her sister because she might get hurt? And then, where do you draw the line between "risky" and "not risky?" Can she truly never climb a tree again?
 
I think when he gets older, I might have different thoughts, but for now, he is a kid. D snowboards, roller skates, etc. we don't ski right before a meet but definitely do on an off weekend or after a meet. I worry the whole time, but he has to be allowed to be a kid. It is risky for them to run around the playground, walk across the street, etc.

Like MaryA said, it is hard to decide waht is risky/not risky. And what is not risky for one might be risky for the other.

I think if we take that stuff away, they will burn out on gym even faster. They have a hard enough time with an outside life as it is. I think we have to allow them some balance!
 
I don't know of any gym that requires their gymnasts to sign a contract saying they'll avoid "risky" behaviors, but there are probably some out there.

I've never told my DD she can't do something because it might be riskier--DH has commented on it though. I told him that she's not an elite gymnast, she can still be a kid. If she does make it so she gets a college scholarship, then the college "owns" her, so risky sports will stop then, I'm sure.

One of her teammates DID tell her mom last year when her mom suggested they all go away for a skiing weekend that she could NOT do that as she didn't want to injure herself right before season.
 
We don't have anything written...it's just understood that you don't engage in risky behavior during competition season. I don't even have to say anything to my kids...they already know what their coaches will and will not approve of. (Burns me sometimes that the coaches seem to pull more weight than I do!! ... my kids even tell me they aren't allowed to date until they are 25 because their coaches say so, lol!!!)

For our gym, the coaches are more concerned when the kids get to a meet, then swim in the pool for hours the night before and don't compete well the next day because they are tired. Meet first...THEN play time!
 
Yes, swimming before a meet is the only "officially" restricted activity I can think of. As far as I know, HC hasn't mentioned a dating age. But yes, the coaches definitely have more influence over my kids than I do. There is no whining when one of her coaches tells her to do/not to do something.
 
No contract here (Level 9) but I think my daughter is at the point where a: she doesn't have time for skiing or ice skating and b: she recognizes the inherent risks!
When she was younger, I didn't think twice about skating etc.....only once she reached Optionals did I start thinking it (though never said no...) I think it just never came up and I didn't suggest it!

That being said, I think the 'risk' can be anywhere, particularly for those with younger kids. My daughter is in 9th grade now, so no recess/playground daily. But as a teacher, I can tell you accidents happen at recess a lot! Daily risk is a reality!

Oh and agreed that the no swimming rule before a meet is the only one we've heard!
 
tree climbing is definitely not considered risky in our house! these are coordinated kids we are talking about...
 
I have told my kids to stay off the monkey bars at recess the week of a meet. Their hands are already hurting and covered in rips. No point in making them worse.

My girls still play soccer and sometimes have to leave the gym early. Before they leave their coach always tells them not to get hurt.;)
 
I've never been to a gym that does this, and personally I'd shy away from having such a contract. Much as I'd love it if they'd only make safe and healthy decisions outside the gym, they are outside my jurisdiction when they walk out the door.

I do not want this sport to be my students' lives; just part of their lives. Trying to govern what they do outside of the gym just feels to me like overreaching.
 
I do not want this sport to be my students' lives; just part of their lives. Trying to govern what they do outside of the gym just feels to me like overreaching.

This must be why our coaches stay out of it. They just smile & nod & leave it up to family's to decide. Thanks!
 
The only thing I am against is having a sleep over on friday night, (because of sat workouts). and having a sleepover the night prior to any meet. Simply put, sleep deprivation can and will cause loss of concentration which could lead to injury.
Other than that, my kids can go base jumping and ski Mt Everest on days off. :eek:
 
This must be why our coaches stay out of it. They just smile & nod & leave it up to family's to decide. Thanks!


Ours stay out of it too. DD will roller skate, but she doesn't want anything to do with roller blades. We're not the ones chasing her down, SHE is self-regulating here!
 
The only thing I am against is having a sleep over on friday night, (because of sat workouts). and having a sleepover the night prior to any meet. Simply put, sleep deprivation can and will cause loss of concentration which could lead to injury.
Other than that, my kids can go base jumping and ski Mt Everest on days off. :eek:

Agreed with the sleepover policy, because it can be a safety issue in the gym. Kids need to have sufficient sleep (and sufficient nutrition) before coming to workout in order to train safely; since this directly affects their safety in the gym, I do consider that to be under my jurisdiction.

(That said, I also know that I'm exactly the sort of kid that I would have hated to coach in this regard; I once went to an Eagles concert the night before state meet. On a possibly-related note I didn't make regionals that season. Go figure.)
 
Life is a "risky" activity for DD. She is extremely accident prone and is getting hurt in the most bizarre ways. She never gets hurt doing the dare-devil type things, it's the day-to-day things that get her.

However, I have been known to say, "Is this activity worth breaking a leg over and having to miss gymnastics over?" The answer is always 'no', and she calms down.
 
Contracts like this aren't standard in gymnastics. By the high levels of gymnastics, I wold expect most kids have an idea of physical risks and what would or would not be appropriate to do before a meet.

I do wish parents were given more info in general about sleep and nutrition. Those things are really important to a child's overall mood and concentration.
 
I do wish parents were given more info in general about sleep and nutrition. Those things are really important to a child's overall mood and concentration.

I agree, but I also think that it's very difficult to ensure ideal levels of sleep for gymnasts attending public school given the typical team gymnastics practice schedule.
 
Gymnasts should all sign contracts that they will not paddle boat the day before a competition. I don't care about water parks...the beach...Disney.........but paddle boats are awful.

Paddle boats are super fun...you get to paddle around the whole resort...have races...woohoo!

The problem...they run down the runway the same speed as a paddle boat the next day.
 

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