Parents Why don’t parents protest?

[gymnastmom05]

Why in the world do gyms go far enough to dictate shoes anyway? We’ve run across that ones- everyone had matching $150 sneakers. No freaking way that makes any sort of sense. Thank that is taking uniformity to military levels.

I know! But she was mad about it! Sometimes you just feel like banging your head against the wall. I do think after awhile, the nonsense complaints from parents just makes coaches stop listening and that's unfortunate.

 

[skschlag]

Why in the world do gyms go far enough to dictate shoes anyway? We’ve run across that ones- everyone had matching $150 sneakers. No freaking way that makes any sort of sense. Thank that is taking uniformity to military levels.

As a boy mom I have wondered this myself. Really..matching tennis shoes? We have also seen the warm up leo/comp leo thing, and the home and away jackets. Sigh. It almost is like people are dreaming up ways to spend money!

 

[gymisforeveryone]

I'm not going to lie - I love it when kids have matching clothes, leos and bags. But I also know that they cost money. We try to make everything voluntary - if they want to order matching bags or jackets, great! If they don't, I'm not going to worry about it more than what it's worth. It's just material.

Some parents would have wanted to order warm up leos, exactly the same style as the competition leo but sleeveless. It would have costed 90 euros. Some parents (and girls actually) had a different opinion. So I said that the ones who want to order it, go ahead. But I'm not going to force anyone. No one ordered it. Now we decided to order tank tops in team colors to wear in warm ups. It was only 30 euros. I made it voluntary, but everyone wanted to order it.

 

[mommyof1]

Matching sneakers?!? Half the time our girls can't even be bothered to put on their warm-up jackets for awards. They are far too busy eating candy to worry about trivial things such as clothing and shoes. The most they can usually manage is to put on their leggings.

 

[John]

My DD's team made their own matching Flip Flops last year, cost 5 dollars.

 

[twinmomma]

Our gym buys embroidered jackets and the girls rent them from the gym for the season. Bottoms are plain nike pro type capris (brand doesn't matter as long as they are black). It's a GREAT way to cut down on costs.

 

[MILgymFAM]

My DD's team made their own matching Flip Flops last year, cost 5 dollars.
View attachment 7381

My kid would throw a fit (not literally, she’s 17, lol) over those. She wears socks and sneakers to meets because her feet get cold easily, and the socks make it easier to get her shin wrap on and off. Even for cheap, I guess I don’t see the point.


As for warm ups, my DD’s team has $25 sweatshirts and any old black pants they want.

 

[aerials]

ugh the girls got new leo's this year and we were charged $300 for them. Then we were told that the $300 was just a "deposit" there have been further charges. I wanted to throw a fit but knew that I would be in the minority. My dd is a level 9 and we have few upper optionals, but a big compulsory program. With our meet fees and travel expenses I would have loved a cheaper leo but i know that the compulsory families probably would not want to complain with me, their meet fees are lower and they do not travel any where near the amount that we do.

 

[reluctant]

Why in the world do gyms go far enough to dictate shoes anyway? We’ve run across that ones- everyone had matching $150 sneakers. No freaking way that makes any sort of sense. Thank that is taking uniformity to military levels.

That's just silly. My gymnasts don't wear shoes on the mat.

 

[raenndrops]

That's just silly. My gymnasts don't wear shoes on the mat.

For AWARDS, some teams want all the girls to match. There are gyms that include matching shoes in that matching.

 

[MILgymFAM]

For AWARDS, some teams want all the girls to match. There are gyms that include matching shoes in that matching.

Barefoot is also matching, no? Or all in white socks? I honestly think coaches are far too happy to spend other people’s money.

 

[raenndrops]

My kid would throw a fit (not literally, she’s 17, lol) over those. She wears socks and sneakers to meets because her feet get cold easily, and the socks make it easier to get her shin wrap on and off. Even for cheap, I guess I don’t see the point.


As for warm ups, my DD’s team has $25 sweatshirts and any old black pants they want.

Our first warm ups when YG got on team was a set of 4 items that totaled $50:
1. Navy blue hoodie with a white screen-printed team logo (for the gymnast to wear - Child 10/12)
2. Long sleeve navy blue tee shirt with the same logo (could be for the gymnast OR anyone else you wanted - My brother got this one - Adult XL)
3. Short sleeve navy blue tee shirt with the same logo (could be for the gymnast OR anyone else you wanted - YG got this one - Child 6/8)
4. Navy blue sweat pants with the same logo, but small on the right front upper leg. It also had the covered elastic at the ankle ... which made it easier to size up for future wear too (for the gymnast to wear - Child 10/12).

Since it was $50 for all 4 items, I made my brother pay me back $12.50, lol. Our leotard THAT year was $80 and our bag was $15.

 

[raenndrops]

Barefoot is also matching, no? Or all in white socks? I honestly think coaches are far too happy to spend other people’s money.

Barefoot IS matching. YG doesn't own white socks and rarely wears matching socks. We have a pic of her on the podium in one sock that has pink and another color on it and the other one is orange and another color. Nobody noticed it until we saw it in the picture, lol.
I agree that some coaches are far to happy to do that. And you know that some coaches even overcharge for the stuff (giving themselves a profit).
When you could get the same leotard shipped from the same company with the same personalization for less than you were told the team leotard cost is ... and you know they get teh team discount rate, it is obvious.
Too bad parents don't check that stuff out, lol.
Yes, I did this once with a team leotard I saw at a (non-YMCA) meet. I had commented on it and the mom told me it was something like $250 each (and the team had 50 girls and it was a "new leo year" for them. Without the team discount, I could have had it shipped to me (exactly the same) for $200. That means the gym got a $50 profit x 50 girls PLUS they would have had the team discount. And this was like 4-5 years ago.

 

[jenjean70]

As a boy mom I have wondered this myself. Really..matching tennis shoes? We have also seen the warm up leo/comp leo thing, and the home and away jackets. Sigh. It almost is like people are dreaming up ways to spend money!

Our coach wanted all of the boys to have matching converse. A couple of the boys got them but it wasn't a big deal if they didn't have them- they just wanted them to look "cool". (yes we have very young coaches- lol!)

 

[Gymcoach93821]

Wow a lot of you are all very lucky you are not dance parents. You choose a sport your child is interested in and you have to understand that there are costs involved. You do not have to agree with it. You can even choose to leave. But 90 percent of the time if you communicate with your coaches that you are struggling financially or even if you find another option that all parents are happy with coaches will run with it. Coaches aren’t there to take your money. All they want to do is be able to cover the cost they spend and sometimes plus some for their time and effort. I agree if all parents band together to find a better or cheaper option then a coach would most likely agree with it because a coach doesn’t want to either put up with a bunch of winging parents. Or spend most of their time answering emails about costs of leotards

 

[mommyof1]

Wow a lot of you are all very lucky you are not dance parents.

I understand that competitive dance is different, but our pre-professional dance school provides costumes for performances, and class uniforms are very inexpensive. Just pointing out that there is a huge range in dance, just as in gymnastics.

 

[MILgymFAM]

I understand that competitive dance is different, but our pre-professional dance school provides costumes for performances, and class uniforms are very inexpensive. Just pointing out that there is a huge range in dance, just as in gymnastics.

Yup, this. My YDD is at a dance school that puts the effort into choreography over costuming. Their costumes are lovely, don’t get me wrong, but they’re not expensive and the four that I purchased last year were less than the cost of my ODD’s leotard by over half. When my girls danced in a professional ballet the costumes were free. Not to mention that gymnastics isn’t dance. There isn’t a need to “costume” these girls at all. A nice matching leo, ok, but more than that? Let the gymnastics speak for itself instead of having an arms race of crystals.

 

[Gymcoach93821]

I understand that competitive dance is different, but our pre-professional dance school provides costumes for performances, and class uniforms are very inexpensive. Just pointing out that there is a huge range in dance, just as in gymnastics.

Oh one hundred percent agree. And I certainly agree with If parents want to get together to find an alternative option if coaches hand out invoices for expensive uniforms. I just don’t agree with the fact that coaches are out to make money and have the most expensive outfit. They want their gymnasts to look and feel special and in some circumstances stand out from the crowd by being in the same outfit head to toe. But that may be a coach wanting something different for their gymnasts. If parents display concern about cost with that I’m sure they’d be happy to come to an agreement.

 

[skschlag]

Our coach wanted all of the boys to have matching converse. A couple of the boys got them but it wasn't a big deal if they didn't have them- they just wanted them to look "cool". (yes we have very young coaches- lol!)

Yeah. that would be a NO for us. It is silly. No one is looking at the shoes.

 

[CuriousCate]

@John i LOVE those flip flops! Almost all of our girls wear sneakers in and flip flops to awards. They'd love that. It may be an age thing - I can see older girls not wanting to wear "pom pom" things!. Most of them are 9-11. Would you PM me how you all made those and what the underlying flip flop is?