Coach leaving gym- should we follow?

[aamake]

My daughter doesn't know it yet, but her favorite coach is announcing he is leaving our gym. She will be heartbroken. He gave notice, and waited until after the competition season was over. There is talk that he is moving to another gym. Do we follow? Should we follow? My daughter is young & his coaching style seems to work best for her. She adores him and truly listens to everything he says. I was cautioned that we don't want to be known as gym hoppers. Is that possible for somebody who just completed level 5 & is 8 years old? We aren't shopping gyms. Where should the loyalty be? With the coach or the gym?

 

[Natasha]

My best advice is to proceed with caution and fully investigate if you are considering following the coach. Does your gym ask for a commitment for the school year? You can always stay for now and move later, but moving and then coming back is very hard to do. While a good fit with the coach is important, you need to know about the gym as well. Depending on what gym the coach is going to, your dd may or may not even have that coach as a coach or may only have that coach for one event as different gyms structure things differently. It is important that the gym atmosphere is a good fit and that you explore the gym policies including prices, how meets are handled (payments, number of meets, requirements, etc.) When we first started team gymnastics I had no idea that there was so much variation between gyms in how things are handled- both policies and atmosphere of the gym.

 

[cher062]

Coaches leaving is a common occurance. You should do what is best and be loyal to yourself, your child and your family. Learning how to adapt to change is part of the learning cycle too and your DD is old enough to understand this. If this coach leaves will the program at your current gym be so awful that you couldn't imagine your DD being there? Remember too she has a team full of friends there too. The only reason I would consider leaving and following a coach would be because the program my child was in suffered so much that I would consider leaving. My Loyalty is to my DD. I have seen families change gyms with the coach and seen whole levels follow but usually in the end they either come back because they didn't like the rest of the gym or its program. Or they end up at even another gym for similar reasons. If you are going to switch gyms make sure it is something your DD is ok with doesn't mind leaving her current team for and its a gym that you would choose even if the coach wasn't going there. Ask yourself if you never met this coach would your current gym still be a choice for you. ? Kids adapt to new coaches in a very short time so long as they are happy with their team and the program.

 

[Canadian_gym_mom]

The two posts above had really good points. All I would add is that just because the coach is changing gyms, doesn't mean your dd would necessarily end up in his group, even if you did follow him.

I would sit down and talk to your dd about what her feelings are, and maybe have a quick talk to the coach about his thoughts.

Good Luck.

 

[bookworm]

At 8 yo and Level 5, I wouldn't be following this coach unless there are other reasons you want to leave your current gym. As another posters has said, coaches come and go so it's not uncommon. I would sit tight and see how it goes at your current gym and also be checking out the gym (on the QT , of course...but you want to have all options open) where your favorite coach went just in case.

 

[Geoffrey Taucer]

My advice: try not to take the coach into consideration. I know this sounds completely weird and backwards, but bear with me.

If you switch gyms to follow him, your DD won't necessarily be coached by him. So I would look at the gyms themselves. First, stick around your gym for awhile, see how it feels without that coach. Is your DD still having fun? I mean, she'll be in mourning for awhile and less enthusiastic, but once that wears off, is she still having fun? Is it still a positive environment? In short, is it still a good gym?

I would also check out this other gym, asking all the same questions. One coach does not make a gym good or bad -- is this a gym you would want to go to, even if your DD didn't end up working with this coach? Is it a positive environment? Are the kids having fun and staying safe?

This is how I would make the decision.

 

[KarenUK]

I know it's different, but my daughters tap dance teacher left the dance school when she was 7. Pip is tap mad and she was inconsolable, it took her a couple of weeks to even speak to the new tap teacher. Time went by, and she loved her new tap teacher - she even apologised for being rude at the start! A couple of years after the original tap teacher left we bumped into her at a dance event - she came over and chatted, obviously pleased to see us. Pip asked after the conversation was finished 'who was that mum?...'

 

[Faith]

If you love the gym I stick with it;

What if the coach moves again in another 6 months/ a year? Will you follow him indefinitely?

How do you know your dd's new coach won't be even better?

 

[CoachGoofy]

As a coach who was adored (not to toot my own horn...) and who switched gyms:

Give your DD time to adjust to the change first. I know when I switched gyms, I missed my old team somethin' fierce-and it was my choice to switch! Your DD and her former coach are both going through adjustment periods, and there are a bunch of someone else's DDs who are also going through adjustment periods too at the new gym. It's hard on everyone, but I can't even imagine how much harder it'd be if there was jealousy of all the kids involved, too.

And maybe the new coach will be the most amazing coach EVER for your DD. But if not, one change at a time is easier for everyone.

 

[gymdog]

I'd at least lay low for a little while and let the dust settle. If by the summer you feel the same way about this coach, they are stable at that gym and would be coaching your child, then look into it.

 

[flippin out]

At 8 yo and Level 5, I wouldn't be following this coach unless there are other reasons you want to leave your current gym. As another posters has said, coaches come and go so it's not uncommon. I would sit tight and see how it goes at your current gym and also be checking out the gym (on the QT , of course...but you want to have all options open) where your favorite coach went just in case.

All the above posters have great points! I just wanted to add one more.

If you switch gyms to follow a coach (which she may or may not be coached by in the new gym - as someone above said), what happens if that coach finds that the new gym doesn't work for him? Next year he switches gyms again to find a better fit for himself. Are you willing to keep switching your dd, no matter how many times in the next couple of years that he changes jobs?

Coaching is a passion, but it is also an employment. Not every job is the right fit. So, while the odds are that he may stay at the new gym for many years to come....it IS possible that he may switch several times before finding that right employer/gym/team.

Unless there are other reasons to follow him, I would think long and hard about switching. You may find that you're forever following. Unless there is something else going on in current gym, I'd wait it out and give it some time to see how things go adjusting to team without him. You can always switch next year....when you know that he's secure in his position. By then, he'll know how things are run at the new gym and if he would even be coaching a group that your dd would be in.

So....I guess my advice is -------- Hang Tight and see

 

[Kiwi]

I know it's different, but my daughters tap dance teacher left the dance school when she was 7. Pip is tap mad and she was inconsolable, it took her a couple of weeks to even speak to the new tap teacher. Time went by, and she loved her new tap teacher - she even apologised for being rude at the start! A couple of years after the original tap teacher left we bumped into her at a dance event - she came over and chatted, obviously pleased to see us. Pip asked after the conversation was finished 'who was that mum?...'

The same thing happened to my DD with ballet! She adored her ballet teacher, who was sweet and kind and wonderful with the kids. She had to retire due to health problems. The new teacher was younger and had a loud shrill voice, which made her sound like she was always shouting at the kids. Even I was taken aback at first. DD wanted to give up ballet, so I let her watch a jazz class to see if she wanted to change to jazz. She didn't, so she kept on with ballet, and after a few weeks she got used to the new teacher. As it turned out, the new teacher was very nice and a good teacher and after a while my DD was quite happy in ballet class again.

 

[BlairBob]

At the gym I worked at this year and December of last year there was a coach who had just left prior to me getting on board. A few months later she was popping up at a gym about 10 miles away but very close to a handful of the girls (she didn't even coach the compulsory kids but she took them to meets). So come spring, we had to possibly fret about a lot of our L5's leaving as she was supposed to start FT there in May/June. Eventually we had about 3 kids leave who all carpooled together and lived in the town of that other gym.

2 months later I heard she was applying at another gym and started there sometime in Summer. That gym was roughly 45 minutes away without traffic if not an hour. No idea whatever happened to those 3 or 4 kids.

The whole point of the story is don't let this happen to you. As others have said, wait it out and see who they replace him with. Know the focus points of either gym and if that vision is the same as yours (fun and work, optional, collegiate, elites hopes, etc).

 

[flippin out]

...what happens if that coach finds that the new gym doesn't work for him? Next year he switches gyms again to find a better fit for himself. Are you willing to keep switching your dd, no matter how many times in the next couple of years that he changes jobs?

Coaching is a passion, but it is also an employment. Not every job is the right fit. So, while the odds are that he may stay at the new gym for many years to come....it IS possible that he may switch several times before finding that right employer/gym/team.

Originally Posted by BlairBob -
...2 months later I heard she was applying at another gym and started there sometime in Summer. That gym was roughly 45 minutes away without traffic if not an hour. No idea whatever happened to those 3 or 4 kids.

Hope those girls ended up making the switch work for them. It's stories just like BlairBob's that I was referring to in my post. If you switch gyms...don't make it solely about following that coach. That should only be an added bonus, not the main reason to switch. If it's the only reason to switch....then there's always the possibility that you could be switching many more times in the future