Gymnast leaving from a coaches perspective

[iluvgym]

Well you are right that everyone's situation will be different. But here's a question for you that I would ask any of our parents who didn't want their daughter to attend a meet if they couldn't go - Would you send your daughter to summer camp? If the answer would be NO from a parent, then I could understand them not wanting to do any away activities if they couldn't go as well. If the answer is YES, then my next question would be "who do you think watches them at a summer camp? Most likely a 16 year old counselor", so if a parent would be ok with that I would wonder why they wouldn't be okay with their coaches supervising them during an overnite meet.

 

[cher062]

Well you are right that everyone's situation will be different. But here's a question for you that I would ask any of our parents who didn't want their daughter to attend a meet if they couldn't go - Would you send your daughter to summer camp? If the answer would be NO from a parent, then I could understand them not wanting to do any away activities if they couldn't go as well. If the answer is YES, then my next question would be "who do you think watches them at a summer camp? Most likely a 16 year old counselor", so if a parent would be ok with that I would wonder why they wouldn't be okay with their coaches supervising them during an overnite meet.

I don't feel summer camp is the same thing as a coach taking my DD or the team overnight without parents as the same thing.

Camps have many state and federal regulations they must follow with regard to everything especially staff that is hired. I've been a camp director and know the extent of getting things together for a camp and hiring staff that meet those regs. there are also many eyes on the campers so there is no worry about anything really happening.
There is a curriculum for camp with planned activities and rules and regs for all to follow. The staff has background checks, drug checks etc to get hired. There are rules in place for acceptable interaction between staff and campers.

A coach taking some girls overnight to a hotel doesn't have any of that. I have no idea what these coaches are like outside of the gym. I have no idea what their moral compass is like or what they are going to do with down time. Will they make sure the kids eat healthy meals or just let the kids buy what they want. There is nothing in place that regulates any of that.

 

[iluvgym]

Well you have valid concerns. But it's a shame you aren't able to trust your child's gym and coaches more, for whatever reason (who ARE background checked if you are in a USAG gym). And I also understand if your daughter goes to gym a small number of hours a week and hasn't been there for years how maybe you don't really know the coaches so well. The kids at our gym who travel with us occasionally are training a minimum of 25 hours per week with us, have been with us forever it seems, and as their parents say "eat better and are better behaved when they're with you guys" because the discipline and work ethic from training carries over into outside team activities as well.

 

[Deleted member D3987]

I don't feel summer camp is the same thing as a coach taking my DD or the team overnight without parents as the same thing.

Camps have many state and federal regulations they must follow with regard to everything especially staff that is hired. I've been a camp director and know the extent of getting things together for a camp and hiring staff that meet those regs. there are also many eyes on the campers so there is no worry about anything really happening.
There is a curriculum for camp with planned activities and rules and regs for all to follow. The staff has background checks, drug checks etc to get hired. There are rules in place for acceptable interaction between staff and campers.

A coach taking some girls overnight to a hotel doesn't have any of that. I have no idea what these coaches are like outside of the gym. I have no idea what their moral compass is like or what they are going to do with down time. Will they make sure the kids eat healthy meals or just let the kids buy what they want. There is nothing in place that regulates any of that.

the gymnastics camps follow usag guidelines and insurance requirements laid out for gymnastics camps that are specific to gymnastics which the insurance carriers already cover. these are gymnastics camps. state regulations for camps in general have requirements that have nothing to do with what you speak of.

and there have been issues at the camps over the years. gymnastics camps are not immune from the ills of society. i will tell you that when infractions have been had, they are dealt with swiftly. expulsion from the camps include the athletes.

 

[CoachTodd]

Well you have valid concerns. But it's a shame you aren't able to trust your child's gym and coaches more, for whatever reason (who ARE background checked if you are in a USAG gym). And I also understand if your daughter goes to gym a small number of hours a week and hasn't been there for years how maybe you don't really know the coaches so well. The kids at our gym who travel with us occasionally are training a minimum of 25 hours per week with us, have been with us forever it seems, and as their parents say "eat better and are better behaved when they're with you guys" because the discipline and work ethic from training carries over into outside team activities as well.

Just because you've been with a coach for a long time doesn't mean you know that person. I've worked with a few that were quite good a manipulating people. Being a parent and a coach, I can see both sides of this. Each year I take a group of kids to camp. This year, we will most likely have 3 rooms at a hotel on the way there. 1 for the guys and me, one most likely for the older girls and one for the younger girls and a mom. I have had situations in the past where I just had 1 room where the boys slept on the floor and the girls shared a bed while I had one all to my self. The main difference in my situation is one of the girls was my daughter and the others traveling with us have stayed at my house with my daughter many times in the past.
I'd still be cautious if I weren't with my daughter and she were traveling with a male coach.

 

[Deleted member D3987]

Well you have valid concerns. But it's a shame you aren't able to trust your child's gym and coaches more, for whatever reason (who ARE background checked if you are in a USAG gym). And I also understand if your daughter goes to gym a small number of hours a week and hasn't been there for years how maybe you don't really know the coaches so well. The kids at our gym who travel with us occasionally are training a minimum of 25 hours per week with us, have been with us forever it seems, and as their parents say "eat better and are better behaved when they're with you guys" because the discipline and work ethic from training carries over into outside team activities as well.

if coaches, because of the extensive language in the safety manual, do not place themselves in compromising situations with their athletes it also behooves the parents to do the same and be diligent. it has nothing to do with trust. it has more to do with best safety practices that could compromise the kids. the kids must rely on coaches and parents to keep them safe.

not ALL coaches are background checked in USAG gyms. let me clarify. for a coach to receive a professional membership there are 3 prongs that must be met. application for professional membership, safety certification exam, and then the background check. all 3 are done thru usag. you can not receive parts but must meet all. once you have passed the exam by 70%, then pass or "green light" the background check, then and only then will usag issue a professional membership to a coach.

next, understand that professional membership is for a coach to be on the competitive floor, or any usag function of a usag sanctioned event. most of the coaches in the gyms are not professional members but many are. it is NOT a usag requirement for coaches to be professional members to coach in the gyms although it is recommended. some gym owners execute their own business protocols as far as who coaches in their gyms. there are coaches that have coached for years that do not have professional membership with usag, are awesome people, and don't have the necessity of professional membership because they do not attend competitions or other usag functions. there are several usag functions that take place in the industry where professional membership is not required but will pay more than a "member" for admissions to such events.

 

[Deleted member D3987]

Just because you've been with a coach for a long time doesn't mean you know that person. I've worked with a few that were quite good a manipulating people. Being a parent and a coach, I can see both sides of this. Each year I take a group of kids to camp. This year, we will most likely have 3 rooms at a hotel on the way there. 1 for the guys and me, one most likely for the older girls and one for the younger girls and a mom. I have had situations in the past where I just had 1 room where the boys slept on the floor and the girls shared a bed while I had one all to my self. The main difference in my situation is one of the girls was my daughter and the others traveling with us have stayed at my house with my daughter many times in the past.
I'd still be cautious if I weren't with my daughter and she were traveling with a male coach.

i'm not sure i am interpreting your post correctly. a coach should NEVER be in the same room sleeping with other athletes present. male or female. along with daughter or son or not. this practice is ill advised, is dangerous, and is covered extensively in the usag safety manuals both past and present. i implore you, for legal reasons, to rethink this practice.

 

[Geoffrey Taucer]

I've read through this thread again from the beginning, and I think it's gotten so far from it's original purpose that it has no reason to continue.

Locked.