WAG Welcoming kids back after switching gyms?

[my4buffaloes]

Mid-season moves are rare and in our area a case by case basis. If a child moves cross country mid season, an exception is almost always made. Someone wants to just switch gyms? Then it is a maybe.

If your teams are full, your teams are full and you don't have room. Easy enough to handle that one. End of season when you hold team tryouts then the people that left can try out for team along with everyone else. Then you can decide if you want them back or not. I would take it on a case by case basis of who will be the best fit for the team you want to build.

One thing our gym does an amazing job of is separating the parents from their child. There are some crazy parents and some ugly situations, but the coaches treat the child as their own person and ignore the issues with the parents. Regardless of their feelings for the parents, they treat the child the best way they can. Hopefully you can take that into consideration and not ban a child because of crazy parents.

The board member thing - sounds like that person needs to be asked to step down due to a conflict of interest. she might actually be relieved, as she likely doesn't know how to handle it.

 

[CTMOM]

If they are a good fit and you have room, why wouldn't you take them back? If you are full, then you're full. Our gym has taken girls back after they tried another gym and it wasn't the right fit.

 

[profmom]

I don't think it is unfair to make some distinctions. People leave gyms under lots of circumstances and in lots of ways. If a family has handled the leaving in a good way (i.e., "we just want to see if Shiny New Gym is a better fit for Lola,"), then I see no reason not to take the child back after the season. Some folks, however, engage in inappropriate behavior on their way out, including actively recruiting other athletes at the original gym to switch to the new gym. If a family has been recruiting or actively and aggressively talking down the team and the coaches on their way out in a way that's likely to have damaged the team, I don't think it's unreasonable at all to say, "sorry, but no."

 

[3rd_time_around]

Well dear I call bull.

Every situation, child, family, gym and coach is different.

That kids usually move at the end of the season doesn't mean a move never happens mid season. Thank goodness when we switched gyms we had coaches more open to what was acceptable, or my kid would of been done with gymnastics.

And dear, if you had read my post I said I had not read all the responses. In the original post, it read as the poster was not open to a return at all.

Ok, you always know best.

 

[Deleted member 18037]

Ok, you always know best.

I thought you did, dear. . Once again others said the same thing as I but you chose to go out of your way to condescendingly set me straight "dear" Move on.

 

[John]

Could another option be to let the kids return, but only to train. No competitive season? Maybe everyone gets something that way? We do have to live with our decisions.

 

[Deleted member 18037]

Could another option be to let the kids return, but only to train. No competitive season? Maybe everyone gets something that way? We do have to live with our decisions.

That's thinking outside the box.

 

[andarc]

Could another option be to let the kids return, but only to train. No competitive season? Maybe everyone gets something that way? We do have to live with our decisions.

That is a great idea, however as a parent I wouldn't like it. I feel it would be unfair to let 5 (or however many) kids into my DDs full training group in the middle of meet season just to train. It would take away from coaches time and equipment. Unless they were able to have another coach help and could set up additional stations.

 

[John]

Very good points.

I always tell the crazy parents at the gym that the gym is a business and they must make money or nobody will train as the gym will be closed. I also tell them that the gym can do whatever it Pleases and as a parent and a consumer we only have a few choices. The two choices that matter most are the ability to stay and be sportive or leave.

I personally would love my DD to train for a year to gain skills with zero pressure zero routine training. I am a true believer in the idea that fear sets in for every gymnast, or any athlete for that matter, at some point in their career. I would love her baseline of tricks to be large and bountiful prior to fear. At this Moment if her coach asked her to jump from a bridge she would do it. No one cares what her scores are in level X at ten years old.

I guess my point is if a coach let kids return as she likes their skill and they fit the team, then let them return, even if they can't compete. As parents it's not our place to tell a business how to operate, we do that by paying our dues or leaving. Girls shouldn't have to miss any gym time if they are willing to accept the offer to return and it's terms if one is extended to them.

 

[Deleted member 18037]

That is a great idea, however as a parent I wouldn't like it. I feel it would be unfair to let 5 (or however many) kids into my DDs full training group in the middle of meet season just to train. It would take away from coaches time and equipment. Unless they were able to have another coach help and could set up additional stations.

If the coach to gymmie ratio was good it wouldnt bother me. Actually it doesn't bother me. We have a coup,e of girls not officially on team who train with our team. They aren't taking away from the team training so who cares....

 

[skschlag]

That is a great idea, however as a parent I wouldn't like it. I feel it would be unfair to let 5 (or however many) kids into my DDs full training group in the middle of meet season just to train. It would take away from coaches time and equipment. Unless they were able to have another coach help and could set up additional stations.

I agree. Competitive and non-competitive should be separate. Coaches need to be able to focus on the team kiddos at that time.

It is tough to have kids come back mid season. It is different for new kiddos to move in, but if they have left and come back, it can cause some disruption that is not good during the season!

 

[andarc]

I don't think I'm a CGM. We have girls that train with my daughter that don't compete. I'm fine with that. I'm fine with a kid moving in from out of town. But as a parent (I am not a gym owner or coach) I would be upset if multiple girls who left came back mid season (to compete or not) IF the coach to gymnast ratio changed drastically. I was just trying to give the OP a view of one parent. Also as a parent, if I chose to switch gyms, I would not expect to be taken back at the original gym
mid season.

 

[ozonelakesgymnast]

If the coach to gymmie ratio was good it wouldnt bother me. Actually it doesn't bother me. We have a coup,e of girls not officially on team who train with our team. They aren't taking away from the team training so who cares....

This really comes down to the philosophy of the program. I personally will not let kids be on team and not compete unless they are injured or ill. That is what advanced recreational classes and xcel is for. Team is competitive in nature. They can take away from team training because often times they do not care about their routines or performance when the other girls need to. It rubs off on them.

 

[ozonelakesgymnast]

Could another option be to let the kids return, but only to train. No competitive season? Maybe everyone gets something that way? We do have to live with our decisions.

I really appreciate the out of the box thinking here. I don't think this is suitable for our program as all team athletes are required to compete unless injured or ill. I like this philosophy of our gym.

I don't want to punish the kids for their family's decision, but I can't break my coach to athlete ratio for them to just simply come back because the grass wasn't greener.

 

[ozonelakesgymnast]

I have not read all the responses. But the basic thing for me is quite simple.

Why would you not be open minded enough to not be willing to take someone back, who discovered the grass is not always greener.
Why would you not be open minded enough to realize that the parents left because the gym enviroment didn't fit them but it changed and now does.
Why would you not be open minded enough to look at the kids as individual gymnasts and objectively look at their skills, talent, work ethic and make a decision.

Its about the kids. Right?

It is about the kids. But I also have a program and business to run. I love my athletes to death and will always put them first, advocate for them, and train them with all safe measures. I am open minded about taking them back, in fact I did just take one back because her parents reached out to my this week....not in he middle of meet season. However, the ones thinking they can go to this other gym and come back mid season possibly have disregarded all team emails and attempts to welcome their families. They are not entitled back to their spots they had when I have filled them with new girls already.

 

[ozonelakesgymnast]

I'm bummed because these girls are sweet and have potential, but their families have not made any attempt to recognize the all of the new in the gym or recognized any team information emails. It's like they just don't care but feel entitled. Is it bad to take the kids who move, who move from recreational or developmental programming, but then to deny family's who have already had their chance??


I really appreciate the family feedback on their experience with big changes and trying to do what is best.

 

[Committed]

I don't even understand how they could come back mid-season.

At that point, aren't all entry fees already paid in full? So it wouldn't even make sense to move from a program in which they've already paid the meet fees + leo + warmups/bag + whatever.

 

[raenndrops]

I don't even understand how they could come back mid-season.

At that point, aren't all entry fees already paid in full? So it wouldn't even make sense to move from a program in which they've already paid the meet fees + leo + warmups/bag + whatever.

Sometimes it is worth it to buy again... Or maybe the team the left is using last year's gear and they won't have to buy new.
Some gyms don't collect all meet fees at the beginning - especially if it is a program that allows you to opt in rather than opt out of meets.
Also, if both teams will be at the same meet, the meet fee being already paid would mean just contacting the meet director and transferring the gymnast to the new gym.
Just a few thoughts.

 

[thefellowsmom]

We moved mid-season (long and specific circumstances). Worth every penny of paying twice.

 

[Ms.Pak-Man]

I think it's hard to separate coach feelings from "this is a business" feelings. In this instance I think you need to look at it as if these kids were like any other approaching you to join the team, mid-season or not. Take the fact they were on the team prior out of the equation.

Make a policy, then be prepared to enforce it. If you take them mid-season, then you are saying the gym takes kids mid-season. That will mean you will be getting further inquiries from other kids, depending on the market, mid-season. Is that something that you are fine dealing with (some parents get quite upset when kids come mid-season, you'll have navigate that)? Then look at team size, and have a commitment to a max ratio. If there is room, great, if not, it is what it is, they left, a spot opened, another kid took their spot. Done deal. If you have a firm ratio to keep to, then there isn't much for them to argue with.

Coach feelings are where it gets hard, b/c in compulsory it's usually the parents doing the pulling and you don't want to feel like you are punishing a kid for a parent's actions. But really, especially mid-season, it is almost always in the best interest for the child to complete their commitment to their current team. We're learning life lessons here, arguably more than gymnastics, when all is said and done in the average gymnast-span.

So basically, my 2 cents, fill your available slots with the best kids for your program, when your program chooses to open up team registration/try-outs again.