Comments on: tips on parent / coach meetings

By: Joanne

Joanne — Tue, 14 Sep 2010 21:03:11 +0000

I was a gymnastics throughout college and after I was done I opened my own gymnastics facility and I definitely ran into some major issues with parents. For one every parent I came into contact with seem to think their child had a chance to be on the Olympic team one day. They also seemed to question my coaching techniques even though I was obviously the most knowledgable coach/trainer in the room. It’s true that there is nothing better than getting a child to concquer their fears at a gymnastics event however, parents pushed me out of gymnastics. Today I am a personal trainer, a fitness franchise owner and just a fan of gymnastics. Maybe one day I’ll get back into it.

By: | parenting101success.com

| parenting101success.com — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 19:23:04 +0000

[...] tips on parent / coach meetings — Gymnastics Coaching.com [...]

By: TP

TP — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 01:46:29 +0000

Sounds very familiar Letting the parents know you are available to them before (if possible) and after (if possible) practice is important. Complimenting the kids in front of the parents seems to do way more than just letting the kids know how well they’re doing. And always tackle issues head-on – running away from a potential conflict or uncomfortable talk will only make things worse.
Of course, this didn’t always used to be a very important skill. Back “in the day”, I don’t remember parents getting too involved and needing to talk to the coach more than a couple of times per year. Ah, how times have changed

By: Greg

Greg — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 18:02:19 +0000

I think one of the big issues is that the more junior coaches are not always encouraged to talk to the parents when it comes to the “serious stuff.” Maybe it’s because they’re scared, or they’ve been told not to, or the parents just automatically go to the person “in charge” (e.g. the owner, program director, etc). At my gym, we have a rule that the parents must talk to their child’s coach first – no matter what level.

If a parent comes to me and wants to talk about their child’s progress, or some other class issue, the first thing I do is ask if they’ve talked to the coach. If not, that’s what I tell them to do. If they have, then I will arrange to meet with the coach and the parent together. But I will never meet with a parent without making an attempt to have the coach there with me.

I’ve found that once the coaches understand that I trust them to communicate with the parents on this level they are quick to assume the responsibility and they become much more comfortable with it. Certainly there are coaches that are more comfortable than others, and they still may ask for my advice, but I’ve been doing this for several years and I don’t have a single coach that won’t talk to the parents.