- Dec 16, 2010
- 670
- 1,550
I have seen TOO many nasty transitions when a parent decides they need to move to a new gym. No matter how upset you are about what GYM X did to your child, their IS a graceful way to leave the gym.
I am just going to list some advice for those parents that are in this situation so that they transition gyms as smoothly as possible.
-NEVER quit in the middle of the season. You committed to a team for a FULL year and no matter how bad you hate where your at, Suck it up and finish out the season. Quitting mid season per-conditions your child to think its OK to not finish what they started.
-If your child is quitting, and they are at the appropriate age. The athlete should tell the coach and the team themselves. If you drive yourself to practice, but you have to have your parent break the news to your coach about quitting, not only is that disrespectful to your team and coach, its being a coward.
-Never EVER leave a gym with them feeling bitter towards you. You NEVER know what your going to do in the future and you might want to come back to that gym at some point.
-Never cause a scene in front of other parents or try to solicit their child to leave with you. You will only be making your self look like a fool.
-Never discuss quitting to another parent or athlete if you are even considering switching gyms. Those other parents you complain too, 99% of the time, are telling the gym owner everything you are saying and its going to make you and your child end up being kicked to the curve.
-After moving gyms, talking trash about your old gym doesn't make you look cool, it just qualified you as the psycho cheer parent at your new gym.
-When telling a coach you are moving gyms, have a calm conversation about why you are making that decision. Try not to be to harsh to the coach about what THEY did wrong, but let them know you are doing what you think is best and you feel like the gym is not the best fit for your child. Believe it or not, quitting convos with coaches can actually be a calm and mature. It all depends on your tone of voice, word choice and being truthful. Blaming everything on the coach will never end up well.
Please continue to add any other advise... we all know we have a BUNCH of parents/athletes in the middle of this situation right now.
I am just going to list some advice for those parents that are in this situation so that they transition gyms as smoothly as possible.
-NEVER quit in the middle of the season. You committed to a team for a FULL year and no matter how bad you hate where your at, Suck it up and finish out the season. Quitting mid season per-conditions your child to think its OK to not finish what they started.
-If your child is quitting, and they are at the appropriate age. The athlete should tell the coach and the team themselves. If you drive yourself to practice, but you have to have your parent break the news to your coach about quitting, not only is that disrespectful to your team and coach, its being a coward.
-Never EVER leave a gym with them feeling bitter towards you. You NEVER know what your going to do in the future and you might want to come back to that gym at some point.
-Never cause a scene in front of other parents or try to solicit their child to leave with you. You will only be making your self look like a fool.
-Never discuss quitting to another parent or athlete if you are even considering switching gyms. Those other parents you complain too, 99% of the time, are telling the gym owner everything you are saying and its going to make you and your child end up being kicked to the curve.
-After moving gyms, talking trash about your old gym doesn't make you look cool, it just qualified you as the psycho cheer parent at your new gym.
-When telling a coach you are moving gyms, have a calm conversation about why you are making that decision. Try not to be to harsh to the coach about what THEY did wrong, but let them know you are doing what you think is best and you feel like the gym is not the best fit for your child. Believe it or not, quitting convos with coaches can actually be a calm and mature. It all depends on your tone of voice, word choice and being truthful. Blaming everything on the coach will never end up well.
Please continue to add any other advise... we all know we have a BUNCH of parents/athletes in the middle of this situation right now.