So what started off as a good fit for my daughter has quickly taken a nose dive for the worse. Here's what went wrong and why we switched gymnastic gyms:
1. Coach Victoria. When we started going several months ago, Coach Victoria (the blonde lady), would work with all of the girls in at least one station, usually stretching and tumbling, working on correct posture or form. This was super beneficial and was helping all of the girls get better. All of the girls, no matter the skill level, did get better after just a few minutes of one on one time. Victoria is a good teacher. They then got additional younger coaches.
Victoria would split the class in half and take one group. Her group would always work on different stations each week. I have seen her do all of the stations (floor/tumbling, vault, balance beam, and uneven bars) with whoever she picked for her group. The other girls would get the obviously less experienced coach. For the last 2 months, whichever girls who went with the new coach have only worked on casting and swings on the uneven bars and walking the balance beam. I know this because no matter how the class was divided, my daughter was always with the new coach. She hasn't gotten to do any vaulting and very little tumbling. She even asked me why some girls get to do the other stuff and she doesn't. She's 6 and has noticed the unequal treatment.
When the class divisions first started, the groupings were clear. It would be the most experienced in class and the least. The newest girls and the regulars. Then it was mixed random groups. I gave them the benefit of the doubt for weeks until I realized my daughter hadn't been with Victoria for 2 months straight. Not once, no matter how the girls were split. Victoria always hands picks the girls to go with her, so I'm just not sure what is going on.
I'm not saying my kid deserves special treatment, but it was becoming obvious, that my daughter and 2 other girls were never in Victoria's group. These 3 were not getting the one on one time with a very experienced coach. We all pay the same amount. Each kid deserves the same instruction across the board.
My husband went to one of the classes recently. He usually can't make it due to his work schedule, but was able to come to one. He asked me afterwards why our daughter didn't get to do what all of the other girls were doing. I hadn't even mentioned anything to him, so I knew there was an issue right then.
2. The classes themselves. At the level my daughter is at, classes are usually split up by age groups. The class she was in was for 5-6 year olds. Then they started letting younger kids in, usually younger siblings of girls already enrolled. For a while there was a 3 year old in the class. Now, if the younger child was really good at gymnastics and can keep up with the bigger kids, that's one thing, but when the child is brand new with no experience, it's not good for anyone. The little girl needed help the entire class to do basic skills. It wasn't her fault though since she was 3 and had no experience. She needed to be in a beginner class so she could learn the age appropriate skills. This little girl would monopolize one coach for the whole class because she needed so much help. The other 8 girls had to share one coach then for the class, so it wasn't fair to any kid in the class. It then got to where the little girl would just start crying because she was so frustrated that she couldn't do what the other kids were doing. In her last class, she actually ran to the viewing area in tears to her dad. I heard her say she didn't want to do it anymore because she was so stupid. She wasn't even my kid and my heart was hurting for her. She should had never been made to feel that way. I'm not sure why this happened, but it's just bad practice across the board.
3. There is this one teen girl who just shows up and does random practices in the gym while the main class is going on. She just comes in and goes between all of the stations and works on her things, but in a super random and distracting way. She has even gotten in the way of the actual class that was going on on more than one occasion. She often turns on her floor routine music to a ridiculously loud level during the regular class.
4. It also smells strongly of stinky feet. It sounds silly but when you are there for an hour, some air freshner would be nice.
I don't mean to sound whiny or just a major complainer, but I have a bit of experience with gymnastic gyms. My daughter started in baby gymnastics at 9 months old. She's been going continuously for over 5 years. We left our previous gym because it really only focused on age 5 and down and we also moved across town. I gave High Tech a chance but it ended up being very disappointing across the board. Save yourself the headache and go else where if your child is interested in gymnastics. read more