March of 2020 seems like a century ago. When I shut my gyms down that month I had more questions than answers. We have always followed the local school schedules for closing the gym because of weather so it made sense to do the same thing for the pandemic.
We initially thought we were going to close the gyms for just a few weeks. A hard reset to do some deep cleaning and come up with a plan. 2 weeks turned into 2 months. Then a third month. We were able to reopen our Portsmouth, NH location in June of 2020 and our Dover location a month after that.
During the shut down we did home workouts but avoided zoom workouts. Our coaches felt that the gymnasts were already getting enough screen time. Following Winston Churchill’s statement, “Never let a crisis go to waste” , I retooled the management of one of my facilities. I let 4 managers go and started back from scratch.
Both my gyms made it through the school year and had the best summer of enrollment we have ever experienced and our fall classes are all filling up. Like every other industry we desperately need staff (Anyone want a job?! e-mail me).
During covid shutdown I sent two or three e-mails a week to our state’s covid response committee. Trying to find information on when it would be safe to reopen. Trying to find out what the risks would be to our students and staff. Trying to show the committee and the community at large that gymnastics clubs, by making a few adjustments, could open safely and provide children with a much needed outlet.
Looking at the school year we are going to take a conservative approach with the Delta Variant of Covid. New Hampshire is largely vaccinated but why take chances? We must have the confidence of our clients. They must know that NOTHING is more important than their safety as well as the safety of those at home.
It’s been a tough 18 months. Gymnastics has taught us to make adjustments and move on. I have learned a lot through covid. Not just how to make hand sanitizer! We are not through with this yet. But we can take what we have learned and continue to move forward.
It is too early to tell if we will see a “typical” post olympic rush but I do believe that the economy is ready to ROAR like the 1920’s roared. Buckle up- It’s going to be a great year. Don’t be afraid of going slow. Be afraid of standing still.
