Parents – Your Reputation At The Gym Or In Your Sports Program
This is from Tom Burgdorf of GYMNET Sports.
He makes some great points and I couldn’t have said it better. If you can, subscribe to Tom’s newsletters and at the very least, “Friend” him on face book.
We rate the athletes all of the time regarding their performance, progress, behavior and importance to our sports programs. I wonder if the people in charge of your gym or sports organization rate the parents of their athletes too? Of course they do. Maybe we don’t show a score for each parent at the meet but in the minds of the coaches there is a “score” for the actions, behavior and importance to the program for each parent on team.
Shocked?
We all have reputations based on how we talk, behave and react. How we support or don’t support the goals and philosophy of the sports program. Your reputation can be helped or hindered by whether you are seen as a “supporter of all of the athletes on team” or selfish as in “my child and no one else.” We all create and add to our reputations daily.
And the reputation, the way people think of you, at your sports program is what at this moment? Wouldn’t it be interesting to ask 5 of your fellow team parents what your reputation is? How about asking the coaches how they feel about you?
PARENTS ARE GREAT! I feel strongly that our sports programs are filled with 98% terrific, supportive parents who have great reputations with the other parents and with the coaches. It’s the other 2% that can mess things up. In fact many terrific coaches burn out after a few years and one of the major causes is dealing with difficult parents. Not fair.
**We need positive parents.
**We need parents who believe in the program goals and the coaching staff.
**We need parents who, when faced with a concern, go to the coaches in a constructive “let’s work this out” type attitude rather than cutting down the program and coaches in the background.
**We need parents to make sure that those 1 or 2 misguided parents don’t “rule the parents area and the bleachers.”
**We need parents who understand how wonderful sports are for their children.
If you are one of the 98% of the parents who have built a great, supportive reputation at the gym or in your sports program, fantastic and we need you to continue setting a great example for everyone else.
Continue to help create an environment for the coaches to achieve the ultimate goal of all sports programs, developing a better young adult to attack life with the skills and attitudes to be successful. We need you. (Send me your comments about this important topic.) Tom Burgdorf GYMNET Sports
What to do when a couple of the 2% have it in for a coach?
You may want to Ask Tom Burgdorf (the author) about this but I will give you my opinion, based upon making many mistakes for many years.
Not every gym or every team program is going to be the right fit for everyone. I think I run a great team program but for some it is too serious, for others not serious enough. For some my standards are too high, for others, not high enough.
For me, as the owner, I have hired a staff I truly love and trust. I am 100% behind them in the gym. If we have a problem, we solve it behind a closed door. If a parent comes to me (or more likely I hear about it from a 3rd party) that a parent has a problem with a coach, I first go to the coach to see what is going on.
Is it a real or perceived problem.
Does the coach need to have a meeting with the kid/ parent to clear the air.
Does the coach need to apologize and fix things.
Many, questions to ask.
I have to keep in mind that my team, financially, is break even at best at level 7 and up.
If I lose a kid to another gym or she stops gymnastics all together how will that evvect my bottom line? MOST of the time it has very little effect financially but a positive effect on the overall happiness of the rest of my team, my staff and other parents.
If it is the COACHES fault- I will deal with that. And I am not always a nice a guy.
If there really is no way to keep a parent happy and they are out there grumbling in the lobby and complaining to everyone, It is time for them to go.
The top right hand drawer of my desk has a number of business cards from gyms in the area. My conversation goes like this:
“I do not think that Atlantic is the right gym for you and your daughter. After really thinking about what is best for her, I think you should call _______.”
99.9% of the time I have a number of parents come to me and THANK ME for removing the problem.
The only people who do complain are usually the owner or coach from the gym I told them to go to. “Tony, I thought we were friends, why did you tell that parent to call”
Good luck
Tony