All-Star Gym Viewing Area

Lazydaisytoo said:

When CP first started in comp cheer, she was in a rec program with closed practices, so it was the only thing I knew. We did go to tumbling at a gymnastics gym with a viewing area, but the way the gym was set up, the main mat was pretty much obstructed. You could only see your kid well if they finished their pass in one direction, or if they were on the tumbl trak.

Our Allstar gym does have a balcony viewing area. Because my kid is older, I don't feel the need to stay for practice. Sometimes I go for a run while they practice and get back before they're done, so I go upstairs to do my stretching. There typically aren't more than 2-3 parents up there. I don't know if there is more parent attendance with the younger teams. I kind of guess yes.

I do think parent involvement at practices can really harm a program. There is one family who seems to be destroying our old rec program. The drama they started stirring caused a lot of people to leave. A main coach left when an opportunity opened up, and CP and her friends followed her to our new Allstar program.

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Wow, we could have been in the same program.

Cp's gym has a viewing window and about 20 or so chairs. I love watching her. Her dance studio has the camera's in the rooms and the TV in the lobby switches views on a cycle. I don't care for it because it always seems to switch over when she is about to do something I want to see.

We have one open practice and one closed practice per week.

Our gym has a video feed in each rehearsal space, and about 3 different monitors you can view. The first couple of months we thought they were crazy for not letting us watch practice up close, but it only took 2 minutes in our first viewing of their routine to see the merit in keeping practice closed. If the girls get a new skill or stunt perfected the coaches are fantastic about letting the girls call us up so we can see it up close.

We have a video feed for the main floor and there is an upstairs parent viewing room overlooking the other floor. The only time I really stay to watch is during a private and having the video feed is great for that. Tryouts are the only time they close it off but I'm sure if they wanted to, they could just say the video feed was not working .

If you've watched Cheer you'll know why Patty Ann has curtains on her windows. Ugh she's so awesome!

cupieqt said:

I went to a gym in Ft. Walton that had a cheer room in the back part of the gym. It had an open door but you have to cross the bars and beams, the gymnastics floor and then the tumble track to go in.
The parent seating was enclosed with glass windows and a silent video feed from the cheer room. I loved it.


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I thought of that same gym when reading the original post. Didn't mind the setup, but I often had to put knee socks on my cp to tell her apart from the others on that tiny tv screen.


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Mcfierceburger said:

If you've watched Cheer you'll know why Patty Ann has curtains on her windows. Ugh she's so awesome!

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You want to tap on the glass? Go to the zoo.

We have windows with blinds that when the coaches feel it's necessary they will close. I have no idea what makes them decide to open or close them. It's never really an issue.

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We have a parent viewing room with widows. I dot really like it though because it is just a breeding ground for parent drama! Hopefully we will be getting curtains in there soon because if one of my girls is having a rough practice I don't need their parents giving them the evil eye making them feel worse... The less parents in the gym the better!


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First gym had windows to watch practice from lobby...nothing but drama. Current gym...no windows to watch from the lobby, much less drama (because let's face it - with girls, there's always drama). We do have a partially obstructed view from the external windows for those of us who get so impatient to see new skills that we stand outside and peer in the window....like at the zoo! :cheering:

At my program's current gym, there's no real parent viewing area because there's just no space for it. We have two gyms that are across the parking lot from each other, and in our main practice gym, there's a couple of chairs and a desk/table at the front, but the rest of the space is taken up by the cubbies, mats, and stereo. The parents could sit in the chairs (right at the front of the floor) if they wanted, and as far as I know, they've never been told otherwise, but none of my minis parents ever really did... one dad would occasionally stay for the first little bit of practice if he knew his kid was being exceptionally cranky or sassy that day.

Most of the parents of the kids on my team would show up about 10-15 minutes before the end of practice to watch. We'd always have the girls throw the routine full out at least once when their parents were there so they could see how things were progressing at practice. That seemed to keep them happy enough!

We have a building just for tumbling classes/privates and a dead mat for rec and school teams with a large parent area. The other building has two rooms with full spring floors, one with a parent area and the other without.

I think the viewing room is the death of our gym. We used to be a big gym and have lost kids for the past three years and I think the reason has alot to do with the open viewing area. Our space has four floors and parents can sit anywhere in front of the floors. Parents group together and talk and gossip privately. To make it worse they even text the coaches during the practice if they don't like something. Reminds me of a rec team more than an allstar team. There is so much drama, gossip at our gym during the practices and many parents and kids have had it.

IMO parent viewing areas are a horrible idea. Majority of the parents sit in their and gossip and start unnecessary drama. We also have a good handful of those parents that try to coach their kids from the viewing room or the kid constantly looks to their parent for approval after doing a skill.

If you do have a parent viewing room, I recommend using a 2 way mirror as the glass so only the parents can see out but the kids can't see in.

SuzyB said:

I think the viewing room is the death of our gym. We used to be a big gym and have lost kids for the past three years and I think the reason has alot to do with the open viewing area. Our space has four floors and parents can sit anywhere in front of the floors. Parents group together and talk and gossip privately. To make it worse they even text the coaches during the practice if they don't like something. Reminds me of a rec team more than an allstar team. There is so much drama, gossip at our gym during the practices and many parents and kids have had it.

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Sounds like you guys need to discipline some of your parents... If you start drama you have a month long ban from coming inside the gym... LOL! We've had to do it before....