All-Star Mom's List For Coaches (spinoff Of Coaches List For Moms)

[cheerkidzmom]

I have always wondered why it is not acceptable to ask why your child isn't flying. You obviously have an answer or she would be flying. Maybe it would help her get over not flying on this team but maybe in the future. Maybe it would motivate her to improve her skills. Maybe she would understand that its an unrealistic goal and she needs to concentrate of being a beast base, back or front.

Also, why is it so taboo to want your child to fly, be center dance or last pass? I am not demanding it from you, I am not berating my cp. But we all want our child to shine so is it so awful to want these things if your not obnoxious about it?????

 

[drewpate]

This Is one parents must hate, I know I do. When there are multiple classes or kids cross tumbling, don't stop the entire floor to stand in the middle corectimg technique. Just pull the kid to the side please, you don't need to stop twenty other kids tumbling for one when pulling them to the side will suffice.

 

[Mo-Lissa]

Girl you known me for 16 years and youve always seen me stuff my food down... I am like Michael Jordan, eating fries, a big mac with special sauce, a milk shake and apple pie while soaring through the air (some of you are to young to remember that commercial) LOL, I just have my subway while spotting, counting with my mouth full, and catching falling flyers with one hand while drinking my water and sometimes my weakness (sweet tea or Dr pepper)! :help: I am being a bad coach aren't I! ummmmNOOOOOO! I am just hungry!

lol...I was asking if the parents were really out eating????? blahahahah

 

[Num1Stunta]

I'll offer a coach's perspective on this, since none of the complaints apply to me (except eating- my prior gym's team mom used to bring me starbucks or dunkins coffee every practice, so I basically lived with it in my hand for the first 15 min of practice lol) Here are things that I've actually seen or heard of coaches doing, even some that have been done to me that upset me, and I starred the ones I am or have ever been guilty of:

1. wearing impractical clothing at practice- how can you spot anything with a dress suit on?
*2. sitting down at practice
*3. not being positive at competition- especially in warmups.... that's not the place to be critical, worry about it at your next practice
4. yelling at a kid for doing something incorrectly when you've never taken the time to show them the right way to do it
5. repeating the same things over and over without making corrections and allowing the same mistakes to occur
6. having your own conversations that aren't cheer related
7. making changes that don't make sense, because it's a "preference," not because it'll reflect well on the scoresheet
8. not communicating with other coaches or parents about things
9. getting insulted when other coaches try to help one of your stunt groups or kids- it's not personal
*10. not checking tumbling attendance then wondering why your kids don't have their skills
11. not training kids to exceed their level- example: say you have a kid on youth 1 who maxes out on tumbling for her level but you're not teaching her bhs yet or a kid with bhs who isn't working bhs stepouts, cartwheel bhs, backwalkover bhs, etc
12. agree with the prior statement of coaches who don't appreciate their lower level kids as much
*13. talking about your prior gym, and comparing your kids to other teams you have coached
14. coaches who miss practice or competition
15. coaches who don't give corrections on tumbling, but rather just throw them over
*16. overestimating a kid's abilities
*17. underestimating a kid's abilities
*18. coaches who don't condition at every practice and then hit december and the kids can't handle the routine
19. Coaches who allow kids to correct other kids
20. Coaches who think that being credentialed to Level 4 or 5 means they are above coaching a Level 1 team
*21. Coaches who demonstrate a skill and expect their kids to execute it just as well- you're more experienced than them DUH
22. rushing through the basics just to get to higher level skills
23. Coaches who end practice early when clearly the kids need to be working on things, just because they have somewhere to go
*24. Coaches who get frustrated when things aren't going well... focus, re-group, bring them in, talk it out, set it up again, get positive
25. "You're too big to fly" or "You're heavy" being said to flyers... can't take hearing that, it can lead to so many problems once they get older
26. Telling a kid they are "different" from everyone else
27. Coaches who can't do a high-v trying to yell at their kids for doing bad motions
28. coaches who won't talk to kids or parents who left them for another program
*29. Coaches who are late to practice when they are the ones opening up the gym
30. Coaches who do not hold all of their kids to the same standards.

wow, 30 things? I thought I'd come up with 4 or 5 lol.... sorry about that, guys!

 

[Mamarazzi]

@Num1Stunta , I like that you put this out there and admitted that, yes, you aren't perfect and have done some of these things too. If I go and look, I wonder if any parents did the same on the "other" thread?
#15 kills me. We have a coach who has never spoken to my cp except to tell her that the skill she was working on was "trash." Am I gonna say something? Probably not. I take it 100% to heart that what happens on the floor is the director and owners job to address. Off the floor is my world.

 

[Seeker30]

i love this thread!

 

[Num1Stunta]

@Num1Stunta , I like that you put this out there and admitted that, yes, you aren't perfect and have done some of these things too. If I go and look, I wonder if any parents did the same on the "other" thread?
#15 kills me. We have a coach who has never spoken to my cp except to tell her that the skill she was working on was "trash." Am I gonna say something? Probably not. I take it 100% to heart that what happens on the floor is the director and owners job to address. Off the floor is my world.

Yes, I am a critical person in general (perfectionistic, maybe?)... It's only fair that I apply that criticism to myself lol

That is terrible for a coach to say that... personally, I get excited when I see a kid struggling with a skill, because I know I can help them!

 

[HannahLou]

I get excited when I see a kid struggling with a skill, because I know I can help them!

This statement literally made my day. I think any coach in any sport should identify with this, if not they should not be coaching.
It isnt the most talented that I love coaching its those who find it the hardest as the sense of accomplishment they feel once they hit that skill is worth so much more!

 

[Just-a-Mom]

If your kid is that hungry at practice, I advise that she/he brings a snack with them to eat while in the car/train. I'm a coach. During my 15 min. breaks, I eat snacks. The gym owners buy snacks for all the coaches because we are usually there all night. Last fall, I had THREE jobs and was a full time student at UCF. So I literally just brought snacks (granola bars, peanut butter crackers, fruit, etc). If your child is starving, have them pack a snack to eat. I did that when I cheered too. It worked well.

That being said, the only time I have ever eaten a snack while working was while my private lesson was warming up. And that was once. I would never eat during a tumbling class or a practice.

We do try to pack a snack. But like I said earlier - it's a very elaborate procedure getting them to practice. They go directly from school - there is a bus, a train, and a car involved. Once in a while we forget to pack a snack. Or worse, if it's not close to "grocery day", there's nothing to pack. So we end up just hoping we get 30 seconds to spare to buy a snack later. Doesn't make it any less rude to stuff pizza in your face in front of 25 hungry kids.

Girl you known me for 16 years and youve always seen me stuff my food down... I am like Michael Jordan, eating fries, a big mac with special sauce, a milk shake and apple pie while soaring through the air (some of you are to young to remember that commercial) LOL, I just have my subway while spotting, counting with my mouth full, and catching falling flyers with one hand while drinking my water and sometimes my weakness (sweet tea or Dr pepper)! :help: I am being a bad coach aren't I! ummmmNOOOOOO! I am just hungry!

Jeez no one said you were being a bad coach. Just a rude one. And the visual your post just created was just gross. I think I seriously would scream if I saw you spotting my daughter with a sub in your hand - I really hope you're kidding.

So, for the coaches who felt the need to defend themselves about the eating thing; Nope. Still not OK. If you read the whole post, and the whole thread, you'll see that what I said was that we also haven't eaten - so saying you "have to eat during practice because you're so busy" doesn't wash. That was my whole point - we also haven't had time to eat. I can just imagine if I sent my daughter into the gym with a SUB in her hand and she tried to say "I came right from school, I haven't had time to eat!"

I didn't say "Stop eating." I saaaaid "Stop eating in front of us." This is just. plain. rude. Half these kids have just come from practice at school, school itself, or some other activity. They're busy too - and starving. They CAN'T eat because they have to be ready to tumble, stunt, run, etc. And you're really going to tell me that as an ADULT you don't know better than to stand there and eat WHILE YOU'RE COACHING? Go in the office and eat...or your car...or wherever. You all find places to SMOKE (yeah, sorry. The kids know about that one), I'm sure you can find places to eat. The whole point of my original post, and I'll say it again: Coaches, you are far from the only busy people in this. I don't know if you all think we just sit on the sofa with our kids all day waiting for it to be 5:00 for practice...but we don't. So please stop using "But I'm so busy" as an excuse for everything. We're busy too - and you don't see us sending our kids in with subs in hand because they were "too busy" to eat.

This really is one of my biggest pet peeve. So practice what you preach - eat in the car, in the bathroom (eeww), or just WAIT another half hour. But for God's sake...stop eating on the mat while you're coaching.

BTW...drinks are not the same thing. I don't care if you have a soda or coffee in your hand.

 

[Mo-Lissa]

cheer8 said: ↑

Girl you known me for 16 years and youve always seen me stuff my food down... I am like Michael Jordan, eating fries, a big mac with special sauce, a milk shake and apple pie while soaring through the air (some of you are to young to remember that commercial) LOL, I just have my subway while spotting, counting with my mouth full, and catching falling flyers with one hand while drinking my water and sometimes my weakness (sweet tea or Dr pepper)! :help: I am being a bad coach aren't I! ummmmNOOOOOO! I am just hungry!​

@Just-a-Mom

He was totally kidding!!! Just picking on me!!!

 

[Just-a-Mom]

cheer8 said: ↑

Girl you known me for 16 years and youve always seen me stuff my food down... I am like Michael Jordan, eating fries, a big mac with special sauce, a milk shake and apple pie while soaring through the air (some of you are to young to remember that commercial) LOL, I just have my subway while spotting, counting with my mouth full, and catching falling flyers with one hand while drinking my water and sometimes my weakness (sweet tea or Dr pepper)! :help: I am being a bad coach aren't I! ummmmNOOOOOO! I am just hungry!​

@Just-a-Mom

He was totally kidding!!! Just picking on me!!!

Woot! Then disregard my first paragraph. I thought so, then I didn't think so, then I thought so... but the sad part is I've seen it done, so I wasn't sure! Hopefully the REAL perpetrators will see this and think "Oh...am I not supposed to do that???"

 

[Mo-Lissa]

@Just-a-Mom
They may have food in the gym, but they cook and pack there food from home and eat privately in the office, they come to work at 2:30 and sometimes don't get off till after 11:00. We are a small gym, they are the owners, coaches and every other job in the gym!!! He is a big kid at heart and likes to kid around. I think after reading all your posts, and issues you have had you would love our gym!!!

 

[Just-a-Mom]

@Just-a-Mom
They may have food in the gym, but they cook and pack there food from home and eat privately in the office, they come to work at 2:30 and sometimes don't get off till after 11:00. We are a small gym, they are the owners, coaches and every other job in the gym!!! He is a big kid at heart and likes to kid around. I think after reading all your posts, and issues you have had you would love our gym!!!

Probably! We love our gym now. We've hit a couple bumps in the road here, but I think we've finally found a spot. (We found a spot at FAME in VA too, but now that they're a thousand miles away...just wanted to clarify that these "issues" weren't there!)

 

[purpleblue&white]

Nah...I'm not really sure WHAT that's all about. I've only been to the TRUE Southside once (for a competition... Hey previous gym, way to look at a map before picking comps to go to!) I'm waaaay up North. Smells like pizza.

We were there too... what a cruise that was from the Way North...ehhhhh

 

[KRECCheer]

I have always wondered why it is not acceptable to ask why your child isn't flying. You obviously have an answer or she would be flying. Maybe it would help her get over not flying on this team but maybe in the future. Maybe it would motivate her to improve her skills. Maybe she would understand that its an unrealistic goal and she needs to concentrate of being a beast base, back or front.

Also, why is it so taboo to want your child to fly, be center dance or last pass? I am not demanding it from you, I am not berating my cp. But we all want our child to shine so is it so awful to want these things if your not obnoxious about it?????

I certainly think there are different ways to ask. If your child flew last season and are not this season and you ask I might say something like "they need A, B, and C skills and right now they only have skill C." If you come barreling over to me after practice and youve only been with us for 2 weeks and this is only the second summer practice and you say "Susie flew on this team and this team and she should be flying here" Ill still answer you with a legit reason but Ill be slightly annoyed because you A: are a gym hopper and that raises red flags right there and B: because I have only known your child for 2 weeks and Im trying to find the best fit for them within my gym. (sorry for all the "ands.")

I also dont think it is wrong to want your child to shine. A good coach will notice if they have been putting the extra work in to become point dancer, etc. Thats all it takes is that extra motivation and dedication.