coaches

Date: Thu Feb 7 9:59 AM, 2008

RE: coaches

Date: Thu Feb 7 10:17 AM, 2008

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Thank you for your response. So basically you are looking for the coaches / owners of this program to step up and say they were or are in the wrong? If you are not seeking any refund then why would you seek legal action? Sadly enough not all gyms are going to admit to doing something wrong. If it was my gym I would voice my concerns and leave it at that and not return next season. I guess I just dont understand what you need a judge to rule on if you already know the situation. Please advise.

That is the reason why we have chosen to seek a judgement aginst them. one it will allow for it to be recorded in the BBB for others who do research on this gym and second they have not been held accountable as of yet. It is the principle. We are moving on next season. well aware that this may be an issue some place else too. we have already researched other gyms and those who have hs cheerleaders have given us their policy about it upfront as well as their gym policy and how things are handled. i am ok with that. because it is upfront and they have things set in place. if this gym was upfront or even upfront after going to them, it would be a different matter. it is the fact they were not and that it has hurt the team as whole and it hindered our decision to continue with them. cancelled comps and no reason why to us parents is beyond just sitting back and riding it out. this experience has been mentally draining and just not a good one. they have to be held accountable because of the response they gave to us personally. how they run their gym is their business but they have to be upfront about things so paying customers can make a educated decision.

Agreed. I think it is interesting that it has become such an issue. I have only 2 kids that cheer for high school out of 85 in our senior program and the only time we had an issue was during their homecoming week. Other than that it was discussed with them prior to placing them on a team and they understood our rules. I think sometimes coaches let things slide cause they are trying to keep kids but they dont realize it is actually hurting them more. Goodluck with your situation.

thank you for your insight and if you are a gym owner i can not tell you enough how much we parents appreciate you being upfront about things and keeping the lines of communication open.
good luck the rest of your season

Date: Thu Feb 7 1:11 PM, 2008

Anonymous wrote:

why an attorney? wrote:

I'm very curious why you feel you have legal recourse on this issue.

I really think it is best that you go talk to the gym owner and come to the table with a solution. So many times a gym owner looks for ways to improve their gym over all. It would be really cool if a parent that noticed a problem - actually walked up to the gym owner and said "I see this being an issue with me and perhaps it's even a issue with some other parents. I think I may have a solution for you {share the solution}. What do you think?"

I honestly do believe that attendance is a topic that will never go away. A gym can only go so far to setting rules and expectations for their gym. The gym owners are hopeful that parents and the cheerleaders will follow the rules but how can gym owners really be responsible for every family and their commitments.

In my book - high school cheer is a school event. How in your opinion is this different in your book?

Thank you for your insight on the situation as well. here is the problem it has been adressed several time with the owner and nothing is being done.
Hs cheer is a school even and i understand that, but it is the gym policy that practices can not be missed. they have allowed a certain amount of time off but it clearly states that if you miss practice you will be sit out of comp. if their papers had upfront about hs cheer then as a customer yo can make that call to put your kid in the program. but they sell their program on a certain standard that isnt being met. now it is not about winning. what has made me the maddest is that stunt groups get taken out because they cant hit but its because of lack of practice. they fall at cheer comps consistently. they have not hit a routine yet completely. not once. so i say again if we were aware of the hs cheer policy ahead of time we could have made an educated decision on joing the gym and know what to expect. it is the actions that take place because of the fact that they miss. let me just state this. we compete next weekend. we have 2 practices until comp and they have a new section to learn and havent put up a full routine yet. as a customer it is only a few weeks left until nationals is this ok? i cant justify it. i have tried to wait it out. i have gone to them. i dont know whatelse to do.
now here is the legal recourse after speaking with my attorney. I have followed their protocal and kept my comittment. they have not. cheer is expensive and we are paying for a service. if we didn't show up for a comp they would sit my kid out or kick her off the squad, why? because it is their rule to do that. so we follow the rules. they are not implementing or following their own rules.. i have fulfilled my comittment to them and just am not satisfied. i have not caused the gym any problems at all. i have pattiently waited for the changes they promised. this is not ok at all. believe me i would not seek an attorney if i dont have legal recourse.

well i don't think you are going to get the perfect answer on this board. it is appreciated that you have kept this topic on the generic side. I do feel for you and your gym owners. And there are many gym owners out there that are saying, wow this person may be in my gym. Our gym has high school cheerleaders, our gym has canceled a competition, etc. The point is that this is an annoymous board and everyone can learn from one another.

I want to let you know that my daughter cheers for a gym that has benched girls this season and has even kicked girls of their teams because of attendence, attitude, etc. I appreciate the policy because my daughter is one of the girls that attends every single practice. The gym have set the policy and they are making some tough decisions but it's really tough to make a routine work when a girl is asked to leave a team. My daughter's team is handling it and they continue to place well (not always first place) at competitions. It seems transparent to us in the stands but it's got to be tough for the coaches to make it all work.

My point is, most of us parents aren't even aware of these disciplined rules and the action taken? Should us parents be privileged to stuff like this? Do you really want to know everything that is happening in your gym?

Date: Thu Feb 7 5:47 PM, 2008

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

why an attorney? wrote:

I'm very curious why you feel you have legal recourse on this issue.

I really think it is best that you go talk to the gym owner and come to the table with a solution. So many times a gym owner looks for ways to improve their gym over all. It would be really cool if a parent that noticed a problem - actually walked up to the gym owner and said "I see this being an issue with me and perhaps it's even a issue with some other parents. I think I may have a solution for you {share the solution}. What do you think?"

I honestly do believe that attendance is a topic that will never go away. A gym can only go so far to setting rules and expectations for their gym. The gym owners are hopeful that parents and the cheerleaders will follow the rules but how can gym owners really be responsible for every family and their commitments.

In my book - high school cheer is a school event. How in your opinion is this different in your book?

Thank you for your insight on the situation as well. here is the problem it has been adressed several time with the owner and nothing is being done.
Hs cheer is a school even and i understand that, but it is the gym policy that practices can not be missed. they have allowed a certain amount of time off but it clearly states that if you miss practice you will be sit out of comp. if their papers had upfront about hs cheer then as a customer yo can make that call to put your kid in the program. but they sell their program on a certain standard that isnt being met. now it is not about winning. what has made me the maddest is that stunt groups get taken out because they cant hit but its because of lack of practice. they fall at cheer comps consistently. they have not hit a routine yet completely. not once. so i say again if we were aware of the hs cheer policy ahead of time we could have made an educated decision on joing the gym and know what to expect. it is the actions that take place because of the fact that they miss. let me just state this. we compete next weekend. we have 2 practices until comp and they have a new section to learn and havent put up a full routine yet. as a customer it is only a few weeks left until nationals is this ok? i cant justify it. i have tried to wait it out. i have gone to them. i dont know whatelse to do.
now here is the legal recourse after speaking with my attorney. I have followed their protocal and kept my comittment. they have not. cheer is expensive and we are paying for a service. if we didn't show up for a comp they would sit my kid out or kick her off the squad, why? because it is their rule to do that. so we follow the rules. they are not implementing or following their own rules.. i have fulfilled my comittment to them and just am not satisfied. i have not caused the gym any problems at all. i have pattiently waited for the changes they promised. this is not ok at all. believe me i would not seek an attorney if i dont have legal recourse.

well i don't think you are going to get the perfect answer on this board. it is appreciated that you have kept this topic on the generic side. I do feel for you and your gym owners. And there are many gym owners out there that are saying, wow this person may be in my gym. Our gym has high school cheerleaders, our gym has canceled a competition, etc. The point is that this is an annoymous board and everyone can learn from one another.

I want to let you know that my daughter cheers for a gym that has benched girls this season and has even kicked girls of their teams because of attendence, attitude, etc. I appreciate the policy because my daughter is one of the girls that attends every single practice. The gym have set the policy and they are making some tough decisions but it's really tough to make a routine work when a girl is asked to leave a team. My daughter's team is handling it and they continue to place well (not always first place) at competitions. It seems transparent to us in the stands but it's got to be tough for the coaches to make it all work.

My point is, most of us parents aren't even aware of these disciplined rules and the action taken? Should us parents be privileged to stuff like this? Do you really want to know everything that is happening in your gym?

thank you and i agree there will never be the perfect answer on the boards but it has been helpful and I would never mention my gym by name or even give enough information to point them out directly. It is not my intention to do that. Thank you for noticing that i made sure to keep it annoymous.
also i don'tthink it is our right as parents to know all the ins and out of the program. it is their business. but i do feel they should be upfront and communicate when i came and handled things in a respectful manner. they promised one thing and did something different. i feel like they were just taking it for granted that im just a parent. if it was not my business they should have said we handle these things but we choose to keep things of this matter within our private handling of our business. but thats not what happned. it just takes a little bit of integrity on their part. Thay have lost that with me.
Every gym handles this issue differently but it has to be handled and addresed. pretending the problem does not exsist or that everyone is ok with it. it is not ok.
i am confident that we are making the right choice by nit returning next season and holding them accountable. I have not voiced my personal unhappiness with any other parent in our gym or bad mouth them. This is something that I feel strongly about and it will be handled with integrity and it will be handled in general. accountability is important and they can not clean up the mess when it is now to late.

Date: Fri Feb 8 7:21 AM, 2008

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

why an attorney? wrote:

I'm very curious why you feel you have legal recourse on this issue.

I really think it is best that you go talk to the gym owner and come to the table with a solution. So many times a gym owner looks for ways to improve their gym over all. It would be really cool if a parent that noticed a problem - actually walked up to the gym owner and said "I see this being an issue with me and perhaps it's even a issue with some other parents. I think I may have a solution for you {share the solution}. What do you think?"

I honestly do believe that attendance is a topic that will never go away. A gym can only go so far to setting rules and expectations for their gym. The gym owners are hopeful that parents and the cheerleaders will follow the rules but how can gym owners really be responsible for every family and their commitments.

In my book - high school cheer is a school event. How in your opinion is this different in your book?

Thank you for your insight on the situation as well. here is the problem it has been adressed several time with the owner and nothing is being done.
Hs cheer is a school even and i understand that, but it is the gym policy that practices can not be missed. they have allowed a certain amount of time off but it clearly states that if you miss practice you will be sit out of comp. if their papers had upfront about hs cheer then as a customer yo can make that call to put your kid in the program. but they sell their program on a certain standard that isnt being met. now it is not about winning. what has made me the maddest is that stunt groups get taken out because they cant hit but its because of lack of practice. they fall at cheer comps consistently. they have not hit a routine yet completely. not once. so i say again if we were aware of the hs cheer policy ahead of time we could have made an educated decision on joing the gym and know what to expect. it is the actions that take place because of the fact that they miss. let me just state this. we compete next weekend. we have 2 practices until comp and they have a new section to learn and havent put up a full routine yet. as a customer it is only a few weeks left until nationals is this ok? i cant justify it. i have tried to wait it out. i have gone to them. i dont know whatelse to do.
now here is the legal recourse after speaking with my attorney. I have followed their protocal and kept my comittment. they have not. cheer is expensive and we are paying for a service. if we didn't show up for a comp they would sit my kid out or kick her off the squad, why? because it is their rule to do that. so we follow the rules. they are not implementing or following their own rules.. i have fulfilled my comittment to them and just am not satisfied. i have not caused the gym any problems at all. i have pattiently waited for the changes they promised. this is not ok at all. believe me i would not seek an attorney if i dont have legal recourse.

well i don't think you are going to get the perfect answer on this board. it is appreciated that you have kept this topic on the generic side. I do feel for you and your gym owners. And there are many gym owners out there that are saying, wow this person may be in my gym. Our gym has high school cheerleaders, our gym has canceled a competition, etc. The point is that this is an annoymous board and everyone can learn from one another.

I want to let you know that my daughter cheers for a gym that has benched girls this season and has even kicked girls of their teams because of attendence, attitude, etc. I appreciate the policy because my daughter is one of the girls that attends every single practice. The gym have set the policy and they are making some tough decisions but it's really tough to make a routine work when a girl is asked to leave a team. My daughter's team is handling it and they continue to place well (not always first place) at competitions. It seems transparent to us in the stands but it's got to be tough for the coaches to make it all work.

My point is, most of us parents aren't even aware of these disciplined rules and the action taken? Should us parents be privileged to stuff like this? Do you really want to know everything that is happening in your gym?

thank you and i agree there will never be the perfect answer on the boards but it has been helpful and I would never mention my gym by name or even give enough information to point them out directly. It is not my intention to do that. Thank you for noticing that i made sure to keep it annoymous.
also i don'tthink it is our right as parents to know all the ins and out of the program. it is their business. but i do feel they should be upfront and communicate when i came and handled things in a respectful manner. they promised one thing and did something different. i feel like they were just taking it for granted that im just a parent. if it was not my business they should have said we handle these things but we choose to keep things of this matter within our private handling of our business. but thats not what happned. it just takes a little bit of integrity on their part. Thay have lost that with me.
Every gym handles this issue differently but it has to be handled and addresed. pretending the problem does not exsist or that everyone is ok with it. it is not ok.
i am confident that we are making the right choice by nit returning next season and holding them accountable. I have not voiced my personal unhappiness with any other parent in our gym or bad mouth them. This is something that I feel strongly about and it will be handled with integrity and it will be handled in general. accountability is important and they can not clean up the mess when it is now to late.

I mentioned this before but I really do think if your bring your gym owner a solution rather than sit back and make your blood boil, you may find good in the end.

Cheerleading is a tough one. It is a team sport with no subsitutes.   Sure it's easy to say, just pull a cheerleader because of {what ever reason}. But there is really so much more that happens once you pull that one cheerleader.  The routine formations need rework which effects all the cheerleaders, stunting looks inconsistant, or maybe the routine needs everyone on the floor for a pryamid.   I know that and I am just a mom.

I guess the number of cheerleaders you have in the gym would be a consideration. If your gym has a ton of cheerleaders then yeah ask a cheerleader or two or three to leave. No problem there is some else that will take your place. But if you associated with a small gym the luxury of removing a couple cheerleaders is null.

This is a tough one for a gym.  Maybe the gym is looking out for the majority and wanting to make sure that all the cheerleaders have a chance to cheer. No one really knows the justification behind all the decisions on the floor, we will never know. The only thing we can do is make sure our cheerleaders are learning a skill that they have a passion for. It this is been accomplished then that is success in my book.

Date: Fri Feb 8 8:32 AM, 2008

I would really be interested to her both sides of this story. On the one hand, it does sound like perhaps they were lax with their attendance policy. On the other hand, you have a parent that is sitting at every practice documenting the absences of other parents' kids and threatening to sue a gym because they didn't kick other kids off her daughter's team.

Am I the only one that thinks this sounds pretty psycho?

We have all had those parents at our gyms that can lay on a pretty good sob story to outsiders, but everyone else at the gym - the owners, coaches, athletes, and other parents have a COMPLETELY different view of what has happened. I would love to hear the "other side" of all of this before everyone falls all over themselves to support this person.

Date: Fri Feb 8 9:09 AM, 2008

Anonymous wrote:

I would really be interested to her both sides of this story. On the one hand, it does sound like perhaps they were lax with their attendance policy. On the other hand, you have a parent that is sitting at every practice documenting the absences of other parents' kids and threatening to sue a gym because they didn't kick other kids off her daughter's team.

Am I the only one that thinks this sounds pretty psycho?

We have all had those parents at our gyms that can lay on a pretty good sob story to outsiders, but everyone else at the gym - the owners, coaches, athletes, and other parents have a COMPLETELY different view of what has happened. I would love to hear the "other side" of all of this before everyone falls all over themselves to support this person.

Thank you I was thinking the samething, but with all the comments I thought I might be out of line by responding. I didn't want it to be taken in a negative way. No gym is perfect, and there is always two sides to every story. I feel like we are hearing only one side of it. I think if your that unhappy leave the gym. But all the talk of taking leagal action, etc. sort of left me feeling like it was a bit over the top. I do wish you luck finding a place that you and your daughter are happier at.

Date: Fri Feb 8 9:12 AM, 2008

Anonymous wrote:

I would really be interested to her both sides of this story. On the one hand, it does sound like perhaps they were lax with their attendance policy. On the other hand, you have a parent that is sitting at every practice documenting the absences of other parents' kids and threatening to sue a gym because they didn't kick other kids off her daughter's team.

Am I the only one that thinks this sounds pretty psycho?

We have all had those parents at our gyms that can lay on a pretty good sob story to outsiders, but everyone else at the gym - the owners, coaches, athletes, and other parents have a COMPLETELY different view of what has happened. I would love to hear the "other side" of all of this before everyone falls all over themselves to support this person.

Ok, I will be honest and agree with you. I completely understand where this parent comes from, but to take legal action? You can file a complaint with the BBB without sueing. Leaving a gym and letting them know why, should be an eye opener. If not they will only continue to lose more girls. Most likely they will be the girls who are committed. Those are the ones who care. I agree there are 2 sides to every story and even if this gym is in the wrong, just leave!!!!! Lesson learned. There are other gym out there that tolerate and those that don't. Find one that doesn't tolerate flakey people. I know I did! biggrin

Date: Fri Feb 8 9:53 AM, 2008

I sympathize with the poster. It is very difficult to be at a gym that you are unhappy with for whatever the reasons are. In my experience the gym owners and coaches have all these great rules and excpectations at the beginning of the season, and for some reason, shortly after the season starts all the rules are thrown out the window. This did not sit well with me and actually MANY others. So, what did we do? We ALL left and went to another gym where there were rules and excpectations that were actually enforced. You can't threaten the kids with things then not follow through. We all know when kids miss practice repeatedly, for whatever reason, and teams aren't complete at practices, it definetly shows at the competitions. Those teams usually don't perform well, stunts fall etc. etc. It's not about always winning, however, for the kids that are dedicated and always there at practice it sucks to lose all the time!
So, my advise would be, forget about the lawsuit and just move to another gym. The frustration of lawsuit isn't worth it. There are plenty of gyms in northern california to choose from. If you have been around all star cheer the reputations of all the gyms are all well known.
Good luck to you.

Date: Fri Feb 8 10:21 AM, 2008

Thank you all for your opinions and for keeping it as kind as possible minus the psycho comment but no offense taken. as i stated early on this about principle and not sueing them for money just a judgement against them. i dont care if it is $5 as long as it is on record that there is a judgement to state the bad business practices. of course there is always two sides to every story and you are only hearing my side of the story, but it is my side and how the situation has been handled. I have not included other parents or cheerleaders in our experience. i have not cased this gym any problems it is my concern that i am dealing with. if i was bordelrine pyscho as someone so delicatley put it, i would be raising hell at the cheer gym and trying to include other members who have complained openly to everyone else accept the owners in on this. I AM NOT DOING THAT! so please understand this is about principle after going to them respectfully and listening to their reaasurrance it was not normal practice for them. also waiting it out patiently. I have without a doubt followed the protocal for handling this situation.
yes the easy solution would be to pull my kid from the program now. however i have paid in full as well as for nationals etc. if they would like to reimburse me for the remaining months and my expenses for nationals i would happily pull my child and move on. again i waited it out with reassurance that things were being handled.
everyone is entitled to their opionion and i leave it like that. we feel like we need to sue this gym, my attorney feels the same way and that is how we choose to handle it. we have exhausted every effort and repsonsibilty to give them the benefit of the doubt.
now to address theat so many parents are over the top etc. that is very true and nothing that anyone can deny. it is true in every sport. but as you said there are two sides to every story as well. some gym owners are over the top as well. They are not truthful and kack integrity. they participate in gossip about other cheer members in their gym, they include the cheer squad members in disliking other gyms and they don't have a backbone. which is required to be in this line of work. because we know that us cheer parents only see things our way wink

what is the best way to say this.............. stand by what you are selling when people are signing up. that way they get what they are paying for. If I knew what I knew now i would have never signed those papers and went through this horrific experience. But if they were truthful and i chose to stay then the responsibilty would be mine for staying. i stayed based on lies.
if it was just taht easy i would leave. we still havent received our money for a canceled comp. again its all about integrity.
thank you all for your opionions and again for everyone that was able to stay kind. it is possible to state opionions without saying hurtful things like pyscho etc.

Date: Fri Feb 8 10:26 AM, 2008

Honestly the Pyscho comment should be removed. It is not productive in any way and if we are standing by not aloowing that stuff it should be removed.

Date: Fri Feb 8 10:29 AM, 2008

We had this happen at our gym, a lot of girls left. We still have great repore with the families, however a lot of parents and children are very nasty to the girls that left. I am thinking of making a change, but it is hard because I really like are gym, however I feel we may have out grown it. I really don't want my children to deal with the back lash when we go to comps. I also don't want to continue to pay, no it is not even the money it is a saftey issue. I feel are girls are asked to pull stunts and tumbling that they are not ready for. You can explain a stunt to a stunt group, but if you do not train the group right down to the girls that base someone is going to end up in a body cast. I have watched it time and time again and I am very worried for my child. We have the same problems with girls not showing up for practice therefore they can not practice in their stunt groups. We have a comp in two weeks and the same girls did not show up. How is this fare to the whole team? I watched one of the girls that is a base push a flier after she finished the stunt down on the ground, because she was frustrated the coach didn't agree with her coments. The coach did not say a word regarding this childs actions??? This is the kind of things I see in practice on a regular basis. cry

Date: Fri Feb 8 10:37 AM, 2008

Anonymous wrote:

We had this happen at our gym, a lot of girls left. We still have great repore with the families, however a lot of parents and children are very nasty to the girls that left. I am thinking of making a change, but it is hard because I really like are gym, however I feel we may have out grown it. I really don't want my children to deal with the back lash when we go to comps. I also don't want to continue to pay, no it is not even the money it is a saftey issue. I feel are girls are asked to pull stunts and tumbling that they are not ready for. You can explain a stunt to a stunt group, but if you do not train the group right down to the girls that base someone is going to end up in a body cast. I have watched it time and time again and I am very worried for my child. We have the same problems with girls not showing up for practice therefore they can not practice in their stunt groups. We have a comp in two weeks and the same girls did not show up. How is this fare to the whole team? I watched one of the girls that is a base push a flier after she finished the stunt down on the ground, because she was frustrated the coach didn't agree with her coments. The coach did not say a word regarding this childs actions??? This is the kind of things I see in practice on a regular basis.

it is a safety issue and that is the point as well. these kids are pulling stunts and tumbling that if not trained properly can lead to death or paraylsis. a kid can only be dropped on their head so many times. a kid can only be dropped so many times before the risk gets greater. if the kids are not at practice totrain completely properly that is a liability on the gym for continuing to put up unsafe stunts. not ok

Date: Fri Feb 8 10:52 AM, 2008

we left a gym we were unhappy at and made a change a few years back. i'm not gonna lie...it wasn't easy. the owner and coaches were terrible to say the least. they acted childish and rude to my daughter when they saw her at competitions and around town. my daughter was always respectful to her former gym owner and coaches when she saw them even though they snubbed her when she would greet them. when it was all said and done we know this move was best for our family.
in these types of situations it really makes you wonder who are the adults and who are the kids??? :(

Date: Fri Feb 8 10:57 AM, 2008

I have to agree. You seem to have been, on your own, keeping a log of how often your daughter's teammates were at practice. You are now using that logbook to take a gym to court? I have heard of some crazy things that parents have done, that might take the cake. Suing them because of how they did/didn't discipline SOMEONE ELSE'S child?

No one thinks of themselves as "that parent". This story sets off major alarm bells to me. I would love to hear what the coaches, the gym, and the parents sitting beside you in the viewing area would say about all of this.

That is one greedy lawyer too. Of course he will take your money to sue the gym. Maybe one of his buddies will get hired by the gym to defend them. They both get lots of billable hours out of this crazy mess and every other gym's liability insurance goes up. Meanwhile, every other gym will avoid your daughter like the plague if they hear of this. What gym wants someone looking over their shoulder, logbook in hand, with their lawyer on speed-dial?

Date: Fri Feb 8 11:01 AM, 2008

we have a girl that would always come late to practice and have excuses & the coaches got so frustrated with it they replaced for this weekend

Date: Fri Feb 8 11:17 AM, 2008

Sometimes some of the smaller gyms may not have enough kids and losing even one can be devastating to a small team. This sometimes plays into how much tolerance the gym has toward this type of behavior. I think attendance is one of the hardest rules to enforce for most coaches. If your unhappy leave and find the right fit for you and your daughter. Are there other parents at your gym who feel the same way you do? Do they plan on leaving at the end of the season also? How do the other parents feel about you suing the gym? Are the majority on your side? Like it was stated in previous post. We are only hearing one side of the story, and suing a gym/coach over something like this is quite drastric.

Date: Fri Feb 8 11:36 AM, 2008

Anonymous wrote:

I have to agree. You seem to have been, on your own, keeping a log of how often your daughter's teammates were at practice. You are now using that logbook to take a gym to court? I have heard of some crazy things that parents have done, that might take the cake. Suing them because of how they did/didn't discipline SOMEONE ELSE'S child?

No one thinks of themselves as "that parent". This story sets off major alarm bells to me. I would love to hear what the coaches, the gym, and the parents sitting beside you in the viewing area would say about all of this.

That is one greedy lawyer too. Of course he will take your money to sue the gym. Maybe one of his buddies will get hired by the gym to defend them. They both get lots of billable hours out of this crazy mess and every other gym's liability insurance goes up. Meanwhile, every other gym will avoid your daughter like the plague if they hear of this. What gym wants someone looking over their shoulder, logbook in hand, with their lawyer on speed-dial?

no actually not on my own as far as keeping a log just the only parent who is upfront about it. no matter what is said this gym has done so much more as far as finaces etc that were lied about and they will be hel accountable. in life you have to stand up for what you believe in and if it causes my daughter to be avoided like the plague it is worth the standing up for what is right. it is ok to have yor opionions but we are going to stand up for what is right. like i stated i will not say all that has gone on because it would name the gym easily on the boards, but it is more than just missing practices and if people didnt stand up for things in life. things would have never change for the better. so if we can no longer walk in another cheer gym as long and it changes the way gyms handle things then it is worth the fight.
your opionion matters to you and i respect that. my opionion is what matters to me and this and the so many other things that have gone on are not ok. it is bigger than whats been said.

Date: Sat Feb 9 1:11 AM, 2008

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I have to agree. You seem to have been, on your own, keeping a log of how often your daughter's teammates were at practice. You are now using that logbook to take a gym to court? I have heard of some crazy things that parents have done, that might take the cake. Suing them because of how they did/didn't discipline SOMEONE ELSE'S child?

No one thinks of themselves as "that parent". This story sets off major alarm bells to me. I would love to hear what the coaches, the gym, and the parents sitting beside you in the viewing area would say about all of this.

That is one greedy lawyer too. Of course he will take your money to sue the gym. Maybe one of his buddies will get hired by the gym to defend them. They both get lots of billable hours out of this crazy mess and every other gym's liability insurance goes up. Meanwhile, every other gym will avoid your daughter like the plague if they hear of this. What gym wants someone looking over their shoulder, logbook in hand, with their lawyer on speed-dial?

no actually not on my own as far as keeping a log just the only parent who is upfront about it. no matter what is said this gym has done so much more as far as finaces etc that were lied about and they will be hel accountable. in life you have to stand up for what you believe in and if it causes my daughter to be avoided like the plague it is worth the standing up for what is right. it is ok to have yor opionions but we are going to stand up for what is right. like i stated i will not say all that has gone on because it would name the gym easily on the boards, but it is more than just missing practices and if people didnt stand up for things in life. things would have never change for the better. so if we can no longer walk in another cheer gym as long and it changes the way gyms handle things then it is worth the fight.
your opionion matters to you and i respect that. my opionion is what matters to me and this and the so many other things that have gone on are not ok. it is bigger than whats been said.

HAve you conferred with your daughter on this? I understand you have issues with the gym. Is she friends with a lot of these cheerleaders outside the gym? This could really affect her life in far reaching ways. I get 'het up' about things pretty easily and a friend of mine said "is your daughter happy?' If the answer is 'yes', then I let it go (understanding that this would not include unethical, illegal or immoral acts!!!!) I am not saying you should stay at the gym at all! Leave, but do you have to leave damage in your wake? How will it affect your friends and relationships that I hope you have made at this gym. I guess all I am saying is don't screw up your kid's life because you are angry.

Date: Sun Feb 10 4:54 AM, 2008

Before sueing the gym have you read your contracts? I know my gym has a clause in their contracts about cancelled competitions / practices and that monies not used will remain in the members account for the entire season, if the funds are not used at the end of the season the funds can be reimbursed or rolled into the next season. How can you justify asking for the money back mid season? Is it possible it will get used for another expense? We also have a attendance contract. Does your current gym have these types of contracts? If not find one that does. If they do then you are right they are not following rules set in place by themselves, and that is not a lesson I would want my child to learn.

I tried to read all the posts and maybe I missed it but, does the Coach do anything about the members that miss? or are they allowed to come and go as they wish? if so, that would infuriate me if I was sitting in the lobby of my gym day after day and Susie was allowed to come and go as she pleases with no consequences. However, does it infuriate your child or the other MEMBERS? Really they are the ones practicing and competing, yes you write the checks but it is for THEIR sport. Has your child learned new skills from the gym staff? Has your child made new friendships and made new memories with other members? Besides bending the rules for ANOTHER member, what is it that the gym has not done for YOU?

As a gym owner I have to be in 1000 places at the same time and my mind is always on 1000 things. I would Continue to speak with the owners until you see a change, it might just be that your complaints are lower on their to do list and get forgotten (not saying its ok, but we all can do it) Become a pesty parent, all gyms have them and while to us gym owners they are pesty parents, they are also who pays our bills. Within reason, gym owners need to keep their customers happy. I know I would much rather deal with a pesty parent then a lawsuit.

One other thing, are you absolutely positive that all of the girls missing don't have other private reasons they miss alot? I have an ill cheerleader who misses alot but doesn't want the other girls to know quite yet so I have to make up excuses for her. To me her absences are very excused, but to outsiders it seems she is missing alot and for silly reasons.

Bottom line, it is your money and your CHILDS happiness. If you hate the gym but your Daughter loves it, what is going to be best for your child and your morals?

I admire you for sticking it out through the season, to often we teach our kids it is ok to quit because we are unhappy. Teaching your child about commitment and not quitting is a lesson I think more parents need to be teaching their kids. But do you want to teach your child that sueing is the solution to unhappiness with a business?

Thank you for your post, it has made me stop and re-read my contracts to make sure I am following all my own rules!!!

I hope I didn't offend anyone, just playing the devils advocate