Sports are not the only thing in the life of a child. Other things can get in the way of sports practices.
Sports are not the only thing in the life of a child. Other things can get in the way of sports practices.
However, with missed practices comes less preparation for the competition. It would be unfair for a parent or athlete to get upset at an unsuccessful competition if the athlete missed time prior to the meet. The coaches are primed to put your athlete out there in the best possible position to be successful. 2 months preparation, then 2 out of 3 missed practices the week before the competition can negate a lot of the preparation. That is just a simple fact.
There is also the “team” aspect. A gymnast or a cheerleader may be heavily counted on by her teammates. Yes, gymnastics is an individual sport but we do add up the gymnastics score for a team score in the team competition. Missed practices could hurt a gymnastics team.
Cheerleading? How on earth can a cheer coach get a “squad” ready when some are missing practices? Lots of pressure to get a “prepared” group of young cheerleaders out on the floor ready to work together in a competition.
I could go on and on but the bottom line is that we need to work together for the benefit of the kids. We need the parents working hard to get their kids to most if not all of the practices, especially right before a competition. We also need to have the coaches understand that there is life outside of the gym for these kids. (P.S. For the coaches, please do not take it out on the athlete when they miss practice. Discuss the situation with the parent.)
We all just need to be reasonable here, for the sake of these wonderful young athletes. Tom Burgdorf and Gymnet Sports on Facebook
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