Fustrated!!!!!! Very long!!!

[DianaB]

I know that I've mentioned that my daughter got on the cheer squad, but I haven't said anything else about what's been going on. She was put on the squad after another girl quit and we've been playing catch-up ever since. For one-I missed out on the first meeting with the parents and the coach, which I should add, is new. I missed out on filling out papers and receiving the rules.

On my daughter's first day the team got in trouble because the coach told the girls to run and someone grunted. The girl admitted that she had grunted but said that she heard another girl grunt too. The coach made them run two laps and said that it would double every day until the other girl confessed. On the day that they were to run 8 laps I told Jaci that if they ran I would be in to talk to the coach. They didn't run, but they were still in trouble. The coach didn't hear the girl and the girl said that she didn't do it. Anyway, I wasn't too happy over that, but I thought that maybe there were some problems that I didn't know about since I came into the picture late. It ended up that to finish the punishment the team had to run a WHOLE practice around the track!

There's been a lot of stuff going on and my daughter's ready to quit. She just isn't happy with the coach. The girls get along pretty good but the coach picks on every little thing! She's the troublemaker!! There's been so much more that I'm not going into.

My daughter was worried about going to cheer camp, but I told her that if there were any problems to just give me a call and I'd be up to get her as soon as I could. One morning Jaci had trouble getting her ponytail curled because her friends overslept and couldn't help her. Her punishment---1,000 jumps AND 1,000 stair laps!!!! (Jumps are cheerleader jumps and stair laps are laps ran up and down the stairs in the gym!) or she could work all day giving away hot dogs at a big business's picnic. Of course, she worked all day at the picnic. When it was over I had a talk to the coach and told her that I wasn't against punishment, but I was against unfair punishment. She told me that she didn't feel that it was unfair because the girls all knew about it (That wasn't true!). We talked awhile and I was very calm but let her know that I would be in to talk to her if my daughter had anymore unfair punishment.

Today my daughter had a meeting (at 5:30 in the morning) and was told that if parents were upset that they had to talk to the athletics director, not directly to the coach because that was the rule. I figured that in talking to the coach we could work things out without the athletics director. I'm so agravated over all of this. She's got several other moms upset too and she's told the girls that if we complain that the school will do away with the cheer program all together.

I don't want to stir up trouble but I DO want my daughter to not be afraid of the coach and be treated fairly. I know that this is long but I'm really not happy about this situation.

[Tink]

Diana, I agree the punishments sound extreme. I wouldn't be happy about it either!
I don't have any ideas for how to help the situation, but see it as typical of why I ended up homeschooling. I have no love for a lot of the BS that happens in the public school systems.
I'm sorry you're having to deal with this.
HUGS

[Janet]

Diana, you said the coach is new. Maybe she is trying to make a mark to secure her new position. Still, I think her punishments are very unfair. Why not make sure you get a copy of the rules, have a mothers meeting where someone can act as secretary and write down all of the concerns (and who voiced them.) Then at the minimum, two mothers go talk with the athletics director about those concerns.

The coach may have said that the school would do away with the program just to keep the girls and their mothers from complaining....she's trying to secure her job here also.

I sure wouldn't sit by and let her ruin what should be a fun learning experience for these girls. I personally would call her bluff and talk with the director.

[judy]

Originally Posted by Janet

Diana, you said the coach is new. Maybe she is trying to make a mark to secure her new position. Still, I think her punishments are very unfair. Why not make sure you get a copy of the rules, have a mothers meeting where someone can act as secretary and write down all of the concerns (and who voiced them.) Then at the minimum, two mothers go talk with the athletics director about those concerns.

The coach may have said that the school would do away with the program just to keep the girls and their mothers from complaining....she's trying to secure her job here also.

I sure wouldn't sit by and let her ruin what should be a fun learning experience for these girls. I personally would call her bluff and talk with the director.

That's a really good idea. Maybe she doesn't understand the power of parental concern.

As a teacher, no matter how annoying some parents could be, 99.5% of the time, I really appreciated those that gave a damn about their kids. These are the parents who you can form a team with to help their child in school.

[AngieDoogles]

I'm sorry you and your daughter are having to go through this Diana. I agree that the punishment definitely seems unfair and I think it's worth bringing up, to the coach or the athletic director or whoever will listen. Those girls don't deserve to be treated like that!

Good luck and I hope this situation improves!

[DianaB]

Thanks for all of your input. Right now the girls aren't practicing so I'm taking a "wait and see how things go" approach. I really don't want to be a troublemaker so I'm trying not to stir up trouble when there's not any. When the girls start practicing again we'll see how things go. I'm not afraid of talking to the principal or the activities director if the need arises.

I found some rules for being a good coach on the internet. I gave her a copy of them when we talked and I had highlighted several of the rules and told her that they were areas that she needed to improve in. Hopefully she'll work on them. We'll see!

If you had 10 girls on a team and 4-5 of the mothers came and talked to you about problems wouldn't you take notice?