My Right To Replace

Recently, I was told, "Hillari, you can't prevent people from signing up for the boxing class."  Excuse me?

I don't deny people the opportunity to sign up for the class.  Have I come across youths and adults who I knew from the jump weren't going to be a good fit for the class?  Many times.  But I allowed them to register knowing that they probably would not finish the session nor sign up for the class again.  Most mess themselves out of it when they don't keep up with registration dates nor the days and times the class meets and wait too long to get online or show up in person.  That is especially true of those who were in the class during a previous session.  Once the class reaches capacity, I'm not going to make room, regardless of the fact that I have Sahia (and soon, hopefully, Mikaela and Noel) as an official volunteer.  Every youth and adult signed up for the class is entitled to equal attention.  That can't be done if the class is overcrowded.

Miss Hillari does have the right, however, to eject people from the class.  The rules of the gym are posted all over the walls.  People can't break one or more of the rules and claim, "I didn't know," because I've already told them from day one that I'm holding everyone responsible for knowing the rules.  The main things that will gain people a one-way ticket out of my gym are:

1.  Behavior/discipline problems.  There was a saying when I was a kid.  Adults would say of kids who displayed no manners anywhere, "Those kids have no home training."  I've had more than a few who fell under that category.  Yeah, there may be situations going on at home or at school.  But I keep pointing out that I'm not a social worker, a psychologist, nor a psychiatrist.  I may have some concern about what is going on in people's lives outside of the gym.  But it is not my place nor in my area of expertise to get that deep into any one's personal situations.  I can't have one or more youths or adults' issues disrupting me running the gym nor upsetting the other participants.

2.  Non-attendance.  This does not affect the adults.  If they don't show up to class, the penalty is the money they paid is lost.  It does bother me when I come across youths who would really like to take the class, but my attendance list is filled with names of those who haven't been in the gym for days and weeks.  If youths don't show up for ten days -- two weeks -- and I don't receive a valid reason why that's happening, they're gone.  Ninety-five percent of my time needs to spent coaching, not calling homes every day asking, "Where are y'all at?"  It is usually easy for me to replace people with those who don't show up, and I do.

3.  A clear case of non-interest in the sport.  This sometimes is tied in with the behavior/discipline and attendance issues.  It's just as much of a chore for me to try to teach people who could care less about the sweet science as it is for people with that attitude to be a part of the class.  If a youth is involved, I will strongly suggest to the parents/guardians that they register them for another activity.  If an adult participant is involved, well. . .they won't be able to get a refund.  But I will suggest they investigate thoroughly whether or not an activity suits them before they lay out money the next time.