This petition is written on behalf of nearly 200 families who are part of the Arlington Aerials and Arlington Tigers Gymnastics Teams to express concern about the decision to furlough more than half of Team's coaches on June 7, 2020.

Without these skilled coaches the competitive team programs cannot function safely or properly when it is deemed safe to resume activity.  Team coaches are unique from recreational coaches in that they have years of specialized USA Gymnastics training which provides them with in depth knowledge of competitive gymnastics and allows them to instruct athletes in a manner that is safe and appropriate to each athlete's abilities.  

If coaches with the proper training aren't in place when the gym is allowed to open it will be to the detriment of the entire program, not only the athletes.  There will simply not be enough coaches to handle both the recreational programs and the Aerials and Tigers team programs.  It would be a waste of taxpayer dollars to not maximize the use of the additional second gym the County recently invested in so heavily.

Parents of Aerials and Tigers team members are willing to resume paying mutually agreed upon fees in order to compensate our coaches appropriately and resume in person training in a modified format as soon as possible.  In the meantime, it's important for experienced coaches to continue to run Zoom workouts for athletes so they can stay in good physical condition.

In summary, we urge Arlington County to allow an immediate exemption to the furlough of the Aerials and Tigers gymnastics coaching staff so the competitive gymnastics program can continue to thrive while serving and representing the Arlington community.