A lot has been written lately in the various health club industry publications addressing children’s programming and youth exercise. Children today are in terrible physical condition, as are most Americans. There is no doubt that the physical education departments of our public school systems are not able to counteract the sedentary lifestyle of our television watching, internet surfing, game boy playing kids. Couple this with the nutritional value of McDonalds, Taco Bell, and Burger King and the result is obvious; a bunch of fat, lazy kids.
Who better than club owners to champion the cause of rescuing the younger generation from the humiliation of not being able to fit into a coach seat on an airplane? After all, don’t we already have the equipment, personal trainers, and group exercise instructors necessary to accomplish the task of transforming the bodies of these kids into healthy and productive members of our society? Can we also see a potential for additional revenue for the club?
Although we all recognize the opportunity, the reality is that very few health and fitness clubs can address the needs of our adolescents and teenagers. The club may not have the space to accommodate a youth programming area and/or they may not have the resources to hire a trainer(s) to facilitate kids programming. I’m not saying that it is difficult to develop a successful program for minors, but club owners need to be aware of the obstacles before they choose to allow kids in the club.
Staffing is an on going problem in our industry. It is hard enough finding a good morning person let alone a staff member who can develop specific programming for minors and make it profitable. Some owners have made the decision that, although they do not have specific children’s programming in their club, they allow kids to work out in their facility as long as their parents are with them. Some owners may also open their doors to the local high school and allow the kids to work out after school. On the surface, these decisions appear to be a proactive approach designed to increase revenue and fill a need to help our younger generation get in shape. The reality is that minors who are allowed to work out with their parents or come in on their own are unlikely to achieve the fitness results they want and more importantly, can create increased liability on the part of the club. Here are some typical examples of what happens at a club. 1) A member approaches you or your manager and explains that they would like to bring in their 14-year-old son to work out. 2) A member’s 16 year old high school student would like to work out after school with a couple of his buddies. 3) One the members in your women’s only club requests that they bring along their overweight 11-year-old daughter to work out with the circuit. How did you respond to these three issues?
Again, all three scenarios appear to be innocent enough, but let’s talk about the ramifications of these scenarios. 1) Once you allow one member to bring their kid to work out, you have opened Pandora’s box. Soon other members will assume that it is O.K. for them to bring in their kid. How many kids do you allow per parent? What is the minimum age you will allow? How did you come up with that age limitation? 2) High School kids, and let’s face it, we are talking about hormonally handicapped boys, rarely work out as individuals. Teenage boys tend to work out in “clumps” of three to four. They wear funny looking clothes, wander around your gym staring at your female members, grunt and groan like they haven’t had a bowel movement since last Christmas, and generally upset the rest of your members. Although they were given an orientation on proper exercise technique, they totally ignore proper form, stick the pin in the bottom of the weight stack and slam your weights. They often pay less than a regular membership (what’s that about?), beat up your equipment and will never support your profit centers. 3) The overweight 11 year old daughter is a tough call. We want to be able to help her out but allowing her to come in is likely to make the rest of your members uncomfortable.
Having minors in your club can increase your liability exposure. A minor (anyone under the age of 18) can not sign a waiver. Even if the parent signs a waiver, the child still has their own rights and can sue you once they become an adult. Bottom line, if a child is injured in your club, the insurance company will end up writing the check. The club owner may also end up writing a check for punitive damages when the court decides that the club owner’s decision to allow a 12-year-old to work out on a hack squat machine with no supervision was grossly negligent. Punitive damages are not covered by your general liability insurance.
The best and safest solution to address the needs of minors is to have specific facilitated programming. One of the best package programs I have seen over the last ten years is the Parisi Speed School. Parisi not only provides a safe environment for kids to get into shape, but the programming provides real results. Probably the best part of all, it can make the club a ton of money. Parents will spend hundreds of dollars on their kids to help make them better athletes or just to keep them off the couch. The bottom line is that programming for minors is one of the best profit centers a club can have.
The insurance industry, for the most part, has no problem with clubs that provide exercise programming for minors. They do, however, have a problem with minors who are allowed to roam freely in the club and work out on their own. It is not only dangerous, but as a 54-year-old-trying-to-get-in-shape insurance broker, the last thing I want to see when I go to my club to work out is a bunch of kids disrupting my “space”. I may not tell the club owner that I disapprove of his decision to allow kids in the club, but I guarantee I will not be renewing my membership.
So let’s do the right thing for our younger generations. Get these kids into the gym and create an environment that will guarantee results for both the child and the club.
