My search for a gym to teach at (Long)

[Guest guest]

Well, I went out today to look for a gym to teach Tae-Bo at. Let's

just say it was kind of a frustrating experience!

First, I talked to the Y this morning after I had worked out. I told

the girl that I was certified to teach Tae-Bo and that I was

wondering if they would be interested in offering Tae-Bo. She looked

at me and said " Well, we already offer the same thing, we just call

it 'Aero-Box'. " Then, she said, " But, I might be able to use you as

a sub " . I asked her what their certification requirements were and

she said she'd get that info together for me (I think the Y has their

own certification program) and give it to me the next time she saw me

(I see her all the time when I'm in there working out). My first

thought (and this is horrible...LOL) was " Great, I've taken the aero-

box class here and it's pretty bad, so let me sub for it and I'll

show them what Tae-Bo is and they'll see what they've been missing

and they'll be begging for me to teach! " ...LOL!

Then, I went to this Sportsplex place over near Vanderbilt

University. Bob's dad knows the lady who is the Aerobics Coordinator

there and he had called her on Saturday for me and I talked to her a

little bit about it on the phone. They require their instructors to

be AFAA, ACE or YMCA Certified, and she told me they were having an

AFAA Certification at their facility on March 11th and that I could

come in on Monday to get the info. So, I went in and told the guy at

the front desk that I was certified to teach Tae-Bo. He was

like " Oh, yeah...but we'd have to call it something else, right? " and

I was like " No, I'm really certified to teach Tae-Bo...I trained with

Blanks and you can use the name " . I mentioned how

(she's the lady I had talked to on the phone) had said that I would

have to get certified through AFAA, since the Tae-Bo Certification

isn't recognized by any of those organizations, etc. He took me to

meet and said to her " If she can teach Tae-Bo and we can call

it Tae-Bo, we might be able to make an exception to the Certification

requirement " meaning they could hire me with the understanding that I

get certified (but I'd be able to teach before March 11th)....I think

he must have been the Program Director or something. She was kind of

like " I don't know about that....I'll talk to you about that later " .

It was my impression that she was kind of by the books...LOL! Anyway,

as we were walking back to her desk so she could give me the AFAA

registration form we were kind of talking about my certification and

she said " Well, I wouldn't call it Tae-Bo " and I was like " Yes, you

CAN call it Tae-Bo...you're allowed " and she was like " Well, I still

probably wouldn't call it Tae-Bo " and I was like " But I paid $1,000

so you COULD call it Tae-Bo " ! She didn't really say much to

that...LOL! I don't know what she was thinking or why she wouldn't

want to call it Tae-Bo, but I ain't gonna teach something

called " Cardio Kickboxing " ...LOL! Maybe she was just hesitant

because they haven't been allowed to use that name without getting in

trouble...I don't know!

Then, and this is the one that pissed me off the most...LOL..I went

to Gold's Gym. I figured Gold's Gym would jump on the chance to offer

Tae-Bo because they're more into the name thing...like they offer

Body Pump and Spinning...all things that you have to pay a licensing

fee for. Well, I walked in and there was a guy at the front desk. I

said " I'm certified to teach Tae-Bo and was wondering if there was

someone I could talk to about the possibility of teaching here " . He

looked at me and said " We already offer Cardio Kickboxing cause we're

not gonna pay that guy money " . I almost turned around and walked

right out, but I said " Well, you don't have to pay a licensing fee

right now " and he called the Aerobics Coordinator up the the front

desk. She was a lot nicer.....LOL...and she took my name and info and

said she would contact me.

Soooooo......I'm not really sure what's going to happen. I think I'm

going to go ahead and take the AFAA certification because it will be

a good thing to have. But, it's another $300, which kind of stinks!

Then, I guess we'll see what they say! The cool thing is that the

Sportsplex place offers a boxercise class and a boxing class. The

boxercise class is offered at 6am on M, W, and F and the boxing class

is right after it. They both look pretty interesting and I think I'm

going to check them out. They also offer a kickbox class and I'll

probably check that out, just so I can see what kind of classes they

offer! It was just kind of a frustrating experience to have people

say " Oh, but we already offer cardio kickboxing, aero-box or

whatever " . I wanted to scream " But, that's not Tae-Bo " ....LOL! I

had just emailed the girl from Tae-Bo asking about the licensing fee

and she emailed me back telling me that the gym's don't have to pay a

licensing feee right now! I can't even imagine if there was a

licensing fee. None of these places would even consider it! Maybe

that's why there is none....maybe people were having a hard time

finding a place to teach!

Anyway, thanks for letting me vent...LOL! Hopefully, I'll be able to

find a place to teach at sometime soon