006: Track Progress, Not Just Policies

You know those moments when a parent's question reveals a much deeper problem?

This week, a facility leader asked if a child could attend the upcoming Move-Up Meet “just to participate,” even though she wasn’t due to level up. The ask from my team was to change the move-up meet policy. 

At first glance, it seemed like a small, sweet request.But when we zoomed out, we realized:

The Real Problem Wasn't the Meet. It was why the child hadn’t been invited in the first place.

So, we dug deeper...and here’s what we found...

Layer 1: Progress Wasn’t Being Tracked We asked the question, “Why isn’t she moving up?” Is it a coaching issue? Or curriculum issue? The answer from the team was that the curriculum is getting updated soon, so some of them stopped tracking progress. Whoops. 

No tracking = no evidence of progress = no invitation to move up.

Layer 2: Curriculum Bottlenecks Leaders knew the curriculum needed updates to help kids progress more consistently.

Meetings to address this were scheduled… but got pushed back. Twice. While the meetings were delayed, progress in the gym was, too. (I think you may have read another email about moving meetings - lol. Welp, progress over perfection, always. Just because I’m writing these emails doesn’t mean we’re always firing on all cylinders.)

The Lesson: The team tried to change the Move-Up Meet policy to accommodate the child…But what the parent was really asking was: “Why isn’t my kid progressing?”

The Fix:

• Audit the System: We checked the tracking data for the student.

• Short-Term Curriculum Adjustments: Instead of waiting for perfect fixes, we empowered coaches to make practical tweaks so progress could still be celebrated. 

• Coach the Coaches: We reminded team leads that surface-level complaints often have deeper roots. Look for the signal in the noise. 
  

Additionally - we’re making sure that the coaches have the training they need. Even if it’s just a few 10 min “seshes” with a lead / master coach to give them some tips to avoid delays in a reasonable progression track. 

Try This at Your Gym:

• Are your coaches logging progress consistently?

• Are you giving them tools to adapt the curriculum when kids get “stuck”? Is there communication around this? 

• Are you solving the root problem, or just patching symptoms?

Our systems are only as strong as our follow-through. Delays in improvement can stall the experience for everyone, especially the kids.

Let's keep putting in the work. 💪

Cheering you on, Casey & The NinjaZone Team

P.S. When a parent is this invested, it means your program matters. Let’s not waste the opportunity to make it even stronger. 🎯Real Talk - Sometimes, fixing the problem means actually fixing the problem, not bending rules to keep people happy.

It’s tempting to smooth things over with a quick yes… but the real win comes from tightening the systems so the yes is earned.

Progress tracking isn’t flashy, but it is foundational.

And just like a cartwheel, if the form breaks down, the whole thing wobbles.