To expect kids gymnastics coaches to be qualified/adults

[Ireallywantadoughnut36]

I don't know if I'm over thinking it, but we've tried gymnastics for my 6 yr old at 3 different clubs now, and all the litllie/beginner classes (probably for kids up to aged 8) seem to be run by youngish teenagers. I know they have an adult on site who I'm sure is dbs checked and has first aid, so I'm sure she's safe (none of them allow watching but have a cafe area parents can wait in so I am there too and can watch through a window or on a screen). I do feel a bit ripped off though, and it seems only to be gymnastics who do this (I've never seen an unqualified teenager teaching swimming for example, and her dance teacher is an adult who runs the dance school, my sons karate and football coaches are also adults who have done coaching qualifications in their sports). The equipment at each club is always good too, so it's not as if they're run down/micky mouse places. She's enjoyed every class and loves cart wheeling round, but they're roughly £8-12 depending on the club and the instruction is always from one or two girls under 16, with no adult input. I strongly suspect the girls teaching her don't even get paid but probably get a discount on their own classes or are doing it for their personal development (I grew up riding, and it reminds me of hanging round the yard doing odd jobs for a ride but I'd never have been allowed to teach!) I might be wrong, maybe they are qualified in some way and paid fairly but they're definitely always under 16. They're sweet and enthusiastic but still actual children.

Am I just being grumpy and old, or would you expect a qualified adult teacher to be teaching your children?

I have two concerns 1. That it's unfair to the girls teaching and they're not being paid fairly whilst the club must be raking in about £100 for each class. 2. That she's not going to be learning properly and at best this will be a waste of money/not the best way to learn and at worst she might end up doing something unsafe or hurting herself (we are talking proper swinging on bars and balancing on high beams so it is risky, i saw her being taught a back bend today and i feel like that kind of thing does need a professional)
She wants to keep going but I'm just a bit unsure about the set up (equally, we've now run out of local gymnastic clubs to try and they all do this!) It's great young people have the chance to have an after school job but sole responsibility for ten under 10s doing a potentially dangerous sport seems a step too far?

I can't think of any other organisation that allows under-18s to be in charge of children unsupervised. (I remember running a youth holiday where the 17 year old lifesaver had to be supervised by an adult.)

Teens being trained up as assistants is a good thing. DD's swim-school used teen helpers, which was excellent - they'd have one teacher and one assistant for about 7 kids. I'm sure those teens would in time be capable of leading one of the classes (it was a small pool with two classes at a time) with an adult teacher leading the other.

However I would have thought that for gymnastics you need a good grounding in the physiology for real safety. It's not enough to have done it yourself - what applies to you may not apply to a child with hyper-mobility, for example.

Not just gymnastics IME - my teenage DD coaches netball, although there are adults around but not necessarily on the court she's on. My friend's teen DD coaches trampolining.