Face plants, or rather, Facebook

The text from John: "Sooo Jamie just messaged me on Facebook. Awkward? And no, I'm not friends with 11-year-old girls."

In late September, a debate on whether or not to friend one's athletes cropped up on Gymnastics Coaching. Originally, my stance was NO WAY.

But to my surprise, about half of the commenters wrote detailed justifications for friending the gymnasts, most mentioning how privacy settings can be adjusted so that the gymnast sees little to nothing of the coach's profile.

I still maintain a laissez-faire approach -- that is, hands off my profile, and my hands off yours.

And John decided it was best not to message Jamie back, nor friend her. He's an upstanding citizen, and he'd prefer not to end up in jail.

An acceptable midway? A communal fan page or group, where everyone can interact with the awareness that they're monitored. We have such a page for the gym and the girls post on occasion. I'm all for team pride -- and privacy outside of the gym.