Age Restricted: Toddlers on the Court at the College Gym

By: Mardline Prevot

Patiently waiting for GTA 6. 

The energy was building for the October 2nd basketball game. Players were setting up, focused on the routine and the coming win. It was then that a guest walked in, child in tow—a toddler, right in the thick of the pre-game hustle. My immediate thought was that a parent bringing a child onto the gymnasium floor right as the athletes are trying to focus and get into game-mode is a distraction, at best, and a potential hazard, at worst. But I held my tongue, reluctant to question a parent or disrupt the flow of event prep. I'm trying to graduate here, and the last thing I need is a workplace incident! My number one priority is ensuring a safe environment for physical education—no casualties in playing the sport!

However, the sheer lack of a visible policy prompted me to ask my supervisor about the age-limit protocols. The response pointed me to the YMCA as a comparison model, a common reference point for gym operational standards. A quick check confirmed my suspicions: facilities like the YMCA often have strict, tiered age ranges for gym access, with direct adult supervision required, and sometimes even a total ban for young children in active fitness areas for safety reasons. In the college setting, while it wasn't a YMCA, the core safety principle remains. When the environment shifts from spectator seating to the active floor during warm-ups—or really, any time there's high-speed movement—a child running around poses a serious risk to themselves and the players.

This isn't about being an inconvenience; it's about minimizing liability and ensuring the integrity of the game. A toddler weaving through players practicing three-pointers is a disaster waiting to happen. The atmosphere suddenly felt less like a college basketball warm-up and more like an unpredictable open-world scenario. We have to be better than that. Clearly defined and enforced age restrictions for access to the gym floor are crucial, especially when high-impact sports are involved. Safety and focus must come first, for the sake of the players, the staff, and especially the child.