‘Major safety concerns’: Waikato gyms tell minors to lie about ages

The all-access pass allows members to access the gym 24/7. But they must be 16 to be eligible.

The mother told her son never to bench press without a spotter and not to use big weights when staff were not in attendance in case something went wrong.

“A lot of people wouldn’t have the foresight to tell their children that,” she said.

She later heard more of her son’s friends were also instructed to lie about their ages at the same gym.

Subsequently, the teen’s mother recently signed up at another Jetts Fitness franchise in Hamilton, namely Jetts Hamilton The Base, and mentioned to the receptionist what had happened with her son at Jetts Te Awamutu.

“I said this to her last week and she told me, ‘Oh, yeah we do it all the time, too’.”

The Jetts NZ website states you must be at least 14 to become a member, and show proof of age when signing up.

Access is limited to ‘during staff hours only’, it continues. You must be over the age of 16 to access each gym 24/7.

“[This is a] major safety concern for these adolescents… Bench pressing heavy weights without spotters could easily result in death or severe injuries,” the mother said.

“It’s the concerns about children potentially hurting themselves on equipment when they don’t have parents or other adults in the gym at the time.

“If some of these 14-year-olds with egos think they can lift more than they can, it can be quite dangerous.”

Both gyms are staffed from 12pm-2.30pm and 3pm-6pm Monday to Thursday. They are unstaffed on Friday and Sunday and staffed from 8am-11am on Saturday.

The Herald approached both gyms for comment on the allegations and while Jetts Te Awamutu denied any knowledge of this happening, the manager of Jetts Hamilton The Base said; “I’m actually in the works of taking accountability for that and trying to fix my mistake”.

The manager did not offer a reason for instructing minors to lie about their ages and did not wish to comment further.

In a statement to the Herald, Jetts NZ said they had been “made aware of an incident” that allowed a member access to 24/7 facilities, which was “not in line with our internal policies and procedures”.

“The Jetts NZ team prides itself on upholding the highest standards and an investigation has been launched to ensure we continue to meet those goals moving forward,” the statement read.

Jetts did not wish to comment on the individual employees involved.

The mother said she raised her concerns with Jetts, but there was no real interest or acknowledgment until she said she had contacted the Herald.

“They only tried reaching out after I said I contacted the Herald and then I thought, ‘Stuff this, I’m not giving you my time now when I clearly mentioned it prior on a couple of occasions’.”

She went to Facebook to express her concerns, where another mother said her family had experienced the same thing.

“We experienced this with one of our kids. Was told to lie about their age. After looking into it, the terms and conditions also state that a parent must accompany them during contract sign-up if underage.

“But I know of several that were told to lie, so no need to be accompanied by a parent. They are then signing them up to pay for one-year minimum contracts. Not impressed,” the comment read.

Benjamin Plummer is an Auckland-based reporter who covers breaking news. He has worked for the Herald since 2022.

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