‘Major safety concern’: Waikato gyms tell minors to lie about age

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Jetts NZ website states that you must be at least 14 years old to become a member and show proof of age when you sign up.

Access is limited to “business hours only”, it added. You must be over 16 years of age to access each gym 24/7.

“[This is a] A major safety issue for these teenagers… Bench pressing heavy weights without a spotter could easily lead to death or serious injury,” the mother said.

“There is the concern that children can potentially injure themselves on equipment when they are not with 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 very dangerous.”

Both gyms are staffed from 12:00-14:30 and 15:00-18:00 Monday to Thursday. They are unmanned on Friday and Sunday and manned from 8:00-11:00 on Saturdays.

The Herald approached both gyms to comment on the allegations and while Jetts Te Awamutu denied any knowledge of this happening, Jetts manager Hamilton told The Base; “I’m actually taking responsibility for it and trying to fix my mistakes.”

The manager did not give a reason for giving minors to lie about their age and would not comment further.

In a statement to HeraldJetts NZ said it had been “alert to an incident” allowing members access to facilities 24 hours a day, which was “not in line with our internal policies and procedures”.

“The Jetts NZ team is committed to maintaining the highest standards and an investigation has been launched to ensure we continue to achieve these goals going forward,” the statement said.

Jetts would not comment on the individual employees involved.

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

“They only tried to reach out after I said I had contacted them.” Herald and then I thought, “Change it, I’m not giving you time now when I clearly mentioned it before several times”.

She took to Facebook to express her concerns as another mother said her family had experienced the same thing.

“We experienced this with one of our kids. They were told to lie about their age. After looking it up, the terms and conditions also say that a parent must accompany them when signing a contract if a minor.

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

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

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