Need help approaching a conversation with my coach about a certain training partner

Advice Wanted

Hi all, as the title says, need some help with how to approach a conversation. So for reference I am one of the only females at my gym, and am often the only one at classes. Sometimes my coach will move partners around so I am with someone smaller, which I normally don’t mind, as most people in the gym are great training partners.

However, there’s this one kid who’s maybe 15, and I can’t stand training with him. I honestly don’t think he’s ever washed his gi it smells so bad, and is usually covered in dog hair. It’s so terrible I’ll literally try to run faster in the warmups just to try to create some distance between us because the smell genuinely makes me so nauseous and gives me a headache half the time. He’s a white belt, but at this point he’s basically self promoted himself to yellow lol. I know my coach is pairing us up because of our size, and I also feel bad when guys have to go with me because I can’t tell if it annoys them having to be with the only girl.

I guess that’s a long winded way of asking if there’s a way I can approach this conversation with my coach and ask to either not be paired with him or at least explain the issue without sounding high maintenance. I’ve tried to just deal with it but today I wasn’t able to stay for sparring because the smell made me feel so ill.

Posted Feb 25, 2026, 5:32 AM UTC

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