And yes, Heather, there are plenty of gyms in Canada and the US that are doing their duty in respecting their athletes and taking care of them by progressing the athlete at the athlete’s pace. I do feel that gymnastics can be done as safely as any other sport, but the nature of flipping provides the opportunity for more catastrophic injuries. I still believe that these types of injuries can be avoided if the goal of the coach is the benefit of the gymnast. We all know that not every child is going to be elite, and that the most important thing that they can get from the sport is the life lessons from training, but there still are too many coaches out there that coach to try and have their gymnast do something no one else can do. They are, at times, feeding their own egos at the expense of their gymnasts. I still feel, that even at the elite level, with coaches who respect their athletes, this does not have to happen. Unfortunately, Heather, your coaches didn’t respect you, and I am very sorry for that. It is always sad to me, to hear someone that missed out on the great things that happen in a truly remarkable sport, because she was coached by people who couldn’t care less about her true well-being. I am so sorry for you.

Just remember Heather that there are lots of coaches out there that do “get it”, and have the athletes’ best interest at heart. The kids in those gyms are happy and successful at their own pace, and are learning life lessons that I think most kids are not getting today. You will never have anything worhtwhile that doesn’t have its risks, but the great coach protects his athletes more than he worries about his own accolades and achievements. If your kids ever choose to do the sport, talk to other parents who have their kids in programs around your area, talk to the coaches in the gym, and don’t be afraid to present them with tough questions about your child’s safety. You can learn a lot just by doing that. After that, sit and watch your child’s class. You have much more experience than most parents do, so you will be able to tell fairly easily what is okay and what is not. Good luck.

Rick, would you be willing to share that warm-up? Or parts of it?

That is awful.

I’m coaching today and am very confident we could not train any more “safely”. I’m going to show the girls the photo of Taylor. Then do our “landing and falling safely” warm-up.

I’m quite convinced the kids are at greater risk of injury in school gym class. And in the car on the way to our club.

It’s safe.

I feel that competitive gymnast are the luckiest kids in our city. All of the clubs registered with Gymnastics Canada in town are safe. I’d take my own children to any of them.

I also remember things like- going to a meet and having my coach have me do tricks in the meet, by myself, that I had never done by myself- and wasn’t really even close to having. One beam routine for an example: I was 11- in the meet I did- a front flip mount off the spring board (missed the beam entirely), back handspring to two feet connected to another back handspring (got my hands on on the second back handspring but my feet landed completely off the beam), a standing back tuck (fell), a front walkover (OK), and a back handspring back tuck discount (have no idea how I survived- my head was dangerously close to the end of the beam). I did all of this my myself. A routine I was actually capable of by myself would have been more like- a jump on mount, a single back handspring, a standing back tuck, a front walkover, and a barani dismount.

I also remember doing pike tsuks in meet after meet and landing on my face!

I also remember having injuries and basically having the injury be ignored- which is not only very unhealthy, but also dangerous- risking further injury.

I don’t know if these things have changed now that it’s 20 years later- I can only hope so!

I have just recently started looking at some gymnastics blogs- this one included- and I was actually wanting to write to you, Rick- and ask- can gymnastics actually be done safely?? I see so many of your posts are about how to teach tricks safely- I didn’t even know that this type of coaching was out there. It’s encouraging, because I do love the sport. But at this point, based on my own experiences, I wouldn’t let me kids do it. Luckily, they’ve shown no interest so this hasn’t been a problem.

To me, the scariest thing about this though, is the knowledge that our sport is monumentally lucky that this doesn’t happen much more often. There are so many coaches out there who are over-zealous and having their kids try things that they are not physically prepared for. I AM NOT SAYING THAT THIS IS WHAT HAPPENED HERE, so please do not gripe at me about that. I wasn’t there and so I don’t know. What I do know is that this SHOULD be settled by a court, and that complaining about a lawsuit in our sport overlooks the fact that coaches must have accountability. It is a truly dangerous sport and accidents will happen, but they don’t have to happen at this magnitude, in my opinion. I refuse to believe that. If this can happen when everyone is doing their due diligence, then what hope is there of keeping kids safe? If, as stated above, she was attempting a toe-on double front, then I would suggest those coaches settle out of court or find the very best possible lawyer that they can. It would be nearly impossible to defend yourself against accusations if a gymnast was attempting something that no other gymnast (that I know of) has ever done. I hope that this is not the skill that she was doing.

The only thing that I can figure as far as why there aren’t more kids getting more seriously injured by insane coaches, is that these kids are protected by fear. Thank goodness for that warning system in the mind that makes kids balk or not do skills when coaches that couldn’t care less about their gymnasts’ well-being, ask them to do something that they have no business attempting.

COACHES—THESE ATHLETES PUT THEIR TRUST IN US, AND WE ARE FAILING THEM WHEN WE DO NOT STUDY, LEARN, FOLLOW SLOW AND PATIENT PROGRESSIONS, STRENGTHEN OUR ATHLETES PROPERLY, PLAN, AND DO EVERYTHING IN OUR POWER TO MAKE THE RIGHT DECISIONS FOR THEM!!! WE HAVE TO WAKE UP AND PROTECT THIS PRECIOUS GIFT OF TRUST THAT WE HAVE BEEN GIVEN. REMEMBER—JUST BECAUSE YOU HAVE NEVER SEEN SOMEONE INJURE THEMSELVES ON A CERTAIN THING OR YOU’VE SEEN 20 GYMNASTS DO SOMETHING SAFELY, DOESN’T MEAN THAT THE 21st ISN’T GOING TO GET HURT BADLY! IT IS OUR RESPONSIBILITY TO WEIGH ALL OF THE RISKS, AND BE TOTALLY, COMPLETELY, AND EVEN OVERLY SURE, BEFORE WE ASK OR DEMAND SOMETHING OF AN ATHLETE WHO ASSUMES THAT WE ARE LOOKING AFTER HER INTERESTS! IF WE DON’T LEARN SOMETHING FROM THIS TRAGEDY, IT IS A SENSELESS WASTE! PLEASE, FOR TAYLOR, AND EVERY OTHER GYMNAST WHO HAS GONE THROUGH THESE TYPES OF THINGS, DO RIGHT BY YOUR ATHLETES BY THINKING OF THEIR SAFETY AND EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THE “WHAT-IFs” FIRST!

What does she need media attention for?

I would assume to get these questions answered.
Are athletes like Taylor pushed too far to perform skills outside their scope? What safety measures are in place to prevent such disastrous accidents? Are these kids not “spotted” by coaches in case of a failed attempt? Could Taylor’s fall have been less damaging, cushioned by a foam pit instead of the regular mat? Who regularly checks on these things? Where is the public discussion on such matters so the public is aware of the dangers and athletic bodies don’t bury the consequences?