Comments on: Jana Bieger testifies for coach

By: Geoffrey Taucer

Geoffrey Taucer — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 16:34:34 +0000

Like I said, it sucks. It’s not fair. But when we have to weigh fairness for the coaches against safety of the kids, safety of the kids takes priority.

I am not condoning throwing him in jail without proof, or anything like that; as I said, I think that innocent until proven guilty is exactly how the legal system should work. Better to allow a guilty man to remain unpunished than to punish an innocent man.

But with hiring/firing decisions, I believe the opposite is true. It is better to force an innocent coach to find another line of work than it is to allow a guilty one to continue coaching.

It sucks. It isn’t fair. But the kids safety takes priority over fairness.

By: tellthetruth

tellthetruth — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 17:21:04 +0000

If someone is truly guilty of a crime of this nature, they should be severly punished but it’s sad when they are falsly accused. It’s unfortunate that this has occured as anyone who goes to the gym knows he is innocent. The mother has made accusations like this before about other people, but never went to the police. Shortly before she filed these charges she sent and e-mail accusing another coach from another gym of the same thing only she did not go to the police about him. It is unfortunate for any man, that anyone can so easily accuse them of something and ruin their life. Regarding his past charges one was proven bogus and was dropped and another one was not the same and he could not afford legal cousel so he pled to battery per advise from public defender. He was in his early 20′s at the time.

By: Auragym

Auragym — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 01:10:13 +0000

I have only one question: If just a small accusation brings doubts strong enough to remove a coach from gymnastics completely, do you all realize how easy is for an upset/angry parent to take revenge over a coach? And that coach is doomed forever?
Where is the fairness in this? Will this fear of ending in this situation will make the coaches be more careless with the kids ( I better let her fall than being accused of touching her) therefore the quality of coaching will suffer?
Just wondering…

By: anon

anon — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 15:25:42 +0000

The sport is littered with horror stories like Paul O’Neil, Steve Elliott and Jon Valdez, just to name. I know plenty of male coaches who won’t even stretch or massage their gymnasts, male or female, for fear of it looking bad.

I even heard one parent of a successful male gymnast excuse their choice of coach, someone who had been accused of (and arrested for, in at least two occasions) nasty things in multiple gyms, across multiple states (the same nasty thing with different girls), saying “well, even if it’s true, it wasn’t boys,” as an excuse for continuing to allow their 15-year-old to train with this guy.

By: anon

anon — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 15:19:11 +0000

By “like the Catholic church” I meant that predators are simply moved into new environments again and again, instead of being removed from the sport/priesthood. Take offense if you’d like, but it’s a well documented fact (and admitted by the Church itself) that, that is how the Church (capital “C” for Catholic) handled such incidents for decades, and probably longer.

Of course, it is only a small, very small, percentage of priests who engaged in this behavior and it’s also a very, very small percentage of gymnastics coaches too, but that doesn’t make it either OK or irrelevant.

I don’t think the guy should be lynched, jailed or castrated for his actions, but as long as there’s even the hint of a rumor this person should NOT be working with kids. Period. As someone else stated “innocent until proven guilty” is a legal standard, not a job mandate.

Oh and, if, as a coach, you’re worried about the perception of where your hands go when spotting, that’s a good thing and means you’re a normal, concerned person. It’s those that relish those “oops” (and not so accidental) touches that are the real issue.

By: ugly leotards

ugly leotards — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 18:29:35 +0000

Good grief.

By: alexandrite105

alexandrite105 — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 18:26:23 +0000

People have blown the issue of priests doing unpriestly things way out of proportion. The very fact that we hear anything about it in the news shows that it is out of the ordinary and very rare. The vast, vast majority of priests are great men who stay true to their vows and faith. This over generalization is unfair to nearly all priests and the Church in general.

Let’s put this talk behind us and get back to focusing solely on the story at hand, of which I have already stated what I hope and feel should happen.

By: Dana

Dana — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 15:55:19 +0000

Some excellent commentary indeed. And I am all for innocent until proven guilty, but in the meantime, children MUST be protected. Alexandrite, I too was raised Catholic, and this doesn’t offend me in the LEAST. It is a fair comparison and one which the Catholic church has earned in spades. The news is filled with it. Lighten and accept the sad truth about the church. Let’s not let gymnastics become so easily associated with pedophilia as the Catholic church has. Take action now, these people have no place in our sport and on our planet.

By: TGCoach

TGCoach — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 14:25:45 +0000

Finally got him. This guy worked in many Gyms in which he demonstrated very questionable behavior. Im surprised it took this long. I do not think he is a child molester, but i do think he has some mental issues with acceptance, relationships and kids.

By: alexandrite105

alexandrite105 — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 13:51:43 +0000

sherymag and anon, if what you mean is this guys happens to be Catholic, then fine. If, however, you are making comments about some accusations against priests completely unrelated to this story, then it needs to stop because it is completely inaccurate and uncalled for.

As for this particular coach, I hope his name is cleared if he is innocent and I hope the proper steps are taken if he is guilty.