Gymnastics Canada McLaren Report – my review

By site editor Rick McCharles

• 974 individuals completed surveys
• 58 personal interviews were conducted
• More than 83% of gymnasts who were surveyed indicated their overall gymnastics experience as either “Extremely Positive” or “Somewhat Positive”. For me, over 50 years a member, it’s been extremely positive as gymnast, coach, and judge.
• 7% of gymnasts who reported their overall gymnastics experience as either “Extremely Negative” or “Somewhat Negative“
• Amongst competitive disciplines, WAG is described as being the most negative and subject to abuse

I did the survey and was one of the coaches interviewed. I immediately called out my interviewers asking if they considered themselves independent, as the Report was being funded by Gymnastics Canada.

Of course they were ready for that question. I came away convinced that Gymnastics Canada had no influence in their findings. For example, Mclaren did a similar report for Canada Soccer, paid for by Canada Soccer, and the report was damning.

IF GymCan had not contracted McLaren, right now we’d have NO report at all on how Gymnastics can be made safer for all athletes.

In fact, McLaren is more a ‘road map‘ laying out the issues as reported by stakeholders, and making recommendations as to ACTION steps. But not setting out targets as did the Daniels Report for USA Gymnastics.

It’s very lengthy (277 pages). Dense reading without any final summing up. I searched for the word “recommendation” in my PDF and there are many hits.

A total of 46 recommendations are made in 13 categories. It’s up to Sports Canada, GymCan and the Provincial organizations to follow-up with ACTION.

Here’s my own summary of key points with notes:

• single individual (Canadian lawyer) be appointed to lead an independent multi-disciplinary team referred to collectively as the Culture Review Leadership Team (‘CRLT’) of about 10 people
• Gymnastics Canada Athletes Commission nominate one male and one female member of the Commission to be included on the CRLT
• dedicated section on the GymCan website communicate the Gymnastics Culture Review.
• Improve communication

I should note that GymCan has historically had terrible communication procedures. Over the years I’ve complained that Canada is worst of all major Gymnastics nations in communicating their stories.

• Final report should be posted on the website including a summary of key recommendations. With progress targets.
• Safe Sport resources, tools, and clearly defined reporting procedures on the Gymnastics Culture Review website. Right now that is confusing.

Firstly — when do I phone the police? And, if not, what’s the procedure for making a complaint?

• WAG and RG are the disciplines that have had the most number, and most serious, complaints. These disciplines require special focus. But policies should apply to all disciplines, all 222,000 participants, including recreational athletes.
• All gymnastics clubs in Canada should be contacted for a dialogue on safety and ethics. Some of those Gyms should have personal visits on behalf of the CRLT.
• Many individuals expressed concerns about the lack of alignment and effectiveness between local, provincial and national governance. Very true. Therefore new policies and procedures should be fixed by federal law or Gymnastics Canada.
• at every level, transparency and communication is essential
• we don’t have to reinvent the wheel. Other sport organizations are ahead of Gymnastics in this process. The Cromwell Report on Hockey Canada, for example, published October 2022.
• Gymnastics Canada’s organizational structure should be reviewed including roles, leadership, reporting relationships and employee performance management structures. Recall that USA Gymnastics replaced almost everyone as part of their reinvention.
• I’ve heard many American coaches state that the 2017 Daniels Report did results in positive changes to USA Gymnastics.
• And I was in the audience recently when Becky Downie and Danusia Francis both spoke positively about the changes made from the Whyte Review in Great Britain. Both had not been well treated by the system.
• Is there a ‘win at all costs’ approach within high-performance? Does Own The Podium result in abuse to high performance athlete?

I hope not. For me as a coach it’s the Michael Jordan effect. When Jordan became a huge star, tens of thousands of basketball hoops were installed worldwide. More kids got more active. Healthier societies.

I’m hoping one Ellie Black, one Kyle Shewfelt, one Rosie MacLennan, does the same for Canadian kids.

• British Gymnastics (Whyte Review) was deliberate in ensuring that recommendations were realistic and actionable versus “wide overarching recommendations.” McLaren feels 10 months is a reasonable time frame for GymCan to initiate many of these recommended changes. Other nations have taken 6 – 22 months.
• USA (Daniels Report) called for follow-up audits on implementation. These were completed at specific intervals and published on the USA Gymnastics website.
• Near the end of the report there are summaries of how other nations handled these same issues.

That’s it for now. I feel I’ve just scratched the surface of the McLaren recommendations. It’s well done. And I’m optimistic that changes will be made to make Gymnastics safer into the future — even if not every recommendation can be implemented.

Leave a comment on this post if you have questions or suggestions.

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Note. Gymnasts for Change Canada, a victim advocacy group, is calling for an Independent Review of GymCan Leadership + Sport Culture

Some in that group feel the McLaren Report should not be trusted as it was paid for by GymCan.

Personally, I’d most like to see a federal government multi-sport inquiry into how all athletes in Canada can more safely participate and compete.

Prime Minister Trudeau and Minister of Sport Pascale St-Onge have made statements sounding supportive, but have yet to do anything concrete other than refer the issue to 2 Standing Committees in the Canadian House of Commons; the Standing Committee on the Status of Women and the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage.

Best would be if changes could be put into federal law, compelling all National Sports Governing Bodies to comply.

The international Global Athlete organization supports Gymnasts for Change Canada.

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Check out the McLaren Report for yourself.