tumbling, tramp, diving, acrobatics, circus, cheer, dance, martial arts, X sports … and more
Click PLAY or watch Buttercup on YouTube.
In a recent Q&A session Gretchen Kerr, vice-dean of academic affairs at the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Kinesiology and Physical Education talks about her role as a volunteer athlete welfare officer with Gymnastics Canada and her views regarding emotional abuse.
As a psychologist Kerr’s field of expertise is the emotional abuse of athletes which she is using to advocate policy change and influence coach education. …
There is a fine line between pushing an athlete to be their best and maltreatment. That line is crossed when the athlete performs through fear and intimidation rather than their desire to achieve.
In their paper Stirling and Kerr (2008) report that emotional abuse takes the form of physical behaviours, verbal behaviours and the denial of attention and support – bullying, berating, humiliating, degrading and intimidating/threatening are all forms of emotional abuse. …
read more on Warriors In Leotards
Emotional abuse has been little documented compared against sexual abuse.
There’s a bit of a storm over on The Twitter.
In the latest GymCastic audiocast Spencer and Jessica were discussing whether or not it’s a good idea to coach in a skirt.
Potential #WardrobeMalfunction.
Consensus is that it’s better not to wear a skirt while coaching. Just in case. Jury is out on whether or not skirts are stupid, in general. 😀
Don’t get them started on high heels while coaching.
This message is slowly getting through to mainstream sports media.
But I did see a few during Commonwealth Games coverage. ☹️
Heart this tweet.
Chalk It Up Buttercup is the YouTube channel of 8-year-old Buttercup.
In this excellent video Buttercup and her coaches talk about keeping gymnasts safe, especially on appropriate and inappropriate touching.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
This is the video I’ll be showing to kids. It’s relatable and balanced. #BurnItAllDown types seem to want to ban all spotting. That’s dangerous, of course.
(via Aimee B)
For the first time the Commonwealth Games will achieve gender equality in the number of medals awarded at the Gold Coast, so sports officials have now turned their attention to a glaring imbalance between men and women in the coaching ranks …
At the previous Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, just 10 per cent of the Australian coaches were female …
The AIS and Commonwealth Games Australia are collaborating on a program designed to accelerate the development of eight female high-performance coaches, by bringing them to the Games for mentoring and education. …
We all need to encourage girls and women to coach all apparatus.
USA Gymnastics reached in December 2016 a confidential out-of-court settlement with an NDA with Olympic champion McKayla Maroney.
But were there others?
We’d believed McKayla was the only one.
After Scott Reid turned up two more cases, here’s the response:
“USA Gymnastics answered specifically and truthfully in its response to Senators Blumenthal and Moran.
USA Gymnastics does not use or require a non-disclosure agreement as part of an investigation.
The Senators asked about investigations, not settlements. To clarify the facts, approximately 10 years ago, mutual settlements were separately reached in two publicly filed lawsuits. As you recited, the settlement agreements included routine language that the plaintiffs would not disclose the amount of the settlement or the terms of the agreement beyond family, accountants and taxing authorities.
The plaintiffs in these cases are not bound by any other confidentiality restrictions, and their allegations have always been a matter of public record. USA Gymnastics encourages them to speak about their experiences if they so choose to help prevent abuse in the sport. …
USA Gymnastics denies using non-disclosure agreements, but two settlements say otherwise
Thanks Jim.
The United States Center for Safe Sport opened on March 3, 2017. …
In its first year, the center banned 122 people, temporarily suspended 60 and delivered 10 sanctions short of ineligibility. …
The Center for Safe Sport has nine full-time employees and several investigators that work on contracts. Pfohl hopes to double the organization’s workforce this year and increase its budget from its current $4.3 million to about $8 million. …
Safe Sport also receives funding from the private sector and is hoping to work with Congress to identify additional funding sources. …
… organization is not just about investigations and punishment. It wants to improve awareness and education to prevent not only sexual abuse, but bullying, harassment, hazing and physical and emotional abuse.
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Do you allow one-on-one private lessons at your Gym?
Better would be two or more gymnasts with one coach for a private. In a Gym with many other adults.
Gymnastics Coaching.com 