Category: ethics

Gymnastics – optimal number of training hours

All coaches agree there’s never enough time to include everything they want in any training plan.

We need to set priorities.

And not waste time.

GAGE is one club I’d highlight as having very efficient training.

I’m hopeful that COVID-19 reset results in many Gyms reducing training hours.  Setting more modest, achievable goals.  Goals less performance / ranking based, more personal development.

Injuries reduce the number of effective training hours.  Fewer injuries over the career = more effective hours.

… but to answer the question, I’ve always admired Shawn Johnson’s plan.  She trained maximum 24 hours / week during High School with one training / day.  And became the best gymnast in the world.

If your goal is not to become one of the best gymnasts in the world, training hours should be fewer than 24 / week.

Aimee posted Simone’s hours on Twitter.

Keith Russell often talks about finding the best coach / hour. 

With less training time, less equipment, who’s the best coach?

Click over to Facebook to see Dave Tilley’s opinion.

National Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Children

Yes.  That’s a thing.

And they will be providing a free dedicated helpline that will support with concerns of abuse in British Gymnastics and other sports.

The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children has joined forces with the British Athletes Commission to provide free, confidential support and guidance to anyone involved with gymnastics who has safeguarding concerns …

British Athletes Commission members can continue raise concerns directly with the BAC Athlete Support team via support@britishathletes.org.

Details.

 

Gymnastics Club COVID-19 survey

Lynn Ledford conducted an informal survey of U.S. clubs.

Over 91% are currently open.

85% have not yet had staff test positive.

Click over to see results.

Dave Tilley on Athlete A

#GymnastAlliance

Dave is pissed at bad coaches. 

Quit coaching if you can’t do it safely. 

He points out there are many excellent, ethical, safe coaches too.  We don’t hear about them.

He calls for mandatory sport science coach education in the USA.  The States is the only major western nation where coach education is not required.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

new book – Women’s Artistic Gymnastics

 Socio-cultural Perspectives

Published April 22, 2020

Edited by Roslyn Kerr, Natalie Barker-Ruchti, Carly Stewart, and Gretchen Kerr.

This book lifts the lid on the high pressured, complex world of women’s artistic gymnastics. By adopting a socio-cultural lens incorporating historical, sociological and psychological perspectives, it takes the reader through the story and workings of women’s artistic gymnastics.

Beginning with its early history as a ‘feminine appropriate’ sport, the book follows the sport through its transition to a modern sports form. Including global cases and innovative narrative methods, it explores the way gymnasts have experienced its intense challenges, the complexities of the coach-athlete relationship, and how others involved in the sport, such as parents and medical personnel, have contributed to the reproduction of a highly demanding and potentially abusive sporting culture.

With the focus on a unique women’s sport, the book is an important read for researchers and students studying sport sociology, sport coaching, and physical education, but it is also a valuable resource for anyone interested in the development of sporting talent.

Routledge

9780367440015

It’s available through Amazon.com.

Professor Barker-Ruchti contends that coaches should plan for Gymnastics peak performance as adults, rather than trying to teach as much difficulty as possible when girls are small:

Gym is not child’s play: study

44% of campers test positive for COVID-19

Of 597 campers and staff at a YMCA sleep away camp in Georgia, 44% — 263 people — tested positive.

Of course games, singing and cheering together were encouraged, mostly without masks.

The camp followed disinfecting rules and required staff to wear masks, but campers did not have to wear face coverings.

Campers ranged in age from 6 to 19, and many of the staffers were teenagers. Cabins had between 16 to 26 people.

51% of positive cases were in 6-to-10-year-olds.

Staff at the camp had all tested negative in the previous 12 days.

related – YMCA says they regret opening summer camp where COVID-19 infections occurred

following the #GymnastAlliance allegations

If you are having trouble keeping up with the ongoing series of gymnasts brave enough to come forward with incidents of past abuse, catch up on the GymCastic podcast.

432: #GymnastAlliance

434: Svetlana Khorcanceled

Svetlana Khorkina was a fantastic gymnast. But she’s clearly an egomaniac with no empathy. Literally the last person in the Gymnastics world who should be commenting on safety and ethics.

Dutch team enjoys a ‘healthy sports climate’?

UPDATE

The Dutch Federation has taken allegations very seriously.  And especially the admissions of Gerrit Beltman, now coaching in Singapore. 

Last week, the KNGU announced an independent investigation into all Gym Sports.  And urged athletes to report abuses to the Center for Safe Sports in the Netherlands. 

And now they’ve stopped the coaches of the current National Team from working with those athletes while the investigation is underway.  Gymnasts can still train, but not with their personal coaches. 

‘The stories are coming from all sides,’ KNGU chairwoman Monique Kempff told a news conference. ‘And if you want to make a cultural shift, you cannot take half measures.’

Read more at DutchNews.nl

___ original post from July 28, 2020 below:

Good news.  Things have changed for the better.

The current Team Netherlands supports their coaching system.

The statement can be read on the Instagram pages of Sanne Wevers, Lieke Wevers, Eythora Thorsdottir, Vera van Pol, Laura de Witt, Tisha Volleman, Sara van Disseldorp, Naomi Visser, Kirsten Polderman and Sanna Veerman. Céline van Gerner, who stopped last August, also shared the statement. …

“The past period has been an accumulation of sad news from the world of gymnastics. First internationally, but now also nationally. Our condolences go to everyone who has had negative experiences in our sport.”

“We do not recognize ourselves in the image that is now sketched of Dutch gymnastics with regard to the stories of the past. Where in the past there was room for physical and mental flogging, this is a thing of the past … 

National gymnastics team responds: ‘We do not recognize ourselves in the sketched image’

Netherlands at Doha 2018

Female FIG MAG judges

KENSLEY BEHEL:

… Where are all the female judges in Men’s Artistic Gymnastics (MAG)?

With 852 MAG Brevet level judges worldwide, only 13 are female. …

… It wasn’t until 2013 when Great Britian’s Nikki Hanley became the first woman to judge men’s gymnastics at the World Championships …

While Nikki was the first female MAG Brevet judge to judge at a world championships, Australia’s Kath Graham was the first known woman to pass the MAG Brevet exam. After passing the exam in 1989, and each successive 4 years after that, she was repeatedly denied accreditation by the International Federation of Gymnastics (FIG). The FIG was contacted for comment and noted that they had no records regarding the first female Brevet judges.

Finally, in 2001, Kath was approved to begin judging, however, it wasn’t until 2005 that she became the first Brevet-level female to judge MAG internationally. Kath’s first assignment was the University Games in Izmir. The following year, she became the first female to judge the Commonwealth Games. …

History of Female Brevet Judges in Men’s Artistic Gymnastics

In my experience in Canada, females have always been welcome to judge boys.

I recall writing the FIG exam with Joanie Fortin from Quebec, one of the best judges in the room. Joanie got lots of respect from the old boys club there, most of whom scored lower.

Nikki Hanley