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Very few College Gymnastics coaches have had the guts to say Black Lives Matter #BlackLivesMatter in their recent statements.
They fear alienating students / parents / employees fearful of changing the systemic racism in their schools.
Legendary Basketball coach Coach K (Michael William Krzyzewski) calls out those cowards. His so called peers in collegiate coaching.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
I’ve yet to hear of any gymnasts trying to train in a mask, but many coaches are wearing them during the COVID-19 reopening. And many Gyms require athletes to wear them when arriving and departing.
Free shipping in the USA.
Those Gyms around the world that have cautiously started to open after COVID-19 are reporting that it works.
So far, so good.
Pubs, restaurants, hotels and hairdressers can open from 4 July. …
“I really think for the mental health of the young children and their physical activity, it’s something that would be so important to the government.
“They need us back. A lot of our clubs are the hubs of the community.” …
June 24th.
Netflix now has the documentary on the USA Gymnastics criminal doctor.
Athlete A is Maggie Nichols.
First, we all need thank Maggie, Sarah Jantzi and Maggie’s parents.
And we all need thank Rachael Denhollander and Jamie Dantzscher.
Now that the criminal doctor is in prison for up to 175 years, it’s easy to forget how difficult were those early accusations.
It’s easy to forget how many very smart people were fooled by the conman. Jamie — at the time — felt he was the only nice adult associated with USA Gymnastics.
The documentary is well done. Recommend it to your non-Gymnastics friends. We can reduce medical malpractice and abuse in future. Protect athletes.
Revisit, too, the selection process for the Rio Olympic team. Certainly Maggie should have been one of the alternates.
An August 2016 article in the Indianapolis Star about USA Gymnastics protecting coaches accused of abuse leads to the explosive revelation that the USAG women’s team doctor, Larry Nassar, had been abusing athletes for over two decades.
This film follows the IndyStar reporters as they reveal the extensive cover-up that allowed abuse to thrive within elite-level gymnastics for more than two decades, the attorney who is fighting the institutions that failed these athletes, and most importantly, the brave whistle-blowers who refuse to be silenced.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
In addition to watching the documentary, be sure to listen to an excellent interview with Jennifer Sey on Gymnastic.
Sey is the producer.
Jennifer’s 2008 book Chalked Up is available in digital format with a new forward.
Inside Gymnastics magazine linked to NCAA Gymnasts, coaches and programs who spoke to improving the SAFETY of Black Americans.
Check who actually uses the words Black Lives Matter #BlackLivesMatter and/or link to @Blklivesmatter. Nastia did, for example.
Click through to see the entire post.
… but can’t quite say #BlackLivesMatter.
Savannah Shoenherr from Florida was interviewed about her coming out experiences, being an openly LGBTQ+ gymnast in college, and Florida’s statement against police brutality in a podcast called Half in, Half out.
Savannah’s had nothing but support from the Gators.
Savannah also talks about the team working together to respond to criticism online regarding Black Lives Matter.
Click PLAY or watch it on Twitter.
Jessica O’Beirne has — for years — been pointing out that everyone in the NCAA has power, except the athletes.
The talent.
But times they are a-Changin’.
Last year Kylin Hill won the Conerly Trophy, awarded to the top player in the state of Mississippi.
He’s not coming back for his Senior year unless the state flag is changed to remove the the banner of the Confederacy.
Last week, the NCAA expanded its Confederate flag policy to prohibit all its championship events from being played in states that fly the flag, including regional sites in sports such as baseball, softball, lacrosse and women’s basketball. …
SEC commissioner Greg Sankey also threatened to not hold future championship events in the state …
Several state universities, including Mississippi State and Ole Miss, stopped flying the flag in 2016 …
Let’s see if Mississippi State loves football more than their flag.
Temple alumnus Law student Jeff Shearer published a paper on Title IX and Men’s Gymnastics in the Pace Intellectual Property, Sports & Entertainment Law Forum.
Jeff:
I wrote this paper because of my passion for gymnastics and the fact that the sport has seen a numerical decline in varsity programs over the years.
I demonstrate how Title IX and the commercialization of college sports are—in my opinion—the cause of this problem.
I close with an argument that the binary application of Title IX will only cause more challenges for transgender athletes and sports programs. …
Title IX is pretty complicated and I attempt to break it down for a non-legal audience with my writing.
Please share this paper throughout the gymnastics community so that people can be educated about why the sport has lost so many programs over the years. I am hoping it can help any program that is currently struggling to survive.
You can read or download that paper here:
Thanks Jesse.
The late 1990s were the bad old days in my opinion.
Little Girls in Pretty Boxes was published 1995.
A Canadian documentary includes 3 National Team members:
Lisa Simes, 1994 Commonwealth Games medalist and All-American captain for Michigan.
Jackie Bender, the best Artistic gymnast all time at 1-arm handstand work on Beam.
And Sarah Rainey who is very eloquent and outspoken about why she left the sport. Today Sarah is Head Coach of East York Gymnastics in Toronto.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube. (24min)
As usual, UCLA sets the Bar for supporting minority rights. Unapologetic.
Willing to support Black Lives Matter #BlackLivesMatter loudly. And proudly.
BUT … how did other prominent College teams handle the worldwide protests?
Dvora Meyers posted a good overview:
Florida was much criticized by former athletes
As was Alabama.
Duckworth, in a statement posted to social media, said things about growing and learning and inclusivity without mentioning Kiaku by name or saying the word “race” or any of its variants.
As was Auburn.
Jeff Graba posted this note to Twitter in response to the statements from three former Tigers. On the whole, Graba’s note is disappointing in the way that many of these statements are: vagueness about what was alleged, failure to mention the words “black” or “racism” or any of its variants. …
University of Georgia head coach Courtney Kupets Carter put out a statement that managed to avoid using the words “black,” “African American,” “racism,” “police,” “brutality,” or “injustice.” Also, for a statement that is ostensibly about what the Black community is enduring, it makes heavy use of “I.” …
LSU head coach DD Breaux’s statement did mention “people of color” and nodded to protest as a means of enacting change, but that’s as far as it went. ..
And this from the University of North Carolina gymnastics team is perhaps the strongest and most unequivocal of all the statements put out by any of the women’s programs.
Some of the coaches are, no doubt, restricted by contract in what they can say publicly. But — moving forward — programs should be called out if there’s no real change.
I’ll be cheering for UNC and UCLA.
Click through to read Dvora’s entire important post. And subscribe if you can. This is real journalism.
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