Category: ethics

Responsible Coaching

Gymnastics Canada supports Coaching Association of Canada’s Responsible Coaching Movement:

Keeping Sport Fair, Fun, and Safe

Responsible coaching allows you to support your participants’ right to a safe, positive environment. Here are some ways to protect your athletes and yourself both on and off the field of play:

Read more on Coach.ca

 

Verona van de Leur autobiography

Simply Verona: Breaking All the Rules

Published in hard cover March 19, 2020.

Verona was an excellent gymnast, named Dutch Sportswoman of the Year in 2002 after winning the all-around silver medal at that year’s European championships and the silver medal on floor exercise at the world championships.

After early retirement she had life threatening personal problems. Fell out with her family. Lived in a car with her boyfriend.

Eventually she had a conviction for blackmail and a prison sentence. She began performing in adult webcam shows and then in adult films.

Read a Guardian interview detailing her chaotic life story:

Verona van de Leur: ‘When you have no food you do anything to survive

NCAA gymnasts are under compensated

On GymCastic #419 Jessica interviewed sports economist Dr. David Berri from Southern Utah University, the Flippin’ Birds.

It’s been by far the best insight into the business of American College Sports I’ve ever encountered.

Gymnasts are under compensated for their contribution. Top College coaches overpaid for what they bring to the University. 

I highly recommend you listen to that episode. The interview is late in the podcast.

Berri has spent the last two decades researching sports and economics, while publishing works on a variety of topics including the evaluation of players and coaches, competitive balance, the drafting of players, labor disputes, the NCAA, and gender issues in sports.

Dr. Berri was the lead author of “The Wages of Wins and Stumbling on Wins” and recently published “Sports Economics“, a textbook from Macmillan Publishers.

In the past, he has written on the subject of sports economics for a number of popular media outlets, including the New York Times, the Atlantic.com, Time.com, and Vice Sports. Currently, Dr. Berri is writing for Forbes.com.

FIG Olympics qualification decisions

Yesterday FIG announced what they plan to do in light of the 2020 Olympics being delayed to 2021.

Spencer’s posted the most thoughtful reaction I’ve seen so far:

FIG GONNA FIG: THE 2021 OLYMPICS DECISIONS

  • 2017-2020 code of points will remain in force until the end of 2021.

 

  • Athletes who turn senior in 2021 WILL be eligible to qualify for and compete in the Olympics.

Spencer is OK with that decision. Kyle Shewfelt, for example, disagrees.

For example, 2019 Junior World all-around champion Viktoria Listunova is now eligible.

  • Weirdly, FIG is going to use the Baku World Cup 2020 preliminary rankings for points, since the Final was cancelled.

 

  • Copenhagen Worlds 2021 will be held as scheduled.

“conditioning penalties”

What lesson does the athlete learn if they must climb the rope when they fall on a bar routine? They learn that mistakes are bad, conditioning is bad, rope climbs are bad, they start to stress about making mistakes, that leads to performing carefully, which usually leads to more mistakes. That eventually leads to more rope climbs. So again, what did the athlete learn?

If the athlete fell on a skill, wouldn’t it be more efficient to figure out why, and work on fixing it? …

Get Psyched – Stop Punishing your Athletes!

A good rope climb should feel rewarding. 🙂

https://www.instagram.com/p/BCI3g3YEKvH/
I agree. In most situations it’s a mistake to punish by requiring additional conditioning.

Once in a rare while you might throw in a contest where the “winner” is rewarded with less than the day’s normal conditioning.

Syrian gymnast Yazan Alsouliman in Japan

…  the gymnasium used by the Syrian team was bombed. Alsouliman was not there at the time, but when he visited the next day, he found that the equipment had been smashed to pieces. …

He was elated to be chosen to go to Japan with the support of the Tokyo 2020 Solidarity Special Program, jointly organized by the International Olympic Committee and Japanese Olympic Committee. …

Konishi Yasuhito—coach of the gymnastics squad at Tōkai University, where the young Syrian is enrolled in the Japanese language course for international students, and a trainer for the Syrian team—applauds Alsouliman’s language progress …

Two years have passed since he came to Japan. …

Alsouliman is naturally also concerned about his family back in Syria, and says that the war-torn country is always in his prayers. He video-chats with his mother almost every day. …

Nippon.com

hard landing mats in the pit

We see it EVERY competition …

Gymnasts competing skills on to hard mats that they’ve obviously rarely done on to competition mats.

It’s dangerous.

Coaches should do a better job of simulating the competition landing in training.

coach Warren Long at Taiso Saskatoon

The best I’ve ever seen was T&T coach Tammy Stephenson. She trained landings on to very high, very soft surfaces for most of the year. Prior to a competition she alternated layers of matting stiffened with sheets of plywood.

rule of 2 – ONLINE

The ‘Rule of Two’ should continue ONLINE, of course.

Any electronic communication to young athletes should be copied to parents, at least.

Communication between one coach and one athlete should be banned. 

Via Gymnastics Saskatchewan.

2021 World Games postponed to 2022

The year after the Olympics as the World Games is something like an Olympics for non-Olympic disciplines.

Good decision. But athletes now have to decide whether or not to train for the additional year.

2020 Div 1 NCAA gymnasts will NOT be granted an extra year

The NCAA Division I Council Coordination Committee voted Monday to grant spring athletes an extra year of eligibility after the coronavirus pandemic shut down spring college sports in 2020.

Winter sports (including Gymnastics) were not included in the extended eligibility …, per the NCAA. …

Sports Illustrated