Category: ethics

do you find this Gymnastics photo controversial?

The top photo. Not the bottom photo.  😀

Head Coach Greg Marsden used the top photo for a billboard promoting University of Utah Gymnastics in 1993.

Dvora Meyers:

More than two decades ago, a billboard went up in Salt Lake City near the 600 South exit of the I-15. It featured a young woman in repose clad in a sleeveless black leotard, her back to the viewer and her head tilted up. …

The woman on the billboard wasn’t a model but a gymnast on that 1992-93 team, 19-year-old sophomore Aimee Trepanier, whose pose from her floor routine was advertised as a way to sell competition tickets for the then-defending NCAA champions.

But to others in Salt Lake City, the ad was selling something else — sex. …

It’s a fascinating story.

In fact, the University’s athletic director Chris Hill had already decided to remove the billboard ahead of schedule. Utah is a very conservative State.

Click through for the long read.

The Gymnast’s Position

Aimee Trepanier was proud to showcase the pose that started her 1993 gymnastics floor routine in a billboard ad off I-15 in Salt Lake City. But when Utahns looked up, that’s not what they saw.

https://twitter.com/DvoraMeyers/status/1135958061737267203

Peyton Ernst – #MeToo

We respect the right to share your story of abuse. Or keep it private, if you prefer.

Peyton decided that now’s the time to speak.

https://twitter.com/PeytonErnst/status/1136073560215162881?s=19

Recall that Peyton retired from Alabama Gymnastics September 2018.

1st Jr. World Gymnastics Championships

Highly anticipated, we don’t have much information on the competition.

But we do have the nominative roster (PDF).

Coaches are wondering whether or not we want Juniors to face the pressure and intensity of a World Championships while many are in a rapid growth stage. They are more vulnerable to some injuries than are seniors.

China’s team: Guan Chenchen, Wei Xiaoyuan, Ou Yushan.

Click PLAY or watch them on YouTube.

Click PLAY or watch a preview on Twitter.

Rosalie Fish runs for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women

Washington State.

Rosalie Fish was the most recognizable athlete at the small-school state track and field meet last weekend.

The five trips to the awards podium to receive three gold medals, a silver and a sportsmanship award helped.

But as the Muckleshoot Tribal School student circled the track 18 times over three days, she stood out for the bright red paint over her mouth and the letters MMIW on her right leg.

Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women. …

I admire this young athlete and support her right to use sport to bring attention to a cause she is passionate about.

Other athletes can’t claim they were distracted.

I like this better than kneeling for the National Anthem to protest Police Brutality. That protest was too easily misrepresented.

‘When I run about it, people will notice’: Rosalie Fish runs for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women

donate to GymnasticsCoaching.com

In January we stopped accepting advertisers. 

In its place we’ve added a donation link on the home page when you check GymnasticsCoaching.com from a browser. 

If you enjoy the site and can spare a few dollars, THANKS in advance. PayPal, Visa, MasterCard, AmEx and Discover all accepted. 

$20 donation

Gymnastics Coaching is AD free. Instead we welcome donations to help support hosting costs.

$20.00

Gymnastics Canada / USAG support Pride Month

Have they done this in the past?

Good move. I’m happy to see USAG support their members and fans who are LGBTQ.

It sends an important signal. Headquarters are in Indiana, home of famously homophobic Vice President Pence.

Gymnastics Canada is on board too.

Since 1982, the Constitution of Canada has guaranteed fundamental human rights to the LGBT community in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

FIG wants to scan gymnasts at Jr Worlds

Luba found this on the workplan for Junior Worlds on the FIG website.

Certainly that data would have to be kept confidential.

https://twitter.com/cherity1313/status/1134411026487750656

Canada’s ‘Rule of Two’

The Rule of Two states that there will always be two NCCP (certified) coaches with an athlete, especially a minor athlete, when in a potentially vulnerable situation.

This means that any one-on-one interaction between a coach and an athlete must take place within earshot and view of the second coach, with the exception of medical emergencies.

One of the coaches must also be of the same gender as the athlete. Should there be a circumstance where a second NCCP coach is not available, a volunteer, parent, or adult can be recruited. …

Vulnerable situations can include closed door meetings, travel, and training environments amongst others. …

Coach.ca

USAG Camp chaperones

Lauren Stevens (Chalk Warrior) attended the recent U.S. Gymnastics Developmental Camp.

She was impressed with the mandatory Camp chaperones.

Read Lauren’s full report – Developmental Camp culture shows promise for the future of USA Gymnastics