… At first, she wasn’t sure what she could do to help the survivors, but when she heard about the creation of the Athlete Assistance Fund (AAF) in early 2018, she felt like it could be the perfect spot for her.
“I wanted to be somebody that could help make a change,” Sacramone Quinn said by phone last week. “The Athlete Assistance Fund seemed like a great partnership where I could help these athletes …”
The not-for-profit organization aims to provide financial assistance and guidance for any gymnast who was sexually abused in the sport and would like to seek counseling. …
The Athlete Assistance Fund was set up to help gymnasts who were sexually abused receive free, confidential counseling. But it faces many challenges gaining the trust of a skeptical public and abuse survivors.
"@sfinnegan37 is one of the best to wear the Purple and Gold. LSU needed her to be almost perfect to win a third-straight SEC Championship. Sarah showed almost WASN'T good enough!" pic.twitter.com/8rPHT7fBR4
Issues like stress fractures, ankle sprains, growth plate inflammation, ACL or meniscus tears, Achilles injuries, and overuse cartilage break down are seen throughout all levels of gymnastics. These injuries all have a common overlap in being “impact” based….
On the upside, all that impact results in gymnasts having very dense bones.
On the downside, every coach needs to constantly assess the training plan to minimize the risk of traumatic and chronic injuries.
Dave has some advice.
1. Temporarily Reduce Workloads and Impact Volume
2. Diagnose and Get Medical Care Quickly
3. Be Patient
4. Manage Soft Tissue Daily (Manual Therapy and Stretching)
5. Use Ice Baths and Compression Nightly
6. Land Properly
7. Slowly Rebuild Knee and Ankle Joint Strength Following Injury
8. Slowly Rebuild Impact Volume Following Rehab
9. Correct Technical Issues (Steep Take off and Landing Short)
The other more obvious piece, although it’s shockingly not addressed, is that gymnasts simply need to stop landing short and destroying their ankles all the time. Mistakes obviously happen here and there, but the reality is that far too many gymnasts are being allowed to land very short on a daily basis. …
10. Build Leg Strength with Physical Preparation Programs
If you had a choice between the Superstars meet in Birmingham or the concurrent World Cupmeet in London — both hosted the same day — which would you choose?
No question for me. I’d be at the World Cup.
But they had a big crowd at Superstars. Ticket paying fans seemed to enjoy the comedy. For once the gymnasts knew that entertainment was the goal, not the very best Gymnastics.