Advice for parents from Katherine Tamminen (PhD), University of Toronto:
Give time to think, and take time to think
Develop “rules of the road”
Ask questions in a supportive manner
Be positive
Category: parents
coaches defending themselves from #METOO accusations
Most accusers are being truthful. Well over 90%, I’m thinking.
But there are a FEW cases of wrongful accusation.
Dina Bell-Laroche of the Canadian Sport Law & Strategy Group:
In any dispute, including sport disputes, once an individual is charged with an allegation, they are entitled to both natural justice and procedural fairness, regardless of the allegation.
We are unfortunately seeing sport organizations jump to conclusions and sometimes rush to sanction individuals before taking the necessary steps to ensure that the individuals are afforded natural justice and procedural fairness.
With this being said, there may be specific scenarios where it is socially and morally responsible to suspend an individual during the disciplinary process. …
Click through to see advice on how we should be handling accusations.
emotional abuse in Gymnastics
In this post a former British national squad gymnast reflects on her former coach.
The under-reported risk for competitive gymnasts is psychological abuse.
Anonymous:
Looking back over my time with Coach is something I find difficult. I know not all my memories are bad but those are the ones that most easily come to mind. …
But, at this point the good days for me far outweighed the not so good days and I enjoyed being there, I enjoyed working with Coach, in fact I would go as far as to say I loved her. …
… after a while no matter what I did it just wasn’t good enough, my name was now added to the blacklist. It became a matter of survival, be the one who least upset Coach during a session, praying Coach would take her wrath out on anyone but me. …
It was only Coach’s talent that would get me to the Olympics, not my own and if I moved to another coach my Olympic dream would be over. In retrospect, I can see how naïve I was to believe this, yet this haunted me throughout my career and I gave up on myself once I left coach, believing my dreams and goals were shattered.
Click through to read the whole story.
coach Elizabeth Brubaker suspended
I’m surprised to hear that coach Elizabeth Brubaker has been suspended by Gymnastics Canada after receiving “a number of written formal complaints… that outlined alleged violations of Gymnastics Canada’s ethics and code of conduct policies over an extended period of time a number of years ago.”
new documentary – Broken Trust: Ending Athlete Abuse
Filmmaker and journalist Jill Yesko is fund-raising to complete a planned documentary. She represented the United States in the 1983 World University Games in cycling.
Broken Trust gives voice to the courageous women and men who have dared to speak up against abuse on all levels. Told through interviews with Olympic and national-class athletes, coaches and experts, Broken Trust looks at how and why abuse takes place and what needs to be done to stop it.
Click PLAY or watch the trailer on Vimeo.
keeping kids in Sport longer
Sports Girls Play has some advice.
Gym Moms … literally
Elite Gym Moms.
Click PLAY or watch it on Facebook.
Is It Bullying?
meet Chandler King
10-years-old. Level 7. She trains at Simone’s Gym.
Click PLAY or watch it on Facebook.
Great profile. But age-10 is too young to start talking Olympics. I assume that’s a talking point pushed by Kick-Ass Kids, the publisher.
keeping banned coaches banned
Nancy Armour, Rachel Axon and Brent Schrotenboer for USA TODAY:
1. Create a universal banned list.
2. Use existing enforcement mechanisms.
3. Require related youth-serving organizations to honor each other’s sanctions and share information on discipline.
Three keys to keeping banned coaches banned and children safe
Gymnastics Coaching.com 