Category: parents

attention potential NCAA recruits

If a football prospect wants to be recruited by Nebraska coach Scott Frost, he should know that the Husker staff will comb through his social media history checking for character.

“And I’ll tell you this right now — if there’s anything negative about women, if there’s anything racial or about sexuality, if there’s anything about guns or anything like that, we’re just not going to recruit you, period.

Piece of advice for you — what you put on social media, that’s your résumé to the world. That’s what you’re trying to tell the world you’re all about. That’s how you’re advertising yourself. Be smart with that stuff.”

Omaha.com

Patti Komara’s Safety Statement

Patti posted some details on their Gym Staff safety policies. In fact the staff recites them twice a year, just to be sure they’ve been covered.

That’s included in her 64-page handbook that all employees sign after reading.

parent run Gymnastics clubs

At the 50th anniversary party for my Gymnastics club in Canada I gave a short speech / slideshow. I’d spent 23 seasons at the Gym, some of my happiest years.

At the end — wanting to see another 50 years of success — I recommended the Parents Board of Directors sell the program to an owner. In general, non-profit parent run clubs are less effectively managed than by owners.

On the other hand, non-profit clubs rarely go out of business. They have proven revenue. Existing customers. They should be able to cut costs and return to a break even budget.

Sadly, parent run Stampede City Gymnastics in Calgary, Canada just locked their doors. An attempt to sell the club fell through.

This was the Gym that produced 2004 Olympian Kylie Stone.

Watch a TV news report on the closing. They weren’t able to pay their bills.

Some of the parents are still trying to save the club.

Marta’s letter to the Senate subcommittee

… My second recommendation is the implementation of USA Gymnastics-assigned chaperones.

Each gymnast should have a chaperone present with them at the national training camps and competitions.

While each gymnast was required to travel with their personal coach to the national training camps, a neutral chaperone, responsible solely for the safety and wellbeing of each gymnast, would help create a safe space for gymnasts to voice concerns outside of their athletic training.

This chaperone should also be required to accompany each gymnast on any medical treatments or sessions, whether formal or informal. A gymnast should never be alone with another adult who is not her parent without her chaperone …

read more – Karolyi letter to Senate

1. This letter was obviously written by lawyers

2. Marta was the last person at Camp who would have wanted chaperones attending

Secrecy and lack of transparency were a big part of the old Romanian system. It’s something Marta continued at her remote Camp.

(via BBS)

Kristle Lowell’s accusations of drug & sexual abuse

Kristle Lowell has been one of the top Trampoline & Tumbling competitors for team USA. She was the 2016 U.S. double mini champion. A 2013 World Champion.

Her accusations against Dr. George Drew, the former coach of the United States Double Mini Trampoline team, are horrifying. Kristle was an adult at the time, not a minor.

Drew retired June 2017. But the investigation into his conduct with Kristle and other athletes is ongoing.

Lauren Rosenberg worked with Kristle in writing up her story.

Former Team USA Trampoline Doctor Accused of Allegedly Drugging and Sexually Abusing Athletes

 

When asked about Lowell’s status, USA Gymnastics released the following statement:

Personnel and member matters are confidential, as well as any actions taken unless they involve a public result, such as suspension or being placed on the list of individuals who are permanently ineligible for membership. We decline to answer your specific questions due to ongoing investigatory matters and related allegations.

Happily Kristle is still training and competing.

https://twitter.com/Kristle__Lowell/status/1003047044620144640

SHAME – Congressional Hearings Edition

If you are trying to keep up with the evolving USAG scandal, be sure to listen to GymCastic episode 307. The first 80 minutes deals with Nassar fallout.

Steve Penny, Rhonda Faehn, and former MSU president Lou Anna Simon appeared in front of the Senate.

1. Penny took the Fifth.

2. U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen called for changes in the U.S. Olympic Committee.

3. Gymnasts’ medical records were removed from the Karolyi Ranch.

4. Former USA Gymnastics official’s composure cracked during Senate testimony. (Rhonda Faehn)

5. At least 15 people knew but didn’t immediately report the 2015 allegations of inappropriate conduct against Nassar.

Indy Star – 5 takeaways from the U.S. Senate hearing about Larry Nassar

Despite denials from Kerry Perry, I’m still assuming USA Gymnastics will be forced to declare bankruptcy. They will be sued. Their liability insurers do not want to pay those many millions in damages.

Under Armour for LGBT Pride

Josh Dixon flying the colours.

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Pride Month (LGBT Pride Month) is currently celebrated each year in the month of June to honor the 1969 Stonewall riots in Manhattan. The Stonewall riots were a tipping point for the Gay Liberation Movement in the United States.

For the second year in a row President Donald J. Trump has chosen to let gay ‘Pride Month’ slide by with no official recognition.

coach Richard Carlson permanently banned

A gymnastics coach accused of sexually abusing one of his athletes has been permanently banned, ending a case that had raised further questions about USA Gymnastics’ handling of misconduct complaints.

Richard Carlson was added to USA Gymnastics’ list of permanently ineligible members Friday. While no violation is specified, Marcia Frederick said he had abused her sexually in 1979 and 1980, beginning when she was 16. …

USA Gymnastics bans coach in case it elected to keep rather than turning over to SafeSport

Carlson continued to coach young female gymnasts in the Long Island area until at least 2015 and instruct at USA Gymnastics-sanctioned clinics for promising young female athletes until at least 2012, according to USA Gymnastics reports and interviews.

Carlson has denied any wrong doing in the Frederick case. …

USA Gymnastics bans Richard Carlson

Still, there are more questions than answers on this case.

physique of Artistic female gymnasts

An analysis of 407 papers.

Most studies identified similar physiques based on: physical traits (small size and low body mass), a body type (predominance of ecto-mesomorphy), body composition (low fat mass), and maturity status (late skeletal maturity as well as late age-at-menarche).

However, there was no consensus as to whether these features predicted competitive performance, or even differentiated between gymnasts within distinctive competitive levels. …

The Physique of Elite Female Artistic Gymnasts: A Systematic Review (2017)

by Sarita Bacciotti, Adam Baxter-Jones, Adroaldo Gaya, and José Maia