Category: safety

boycotting Qatar

Though I’m planning to attend Worlds in person, many are staying home in protest.

Homosexuality is illegal in Qatar, and prevailing cultural mores view homosexuality and cross-dressing negatively. The Qatari government does not recognize same-sex marriage or civil partnerships, nor does it allow people in Qatar to campaign for LGBT rights. …

Get your couch potato gear from GymCastic.

Though Qatar is one of the more progressive Arab nations, they are still deplorably backwards on human rights.

They do dumb things too. For example Emir Tamim Bin Hamad Bin al-Thani just gifted a $400 million dollar plane to Turkey’s dictator Erdogan.

This is part of the ongoing spat between billionaire dictators in the region.

Democracy is a terrible political system, as we’ve seen. But it’s far better than totalitarian rule as in Qatar.

Still, I’m hopeful that Worlds and the upcoming World Cup further modernize this tiny nation. One bit of good news – Qatar will allow both the flag and national anthem of Israel.  (This has not been the case in the past.)

Katelyn Ohashi on Player’s Tribune

On GymCastic Miss Val mentioned Katelyn’s documentary. The poster girl who was once beat Simone Biles … then quit elite … only to comeback as a viral media superstar in College Gymnastics.

Click PLAY or watch her on YouTube.

GymCastic interviews MLT

My takeaways in advance of responses:

GymCastic founder  Jessica O’Beirne  is the conscience of the gymternet.  I look to her first on all these issues.

Jessica, Mary Lee Tracy and Miss Val are all outspoken, brave individuals. I appreciate all three and often link to things they post.

I love the title – Truth & Reconciliation. Recall when Mandela brought that concept to South Africa? I was skeptical. But it did work.

Obviously MLT is not 100% evil. Miss Val is not 100% good. Both survived the dark ages of USA Gymnastics (Bella, Nunno era) and both improved over the years since. The last time I saw a scale in a Gym was 2002. I refused to use it. We’d figured out it was a bad idea in the early 1980s.

Gymnastics coaches today are more ethical than ever. The few BAD ones under greater scrutiny from parents and colleagues. More and more are being caught and put on the list.

MLT did try to apologize. Multiple times. It wasn’t as heartfelt as I would have liked. Though she might have done a good job in the USAG position, that opportunity is gone. She isn’t the right person for the job.

NCAA (despite the many injuries) is the best training environment in the world. Medical staff makes final decisions on return to play. Coaches do not have much power on those calls. All other programs should look to American College Gymnastics when trying to improve their training programs.

Hopefully we’ll all learn from the embarrassing incident where USAG hired MLT … then fired her days later. That’s a #FAIL. Exactly how NOT to run a NSGB.

It was revealing to hear how uneducated both Miss Val and MLT felt when they started. As always the best plan to improve coaching is …

Educate, Educate, Educate, Legislate.

related – INSIDE PERSPECTIVE: ALYSSA BECKERMAN | IN SEARCH OF SOLUTIONS FOR THE NEXT ERA OF USA GYMNASTICS

Alyssa was a 2000 Olympic alternate who was coached by both MLT and Miss Val.

“I never stopped talking about these things,” she says, “It’s just that people are listening now. I’ve been talking about all of these things for years.”

Hannah England, Kristian Thomas Athlete Ambassadors

2012 Olympians Hannah England and Kristian Thomas have been appointed as British Gymnastics’ Athlete Ambassadors.

Middle distance runner Hannah and gymnast Kristian will act as representatives for our gymnasts and chairs of the Athlete Leadership Group. The new roles will provide a mechanism for our athletes to communicate their views and opinions to British Gymnastics and support the Performance Director and Performance Team in developing a positive and supportive culture within the World Class Programme. …

British Gymnastics

Sae Miyakawa defends her abusive coach

I feel he should be banned AND arrested. This kind of physical punishment was quite common in Japan in the past. But I thought it was no longer tolerated.

Click PLAY or watch it on Twitter.

On August 15, 2018, gymnastics coach, Yuto Hayami, was banned indefinitely by the Japan Gymnastics Association (JGA) from coaching gymnasts. …

On August 29, 18-year-old gymnast, Sae Miyakawa, held a press conference emotionally protesting the banning of her coach …

Miyakawa also said that while her coach, Hayami, did sometimes hit her, she wanted him restored as her coach. …

The Olympians – The Complex Case of Sae Miyakawa and Power Harassment in Japanese Women’s Gymnastics

The story is tied to the suspension of Chieko and Mitsuo Tsukahara.

(via theGymter.net)

Debbie Van Horn arrested

Van Horn, a 30-year veteran of USA Gymnastics, was involved in numerous gymnastics youth development programs and a medical supervisory task force, according to AP.

In January, one of Nassar’s victims said Van Horn was in the room “many of the times” while Nassar abused her, AP reports.

Van Horn was the first person other than Nassar to be charged in the abuse scandal. She is no longer a USA Gymnastics employee …

Time

It’s inconceivable that Van Horn could have been unaware of Nassar’s unnecessary and illegal treatment. Yet she’s pleading innocent.

Kerry Perry resigned. Now what?

USA Gymnastics President and CEO Kerry Perry last evening informed the Board of Directors that she will resign effectively immediately. The board has immediately begun to identify an interim CEO and is in the process of establishing a search committee to find a permanent replacement. …

USAG

Dvora Meyers thinks we need someone able to steer this ship away from the iceberg.

Tony Retrosi, who called for her resignation, has some ideas:

A letter to the new CEO of USA Gymnastics

Miss Val on elite Gymnastics

Miss Val has been the best and most helpful of all NCAA coaches on the USAG scandals. Mark Williams is another.

Needless to say, Miss Val has got some criticism for being so outspoken.

She responds.

  I have also been accused of “hating elite gymnastics and all elite coaches.” And to those people… please know, I have never said that, it is simply not true.

I “hate” the system we all (elite, club and college coaches alike) either embraced, turned a blind eye to or didn’t try hard enough to change. …

… After I wrote my initial “Time’s Up” piece, someone commented that I was as guilty as the people I was calling out because I never did anything about it.

Whomever you were… I hear you, I didn’t do enough. While striving to develop our own athletes from the inside out, I should have done more to address concerns at the elite level. So yes, I am a part of allowing this culture that I vehemently disagreed with to thrive for decades. …

Together We’ll Rise

For the record, I’ve always found UCLA to be one of the College teams most supportive of Elite and former Elite gymnasts.

calls for Kerry Perry to resign

New CEO of the U.S. Olympic Committee Sarah Hirshland blasted USA Gymnastics in an email to USA TODAY Sports on Friday night, saying “it is time to consider making adjustments in the leadership.”

Tony Retrosi on behalf of the U.S. Elite Coaches Association / Women posted a “Vote of No Confidence”.

Owner / Coach Sandy Spokoiny-Flores has always been a positive supporter of USAG. But she too asks for Kerry Perry’s removal.

There’s a petition on Change.org.

And of course every Tom, Dick and Spencer on the gymternet agrees.

It was a gamble bringing in a non-Gymnastics person to try to Steve Jobs the failing organization. It didn’t work.

NOW … Let’s remember how everything was fixed when Steve Penney was handed a million dollars and led to the door.

The biggest problems remained then. And they’ll still be there when Perry leaves.

 

in praise of Aly Raisman

Must listen. The new (Nationals 2018) Aly Raisman interview on GymCastic episode 319.

I’m astonished that it’s a 24-year-old gymnast that is the most important voice in critiquing USA Gymnastics. They really should invite her to sit on the Board.

#respect

Yes Mary Lee Tracy did resign only hours after accepting a position with USAG. Mainly, it sounds, as a result of Aly’s negative feedback.

WHAT? … It sounds like she’s unresigned and getting legal advice. 🙁

What a mess.

If you can’t keep track of who USAG is hiring and firing, Spencer has a rundown of what’s happened.