Category: safety

Gymnastics should welcome ALL

Tom Farden – under review

This is the first time I’ve ever heard of a complaint about the Utah Head Coach.

According to 5 former gymnasts, mothers of 4 gymnasts, and 2 former staff members who worked with Farden during his 23-year collegiate coaching career, he’s accused of verbal and emotional abuse.

Sydney Soloski, for one, defended Farden. And she’s quite outspoken about ethics.

future USA Gymnastics Training Centre?

Interesting idea.

There are pros and cons with National Training Centres. Recall that Gymnastics Australia quit the Australian Institute of Sport due to problems.

MAG and all other FIG disciplines would benefit most by training with WAG, the highest profile discipline.

IF it happens, USAG will have to choose a location. More central geographically would make for easier travel logistics.

Certainly any State with abortion restrictions should not be considered. After all, USAG wants to call this a “Wellness Center“.

Worst are those in dark orange.

Axios – Where abortion has been banned now that Roe v. Wade is overturned

Human rights and safety of athletes should be highest priority for parents sending their children off to camp.

mental health in sports

The best way for the coach to deal with psychological problems is to treat them like physical injuries.

One day your athlete might have a sore ankle. Anther day lack of motivation. Or unexpected fear of a skill. Even depression.

You’d have experts as part of the coaching team. Trainers. Psychologists. Etc.

Athletes can recover from a sore ankle. Athletes can get over fear issues.

In recent years, mental issues among athletes have gained visibility thanks to role models like Simone Biles and Ricky Rubio; now, the focus is on prevention and tangible action …

There’s no longer a taboo. There’s no more secrecy or stigma. Tennis star Carlos Alcaraz talks openly about his psychologist. So does Spanish badminton player Carolina Marín. 

Ricky Rubio recently announced that he is taking a break from basketball for his mental wellbeing. 

Simone Biles took a step back from gymnastics for two years to take three steps forward now. She left the Tokyo Olympics and today, she is thinking about the games in Paris. …

Mental health in sports: How the new generations broke a taboo and learned to take a break

Simone for ‘Friends of the Children’

Friends of the Children is a national nonprofit organization that selects and invites youth – all of whom have unique talents, interests and dreams, and face multiple systemic obstacles – to be paired with a paid, professional mentor called a Friend.

We hire and train Friends to support our youth from as early as age 4 through high school graduation – 12+ years, no matter what. …

Friends of the Children

USA Gymnastics signs Nike

Finally.

Corporate sponsors are beginning to return following the disastrous way USAG handled the criminal doctor.

… Nike will serve as the Official Apparel and Footwear Partner of USA Gymnastics and the USA Gymnastics National Team, supporting athletes on their journeys to Paris 2024 and Los Angeles 2028 …

“As the largest partnership in USA Gymnastics history, Nike’s support is critical,” USA Gymnastics President and CEO Li Li Leung said. …

Nike Partners with USA Gymnastics to Expand Sport for the Next Generation

Deal-breaker Behaviours in Coach Education

In Canada, coaches and clinicians will be removed from official Sports Canada course for these behaviours:

  • Uses language that is racist, sexist, or demeaning
  • Allows learners to use language that is racist, sexist, or demeaning

Via the GymCan National Coaching Certification Program requirements.

“Skater Squats” for gymnasts

Preventing and reducing knee injury is highest priority.

MOST IOC nations don’t want RUS in Paris

Ukraine’s Ambassador in Azerbaijan Vladyslav Kanevskyi also spoke out at the MINEPS VII, insisting that Russia had “no right to be part of the Olympic family and remain a UNESCO member state”.

During his speech, Kanevskyi held up a picture of talented 11-year-old gymnast Kateryna Diachenko who was killed following a missile attack in Mariupol. …