Anon Stop frivolous reporting

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if you wonder why Safesport takes so long to take action, it‘s because of all the frivolous reports being made by disgruntled parents and gymnasts that are clogging up the system and obscuring legitimate reports that need to be investigated. I'm talking about parents who file a report of “emotional abuse” because their child has been told they need to repeat a level or they can’t move up because they aren’t ready. I’m talking about reports of abuse because a gymnast sustained an injury, and the injury causes them to have to retire, or severely limits their abilities or results in colleges no longer being interested.

SafeSport was not set up to be a place to make up false reports because a parent or gymnast can’t get their way, it was set up to stop real emotional or physical abuse. Coaches are leaving the sport and gyms are closing because of constant false reports and the constant threats of reports from people who are mad because their kid isn’t the center of attention or hasn’t been advanced like the parents want them to be. The stress is getting to the coaches and gym owners who are just training kids to be gymnasts.Reports because a coach videoed a routine for training purposes, reports because a Kid doesn’t like conditioning, etc. (I’m certainly NOT saying that legitimate reports should not be filed.)

Parents, please don’t abuse the SafeSport system just because you’re not getting your way.
 
…did someone report you for something?

I can’t imagine why an organization based on abuse reports wouldn’t have levels of “triage” to initially move some reports ahead of others. Probably because they have no real interest in doing anything about it.

Our former coach has a minimum of 7 reports against her to USAG, that we know of and that the parents made it well known. Probably more when the parents left quietly. Several of the kids are in therapy now. Maybe in a decade they’ll get to them.
 
Huh...in my experience SafeSport did not take too long to take action. The initial suspension happened quickly. The final hearing took longer but at least the coach was not able to coach kids in the interim until the final hearing.
 
Its valid post, though I doubt it will be well received around here. The unfortunate fact of the matter is that there are two sides to this. And where one side might feel its just "tough" coaching, the other side feels its abuse. Both sides have real opinions and positions about it. In a perfect world there are unlimited resources to sort out the facts and arbitrate an appropriate response in a timely manner. But given the fact that we are dealing primarily with children we have to err on the conservative side and give all these claims an opportunity to be investigated, even though I agree with you at the end of the day, I suspect a decent portion of them are simply disgruntled parents lashing out in any way they know.
 
I feel the OP has a good point. Safesport was not meant for reports of crazy gym parents angry that their child is not the center of attention or didn't move up a level. It was meant to report actual abuse like name-calling, inappropriate touch, or hitting.
 
So obviously if a coach has done something illegal, it warrants a suspension pending a legal investigation.

But what about reports where the behaviour reported is not technically illegal. What sort of action would safesport take?
 
I have no idea if this is actually a big problem or not. I would have assumed verbal abuse was more often underreported, so I'd be curious to know how many Safe Sport reports are made each year, and what percentage end up being considered credible? OP- do you have any data on annual # of reports and their resolution? Is there a rise in Safe Sport reports that end up being just parents with an axe to grind?
 
I feel the OP has a good point. Safesport was not meant for reports of crazy gym parents angry that their child is not the center of attention or didn't move up a level. It was meant to report actual abuse like name-calling, inappropriate touch, or hitting.
What I’ve seen is more that parents are afraid to file reports.

A friend of ours filed a report for emotional abuse (they had video footage of the coach screaming at their kid with a mental block about how she’s stupid and she can’t wait to see everyone laugh at her at a meet while this girl broke down crying). They had to list a witness, the person who emailed them back said without a witness the report wouldn’t go anywhere. Everyone said they would be willing to be a witness but anonymous only. The person said you can be anonymous but it won’t seem as legit.

No one wants retaliation from this coach at meets she judges or where her mom judges. They also don’t want to move gyms, have the new gym call the old gym and for the gym to tell them that the parents are trouble makers who file reports.

I’m sure there’s some people who file disgruntled complaints, but most people don’t want negative repercussions to follow them around to other gyms, or in the judging world. And even if they do, you have to prove without a shadow of a doubt that the coach did something wrong and that others know it happened.

That lovely coach happens to still be coaching and judging. One of our girls had her as a judge last meet and the second she saw her, threw up all over the apparatus.
 
What I’ve seen is more that parents are afraid to file reports.

A friend of ours filed a report for emotional abuse (they had video footage of the coach screaming at their kid with a mental block about how she’s stupid and she can’t wait to see everyone laugh at her at a meet while this girl broke down crying). They had to list a witness, the person who emailed them back said without a witness the report wouldn’t go anywhere. Everyone said they would be willing to be a witness but anonymous only. The person said you can be anonymous but it won’t seem as legit.

No one wants retaliation from this coach at meets she judges or where her mom judges. They also don’t want to move gyms, have the new gym call the old gym and for the gym to tell them that the parents are trouble makers who file reports.

I’m sure there’s some people who file disgruntled complaints, but most people don’t want negative repercussions to follow them around to other gyms, or in the judging world. And even if they do, you have to prove without a shadow of a doubt that the coach did something wrong and that others know it happened.

That lovely coach happens to still be coaching and judging. One of our girls had her as a judge last meet and the second she saw her, threw up all over the apparatus.
I looked into filing a Safe Sport report after we left our old gym but was stopped by the requirement to name witnesses. All of those girls were still at the gym and none of the parents would have agreed. The gym already had many reports, but nothing was done. The gym is gone now. Verbal abuse was just the tip of the iceberg.
 
Sounds like someone's bitter about being reported. If you've got multiple reports against you, maybe you're the problem, not "bitter parents."
No, I have not been reported. **rolls eyes** But I know of a situation where a gymnast was told she was not ready to move up. Her parent said that either she moves up or they would file a report of abuse. This is not the first time I’ve heard parents making this threat. It makes it hard for the coaches to coach if they’re constantly being threatened.
 
OP needs to change "safe sport" to "police" and make this same argument with respect to complaints about sexual assault. Then realize how nasty this post was. And then finally apologize and try to do better.
Why was it nasty? Are you guilty of frivolous reporting? I have nothing to apologize for.
 
No, there’s more than one reason. I’m tired of crazy parents trying to force their will on coaches and gym owners who have tons more knowledge and ability to determine skill levels and readiness than most parents.
Sooo, this is just going to be anecdotal? No data points forthcoming?
 
No, there’s more than one reason. I’m tired of crazy parents trying to force their will on coaches and gym owners who have tons more knowledge and ability to determine skill levels and readiness than most parents.
That sound incredibly frustrating. I can imagine that gymnastics gets incredibly competitive in the US with so many hoping for Olympics and College Scholarships it’s awful that a parent would ever threaten coaches in this way.

If it is happening that often, I’m sure safe sport are very aware of the issue and can tell the difference between a serious report and one of this nature, but even so it must be so stressful for the coaches involved. Especially as if they hold kids back they are usually doing so because they care about the kids and want what is best for them.
 
No, I have not been reported. **rolls eyes** But I know of a situation where a gymnast was told she was not ready to move up. Her parent said that either she moves up or they would file a report of abuse. This is not the first time I’ve heard parents making this threat. It makes it hard for the coaches to coach if they’re constantly being threatened.
Just because they’re threatening to report doesn’t mean they are actually reporting, though. That’s terrible behavior - it would result in immediate dismissal from the team here. I would think word would get around that threatening a coach will NOT get you what you want.
 
That sound incredibly frustrating. I can imagine that gymnastics gets incredibly competitive in the US with so many hoping for Olympics and College Scholarships it’s awful that a parent would ever threaten coaches in this way.

If it is happening that often, I’m sure safe sport are very aware of the issue and can tell the difference between a serious report and one of this nature, but even so it must be so stressful for the coaches involved. Especially as if they hold kids back they are usually doing so because they care about the kids and want what is best for them.
Again, not doubting that there are crazy parents who would do this, I’ve met hella crazy people in this sport who would sell their grandma for a level 2 state vault win. BUT, even if they go through the effort of putting in a complaint - you need to provide a witness.

No one who is currently attending the gym is going to join in on someone else’s crusade for their kid. For the most part parents are afraid of retaliation even if they’ve left the gym; the gym world is very small and you don’t want to be “those people”.

Literally nothing will come of a report without witnesses and hell, even with witnesses you may wait another decade for an investigation - so there’s really nothing to fear here, the system is very much on the coaches side.

As an aside; competition for scholarships may be fierce, but the level 10 parents aren’t insane. This kind of madness comes from compulsory parents.
 

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