Just curious… With USAG announcing that shorts can be worn during competition for women’s gymnastics, has your gym allowed shorts during practice and/or meets for this season?
Our gym has always encouraged shorts, however we are still getting gym transfers in from older girls who want to wear them, especially during their time of the month. We had an in-house meet today and I overheard one mom of a transfer girl that her DD was told to either not come to practice during her time of the month or wear a tampon (age 11, level 7) because the gym refused to change their handbook to reflect the new change that USAG has, even after she cited their social media posts for reference. She also brought up the fact that most college gymnasts practice in a tight tank and shorts because leotards are not comfortable probably after age 13 or so.
She said that she was looked at as an outcast by wearing shorts and refusing to let the gym dictate how her daughter manages her cycles. When she sent her daughter to practice in shorts, Her daughter was being ‘punished’ by the coaches giving less of their time to her because of it, which sparked a transfer. They refused to let her train on bars, citing that the shorts were a ‘hazard’ for spotting.
I feel like this should fall under some violation of Safesport, but I don’t think it actually does. Can this be reported to USAG somehow, or was the whole shorts thing something that they recommend gyms to do, but don’t require. Like all talk and no action?
Our gym has always encouraged shorts, however we are still getting gym transfers in from older girls who want to wear them, especially during their time of the month. We had an in-house meet today and I overheard one mom of a transfer girl that her DD was told to either not come to practice during her time of the month or wear a tampon (age 11, level 7) because the gym refused to change their handbook to reflect the new change that USAG has, even after she cited their social media posts for reference. She also brought up the fact that most college gymnasts practice in a tight tank and shorts because leotards are not comfortable probably after age 13 or so.
She said that she was looked at as an outcast by wearing shorts and refusing to let the gym dictate how her daughter manages her cycles. When she sent her daughter to practice in shorts, Her daughter was being ‘punished’ by the coaches giving less of their time to her because of it, which sparked a transfer. They refused to let her train on bars, citing that the shorts were a ‘hazard’ for spotting.
I feel like this should fall under some violation of Safesport, but I don’t think it actually does. Can this be reported to USAG somehow, or was the whole shorts thing something that they recommend gyms to do, but don’t require. Like all talk and no action?
