NCAA Suni leaving college

[gym_dad32608]

A lot of chatter about Suni leaving Auburn after nationals. Not a good look for her. If true, I hope Graba laws the ultimatum down, kicks her off the team.

 

[JBS]

 

[bookworm]

A lot of chatter about Suni leaving Auburn after nationals. Not a good look for her. If true, I hope Graba laws the ultimatum down, kicks her off the team.

Why do you want her kicked off the team? She is basically the reason they are headed to Nationals. And her club coach is Graba's twin brother so I don't see them kicking her off .

I do think it's a puzzling look for me ...she's the most successful athlete in her Hmong community AND she got a free ride to college while being able to capitalize on all the NIL stuff, and yes I get that maybe she doesn't want to be a role model , but she is and finishing college would be among the things to model. It was different when athletes couldn't reap the financial rewards of their success but she is so that is what puzzles me that there even needs to be chatter about this.

 

[gym_dad32608]

Will Suni return to Auburn

 

[gym_dad32608]

Why do you want her kicked off the team? She is basically the reason they are headed to Nationals. And her club coach is Graba's twin brother so I don't see them kicking her off .

I do think it's a puzzling look for me ...she's the most successful athlete in her Hmong community AND she got a free ride to college while being able to capitalize on all the NIL stuff, and yes I get that maybe she doesn't want to be a role model , but she is and finishing college would be among the things to model. It was different when athletes couldn't reap the financial rewards of their success but she is so that is what puzzles me that there even needs to be chatter about this.

Perhaps kicked off is too strong. What I mean is a forceful ultimatum. You are either committed to college and the team or you are not. This "lets let you do whatever you want as long as you are there on Saturday to compete for us" is wrong. While she is the first all-around olympian in college, she is not the first high-profile athlete competing. This I am not even living on campus and I don't care about getting a degree is really insulting and not fair for all the hundreds of gymnasts that are doing there, taking classes, striving toward a degree and committing to the program. Like you said, just not a good role modeling look. I do think she is not totally to blame, Graba is letting her, but she is not innocent.

 

[NutterButter]

I don't think Suni will be alone if she leaves college to pursue Paris...

 

[bookworm]

I didn’t realize she wasn’t living on campus…. I thought that was pretty mandatory for freshmen as a whole. If that is her attitude, then yes, that insults the thousands who embrace the student athlete role … and she seems to be embracing the athlete/pro role.

As coaches are judged by their results, not their concern for how the rest of the team sees it , I don’t see Graba taking a hard stand at all … this is his best finish ever and she is why , with her own performances and the Olympic tenths they got along the way by having her . If she leaves, i think she will be the decider , not Graba , who’s riding her coattails while he can.

 

[bookworm]

I don't think Suni will be alone if she leaves college to pursue Paris...

I don’t either but she’s the one who is the biggest backbone to their team … i could see Chiles and Wong going … not really Mccallum or Eaker but you never know…

 

[AUfan]

Suni lives on campus (athletic dorms) and even has a roommate (her teammate Sarah Hubbard).

 

[gymjunkie]

So I take it Auburn is not known for its broadcast journalism program?!

 

[mwjw.0610]

Why do you want her kicked off the team? She is basically the reason they are headed to Nationals. And her club coach is Graba's twin brother so I don't see them kicking her off .

I do think it's a puzzling look for me ...she's the most successful athlete in her Hmong community AND she got a free ride to college while being able to capitalize on all the NIL stuff, and yes I get that maybe she doesn't want to be a role model , but she is and finishing college would be among the things to model. It was different when athletes couldn't reap the financial rewards of their success but she is so that is what puzzles me that there even needs to be chatter about this.

Could not agree more! Auburn was lucky to have her this season. Suni should not feel bad doing what is best for her. Could she come back later if wanted?

 

[gym_dad32608]

Suni Announcement this week

Gotta love the hometown paper, lol, "Suni could beat Simone.....", "Suni had beaten Simone a couple of times" When, at a national team camp practice when it didn't count? Just keep on trying to make her a legend, want to talk about more pressure on campus.

 

[NutterButter]

Suni Announcement this week

Gotta love the hometown paper, lol, "Suni could beat Simone.....", "Suni had beaten Simone a couple of times" When, at a national team camp practice when it didn't count? Just keep on trying to make her a legend, want to talk about more pressure on campus.

That was so cringy. Why they gotta do that?

 

[NutterButter]

This is floating around on Twitter today. <<Sigh>>

How Gymnastics Breaks A Gymnast | Defector

Midwest Gymnastics rocketed to national prominence after one of its founders, Jess Graba, coached Olympic gold medalist Suni Lee. But three former gymnasts said at Midwest they experienced public weigh ins, verbal berating, and at times were left to practice dangerous skills unsupervised.

defector.com

 

[gym_dad32608]

I read that. Some pretty bad accusations. Still it was long ago, maybe they have changed?

 

[cmg]

I doubt these coaches have changed. They talked about recent meets enough that change has not happened. Again, USA gymnastics needs to teach coaches how to support athletes mentally. I know that helping athletes mentally is nuanced, and difficult, but it can be done. I think many upper-level gymnasts have gone through some type of mental abuse at some point or another during their careers. Maybe not as extreme as the examples in this article or in some of the other horror stories we all have heard about, but I do wonder where my kid would be without gymnastics.

 

[GymAir]

I was a little confused about the recent complaint about the 8 year old they felt was being moved up the levels too quickly. I don’t know if I was misreading it, but it looked normal to me.