WAG Tom Forster new NTC (National Team Coordinator)

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Agree. I know several of the elite coaches were pulling for him out of the candidates that had been mentioned.
 
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I am reading some negative reactions online, with people bringing up fluff pieces on NBC from over 20 years ago! Did those paint him in the best light? Well, no. But, it’s 1) journalism! And 2) 20 years ago! I know I’ve changed a LOT in 20 years, and I would think many coaches would say the same. I know many, many of the elite coaches and gymnasts are happy with the choice, and for now, that’s good enough for me!
 
I mean, look, it’s a crappy job right now. And the fact that he wants to hang in and give it a shot says a lot. And I hope my current employers and co-workers don’t judge me by what I was doing in 1996!!

Ditto. I'm kind of surprised to see GymCastic lead the charge with the negativity too. That piece didn't paint him in the best light, but come on, is it realistic or even fair to act like coaches don't or shouldn't have an Olympic dream too?

The fact that the current nat'l team and current elite coaches had a say speaks volumes to me. Time to let him do his job.
 
Ditto. I'm kind of surprised to see GymCastic lead the charge with the negativity too. That piece didn't paint him in the best light, but come on, is it realistic or even fair to act like coaches don't or shouldn't have an Olympic dream too?

The fact that the current nat'l team and current elite coaches had a say speaks volumes to me. Time to let him do his job.

I’ve lost my love for Gymcastic - it seems like they can’t say anything positive right now unless it’s about Aimee Boorman. And she didn’t want it!
 
I just told my DD about this a little bit ago, she seemed genuinely happy for him, she had very good experiences with him at camps. I am certain her coach will love this news, he is a big fan of Tom!
 
Don’t even get me started! I’ve been on Twitter saying to give the guy a chance. He hasn’t even been on the job for 24 hours and people are already saying negative things about him. It’s horrible.

Most gym fans haven't had any exposure to him since the mid-90s, where their last impression was of a coach who (on tv, at least--presentation in the background on tv and interviews are all most fans have to go on) seemed to really overact to mistakes and publicly made a very petty, snide comment about an athlete who left. He hasn't coached an elite really on the scene since then, so that's 20+ years of a negative impression associated with him rolling around in their heads. Of the different gym forums/blogs/etc that I follow, this is the first one where people had recent experience with him, and I'm really glad to see it seems like all those recent experiences have been positive; that just hasn't been the visible side to fans who just follow the elite side. Add that to the fact that there is a lot of distrust in USAG's decisions at the moment, which is entirely understandable, and I fully get where skepticism is coming from. Especially given the "Because this is such an important role for our national teams, we spoke with one former and two current national team members and three current elite coaches" line is very badly phrased--it makes it sound like they only consulted with six people about the position. People should absolutely give him a chance to prove himself, but I fully understand why the knee jerk reaction is negative. Reading the experiences people have had here is heartening, and I really hope it works out--that he's a really caring coach taking on a lousy-looking job who can do a fabulous job supporting the athletes and creating a new environment. 20 years is a long, long time. It's a long time to have a memory, and it's a long time to learn, grow, and change. All I want at this point is for the athletes in this system to have some stability and feel like the system is working for them, and I hope that he can provide that.
 
All I want at this point is for the athletes in this system to have some stability and feel like the system is working for them, and I hope that he can provide that.

He can... Tom is great. We have been in the system for the last 3 years with him... he has been at almost every camp with my daughter and I. He has helped our club move forward greatly.
 
Yeah, I had to check myself on this one. If you'd asked me a couple weeks ago who he was I would have told you he was that guy who badmouthed Kerri Strug on TV in the 90s. That was literally the only thing I knew about him. I'm so glad to see that no one who's worked with him during this decade has a bad thing to say about him. Sounds like he's a great choice, and I look forward to seeing how he helps the sport moving forward.
 

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