WAG Gymdivas.com

[cbifoja]

I don't think I "get" the site. So they recruiting year goes up to 2020 which means all of the gymnasts on there right now have to be in at least what......6th grade? Anyone younger isn't on the site? I agree that this is very creepy. I don't have a middle schooler yet but I wouldn't be thrilled to find a stranger created any kind of website surrounding my child....and I say that while admitting that I'm not especially "privacy freaky". I have a public YouTube channel for DD but again, I set it up, I monitor it, I control it. It would be weird to stumble across a channel of my kid that someone else set up.

 

[MaryA]

Oh, hey... new profile pic, bog! I didn't recognize you!

 

[coachmolly]

Coach Molly, profiles can be requested by anybody. As in I can email and ask for them to create a profile if a gymnast I watched in Chicago.

I do not need to be related to her in any way, or be her current coach.

Yikes! I would think if they got a random request for a kid they would at least e-mail the gym (who would presumably contact the parent/gymnast) to verify info and make sure all is well with putting it online.

 

[bogwoppit]

Apparently not. As I said I had this discussion with a friend recently who found her dd on the site. Neither she nor the coach set it up.

All you need is a photo of the child and the name. The rest is all there on the Internet for people to find.

 

[wallinbl]

I've looked at the profiles of some gymnasts I know, and who have been offered full rides. There's so little information on their profile on that site that I can't imagine a college coach getting any value from it. A YouTube channel is substantially more functional than what that site seems to offer.

That said, I'm not really sure what the fuss is - most of this stuff is out there on the Internet elsewhere anyway. Sure, it's initially disconcerting, but if I Google DD's name, it comes up in a wide variety of places - dozens of websites with meet scores, Facebook posts from her gym, gym websites, meet rosters (which include birth date and USAG number, probably the most identifying information any of these Google results produce), etc. I can find more information on the girls on gym divas by Googling their names than gym divas is providing.

 

[BachFlyer]

Just took a peek and lo and behold, found my DD on there. Very strange, we certainly didnt add her. I don't like it either, seems pretty wrong to be broadcasting her birthday and pictures without my knowlege. Guess it's a good lesson for her on the power and danger of the internet !!

 

[Outlast]

So my question would be, how does this not violate COPPA? There are children under 13 years of age without parental consent on the site?

 

[bogwoppit]

http://www.coppa.org/comply.htm

So everyone knows what COPPA is. There is no way they comply if the kids are under 13 and they have no parental consent to post the photos and info.

This is why you have to be 14 to be on the cb.

 

[BachFlyer]

My DD is turning 13 today, looks like she's been on there for some time. I sent an email and asked how to update it, and they said to email changes. Then I emailed back to inquire how they got permission to post her name, birthday and photos without my consent, and haven't heard a peep Even the USAG meet guidelines specifically say that we we can post ages but not birth dates or addresses in meet results. I know some of the info is out there anyway, but there are reasons that the rules exist and I don't think people should be able to indiscriminately break the law, especially under the guise of looking like they are trying to help these kids get recruited.

 

[shelovestoflip]

I've looked at the profiles of some gymnasts I know, and who have been offered full rides. There's so little information on their profile on that site that I can't imagine a college coach getting any value from it. A YouTube channel is substantially more functional than what that site seems to offer.

That said, I'm not really sure what the fuss is - most of this stuff is out there on the Internet elsewhere anyway. Sure, it's initially disconcerting, but if I Google DD's name, it comes up in a wide variety of places - dozens of websites with meet scores, Facebook posts from her gym, gym websites, meet rosters (which include birth date and USAG number, probably the most identifying information any of these Google results produce), etc. I can find more information on the girls on gym divas by Googling their names than gym divas is providing.

I agree re: YouTube. Also, from my understanding, as my daughter is in HS and considering options, the best route for recruiting is to set up a YouTube page and then send the college coach your page link via the college recruiting page website. I can't imagine college coaches have that much time on their hands so as to be able to sit around on the computer checking out random sites like Gym Divas!!

 

[Quadqueen]

I don't think I "get" the site. So they recruiting year goes up to 2020 which means all of the gymnasts on there right now have to be in at least what......6th grade? Anyone younger isn't on the site? I agree that this is very creepy. I don't have a middle schooler yet but I wouldn't be thrilled to find a stranger created any kind of website surrounding my child....and I say that while admitting that I'm not especially "privacy freaky". I have a public YouTube channel for DD but again, I set it up, I monitor it, I control it. It would be weird to stumble across a channel of my kid that someone else set up.

Yes...they're really only interested in higher level/older gymnasts, so that's why you don't see younger kids on there.

 

[B&M's mom]

Thanks for the heads up. I went on the site and found my daughter listed. Someone went to a lot of work to gather info on her. I had to put together a brief bio for a coaches' packet and I didn't have that kind of detail in it. I'm a bit weirded out about this as I've worked hard to keep info about her off the Internet. I know that much of this is public info-the pictures are from the USAG website and her gym but wow. Not sure what I'm going to do about it.

 

[Quadqueen]

An L10 on our team's mom recently discovered her daughter on there as well. She thought it was weird but I don't think she minded too much. I don't know what I would think.

 

[Dr Maleficent]

I'm not a lawyer, but reading the COPPA statement it seemed to be referring to collecting of information via cookies or directly from the child. I wonder if the law is different if the information posted is information that is already publicly available on the internet and has been gathered together (like Wikipedia for example). I'm in no way condoning the site, as I would be shocked and dismayed if I found my kids on it, I'm just wondering if this is how they are allowed to do it?

 

[profmom]

Having an exact birth date out there and readily available is a terrible idea, as it makes identity theft so much easier. If my child were on that site and that info were posted, I would demand that they take it down immediately and pursue legal action if they did not.

 

[wallinbl]

Having an exact birth date out there and readily available is a terrible idea, as it makes identity theft so much easier. If my child were on that site and that info were posted, I would demand that they take it down immediately and pursue legal action if they did not.

Date of birth is probably already out there. Two of DD's four meets so far this spring have published rosters, and the rosters include name, birth date, USAG #, etc.

 

[gothgymmom]

I tried googling my DD's name...If I used her full name, it just brought up my FB page..If I did just her first and middle name though, it brings up a porn star lol...very disconcerting lol.

 

[profmom]

Date of birth is probably already out there. Two of DD's four meets so far this spring have published rosters, and the rosters include name, birth date, USAG #, etc.

At least on the boys' side, public posting of birth dates is a violation of USAG policy. Hard to imagine this isn't true on the girls' side as well.

 

[cbifoja]

I tried googling my DD's name...If I used her full name, it just brought up my FB page..If I did just her first and middle name though, it brings up a porn star lol...very disconcerting lol.

Which I thought was AGAINST USAG policy. I thought that gyms were not allowed to publish meet results that showed the birthdates of the gymnasts. Now, I could totally be wrong, but I thought I read that somewhere.

 

[coachmolly]

I am pretty sure there is a relatively new (within the last 5ish years) USAG policy that does indeed say that score sheets with full birthdates cannot be publicly posted online.
I agree that the information posted does not go far beyond what is available across the web on various sites (meet scores, gym name, approximate age, videos, etc.), however it does compile it in one place, making it much more accessible and provides exact birthdays which can cause some serious problems if they get into the wrong hands. Likely, it's not going to create problems that weren't already there, but you don't know a specific child's circumstances unless you are the parent/coach. There are children out there who have been adopted, in foster care, or involved in some type of nasty custody battle whose parents/guardians are going to great lengths to protect their child as much as possible. Even the little bits of information compiled on these types of sites can be enough to put them/their families in a bad place. I know these are rare occurrences, but it does happen.
Beyond the fact that it compiles info in one easily accessible place, the thing that gets me is the lack of consent. Most gyms that post pictures on their websites/facebook pages require a consent form signed by parents before they will post photos of a child. That's clearly not being done here.

Edited to say, I just tried to go on this page from a school computer and it was blocked and labeled as "pornography." That really has nothing to do with this conversation, nor do I think it is that type of site in any way, just thought that if perhaps the people who run it are reading this thread I would call it to their attention as I'm sure that's something they would want to look into.