What a bummer. Gymgal......I understand your concern, as I too worry about big brother, but I refuse to react first with fear and paranoia over USAG taking up a role in defining minimums and who meets them.
As far as self regulation is concerned....it doesn't work in the rare instance of a club owner who only wants to "cash-in" at the expense of everyone else, kids, parents, staff, and other clubs in the community. Self regulation fails also, in the case of ignorance, where a club owner or coach has no clue about the complexities of the sport.
I recognize that no one program can fit all gymnasts, no matter how qualified it may be for gymnasts at that level, and that individuals need to seek out the program that is right for them rather than relying on a ranking system. Where I struggle, is with the hapless individual who has insufficient background and information to make an informed decision. I wish these individuals could at least feel that if a club says they have a level 7 program, that they are indeed (the club) aware of the needs of the gymnasts with respect to facility, staff, and safety, and are willing and able to provide them.
I am hoping that we could find a way, somehow, to prevent kids from being "tossed" through" level 7 or 8 skills for an entire summer, getting minor and major injuries along the way, only to hear from some imposter that they just aren't listening, working hard enough, or talented enough to be ready for competition. I would like to never see a kid, who can barely do a half-on, double spotted, repeatedly tossed through a tsuk, and landing time and again in a heap while being advised that the're not "blocking" properly. It just seems so destructive, and even though rare, it happens. And for the child that it happens to....it is not rare, it's a 100% ordeal where they are taught to blame themselves for what they don't realize is the gym clubs ignorance, apathy, or greed.
So I'll continue to hope that some impartial, efficient, process can be put in place to at least keep kids from joining clubs claiming to have an optional program, where they pay their dues (the kids) financially, emotionally, and physically as they progress from level five to seven, only to find that they are not in the land of Oz, and that the person hiding behind the curtain has niether the will nor the ability to successfully coach past level 6.
So while I would not rank them top to bottom, I would ask them to at least pass a simple sceening, that could take as little as 90 minutes, to keep kids from being broken physically and emotionally. In a world where parents hope to trust, and kids want to beleive, it just seems fair.
The poster does not condone, allow, nor participate in the mis-treatment of animal. Any reference to crows and undesirable gymnastics facilities in the same sentence has been merely co-incidental, and in no way should be considered an insult to crows as a species.
