WAG Kathy Klages coaching at Twistars!

[raenndrops]

Given the media backlash, I would guess that that schedule (assuming it was authentic) has been thrown in the trash and she won't be there this week.

Unfortunately, it shows a continued lack of focus on safety in this sport. There needs to be a massive change in culture in these "elite" areas of this sport thst our children love.

I agree about everything about changes needed in the elite culture and to do with Geddart and Klages, ESPECIALLY IF this schedule is authentic (Which, IF IT IS, it sucks!). However, there are red flags for me in the schedule - it looks like something I could have typed up (but would have done a better job).
There is no consistency in the format for the times... some use colons and some don't. Some have a dash between the times and some don't. Two girls come in, but apparently never leave. Another leaves, but no clue when she arrives. On Thursday, one coach is there, but no time is given - just who she is there for.
It ONLY has Wednesday and Thursday. There is too much space above for it to have Tuesday above Wednesday (based on the space between Wed and Thurs).
And Gym "close" Sept 1-4??? Isn't the gym the same distance every day? When our gym closes, the sign mentioning it says gym "closed" - I make mistakes in writing or shorten things to textspeak, but not on official work"stuffs."

 

[amiandjim]

I also noticed that everyone else was listed by first name but she was listed as Kathy Klages, which is odd.

 

[raenndrops]

I also noticed that everyone else was listed by first name but she was listed as Kathy Klages, which is odd.

And they spelled it Kathie too.

 

[notthatmom]

I agree about everything about changes needed in the elite culture and to do with Geddart and Klages, ESPECIALLY IF this schedule is authentic (Which, IF IT IS, it sucks!). However, there are red flags for me in the schedule - it looks like something I could have typed up (but would have done a better job).
There is no consistency in the format for the times... some use colons and some don't. Some have a dash between the times and some don't. Two girls come in, but apparently never leave. Another leaves, but no clue when she arrives. On Thursday, one coach is there, but no time is given - just who she is there for.
It ONLY has Wednesday and Thursday. There is too much space above for it to have Tuesday above Wednesday (based on the space between Wed and Thurs).
And Gym "close" Sept 1-4??? Isn't the gym the same distance every day? When our gym closes, the sign mentioning it says gym "closed" - I make mistakes in writing or shorten things to textspeak, but not on official work"stuffs."

I was thinking this too. All of us here could type that up right now, take a picture of it, and send it into the news.

Not defending Geddert in any way at all (and I know you aren't either). But if this were a court room, there's no way this would hold up as solid evidence.

 

[azara]

@dunno, if you speak for USAG, you must recognise the severe misjudgements and incompetence at best, and deliberate protection for child abusers at worst, that the organisation has undertaken. There is no excuse for the scale and breadth of abuse. How do you defend them, still? Do you still defend them? And I know you can't necessarily answer this right now, but if you can: will USAG make serious, fundamental, bottom-up reforms to alter this toxic culture and make every attempt to right past wrongs?

 

[l.c.o]

Wellll maybe we're in the minority here, but at our gym they tend to coach first and format documents second. We love the gym and coaches, but let's just say my former editor self occasionally gets heart palpitations.

Not that this means the document is authentic, LOL. Obviously, it doesn't.

 

[FlippinPrincess]

And they spelled it Kathie too.

Pretty sure it is spelled "Kathie."

 

[FlippinPrincess]

Wellll maybe we're in the minority here, but at our gym they tend to coach first and format documents second. We love the gym and coaches, but let's just say my former editor self occasionally gets heart palpitations.

Not that this means the document is authentic, LOL. Obviously, it doesn't.

Our gym is unfortunately the same and I've thought about offering to be their proof reader!

While the document may not be "authentic," Geddart himself finally admitted she was filling in for a few days so I don't think it really matters. Regardless of whether this schedule is legit or not, he's an absolutely disgusting human being.

I can't believe families aren't running from that place. Gross!

 

[gymgal93]

Looks like the schedule was legit...

On Tuesday morning, Geddert told the State Journal in a text message, "She filled in a couple days last week ... was scheduled to cover a few days this week but other staff became available. She is not scheduled to assist in the future. This was a rare situation with several regular staff being unavailable for a couple days."

http://www.lansingstatejournal.com/...coach-kathy-klages-not-working-gym/610255001/

 

[Ginger]

Dunno also confirmed she was there

"and she's there until they get back from Italy."

This comment is on previous page of this thread, 9th from the top.

 

[duyetanh]

Looks like the schedule was legit...

On Tuesday morning, Geddert told the State Journal in a text message, "She filled in a couple days last week ... was scheduled to cover a few days this week but other staff became available. She is not scheduled to assist in the future. This was a rare situation with several regular staff being unavailable for a couple days."

http://www.lansingstatejournal.com/...coach-kathy-klages-not-working-gym/610255001/

Ok, seriously...wth....it makes it sound like she was just plucked from the sky to fill in...um...HELLO!
Pick someone else to fill in. DUH.

 

[notthatmom]

Ok, seriously...wth....it makes it sound like she was just plucked from the sky to fill in...um...HELLO!
Pick someone else to fill in. DUH.

Right!?! Like she was the ONLY other person in the world available to coach for a few days? Ridiculous excuse.

 

[coachmolly]

I agree about everything about changes needed in the elite culture and to do with Geddart and Klages, ESPECIALLY IF this schedule is authentic (Which, IF IT IS, it sucks!). However, there are red flags for me in the schedule - it looks like something I could have typed up (but would have done a better job).
There is no consistency in the format for the times... some use colons and some don't. Some have a dash between the times and some don't. Two girls come in, but apparently never leave. Another leaves, but no clue when she arrives. On Thursday, one coach is there, but no time is given - just who she is there for.
It ONLY has Wednesday and Thursday. There is too much space above for it to have Tuesday above Wednesday (based on the space between Wed and Thurs).
And Gym "close" Sept 1-4??? Isn't the gym the same distance every day? When our gym closes, the sign mentioning it says gym "closed" - I make mistakes in writing or shorten things to textspeak, but not on official work"stuffs."

Most of our office stuff is very informal- things someone either quickly jotted down on paper. It would be impressive if someone took the time to actually type something like this out where I work. It's possible an office person/coach got a series of texts from the Gedderts and copy/pasted them into a word file and printed without further formatting.
As for her last name (someone else mentioned that), it's probably because she's not a regular staff person, so a last name was used to provide clarity.
Kathryn is John Geddert's wife.

 

[z2akids]

Apparently Geddert was using a very narrow definition of the term "currently" when he was quoted yesterday. She has no "current" affiliation.

Wonder if this is the thought process from his vacation - Oh, you all care that she coached last week and was scheduled for later this week? Well, I didnt lie. Last week and later this week isn't currently. Oops, could I dig my business further into a hole? My gym is still full, so whg should I care? Now that the media knows, I found someone else for this week since for some reason the media thinks this is a big deal.

 

[l.c.o]

Another article on this: https://amp.lansingstatejournal.com/amp/616966001, in case anyone is interested.

 

[duyetanh]

Oh lovely. Blahhhhhhh.

 

[cftmoonlight]

I wonder if he will have a witch hunt to find out who took the pic of the schedule and outed him to the media...

 

[bookworm]

I wonder if he will have a witch hunt to find out who took the pic of the schedule and outed him to the media...

He's such an attention seeker, he probably leaked it himself....some people like all the publicity they can get, good or bad....

 

[Never You Mind]

As a parent of a Twistars gymnast for five years, I can tell you that the errors and inconsistencies in the posted schedule are entirely in keeping with the quality of any written output from Twistars. You should read the almost-entirely John Geddert-written newsletter sometime. When I saw it, I assumed that everyone else had first names only and Klages had her full name listed because she was new to the gym and would be unfamiliar to the other staff; everyone else routinely went by first names only.

My son left Twistars last spring for another gym. It's just far enough away that instead of driving back and forth twice, whichever one of us takes him to gymnastics now stays in the area during practice. My partner and I both find we can make good use of the time--we both do the kind of work that can be done with a laptop in a coffeeshop. We have four kids and I find that I have no trouble filling a four-hour stretch of alone time two or three times a week, even if all I do is sit and read.

Two of his former boys team teammates from Twistars have recently switched to the same gym. The more kids switch, the more opportunities we have for carpooling!

My own very negative experiences with John Geddert suggest to me that he is so narcissistic and ego-driven, so blind to his own faults, that he may well not recognize that he has done anything wrong or inappropriate. We were looking to leave the gym to avoid having to continue to deal with him even before the Larry Nassar story broke, and we have found better boys' coaching, a much better gym environment, and no Booster Club to siphon a couple thousand dollars of our money away in favor of the higher-level girls team members. At the new gym, we pay directly for the meet fees that were covered at Twistars, and the total cost is about $400 less than our Booster Club dues at Twistars. There are a lot of reasons we're glad to have made the switch, and for us they more than make up for the inconvenience of driving farther to the gym.

 

[bookworm]

Never You Mind, good for you! That was exactly our experience when we too left the "powerhouse gym" with its Olympic coach and Olympians....we no longer had to fund the 2 out of every 4 weeks at the Ranch, the coach continually missing meets because of the demands of coaching for the Olympics (main coach never went to States, made 1 appearance at Regionals and witched the whole time, went once to JOS and told us, the paying through the nose for this parents, that we should feel bad for taking him away from coaching others with "better goals" aND the olympics were 2 years away then....we moved at the end of that month) . We went from meet/ coach fees of $3800 per kid (I had 2 there) for about 5-6 meets because the meets were always a plane flight, and the coach flew first class, and last minute.

Fast forward new gym, where we spent our last 6 years, I too camped out up there for the duration of the practice because it was 200 miles RT....great coaches, pay only your normal meet fees (about $800 a year) and when the girls made it to JOS, it was zero extra ....the gym said "parents pay enough all year, the gymnast's highest achievement shouldn't be rewarded with more fees, and besides, this is a great advertisement for our gym".....BREATH OF FRESH AIR!

I put over 350,000 miles on our cars in all those years and camped out many an hour waiting but it was all worth because our last gym was a delight and a real credit to the sport.