WAG NY Times article about abuse at Everest

[mom2newgymnast]

It would probably also help if a gymnast changing gyms while being recruited wasn't looked at as a red flag to college coaches.

I don't get this either. It seems like it should be a red flag about the gym they left, not the gymnast! The system is so messed up.

 

[mom2newgymnast]

I was referring to parents of gymnasts at Everest. We've had families from that gym end up at our gym (mostly through relocation) as well as some interactions with elite athletes from that gym. They have a very harsh reputation at least in our neck of the woods.

Ah, ok. We've been to the Everest Challenge, their compulsory meet they host, every year and I never heard that. I will say that Ashton Locklear was at the meet signing autographs and giving out awards for the past couple of years and she didn't look all that happy to be there.

It's awful. I wonder what will happen now to the gym since he is the head coach/owner. Terrible situation.

 

[DebraNC]

Ah, ok. We've been to the Everest Challenge, their compulsory meet they host, every year and I never heard that. I will say that Ashton Locklear was at the meet signing autographs and giving out awards for the past couple of years and she didn't look all that happy to be there.

It's awful. I wonder what will happen now to the gym since he is the head coach/owner. Terrible situation.

Ashton is one of the elite gymnasts I was referring to, so glad she is out of there. There are a lot of gyms in the area, but not at that same level. I do feel so bad for all those gymnasts.

 

[OpGymMom]

There is a mom on a facebook group who has her young daughter at this gym and she is defending him, saying she has never seen anything and he has been nothing but supportive of her daughter (who I think is a level 5 or something).

 

[OpGymMom]

There is a mom on a facebook group who has her young daughter at this gym and she is defending him, saying she has never seen anything and he has been nothing but supportive of her daughter (who I think is a level 5 or something).

He doesn’t coach the level 5’s at Everest. Parents should report what they see, hear, and what their gymnasts tell them when it happens regardless of what scholarship is on the line or what they think their child might miss out on in gymnastics. The Nassar abuse should be a lesson to all of us. We all need to act to protect our children and others’ children. It is not our job to investigate. Report to USAG, Safe Sport, AND law enforcement in the jurisdiction you are in. Assault (and sexual abuse) is illegal regardless of whether it occurs in a sport training situation. The more reports there are, the less the chance of the reports being dismissed.

 

[Flippin'A]

According to the article, USAG passed the report on to SafeSport... and based on the commercials during Championships, SafeSport does handle physical and emotional abuse too???

How we fix it is by being willing to accept 3rd party witness reports without expecting MINORS who witnessed the same thing to necessarily come forth AND still being willing to INVESTIGATE the claim.
It the case of the slap, it would have helped if the parents hadnt originally been willing to write a letter claiming it never happened. NOT MY OPINION, but... Them coming forward now, in a court of law, they would be deemed not credible because they either lied then or are lying now - either way, they are "liars."

It would probably also help if a gymnast changing gyms while being recruited wasn't looked at as a red flag to college coaches.

I'm glad this stuff is at least going to safe sport. For some reason I thought I remembered hearing that they were only handling sexual abuse claims but I can't remember where I heard that.

And the issues, once again, go back to the culture of fear. The parents were too afraid to admit what really happened because they were afraid their daughter would be blacklisted. They did what they believed was best for their individual daughter and didn't work toward a better future for every child who might go through Everest in the future... as a parent I totally understand that mindset but it just has to change. And I absolutely agree about accepting third party reports. Claims can't just be dropped because people with so much to lose say an incident never happened. It doesn't mean every coach who's accused is banned, but cases like this have to be looked into further.

 

[kiwi2406]

No words ... that is disgusting

 

[amiandjim]

He doesn’t coach the level 5’s at Everest. Parents should report what they see, hear, and what their gymnasts tell them when it happens regardless of what scholarship is on the line or what they think their child might miss out on in gymnastics. The Nassar abuse should be a lesson to all of us. We all need to act to protect our children and others’ children. It is not our job to investigate. Report to USAG, Safe Sport, AND law enforcement in the jurisdiction you are in. Assault (and sexual abuse) is illegal regardless of whether it occurs in a sport training situation. The more reports there are, the less the chance of the reports being dismissed.

She said he coaches her sometimes in the mornings.

 

[Texastwister]

There is a mom on a facebook group who has her young daughter at this gym and she is defending him, saying she has never seen anything and he has been nothing but supportive of her daughter (who I think is a level 5 or something).

I don’t think it’s appropriate to quote what other parents are saying on different pages. It’s second hand information and gossip.
I read that post and she did not defend him but was shocked because she had never witnessed this type of behavior. Very different!!!

 

[Flipfloppy]

According to the article, USAG passed the report on to SafeSport... and based on the commercials during Championships, SafeSport does handle physical and emotional abuse too???

The Center for SafeSport must handle any case that involves allegations of sexual misconduct; they can choose to handle cases that involve physical and emotional abuse. If a case involves both sexual misconduct and other forms of abuse, they will often exercise jurisdiction over the entire case. Typically, allegations of emotional and physical abuse are heard by an NGB's SafeSport Committee.

 

[gasrgoose]

If you see or hear about physical (sexual or violent) abuse, call the police! It's crazy that so many people have witnessed abuse and not called the police. Who cares what the USAG says or does, if the reports are true these are criminal acts.

 

[Muddlethru]

I think we're in a culture of both extremes, fear of being blacklisted, hence doing and saying nothing and fear of being abused, hence saying and doing something at the slightest or misinterpreted actions of another. There are just as many wrongly accused individuals whose lives and livelihoods are ruined as there are individuals who get away with despicable acts. Rumors spread like wildfire and is exaggerated as it is passed from one mouth to another. The situation above about a coach kicking a gymnast could have started with a coach positioning a gymnast with his foot, to kicking the gymnast. A pat could be misinterpreted as a slap or some kind of inappropriate touching. Not saying that this is the case in the situations stated above, but it can and has happened. I am just as opposed to condemning someone based on hearsay as looking the other way when a blatant act of abuse is not reported. My point is unless it is your own personal experience, it truly is hard to pass judgment and assume something that was told to you actually happened in the matter it was reported.

 

[coachmolly]

Something I have noticed, though out of a very very small sample of gyms/coaches, is that the already conscientious coaches have become even more so with all of the Safe Sport information while those who had a tendency towards questionable practices/behaviors before have just kept on going the same as before with very little regard for Safe Sport policy- this is speaking purely to things which might cross a line in regards to verbal/emotional abuse not sexual. And with those things being so incredibly hard to prove (short of Safe Sport sending secret agents into gyms to observe unannounced and unnoticed) and so subjective, I think it's going to be a long road to really making that culture shift in the gym world.

 

[MILgymFAM]

Something I have noticed, though out of a very very small sample of gyms/coaches, is that the already conscientious coaches have become even more so with all of the Safe Sport information while those who had a tendency towards questionable practices/behaviors before have just kept on going the same as before with very little regard for Safe Sport policy- this is speaking purely to things which might cross a line in regards to verbal/emotional abuse not sexual. And with those things being so incredibly hard to prove (short of Safe Sport sending secret agents into gyms to observe unannounced and unnoticed) and so subjective, I think it's going to be a long road to really making that culture shift in the gym world.

Maybe a secret shopper type of program wouldn’t be a bad idea at all.

 

[gymdog]

Something I have noticed, though out of a very very small sample of gyms/coaches, is that the already conscientious coaches have become even more so with all of the Safe Sport information while those who had a tendency towards questionable practices/behaviors before have just kept on going the same as before with very little regard for Safe Sport policy- this is speaking purely to things which might cross a line in regards to verbal/emotional abuse not sexual. And with those things being so incredibly hard to prove (short of Safe Sport sending secret agents into gyms to observe unannounced and unnoticed) and so subjective, I think it's going to be a long road to really making that culture shift in the gym world.

It does seem like self awareness is an issue for some of these people.

 

[tomtnt]

Oh my. Bunch of gymnast posting their support for Han and Everest on instagram. Search #evereststrong

Emily schild
Haley Bryant

 

[AlijahsMom]

Oh my. Bunch of gymnast posting their support for Han and Everest on instagram. Search #evereststrong

Emily schild
Haley Bryant

I’m in the thick of a debate on one of those accounts and it’s sad to see how many are bashing to accusers.

 

[lovofu]

He doesn’t coach the level 5’s at Everest. Parents should report what they see, hear, and what their gymnasts tell them when it happens regardless of what scholarship is on the line or what they think their child might miss out on in gymnastics. The Nassar abuse should be a lesson to all of us. We all need to act to protect our children and others’ children. It is not our job to investigate. Report to USAG, Safe Sport, AND law enforcement in the jurisdiction you are in. Assault (and sexual abuse) is illegal regardless of whether it occurs in a sport training situation. The more reports there are, the less the chance of the reports being dismissed.

AND if you report it to the owners and coaches they sometimes do nothing and then the parents who don't want to mess up THEIR daughters good experience attack you and your daughter to the point you have no choice to leave. Even though behind the scenes they admit that they have seen others being verbally abused but it hasn't happened to THEIR daughter so they won't come forward.

 

[TumbleTimes4]

Interesting...Schilds pretty much called those that have come forward liars. Could she potentially lose her college scholarship over that, especially if he is eventually suspended?

 

[gymdog]

Interesting...Schilds pretty much called those that have come forward liars. Could she potentially lose her college scholarship over that, especially if he is eventually suspended?

Probably not? I don't think it's exactly the best thing to do but I don't think she should lose her scholarship over it. And she may processing things or under pressure herself.