WAG Ohashi blog on body shaming

[PandallKip]

Point 1: yes , as recent as in the last 5 years so that is why I say that the behavior is still alive and well in NCAA. And she wasn't the only one of her friends that this happened to...most of her friends ( if not all)who did NCAA experienced it to some degree...and it ranged from kids competing up and down the rankings.. she had friends on top 5-10 teams to middle of the pack teams and even Ivy league teams and all had some form of body shaming all 4 years. Some times it wasn't outright , "you're fat" but things like:
* the coaches not buying leotards bigger than adult small and telling girls to "deal with it and fit into them or don't compete" ;
* not giving girls their school gear "to keep" until they "looked like a body the university would be proud to have in our gear" ( they would have the girls wear the school shirts/tanks/shorts etc for a photo shoot where everyone is smiling for the camera at "getting their gear" , only to have it taken back when the photographer left...)
* buying the gear in smaller sizes than the gymnasts they recruit and telling the team "sorry, Nike/Under Armour/ Adidas etc doesn't make these in larger sizes"....sorry, but they do if you order them in larger than Adult XS and Adult small.
* weighing them before practice and posting the weights on the locker room wall for all to see.

Point 2: We had no idea that this could happen either as we really hadn't experienced this in club. We had one coach for about a 2 year time period that could get a little bit edgy on the weight/food issue but to their credit, the HC at that gym shut him down and told him to knock it off. Otherwise, my girls did well in their sport with the bodies they have and no shaming (or bullying because that's what it really is) until NCAA...and boy was that an eye opener. It was a hellacious 4 years from a parent point of view as I dreaded any contact my daughter had with those coaches because they were just awful people. I literally was counting the days until her last meet from sophomore year on down...it was awful. When we did recruiting , round 2 with my younger daughter, I ruled out many a school and the ones we went to I flat out asked for a list of former parents I could speak with about their program....no list given; not interested in your team.
I'm happy to report that my daughter did survive her 4 years but my heart breaks even writing that because that's not how I envision one's college experience...it shouldn't be that you "survive" horrible people ; it should be a great time in your life. She did enjoy her school but it seriously could have been a much better experience....

So why aren't these programs reported and outed?

 

[Gymmamabear]

Oh gosh this whole thread. YIKES!!!! And here I thought if my daughter got to a D1 school this would be when it got "fun". They act like it's so fun the entire time. I had no clue it was awful. Hopefully not at all the schools????

 

[ECMama]

This blog by Ohashi is exactly why I was concerned when Valeri was named NTC....there have been rumblings for years that WOGA treated it's gymnasts exactly like Katelyn described...and he's now head of the National Team, hmmmm. He says he's changed in his "approach" (ah, is that what you call it) but I'm not thoroughly convinced. I think the Simones, Alys, and Lauries who aren't rail thin and ARE successful have helped change the climate to a degree but the jury is still out on the NTC....let's hope he's as changed as he says and 10 years down the road we don't have to read another heartbreaking blog by another body shamed gymnast....

I have serious doubts that Valeri has changed or will ever change. He's an egomaniac who's done this to many of his gymnasts, and he's been rewarded for his results with this new position. He'll say what he thinks is necessary to keep the position while learning to be more subtle in his approach.

 

[Faith]

Yulia lipnitskaya has retired from ice skating aged 19 due to a rumoured battle with anorexia.

In dd's sport some coaches are still very focussed on "control" of the body, and i've seen them just stop coaching extremely talented 9 year olds who won't diet. There is some very clever psychology, talk of control, self discipline, using the peer group to pressure each other into modifying eating habits.

Dd is a power athlete and will need to watch her strength to weight ratio, especially as she starts puberty and after when her growth levels out. She does get regular visits to the nutritionist as part of her GB squad training, and fortunately they are sensible enough to focus on health, fuel and peak performance, not body shape or weight.

In UK gymnastics our safeguarding policy means coaches aren't supposed to talk about weight, and you can report coaches for doing so. if you have an issue, you talk to the parents.

 

[BachFlyer]

Yulia lipnitskaya has retired from ice skating aged 19 due to a rumoured battle with anorexia.

In UK gymnastics our safeguarding policy means coaches aren't supposed to talk about weight, and you can report coaches for doing so. if you have an issue, you talk to the parents.

I know nothing is perfect, but it seems that USAG could stand to take a lesson from you folks over the pond. Seems they have figured out that it's good to be cautions when it comes to child health and safety.

 

[bookworm]

I have serious doubts that Valeri has changed or will ever change. He's an egomaniac who's done this to many of his gymnasts, and he's been rewarded for his results with this new position. He'll say what he thinks is necessary to keep the position while learning to be more subtle in his approach.

Bingo ECMama....this post is spot on. I totally agree that this will be his approach. After watching how USAG has handled the debacle of Nassar, a blog by Ohashi on body shaming is chump change for them unfortunately....