WAG What would decertification mean for us?

[Deleted member 18037]

I still think distracted athletes is a cop out. Really. They compete with lots of people watching, making noise, others competing, music, etc. TO say that athletes are distracted is just a way for the gym to get out of it. If kids are initially distracted, then it is a skill they need to learn, and better to learn in practice.

Ours is wide open. Everwhere. There is a fence between parents and the gym, so we can see and hear everything. The only distracted ones are the ones that are new, or are goign to be distracted anyway.

I love how open and transparent it is.

This too....................

 

[John]

@skschlag couldn't agree more.

 

[LindyHopper]

I still think distracted athletes is a cop out. Really. They compete with lots of people watching, making noise, others competing, music, etc. TO say that athletes are distracted is just a way for the gym to get out of it. If kids are initially distracted, then it is a skill they need to learn, and better to learn in practice.

And put a rule into play that the parents can watch, but if they are calling out, or otherwise trying to get the gymnast's attention, or walk onto the floor without an invitation they will receive one warning. If they continue to be disruptive the parent will be removed from the observation area. You wanna watch your kid, you sit and watch. Leave the coaching to the coaches.

That should take care of any distractions.

 

[skschlag]

And put a rule into play that the parents can watch, but if they are calling out, or otherwise trying to get the gymnast's attention, or walk onto the floor without an invitation they will receive one warning. If they continue to be disruptive the parent will be removed from the observation area. You wanna watch your kid, you sit and watch. Leave the coaching to the coaches.

That should take care of any distractions.

Yes. It is so simple. Much better than outright banning parents!

 

[Flyaway]

Yes. It is so simple. Much better than outright banning parents!

Yes, to me this is common sense!

 

[Sk8ermaiden]

Both gyms we have attended have totally open viewing. At both I have seen a parent asked to leave for the remainder of practice for deliberately distracting their child. Problem solved. I totally understand that most parents can not take their kids to camp all the time, but they need to be able to if they want, and IMO, there need to be team parents there. There need to be adults present all the time, who are not on the payroll of the ranch, who have no stakes in the game, and whose only priority is the well being of the kids.

Also, the whole, some people had great experiences at the ranch line? WHO CARES. Some girls having great experiences does not matter. It is a place that, since it's very inception, has allowed abusers free reign and created a culture where no one felt they could speak out against it. The girls who did not get in any way abused were LUCKY, nothing more. Sure, maybe someone else could take over the ranch and make it a fairy wonderland of gymnastics, but most people who have been following this story (including the athletes abused there) believe USAG needs to prove its commitment to change with a fresh start, somewhere where the entire legacy of the premises is not abuse and pain. Its very location in the woods in the middle of nowhere has become a symbol of girls being abused, far away from anyone who could see and help.

Saying the ranch isn't all bad because some people had good experiences there is like saying Larry Nassar isn't all bad because he didn't abuse ALL his patients. From what I can tell, he was actually an excellent sports doctor when he was doctoring people properly. But that is not something you are really going to ever hear again. No one is going to extol his virtues. He's a monster, and you're only going to ever hear him called a monster. The ranch is the other monster in this story.

 

[munchkin3]

I remember suggesting mirrored tint on the windows...athletes can use the mirrors, and not see out- parents can see in....... gym owners laughed in my face.

 

[3rd_time_around]

My statement was that I would. My daughter hasn't been invited to a camp so we haven't had to deal with this but if she ever does I would have no issues sending her with her coaches. She is already with them more than she is with me. They are like a second family to us.

As would I. I have in the past, I would in the future. Like you said and I've said in the past--unless there will be a fund set up to pay for parents to travel AND miss work who can't afford it because they aren't independently wealthy, they will be discriminating against a large portion of gymnasts. What do they expect parents to do? Just give up their daughter's dream or tell her "sorry, we aren't rich, so you can't go to training camps or away meets. Sorry." They need to find a way to help out individual gymnasts who won't have other girls to travel with or who's parents can't afford to miss work and/or travel as well.

I know bad things happened, but that doesn't mean it will happen everywhere. Just like a family member, I trust her coach(es) with her life, and to travel with her. Not to stay in a room together, but travel? yes. We all can't stop living our lives or live in fear of something happening just because something did happen.

 

[3rd_time_around]

Oh.. I get that..but a coach traveling alone with a gymnast is no longer allowed. But multiple...that's different.

Seriously, HOW can they enforce that across hundreds of gyms and thousands of athletes? And if the parent signs a waiver.

 

[skschlag]

Seriously, HOW can they enforce that across hundreds of gyms and thousands of athletes? And if the parent signs a waiver.

If they get caught they are violating the safe support policy and I believe can be in danger of losing their certification. I would have to re-read it. There are creative ways. Travel as a state or region. . with other gyms. But in reality, a coach and gymnast should never be alone together, not even in a car. Waiver or not

 

[reluctant]

If they get caught they are violating the safe support policy and I believe can be in danger of losing their certification. I would have to re-read it. There are creative ways. Travel as a state or region. . with other gyms. But in reality, a coach and gymnast should never be alone together, not even in a car. Waiver or not

And if you have a coach who is willing to game the Safe Sport policy, that's a major problem.

 

[2gymmies]

What about on a plane? What if a parent takes the kid to the airport the coach and kid get on the plane and then coach and kid meets other coach and kid at destination airport?

 

[skschlag]

I know our gym would not allow a gymnast to travel wtih a coach. Period. There is no ambiguity about it at all. Safe sport says they cannot travel together just gymnast and coach. I suppose people will split hairs, and try to deal with it, so we will have to see how it all plays out...

 

[strawberries]

Out of curiosity, what if a coach and gymnast accidentally end up on the same flight? Are they in trouble?

We have had meets lately where we found out at the airport that coaches were on the same flight, and I wondered if my daughter had been flying alone, would somebody be in violation?

Realistically, parents who can’t afford to travel with their gymnasts each month will end up sending the, alon

 

[strawberries]

Sending the gymnast alone*

 

[skschlag]

Maybe there does not need to be monthly camps away from home in order to have a successful team. Maybe decentralization is the key. As stated in another thread, then the kids see their own doctors, parents are around, etc.

Change is hard, but necessary

 

[rjb123]

I guess for me, I would be uncomfortable asking a coach to violate safe sport. And i would be uncomfortable with a coach willing to violate safe sport. I would find another way. I understand the working/ unable to take time off thing- trust me! However, if it had to be done I would find a way before compromising a policy that *I* feel is important, AND one that the coaches have agreed to follow.

 

[FlippinLilysMom]

Maybe there does not need to be monthly camps away from home in order to have a successful team. Maybe decentralization is the key. As stated in another thread, then the kids see their own doctors, parents are around, etc.

Change is hard, but necessary

So no more regionals, westerns, easterns, nationals???? that seems pretty extreme.

 

[Sk8ermaiden]

Those aren't camps...?

 

[skschlag]

So no more regionals, westerns, easterns, nationals???? that seems pretty extreme.

Those are not monthly camps. those are once a year competitions. For me, those are worked into my days off so I can attend (should he qualify). Last year I was docked pay to attend. Worth every penny we had to save.

I am talking about the camps.