Women What would you do?

[TravelingCoach]

What would you do if you were convinced that your governing body was trying to kill the sport from the inside? If the person in charge of your national squad was actively setting qualification requirements, for children as young as 8, that couldn’t be met by anyone that just competed at Baku? If you had two competitive pathways, neither of them were progressive, and 6 year old Level 1’s were being judged on FIG cast height requirements? If a Level 7 gymnast could make it to Level 10 without having to learn a single new skill? If your “High Performance” pathway forced you to teach completely useless skills? If you had to only work basics while in the best facility in your country during national squad trainings?

 

[Geoffrey Taucer]

There was a time when I'd have written letters, reached out to people, tried to make waves and convince the important people to change things.

These days? *shrug* I just like to coach technique. The laws of physics don't care about competitive requirements, they don't care about scores, they don't change every four years; therefore, efficient technique doesn't really care what the comp rules are. The kids score however they score, they place however they place, they get whatever skills they get, but no matter what happens, I'm just teaching technique.

 

[Dahlialover]

When I have worked is flawed organizations with misguided managers, I have found that my best approach is to focus on doing my work according to my own personal standards of quality. Train your gymnasts well and don’t worry about trying to comply with every whim from the national governing body. Don't try to meet unrealistic standards. Set realistic goals for your gymnasts and explain them to them. Do your own evaluations with your gymnasts and celebrate their accomplishments. Minimize participation in formal competitions, if they do not helpful . In essence, make The best of it.

 

[Geoffrey Taucer]

(The alternative, of course, is to move elsewhere. Don't know how realistic that is for you.)