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.)

 

[Gymgirl84]

I agree with most that has been said, work what you think is appropriate, even if it gives you worse scores for a while.

 

[TravelingCoach]

I could leave the country as I’ve been here by choice but I love this country and I’ve watched the standard grow over the years that I have been here. I can’t think of anywhere else I would rather live and I want nothing more than to see this sport grow here. This is a small country and we all pretty much know each other within the sport. I know that I’m not the only one that has the same concerns but I also know that it isn’t really the norm for people to speak up about things in general as fear of retribution exists.

I’m not new to the sport or idealistic. I’d like to consider myself a realist and I have regularly used this broken system to my advantage over the years. My use of the system has only reinforced my idea that this system needs to be changed. There is no growth or development in the system that we have and it only weakens the athletes and coaches. Not to mention that our selection procedures can potentially have such a harmful effect on the psyches of the children participating in our “elite” pathway.

My post was made in frustration and anger after too many drinks before
my day off. My formal letter has been made with care and precision. What use that formal letter will be is yet to be seen, but I hope there is a change. These children deserve better than what they are being provided.