Search Results for: Standards

242: Standards

February 28, 2017 by GymCasticCrew 10 Comments

LISTEN HERE

IN THE NEWS

In the news, Uncle Tim, Spencer, and Jessica chat about:

Melbourne World Cup
- Kenzo, Ting Ting and Sanne!
NCAA
- Beligerent fans at Utah (6:25)?
- Chalkography rebellion!
- Crack or Correct:
  - Every single routine from Utah/UCLA. The funniest, Peng’s 9.825.
Winter Cup (21:01)
- Yul is amazing. End of story.
- Anthony McCullum’s vault is gorgeous.
- Chris Brooks won his only event, HB
- Donell Whittenburg did his triple pike dismount on HB
- There were a lot of Winter Cup-ness moments, AKA injuries and crashes
- Watch every single routine here
News and assignments for the American women!
- New seniors intro video
- American Cup – Ragan Smith and Riley McCusker

THIS WEEK’S INTERVIEW

Nancy Hogshead-Makar former professor of Sports Law and head of women’s sports advocacy group, Champion Women, joins us to interpret our strong feelings about the Legendres interview from last week’s show. We discuss (36:10):

How did USAG allegedly fail the Legendres?
- Lack of a standard and professional protocol for the entire process
- Focus on individual athlete rather than safety for all future athletes
- Should be given the whistleblower policy in writing and have an advocate (or ombudsman) present to advise them of their rights
What can parents and club owners learn from this?
- Liability falls to the institution when alcohol is involved and your insurance company will probably not cover you.
- Beware the Waiver: Imagine your child is abused, the coach is found guilty and you have agreed to pay for his lawyers
- You’re The Boss: How to talk to kids about permission for physical contact
- Athletes must have permission to say NO to their coaches
- Thinking of an athlete like a solider is inappropriate.
Lack of Oversight
- There is no unified process or government agency that can remove abusers from coaching
- Prisoners have more rights than athletes representing the U.S.
- SafeSport
  - Independent
  - Ethical Firewall between victims and the organization
  - Power to enforce policies
USA Gymnastics Sexual Abuse Investigation Update (1:03:34)
- Fallout from the Legendre interview in last week’s episode
- Vitaly Marinitch reportedly no longer at the Olympic Training Center boys program.
- USAG responds to our episode
- Feedback from the men’s team
- USA Gymnastics failed to report Nassar to the FBI for five weeks
- Sen. Feinstein rebukes USA Gymnastics on sex abuse (again)
- “It’s obviously terrible and it should never have happened, but there is an investigation.” – Aly Raisman
- 150 coaches and officials associated with Olympic governing bodies have been convicted of sex crimes since early 80s
- Government probe of sex abuse prevention in Olympic sports went nowhere
- Three gymnasts went public in this 60 Minutes special
- “Bela Karolyi grabbed my butt and told me to lose it,” Antolin said in an interview
- “Dominique Moceanu says USA Gymnastics, Karolyis ‘Set the Stage’ for ‘Atrocities’ in Physician Sex Abuse Case”

GYMTERNET NEWS

Our weekly roundup of the latest news stories from around the gymternet include (1:24:08):

Jeff Thompson at Penn State finally fired!
Kathy Klages, Dr. Larry Nassar sympathizer and former MSU gymnastics coach was suspended.
Aly Raisman on How Her SI Swim Photoshoot Made Her Feel ‘Confident’
FEEDBACK (1:32:13):
- Why are all the gymnasts getting kidney stones? A possible answer
- Do we talk about politics too much or not enough?

SUPPORT THE SHOW

Join Club Gym Nerd here.
Buy one of our awesome goodies here.

RELATED EPISODES

MORE WAYS TO LISTEN

A Safeguarding Checklist:

12 questions every parent and coach should ask.

January 29, 2019 by GymCasticCrew Leave a Comment

We assume that all children’s activity centers and your local high school are doing the right thing to protect kids from predators, the same way we assume restaurants are following food safety standards. We don’t go into a restaurant and demand to check the kitchen, because the government has already inspected it. Regrettably, even though the US Olympic Committee was created and is governed by a federal statute, there is no agency that oversees how the USOC or national governing bodies like USA Gymnastics are run. While students can take their complaints to the Department of Education; employees can go to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, no comparable government agency oversees athletes. Most countries have a “Minister of Sport” position, but the US does not. Even more unfortunate is the fact that predators always find a way to be near kids, which means parents and coaches looking for a safe environment are not only within their rights, but most definitely should be “checking out the kitchen” in gymnastics training facilities.

The annotated guidelines below, adapted from leading organizations, protect not only the child, but also the staff. Predators can be manipulative, gregarious and very hard to convict. These guidelines help identify and eliminate grooming behavior before it reaches the criminal level. Here’s how to order your gymnastics with a heaping helping of safety!

Questions that everyone should be asking when choosing a school or gym:

* Absolute best practices

+ Bonus best practices for extra points

Club/School Name_____________________________________________Date___________

Spoke With__________________________________________________________________

Are all of your staff (administrative staff, volunteers, cheer, recreational, and competitive coaching staff) USA Gymnastics Professional members in good standing or equivalent?*

USAG professional members must pass a bi-annual background check and take a safety certification course which includes education on safety and preventing sexual abuse. An equivalent would be USA Parkour which at least has safety education.

Are all of your staff CPR and First Aid Safety certified?*

Does everyone who works at the gym (including coaches, volunteers, front desk etc.) have a current criminal background check on file?*

- Does your background check cover both misdemeanors and felony convictions? * _________

If they use the USA Gymnastics background check, it includes both misdemeanor (referred to as “lesser” convictions in their documentation) and felony convictions. Misdemeanors can be sex crimes against children. Remember, a background check does not ensure safety, in the case of a predator, it just means the very high criminal threshold for conviction hasn’t been met. This is why code of conduct that identifies and eliminates grooming behavior must be enforced.

- How often is the background check rerun? _________

Do you have a written policy that clearly defines coach misconduct? Including:*

- Prohibits staff from using electronic communications (including social media) with students or staff members in a way that could be seen as insulting, disruptive, offensive, sexually-explicit, racist, sexist, homophobic, trans-phobic or in any other way that can be construed to be harassment or disparagement of others.
- Prohibits one-on-one transportation of athletes or overnights without a background-checked chaperone/parent.
- Prohibits coach-athlete dating, regardless of age
- Prohibits being alone with an athlete
- Has specific rules about massages and stretching
- Defines and prohibits grooming behavior, emotional, verbal, and physical abuse, bullying, hazing, initiation rituals, harassment, and physical punishment by staff or athletes.

Do you have a safety officer(s) or manager(s) on staff to enforce the misconduct policy; and what do their duties include?+

- They are present in the gym even during private lessons.
- The safety officer(s) duties should include regular equipment checks and maintenance enforcement, as well as ongoing safety training for staff.
- A safety officer should be assigned to every shift, private lessons, and closed team practices.
- Policies without enforcement are useless. The safety officer should be empowered to immediately intervene, document and report inappropriate behavior at all times.
- Is the safety officer’s name and their contact information clearly posted at each session?

Do you allow an athlete to be alone with a staff member?*

The answer to this question should always be NO. Not ever, not anywhere inside the gym or outside of the gym. This does not imply guilt towards a staff member, but merely offers a safe, comfortable environment for the athlete, and the staff member.

Do you have security cameras in the facility?+

Video surveillance can provide an objective record of misconduct and protect both gymnasts and coaches if a question of inappropriate behavior is alleged.

Do you have rules about photography and videography in the gym?

During enrollment the gym should offer you photo release documentation. If you choose not to sign that authorization, your child’s photo may not be used in anything. Their image may not even be in the background for a marketing image. Any photographs or videos of gymnasts and storage of those images should be closely monitored.

Can I watch practice?*

The answer should be yes and please feel free to drop in unannounced. Some teams have rules about parents camping out or creating a gossip-free environment. Those guidelines are great, but parents should be able to drop in to watch.

What is your policy on drug testing or impaired coaching?

If a coach seems drunk, high or just out of sorts, everyone should be trained on what to do about it.

Do you offer education sessions for athletes, parents and coaches to help them identify inappropriate behaviors; what to do if they see it along with a process to report such behaviors?+

- Education on spotting should be offered not only for safety, but also to identify appropriate hand-on-body placement, specifically off limits areas of the body. This will also prevent false accusations by un-educated onlookers.
- The gym should have an open, positive culture with an open door communication policy.

Do you have an independent athlete welfare advocate or athlete protection officer who athletes know they can go to in complete confidence to help them address concerns?+

This is often a parent or booster whose profession requires mandatory reporting of crime or abuse.

Now that you have chosen a gym with safety standards in place, here’s your job:

Never put a single goal above child safety. Putting a meet or medal above all else puts children at risk for abuse.
Listen to your child. Just as you ask your child to demonstrate respect for their coach, offer your child the same level of respect. Kids are good judges of character. Talk to your kid about how they feel. Make sure they feel good about going to practice. If they don’t or something seems off, ask questions.
Choose a gym that has an open, positive culture with an open door communication policy. If something doesn’t seem or feel right, ask questions until you’re 100% comfortable–and if you aren’t comfortable, go with your instincts and make changes. Never feel badly about asking hard questions. Your child is relying on you to do so.

293: EXCLUSIVE Inside Elite Verification

February 27, 2018 by Spencer Barnes 1 Comment

LISTEN HERE

ELITE VERIFICATION

Jessica was at LSU for elite verification! (5:00)

Much like Santa Claus, Jessica Claus arrived in the middle of the night to bring us

All the inside scoop we could ever ask for
Trinity Thomas, Margzetta Frazier (43:30), and Jordan Chiles (50:13) reacting to the new verification experience in their own words
An exclusive interview with Rhonda Faehn where she discusses (59:20)
- What her job actually is, especially now
- The search for a new NTC: whether the position will be split into different jobs, who will be making that decision, and what USAG is looking for from its new NTC
- Why people should trust her, a former Karolyi gymnast, to bring a change in culture
- The search for a new national training center, and much more

Plus, Jessica answers all of our (so, Spencer’s) questions about verification like

What was the atmosphere? And more importantly, was it weird?
How is Safe Sport being employed in the national team system now?
What was the parents’ reaction to being invited in?
What do those involved think about the changes and the future of USAG?
WHY WHY WHY were so many gymnasts not shown on the live stream?
Is there still a selection committee? Who is on it? How involved were they in the verification? Were they giving feedback?
Were the international assignments based directly on the results of verification?
For how long will this temporary system be in place?
Did anyone give a big dramatic speech addressing all the elephants in the room?
What is the new LSU gymnastics palace like? Were other NCAA coaches there?
What happened that would NEVER have happened at a Martha camp?

Also, the gymnastics (1:22:24) ! Detailed news on all the various perfections (Riley McCusker! Shilese Jones! Olivia Dunne! Adeline Kenlin! Jafree Scott! Kara Eaker! Kayla DiCello! Leanne Wong! Audrey Davis! Jordan Bowers! Konnor McClain! Alyona Shchennikova!) that you didn’t see on the live stream.

GYMTERNET AND MEET NEWS

Kensley joins in to keep everyone vigilant about what’s going on with the men’s program and why it’s not being held to the same standards of change as the women’s program. AKA, welcome to the “conflicts of interest” portion of the show! (1:46:59)
A period of mourning for Kennedy Baker’s Achilles and a story about Kennedy Baker bringing old nemeses together and basically single-handedly creating world peace because Kennedy Baker (1:52:40)
Cal beat Utah for the second time ever and set ALL THE RECORDS in the process
Exciting US MAG World Cup assignments, and why they kind of don’t make sense (1:59:58)
All the big developments from the Melbourne World Cup including Chen Yile, Georgia Godwin, Milad Karimi, Aruna Buddy Reddy, and Hidetaka Miyachi (2:03:24)
British Gymnastics has officially fired Eddie van Hoof, who led the MAG team from 2005-2017, for very vague reasons following an independent investigation (2:09:00)
More Stacey Ervin WWE news!

LIVE SHOW AT NCAAs

We’re doing a live show at NCAA nationals this year, featuring Jessica, Spencer, and maybe some very secret, very special guests! SOLD OUT.

WHEN: Thursday, April 19^th from 7:30-9:00pm in St. Louis.

T-SHIRT DESIGN CONTEST

OVERVIEW

The college gymnastics season is in full swing, and we’re on the hunt for designs to put on t-shirts and swag that celebrate our love of this amazing sport. That’s why we’re bringing back our GymCastic design contest bigger and better than ever before (think Ebee’s DTY).

Submit your best college-themed designs and you could be one of 5 winners whose art will be seen on the bodies of gymnerds everywhere.

THE PRIZE

Your design and name/website featured on our page
Your artwork made into merchandise to be sold in the GymCastic store
A free t-shirt of your choosing from our merch store.

THE MISSION

Create an college gymnastics-centric design that will make us moan like Kathy Johnson-Clarke.

Submit your original design by posting it on Twitter, Tumblr, or Instagram with hashtag #gymcasticdesigncontest and email it to us. Bonus points for collage-style images!

We use a site called TeePublic to print our merchandise. They do a great job of explaining their artwork requirements on their website. The most important thing is that if you win you will need to submit your art as a PNG file with a transparent background. Check out their Design FAQ at www.teepublic.com/faq

WARNING: This art must be your own original design. Directly using an image of a person (or the logo of a team) without their consent is frowned upon, and also a intellectual property violation. We can’t use your design if you do. Silhouettes are a gray area, and are usually acceptable.

Deadline: Saturday, March 17 (St. Patty’s Day!) Questions? Email us at GymCastic@gmail.com.