Normal Gym Management???

[mtbmom]

Quote:
Originally Posted by bogwoppit I have to say the dish on your gym is all over the internet concerning the firing of the coach. I am in Quebec and I guessed right away that you are in the PA area. I would be unhappy too.

Thanks Bog!
Where on the 'net? I've googled her name, the gym's name, fired, etc. All I get is a certain type of vault and our gym's home page.

[mtbmom]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Aussie_coach 1. It is understandable for a gym to ask that gymnasts on their team do not take classes at another gym. The coaches will want to monitor all aspects of their gymnasts coaching and they can't be sure that classes at another gym are teaching skills safely, warming up gymnasts correctly and teaching skills with the correct technique. It can take a long, long time to undo something that was taught incorrectly and an injury due to unsafe practises can put a child out of training and competition for a long time, sometimes even permenantly. It is possible, though, that the policy is there to scare girls and parents away from trialling at another gym and seeing that the grass is greener on the other side. This is a very bad way to hag on to gymnasts and if the coaches are so insecure that they need to do this then maybe it is time to search for a new gym.

Thanks Aussie Coach!

I didn't mean the former, to actually take classes at another gym. I meant the latter; to trial another gym.

There was another girl on developmental team who trialed at another gym. That girl's mom told her "good friend" who immediately tattled to the coach regarding the girl trialling at another gym and she was kicked off the team immediately. Definitely, scared my daughter. She was terrified to trial at another gym today, but I promised her I would not tell anyone and if someone saw us I would tell them it was all my fault... That seemed to help.

[bogwoppit]

Quote:
Originally Posted by mtbmom Thanks Bog! Where on the 'net? I've googled her name, the gym's name, fired, etc. All I get is a certain type of vault and our gym's home page.

Hey Clara, you won't find much by googling, but it's out there....

GGMB, one of the biggest, most knowledgable and rudest boards on the web has a thread all about the coach and the club, there are 109 replies in the thread with 6000 views (yes, you read that right!), Discussing the ins and outs. It's not an easy board to get onto and I couldn't copy all the stuff. But, it's clear that things are not right.


The following is a quote from GGMB.... and just a small slice of the huge outpouring of emotion that surrounds this coach and her style of coaching.

"HOW CAN YOU FIRE NATALIA YURCHENKO?


By allowing Mubarak Simmons into your gym!"

"The only thing holding up LVSA gymnastics was Natalia Yurchenko. What a mistake it was for that organization to Natalia go. It is certain that LVSA will go under without her. The sooner, the better. Natalia may not push her gymnasts, but she is a good mentor and a good coach. Her program was lacking a good bar and vault coach. Many of Natalia's gymnasts will be following her ....wherever that may be is the big question. She will find a place to train her gymnasts and then I would assume try to start her own program elsewhere. How devastated Natalia must be knowing that many of her gymnasts are trying to get ready for level 9/10 states in less than a week. Not to mention, Annette Miele training for Elite. It's a shame that Gattaca and LVSA owners would stoop so low as to let Natalia go before the season was over. That just tells everyone what a bullxxxx organization Gattaca is. Quite sly of the owners of LVSA to pull this xxxx 1 week before level 9/10 states knowing that many of the gymnasts will stick around and pay for yet another month or two so they can finish up the season. LVSA-Gattaca won't be in business much longer in Allentown. The mystery question is Where Will Natalia Yurchenko end up? Parkettes? Or will she venture further away? Good luck to Natalia and her gymnasts."

[mtbmom]

Quote:
Originally Posted by bogwoppit Hey Clara, you won't find much by googling, but it's out there.... GGMB, one of the biggest, most knowledgable and rudest boards on the web has a thread all about the coach and the club, there are 109 replies in the thread with 6000 views (yes, you read that right!), Discussing the ins and outs. It's not an easy board to get onto and I couldn't copy all the stuff. But, it's clear that things are not right. The following is a quote from GGMB.... and just a small slice of the huge outpouring of emotion that surrounds this coach and her style of coaching. "HOW CAN YOU FIRE NATALIA YURCHENKO? By allowing Mubarak Simmons into your gym!" "The only thing holding up LVSA gymnastics was Natalia Yurchenko. What a mistake it was for that organization to Natalia go. It is certain that LVSA will go under without her. The sooner, the better. Natalia may not push her gymnasts, but she is a good mentor and a good coach. Her program was lacking a good bar and vault coach. Many of Natalia's gymnasts will be following her ....wherever that may be is the big question. She will find a place to train her gymnasts and then I would assume try to start her own program elsewhere. How devastated Natalia must be knowing that many of her gymnasts are trying to get ready for level 9/10 states in less than a week. Not to mention, Annette Miele training for Elite. It's a shame that Gattaca and LVSA owners would stoop so low as to let Natalia go before the season was over. That just tells everyone what a bullxxxx organization Gattaca is. Quite sly of the owners of LVSA to pull this xxxx 1 week before level 9/10 states knowing that many of the gymnasts will stick around and pay for yet another month or two so they can finish up the season. LVSA-Gattaca won't be in business much longer in Allentown. The mystery question is Where Will Natalia Yurchenko end up? Parkettes? Or will she venture further away? Good luck to Natalia and her gymnasts."

Thank you very much for the info you were able to give. I appreciate it. It is nice to see that the gymnastics community supports Natalia. She is a very nice lady. I hope she doesn't go far. I know she is temporarily at a gym nearby but don't know if she will stay.

[gymnomore]

Nothing surprises me in this sport! I've heard it all. I heard of a gymie from our former gym that was not allowed to take a family vacation one summer. If she did, she would not be moved to the next level. So guess what? The entire family stayed home! To me, that's crazy! How do these coaches get away with that? Another coach (from the same gym) would not allow a gymnast (my dd) from competing floor at one particular meet. The reason: She would most likely score in the 7's because of tumbling issues, and since scores start at the bottom and tend to increase during a meet, she was afraid that my dd would "hold them back" a few points. I was on the verge of filing a complaint with the USAG.

[mellin]

This whole topic, as the previous poster mentions in reference to ggmd, has become very ugly both in and out of the gym. Natalia has her many supporters but also some very vocal and passionate detractors. These two groups have become very close to an all out feud at the gym. The gym tried to come up with a rationale stating "philosophical differences" were behind the firing and stated that natalia did not "support" all gymnasts (i.e. she would "give-up" on some). It is the "given up on" that form the vocal core of Natalia's detractors. Most at the gym feel that, quite simply, 1) there was a conflict between natalia and gattaca, 2) the gym needed to make a "her" or "them" decision, 3) natalia cost the gym money in the form of compensation, 4) the gattaca people promise to give the gym money (basically assumed to be in the form of manure). When you add those 4 things together...Natalia loses. The gym used the "no gymnast left behind" sentinment as a ruse.

and, yes, the gym has lost several higher level gymnasts with others playing a "wait and see" game.

the only reason for talking a wait and see approach (and i repeat the ONLY reason) is because, in all fairness, Natalia's "assistant" coach gabby is VERY capable and well liked.

[bogwoppit]

It sounds like a very sad situation for all involved. This is a children's sport, but it also affects the careers of some obviously talented coaches.

Hopefully it will not all end badly as some of the GGMB posters stated. Gattaca, from what I can gather, is like a double edged sword, great for men's programmes but not so good for the women.

Thanks for your input, insider info is always the best.

[mellin]

It is a sad situation which, so far, andf this is MOST important, the girls are handling well. Wish I could say the same for parents.

You do raise a point that it has been very difficult for us to research though. Gattaca came to the gym about a year ago and only for the purposes of doing whatever it is they do (some say sponsor individual gymnasts, others say sponsor the gym as a whole, others say coach, others say all three) for the boys team. However, at an introductory meeting the head gattaca guy sort of started "talking smack" about the girls coaches and how the girls team could be doing "so much better than they are". Basically, setting up a confrontation with Natalia and basically, if not in name but in practice, making themselves "gym management".

None of us at the gym have been able to find out reliable and unbiased information on Gattaca. On the web there is basically Gattaca propaganda (basically in the form of trashing USAG) and press releases. Their presence in the gym is welcomed by the boys, welcomed by some of the girls and regarded with suspicion by the rest. I am not kidding when I say that the day after Natalia was fired, two big framed posters featuring the Gattaca logo suddenly appeared in the parents observation area.

When Natalia was fired, the gyms owner told a parents meeting that it was NOT becasue of Gattaca and that Gattaca has nothing to do with the girls program. A week later the story changed and that Gattaca may be a part of the self inflicted "coaching shortage" at the gym.

My question for anyone is simple. What are these guys really about? Our perceptions, in the absense of reliable information, is that they dont play well in the sandbox, they remove obstacles to their goals (not sure what those are other than their own published stuff) and that they really don't like anyone who has anything to do with previous "gymnastics establishment".

We who are left behind do not get enough information to make an informed decision about these guys.

[bogwoppit]

From what I can gather from another thread on GGMB, Gattaca is run by two men who will do anything to get what they want. The intention of Gattaca seems to be to promote young athletes and provide some financial support to certain gyms that become training centres, like yours has. Gymnasts do not individually receive money.

Workshops that are held at the training centers are avialable to certain gymnasts from other clubs and those that Gattaca has an interest in in your club.

The intention of the guys who work in the club is to do the work the they think USAG does not do well, this includes promoting minorities in gymnasts, who in the passed have appeared to be overlooked by the USAG system.

AT your club it seems, Nathalia was brought in and sponsored by the original owners, who left 3 years ago. When Gattaca was invited in there was some conflict between her and Gattaca about the way things would go with her girls, this is not very clear though. No solution was found and she was "let go".

It seems that Gattaca no longer has "an interest" in the girls at your club and is focussed on the boys team.

Nathalia and those girls that left with her are training at Parkettes for now, it is not clear whether this is permanent or not.

In the end as an individual parent of one child, you just have to ask yourself if your child is receiving good quality coaching and is she happy in the gym. THe OP has a preschooler so she should not have any problems in the Team area. If I had a child on team I think I would be concerned enough to ask questions. If there are no answers, then I think you will have to draw your own conclusions.

[bogwoppit]

http://www.teamgattaca.com/