It seems to me that if she was legally obligated to not say much of anything she would have said as much, no? We see it all the time--a simple 'I'm sorry but due to pending litigation I am not at liberty to answer that question at this time.' It's still a non-answer, but at least it tells the...
Jealous of kids who have been set up to fail? I think not.
Jealous of coaches who couldn't care less about draining parents' bank accounts because they lack the patience to wait another year? I think not.
This has nothing to do with the girls arbitrarily chosen to test well before they're...
I sometimes forget myself and fail to remember Americans have tissue paper for skin. It is possible to be critical of someone and still support them. I wish no ill toward the girls--they are terrific teammates and DD is quite fond of many of them. And yes, I do recognize it is not the girls who...
Yes, but elite gymnastics is what represents the US on the world stage. Elite gymnastics is where the glory is. Elite gymnastics is what brings home gold medals (which presumably is why USAG was reluctant to do anything--because doing the right thing could have meant not winning gold...
I know I really should stop being surprised by anything that comes from this mess, but I just read this today...Holy Cow! How can any parent justifiably trust this organization to not only protect their child, but to have their best interests at heart, is beyond me. Please explain to me why, in...
This is great! I know it can be done because a couple of the bigger gyms here in Texas do it quite successfully. But they have more than 2 coaches...
It makes sense that the 9/10/elite train together--that I'm not opposed to (we do the same at our gym), but we have only 2 kids who've been...
By ‘strong’ I mean gyms that perform well at Eastern/Westerns and Nationals, but also are capable of training each kid to reach their potential.
Right now we are at a gym that has a great environment and we love the coaches, but they’re trying to become an elite gym (while maintaining a...
I am looking for information on STRONG JO gyms. It doesn’t matter which state, at least not at this point. I’m beyond tired of DD being shafted for wanna-be elites simply because of her age (coaches acknowledge the talent and ability, but immediately follow it up with ‘but she’s too old).
Do...
I can tell you from personal experience (I won't elaborate) that there are parents out there who are desperate for their kids to be 'elites'--that is, the coach says jump, and the parents ask how high. Nothing is off limits--if the coach says it is for her to have better gymnastics, the parents...
Wow. You guys are all way different from Region 3. For 9/10 qualification to regionals, the girls need a 34 at state. For level 8, it is done as a percentage of competitors (we're in TX, so I think our percentage is 52.30: 361 total gymnasts, 194 advance from age group competition and then the...
This is an interesting analysis, and an aspect that hasn't yet been considered. I have no clue how elite gymnastics works in the US as I have no experience with it, but I do know many other countries compete girls well into their 20s without batting an eyelash (in the US, we made a pretty big...
I'm not sure it's wise to phone gyms asking them if they'd be interested in training an older kid for elite, though it might be an interesting test to see just how many gyms out there subscribe to this mentality (my guess is that it's quite a few because this is the mentality/ideology...
Just my opinion (which probably doesn't mean much)...
This is a culture fostered not just by USAG, but also by every coach in the sport. How many times I've had conversations with coaches and parents about the state of elite gymnastics in the US only to be told that if a gymnast can't be...
Let me offer some clarifications I think I missed in my OP...
First, I didn't write the letter. I came across it on another forum and copied and pasted it here to see what people with many different experiences think of the concerns expressed by the writer.
Second, there IS favoritism at our...
So, this is a weird sport. We've been around it for a while and I tend to be a sponge and soak everything up without saying much. When I have concerns, I address them with the coach; otherwise, I just sit back and watch. I frequent CB, though mostly as a troll reading through other people's...
I think some coaches will send gymmies home when they struggle with their series on beam so that they don't build up a mental block with it. It's kind of along the lines of 'out of sight, out of mind'--even they're removed from the event, they can still see the beam and know they got 'kicked...
Of course not. But what I've witnessed a couple of our local gyms is that kids start competing at 3, struggle because they've not had enough time for proper conditioning and flexibility training, then go to 4, meet the minimum score, go to 5, meet the minimum score there, and then jump to...