"Chalked Up" by Jennifer Sey

[Billy]

Sounds like Sey doesn't have a lot of credibility in the gymnastics world. And not only was Hope a great international and collegiate gymnast, she is also a great coach.

 

[Ingymmom]

And, by the way...I don't know where that story came up about the "change of rules" for Tkachevs...but I think that one is a pile of crap as well.

Sey's injury couldn't have been avoided by a spot...she landed on her butt on the bar and fell straight down backwards! The spot was allowed to keep kids from missing the Tkachev and hitting their head/neck and back on the low bar. What does that have to do with Sey's crash? There is no way a spot could have saved that kid from that horrible Tkachev.

Lots of kids were hurt both before and after that doing Tkachevs. Where is it said that her particular fall "changed the rules?" Are we sure it was her Tkachev and not a million Jaegers to the head and Geingers to body-slam on the mat? I'm not convinced that this incident and the rule change were in any way related.

Don't know if a spot would have helped her or not - I read some statement from her about a push forward yada, yada, yada would have helped... have to find it and read it again.

Probably full credit could not go to her by any means, but it was after her 85 injury that USAG changed the rules, allowing coaches to "comfort spot" (my phrase - not sure how else to word it) - release moves. I am certain it would have eventually gone into effect with or wothout her fall.

As far as her credibility, I personally would not go as far to say that. There are 2 sides to a story and then there is the truth LOL! It does seem that alot of what she says contradicts. BUT, I have not even read the book so my opinions are based on what I have read and heard in interviews...

 

[ZJsMom]

Sounds like Sey doesn't have a lot of credibility in the gymnastics world. And not only was Hope a great international and collegiate gymnast, she is also a great coach.

I don't think this is an entirely fair characterization. There are lots of people in the gymnastics world that support Sey and her book. Parkettes and the Strausses have more than their fair share of detractors in the gym world themselves.

 

[awposey1]

I'm interested to read it as well.

 

[Rec Coach]

Pathetic. I'm really shocked that there isn't more outcry from the gymnastics community.
:vomit:

Check through recent posts at gymnasticscoaching.com there are quite a few posts and comments there

 

[nettyinpa]

I have not read the book yet and I'm not sure I will. My dd goes to Parkettes. There has been a rumbling about this book going on throughout the gym. I can't really say much about it because I don't know what went on back then, don't know how much truth there is to it. I think she may be in some sort of legal trouble with the gym and/or the Strausses. Something about how she took way too many liberties with dropping names and just went overboard.

I read a comment by a former Parkette (Lisa Lazar) who was at the gym from 1977 to 1990 (found it on the gymnasticscoaches.com website). I think she wrote in to Inside Gymnastics Magazine. One of the topics covered in the book was the weight issue and how the girls are weighed in and made fools of if they gained weight or weren't underweight enough. Well, there was a meeting with some elite parents a couple weeks ago and they stated that yes, they get weighed-in, once a week, in private. This is mostly to make sure their weight doesn't fluctuate too much because it can cause problems with some of the skills and it can be unsafe. Kind of like when they go through growth spurts and have to adjust how they do things. Do any of you notice any really anorexic gymnasts anymore? Things have changed.

I'm a firm believer that every gym has their problems. Their strengths and their weaknesses. IMHO ~ if you don't like it where you are leave or do something to help change it.

I'll get off my soapbox now! Sorry!

 

[TuesdayPillow]

I would have to agree. I think it tells a relatively intelligent person that she has other background issues that need to be dealt with. Saying such derogatory things about the judges is just awful. I don't know if all those judges were good people but I don't think it's right to lump them all together and make a statement like that!
Secondly, yet another piece of proof that her perceptions are very skewed - 10's were ALL OVER THE PLACE during the mid-eighties. Just because she wasn't getting them doesn't mean they were hard to get.
If I ever read the book, it will probably be a good laugh and nothing else.

 

[JBS]

Here is a link to the most recent post on Jennifer Sey's blog:

Player Haters

 

[gymdog]

I haven't read it but I'm interested. After reading a bunch of reviews (check the Amazon review page, other former Parkettes have weighed in - on different sides of the fence. Unless things have been pulled or deleted by now) I think she is mostly telling the truth, or at least how she perceived things to be. I think that it's been characterized by some outside sources (i.e. non-gymnastics) as an expose when it was intended to be more of a memoir, not an indictment. I can believe that she had a bad experience and I can believe that things happened that shouldn't have happened. I also think things have changed since then so I wouldn't say that the entire Parkettes operation today is indicative of what J. Sey experienced as an elite decades ago, or says much about the veracity of some claims her book.

I don't think she is downright lying but I do think that people can go through the same thing and have different perceptions of it. I went through a particularly rocky time with a coach who was...not great, I'll leave it at that, but I had very few problems with him at the time beyond how he treated other people because our personalities didn't clash as much as some people did. Later on and even now that we're older (it comes up a lot) I've been surprised to hear how differently certain events were perceived or how affected others were by things. At this point I have seen other gymnasts that trained with her or around the time she did both corroborate and deny her claims. But I think it's hard to argue that the book is not dramatized.

She obviously is smart and knows marketing. She had to write this to appeal to a more general audience because otherwise how many books is she going to sell? So I would expect a couple things in line with that and current bestsellers: 1. dramatized and oversimplified - most people don't really understand gymnastics. Some understand it vaguely. Relatively few people are immersed in the technicalities of high level gymnastics. And some of it just isn't that interesting. 2. attitude - a la bestsellers like "Skinny *****" - it's the PC backlash or whatever you want to call it. I'd say this accounts for the catty "homeless" comparisons. It's worked for other authors recently.

Bottom line I think, this is years and years in one book. It's going to take on a negative feel if that's her overall intention but it couldn't have all been negative, and it wasn't - and I think her attempt to make that point is lost. I feel like this is going to end just being another expose and people with an agenda won't make any distinction between then and now and responsible coaching practices and irresponsible coaching practices. And that's annoying. But not totally her fault. It seems like no matter how much that point is made, some people with an agenda just want to believe what they want to believe. That's true with anything though but this is such a niche already and I hate to see negative publicity affect the sport further when we already have dwindling high school programs, etc.

 

[JBS]

After reading a bunch of reviews (check the Amazon review page, other former Parkettes have weighed in - on different sides of the fence.

Here is the link to the Amazon reviews for "Chalked Up" by Jennifer Sey:

Amazon.com: Customer Reviews: Chalked Up: Inside Elite Gymnastics' Merciless Coaching, Overzealous Parents, Eating Disorders, and Elusive Olympic Dreams

 

[gymdog]

After reading the comments to Nichols's review I kind of want to hear that NPR interview where she called in. Will post if I find it.

Edit: two links

http://www.npr.org/blogs/talk/2008/05/elite_gymnast_jennifer_sey.html - click "listen to this talk of the nation" under the headline to listen to her interview that Nichols apparently called into. Some interesting comments posted to that blog including a former Parkette's.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=90105904 - long excerpt here.

Edited again: OMG this interview...about 6 minutes in the question is essentially "so you think that male coaches are in this sport to be around scantily clad little girls?" and she kind of dances around it and says "well not overall...but you have to wonder...but that wasn't my experience". I can't exactly put my finger on it but I find her answer very bizarre and it's honestly coming off very poorly for the gymnastics community.

 

[Ingymmom]

Edited again: OMG this interview...about 6 minutes in the question is essentially "so you think that male coaches are in this sport to be around scantily clad little girls?" and she kind of dances around it and says "well not overall...but you have to wonder...but that wasn't my experience". I can't exactly put my finger on it but I find her answer very bizarre and it's honestly coming off very poorly for the gymnastics community.

Gymdog, this has been my biggest issue. She dances in her interviews, and clearly contradicts and misleads what she says and then writes in her blogs, etc, etc, etc. & what she has already written in her book. She leaves too much open to interpretation - too much left to the imagination... I think the idea that this book has become an expose is because of J. Sey, not in spite of her initial claimed intentions of a memoir.

Regardless of this, I have said this all along and stand by it (& this is the one critical message that I can get from this book - without even reading it), Parents need to know who is coaching their children. How many coaches are there? What are their philosophies? Is the coach Knowledgable about the sport? What is their experience? They need to take the time to learn and read about the route their child is taking in their sport of choice - monotonous or not. Which method is right? and then which method is right for my child? Bad things can and do happen in athletics. Goals change over the years, keep in touch with your child to know if this has happened. It is the parents responsibility - not the coaches - to make sure that a healthy, happy, well rounded child turns into happy, healthy well-rounded adult.

 

[Panda-girl's Mom]

I have read only read halfway through the book, and I am just getting to the part about when she goes to Parkettes. Having a daughter in gymnastics I can see many things that are probally true in the book such as favoritism, and the subjectivity of the judges. I would never let my daughter move away from home to train and I find it hard to believe that a competitive sport encourages this for them to become elite and possibly get to the olympics. What other sport besides gymnastics does this? I feel sorry for her and it is almost like her parents were so caught up in the dream that they turned their back on what was going on. Maybe this is what she is trying to say. Do not get me wrong I think gymnastics is a great sport, my daughter has gained confidence and a good work ethic and I think most gyms are okay probally even Parkettes. I do not mean to judge other parents who have gymnasts that are elites but I can not imagine having my child give up regular school and possible live away from home. I just think it is sad that to become a elite gymnast children are encouraged or required to do this. It truely is a tough sport which makes one admire even more the girls who stick out and make it to the higher levels. I think she is trying to tell the general public who are not in gymnastics how tough it is. Maybe she should of been alittle more confidential instead of naming particular clubs.

 

[gymdog]

Living away from home wasn't that unusual in J. Sey's time but it's virtually no longer done. One parent goes with the gymnast if they move to another training center, if not the entire family. I can't think of any of the top gymnasts today offhand that (as minors) don't reside with a parent.

 

[Gym-Nice-tics]

I'm currently reading it. I'm only about 100 pages in, but it doesn't seem that bad. She consistently harps on how a lot of she went through occured because of her own personality type. She was obsessive and competitive and wasn't going to let things stop her.

I don't really feel like she's attacking gymnastics, at least not this far into the book.

 

[kristilyn73]

I just finished it. It was interesting.. I think she believes every word, I think that some has been exaggerated.

I would have liked to know more about her life and feelings after gymnastics. the book seems to end in a small chapter almost like an afterthought. I want to know if she watches gymnastics on tv, does she go to meets? Does she feel like the sport has changed? Is there something that still needs to be changed? Does she feel like she should be an advocate for young gymnasts?

I guess I feel like if she thinks that the sport did this to her, but yet she still loves and misses the sport everyday(like she said in her book) then she should still be involved to make sure other girls dont be coached the way she was coached.

 

[Deleted member D3987]

Okay...I read some of the excerpts, and have decided not to read the book...

She's out to get gymnastics back in some sick way.

Why else would she compare judges to "homeless people"?


"I'm waiting for the judge to raise her arm and nod her head, signaling to me that it's my turn. Her polyester royal blue suit with the crest makes her appear pathetically regal, like a homeless woman who used to be a traffic cop, still wearing her uniform with faded pride. Glory days. "

Does she have an editor who could have helped her find a less awkward or offensive comparison?

The majority of judges practically donate their time because they love gymnastics and kids...and this is how she depicts them. Bitter.

Further down she talks about the "elusive 10.0" which few gymnasts received since Nadia.

Um...Sey competed at a time when there were LOADS of 10.0s at internatinal competitions...and even at previous USA's. We're talking from 1984 to 1992. She makes it sounds like gymnastics got really, really hard while she did it.

Maybe what she meant was "elusive to gymnasts like me" who dreamed of a 10.0 start value.

And what's up with Hope Spivey and her "shame" at falling off the beam? How does she know? All that she really knows is that she sure was lucky that Spivey fell.

Way overly dramatic. :melodramatic:

Pathetic. I'm really shocked that there isn't more outcry from the gymnastics community.
:vomit:

the silence that you heard from our community was our "outcry". dismissed.

 

[hlm64]

Uh. I just got a gift voucher for amazon for my birthday, and immediately ordered this book but reading the extracts, it all seems a little dramatic

ahhhhh well anything related to gymnastics is worth reading, if I can get through it all without screaming! The bits about her younger are interesting though so