Gym Momentum

Where is the Love?

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I used to LOVE nearly everything about gymnastics. Practicing it, competing, watching, coaching, reading about it- It was all amazing. As a youth I remember waiting for International Gymnast Magazine to arrive in the mail. Reading the articles, hanging up the posters. Pretty sure I had a photo of Eizo Kenmotsu above my gym stuff. I remember the absolute joy of being able to go compete in or watch a competition.

As I transitioned from athlete to coach I still waited for magazines, now looking for technique, drills and ideas. I remember waiting for USECA newsletter which was (and IS) always filled with great articles, drills and ideas. I enjoyed taking gymnasts to competitions and I enjoyed talking technique and ideas with coaches after the meet.

It has been a LONG time since I have enjoyed reading anything about gymnastics. Its seems like it is always scandal or controversy. Even when a gymnast posts something fabulous online, by the time I see it, the haters have ripped them apart.

Dinner with the Mens Team

USAG and other federations certainly have had a rough couple years. Problems which they could have avoided and problems that were impossible to see coming. Guilty parties need to be held accountable then we need to be able to move on. If we keep picking at the scab we will have a scar too deep to heal.

Voltaire is roughly quoted as saying, “PERFECT IS THE ENEMY OF THE GOOD.” In our sport, a sport I love, don’t let the perfect become the enemy of the good. In the gym, I strived for perfection as a gymnast and then as a coach. It wasn’t until I had a conversation with Wendy Bruce that I realized that my perfectionism was getting in my way. I fear that in our sport we are looking for perfect solutions. Solutions that do not exist. There will always be missteps and false starts before we hit our stride.

The future (post pandemic) is still uncertain but at least there is positive news. There have actually been some LIVE meets! The remote and virtual meets were different but it was what we had to do. If we waited for the perfect platform or the perfect venue nothing would have happened. Gymnastics is a dynamic sport. We are continuing to change and evolve. 2020 showed how resilient we can be.

We are positioned better than nearly every other sport to have growth in 2021. We have shown that we can do virtual meets. We have shown we can do LIVE meets safely.

It is time to stand up to the haters and the bomb throwers that have nothing positive to say. It is time to be a force for positivity. It is time to remember why you LOVE the sport. If you don’t – who will?

There will always be room for improvement. It is important to every once and a while to also look back and see how far we have come and what mountains we have already climbed.

I want to read an article that focuses on the progress we have made. I want to read about the achievements a gymnast has. I want to read an article speculating about what NEW and INNOVATIVE skills will be competed at the Olympics or World Championships.

Whether you are a gymnast, coach, judge or casual fan I urge you to stay positive. I have a rule in my gym for my gymnasts and my staff, “Don’t come to me with a problem without a potential solution”. Instead of posting something negative- maybe post a potential solution.

My 5 Golden Rules in the gym are:

  1. Be On Time and Prepared
  2. No Sitting Down in the Gym
  3. No Cell Phones in the Gym
  4. Don’t Come To Me With a Problem Without a Potential Solution,
  5. Everyone Leaves With A Smile

I am now adding a 6th.

DON’T LET THE PERFECT BE THE ENEMY OF THE GOOD.

There are many people who have harmed in our sport and the offending parties need to be held accountable. Then we need to be able to move on.

Open Letter to the Gymnastics Club Owners from Inside Gymnastics magazine and the United States Gymnastics Suppliers Association (USGSA) | Inside Gymnastics Magazine

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Source: Open Letter to the Gymnastics Club Owners from Inside Gymnastics magazine and the United States Gymnastics Suppliers Association (USGSA) | Inside Gymnastics Magazine

Open Letter to the Gymnastics Club Owners from Inside Gymnastics magazine and the United States Gymnastics Suppliers Association (USGSA)

 July 27, 2020

We know the backbone of the gymnastics industry in the United States is comprised of small business owners who run gymnastics clubs coast-to-coast. And we know how much you’ve poured your hearts and souls into your businesses. It’s an incredibly challenging time for so many of us across the industry facing the uncertainty brought forth by the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, as we head toward the fall competition season and the school year, we know you’re being pulled in a number of different directions and continue to face challenges. But, just as our athletes demonstrate overcoming adversity each and every day, we can and we will get through it – TOGETHER!

We will do our best to continue to provide you resources, information and inspiration. We find ourselves asking what we can do to help this situation both immediately and for long-term sustainability of our sport at the grassroots level. As an industry, we can unite, work together, share best practices and work together towards solutions to prevent further setbacks and unifying to make our voices heard.

LET YOUR REPRESENTATIVES KNOW OUR INDUSTRY AND SMALL BUSINESS NEEDS SUPPORT!

As Congress continues to debate additional stimulus options, reach out to your elected officials to let them know small business need continued support. Here is a link to find your Senate and Congressional Representatives:

Link to Locate Senate  

Link to House of Representatives

SUPPORT #PassPHIT

The Sports and Fitness Industry Association (SFIA) is making the case to Congress that they need to support the active lifestyle industry across-the-board, emphasizing that an active population puts less strain on healthcare system. As we know, the strain on the healthcare system has only been amplified during COVID.  There is currently an initiative called The Personal Health Investment Today (PHIT), which would incentivize health by providing a 12 to 35 percent discount on physical activity expenditures through use of pre-tax medical accounts. Youth sports costs, health club dues, at-home fitness programs, outdoor recreation fees, sports and fitness equipment, and other expenses directly related to active lifestyles would be eligible for payment using an HSA or FSA.

As stated by the PHIT Coalition, “Our collective spirit unites people, which has often been described as an early indicator of economic recovery. Most important, however, are the physiological benefits derived from exercise that help stave off severe COVID-19 complications. As stakeholders, we look forward to working with you as Congress undergoes this next critical phase. The shared goals include the following: 1) Improve health in America; 2) Reduce the strain on our overall healthcare system; and 3) Provide consumer-driven economic stimulus solutions to help active lifestyle industries harmed by the pandemic.”

If you agree, urge members of Congress to pass this legislation, and use #PassPHIT on social media.

EXPLORE ADDITIONAL REVENUE OPPORTUNITIES FOR YOUR CLUBS

During these unprecedented times, we’re all having to find new ways to work, which requires creative thinking and expansion of ideas. We’ve been encouraged seeing all of the ways that clubs are altering their operations to meet this new normal and finding new opportunities to supplement their club operations. We will continue to share some of these ideas and also work to try to provide resources. Some opportunities you may want to consider –

  • Explore outreach within public school districts and private school entities to discuss partnering with PE programs in your area. This can work whether schools are operating in person or virtually. For people who are stuck at home for virtual schooling, your facility can provide a great outlet for the physical fitness component. For school’s that are in session but perhaps don’t have the resources to incorporate physical activity at this time, your facility can also be an option. The USGSA and Inside Gymnastics magazine and working on some resources that you may be able to use with this initiative to reach out to your local contacts (more to come).
  • Incorporate the benefits of active lifestyle into your marketing materials and messaging and expand your marketing to the general public. As many kids who aren’t involved in gymnastics have been cooped up at home for long periods of time, many parents are looking for options to get their kids out of the house and into an active environment. Consider adding additional fitness classes that are geared toward a non-gymnastics audience for youth fitness. Exposing these non-gymnastics kids to your facility may also spark their interest in gymnastics and ultimately become a long term participant at your facility.
  • Consider asking some local food delivery companies to include flyers with discount coupons for your facility with their deliveries. You may reach an all-new audience. Consider trade-out as well (if Domino’s will include a flyer with their delivery, you will include coupons for them at your facility, etc).

KNOW THAT ORGANIZATIONS ARE ON YOUR SIDE AND WORKING ON YOUR BEHALF

The United States Gymnastics Suppliers Association USGSA (of which Inside Gymnastics magazine is a member) recently held its annual meeting, virtually. Among the top items on the agenda is what can be done to support gymnastics clubs during this time. The organization is working on a number of initiatives to look to provide additional opportunities for clubs and making sure the gymnastics community has their voice heard. The organization has outreach to a number of other entities, including SFIA and SHAPE America to explore opportunities on your behalf.

BETTER TOGETHER

Through a unified spirit, targeted action, a collective sharing of ideas and an amplified voice, we can stand up, make our voices heard and share potential solutions to help our incredible industry navigate these times. We remain so inspired by the creative solutions we have already seen across the country to keep our athletes moving forward and the way our communities are rallying for the betterment of our children across all sports and physical fitness programs. We are all in this together. And though it may be hard to see now, we will come out of this having learned new ways to better our operations and eventually, even with an expanded enrollment and growth for our clubs if we can bring in new audiences and take advantage of the Olympic momentum that is to come. The work will be hard and setbacks will occur but in the end, everything we can do will be worth it and we will have helped our children be happy, healthy and productive through these times and beyond!

Sincerely,

The Team at Inside Gymnastics Magazine

The Members of the United States Gymnastics Suppliers Association (USGSA)

In Need of Great Minds

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Great Minds
My wife and I are having a house built and have sold our old house. We have been living up at our lake house for the last few months. A beautiful place, but pretty isolated. A great place to think (or over think?!). Combine that with a 50 minute drive to get to one of my gyms I have had lots of time to think. 
As the Chairman of the USECA I have been on the USAG Advisory Committee. We do not seem to get a lot done. It is just too large if a group with too many interests to actually advise.  It is NOT for lack of trying. There is good leadership and some very committed people. The representatives on the Advisory Council are wonderful and do a great job representing their constituents. But it may be time for more.

The US Gymnastics Club Owners Association has been a great asset for clubs as we all tried to navigate getting reopened. Now that many of us our open they are a resource to learn from each other mistakes and successes.

  • What is working
  • What are you cleaning with,
  • What does your new waiver look like,
  • Where do we go from here
  • Are you traveling with your team this year
  • Are you hosting your invitational

What the USGCOA understands is that Gymnastics professionals and gymnastics business owners are struggling. My personal feeling is that before this is all over close to 1/3 of the clubs in the USA could be forced to close their doors.  
There are some great MINDS in the gymnastics world.  People with a lot of experience and creative thinkers as well as problem solvers. It may be time to tap these minds and come up with some concrete and creative ideas to navigate out of this. 
This is not a “let’s overthrow USAG”.  Truthfully, I don’t care about them at all right now. I am worried about the future of our sport.  My gyms will survive.  But others may not.  My brain power is consumed by just day to day operations as we reopen in stages and HOPE to get to 50% of what our enrollment has been. How many gyms are NOT going to be able make it on 50%? It would have been nice to have some better direction and leadership from the federation, but they are operating in survival mode.  At this point there really are no viable alternatives to USAG. I am the education coordinator for USAIGC and I believe it is a great program but I don’t believe they have an interest in becoming the National Governing Body for gymnastics. AAU was once the NGB. Like USAIGC, they have a good program, BUT they are not equipped to be NGB in this day and age.

My caffeine fueled thought today is that we should put together a meeting, zoom or otherwise, just to see if we can find ways to navigate this. There should be  representation from

  • Women’s Program
  • Men’s Program
  • Large Club (400+ enrollment) 2 or 3 reps. East coast, Middle, West coast) 
  • Small Club (Under 400) (2 or 3 reps. East coast, middle, West coast) 
  • Suppliers

It would be great to get these great minds together and see what kind of solutions come up. Having representatives from clubs of different sizes in different geographical areas will be of benefit. I do not know if this is possible or even if there is the collective bandwidth to take on such a task.

 

Just my thoughts! Let me know yours!

  • Who would you like to hear from?
  • What questions would you want answered?
  • Any Thoughts on representation?

Letters from Gymnastics Clubs to our Elected Representatives.

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Gymnastics clubs throughout the world are getting our asses kicked. Every gym I know is closed and hoping to reopen in April or May. We have all been forced to layoff our employees and find new ways to jus Figure It Out. When we reopen we will be in a new economic place. The reality of a recession and the likelihood of the Olympics being postponed for a year does not make our lives easy.

I am on the Board of Directors of the US Gymnastics Club Owners Association and I am the Chairman of the US Elite Coaches Association . Both of these organizations have drafted letters to Congress.

Please take the time to mail one or both to all of your elected representatives.

USGCOA Plea-to-our-elected-officialsDownload
USECA Congress LetterDownload

We must make our voices heard.

We are Celebrating our Gymnastics Coaches!

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USGCA, USECA and leading industry suppliers are initiating the FIRST Annual National Gym Coaches Week to celebrate coaches in all gymnastics disciplines!

National Gym Coaches Week is an opportunity to celebrate the outstanding impact our current gymnastics coaches have in ensuring gymnasts are properly trained and developed with care and safety. From September 15-21, 2019 we encourage “thank you’s” from athletes and parents to the coaches who call the gymnastics industry home. Come celebrate with us the inaugural National Coaches Week! 

STEP ONE

Gym owner or parent orders their $25 box of National Gym Coaches Week supplies from USGCA. Orders start shipping August 15.

STEP TWO


During the week of September 15 – 21, 2019, athletes express their “thanks” to their coach(es) using the “Thank you, Coach” post cards.

STEP 3

Between September 15-21, 2019, using hashtag, #ThanksUSAGymCoach post single picture of each coach on gym’s Facebook page.

STEP FOUR

Around October 1, 2019, USGCA will award the selected winners with their prize! Club is awarded $150 and the coach is awarded $350.

FIND OUT MORE

Letter From Tom Forster on USOC / USAG

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From: Tom Forster
Date: November 13, 2018 at 8:04:12 AM EST
Subject: USOC possible scenario

Hello gymnastics community –
Why Is The USOC Requesting Section 8?
The USOC has informed our Board of Directors that they plan to implement Section 8 which de-recognizes an organization of its status as NGB. I have met with Sarah Hirshland, the president of the USOC, a few times and it was communicated to me the USOC believes USA Gymnastics will suffer from the legal problems associated with the lawsuits from the survivors which will, in their opinion, hurt our High Performance Teams. I believe this to be a strategic move on their part to appease our critics and congress for the perceived lack of progress we have made as an organization to solve our public image problems. If the USOC takes on the task of managing our HP Teams USA Gymnastics will still be facing the challenges of litigation from the survivors.
What’s Next?
Our Board has two options: 1) give up the NGB status voluntarily, or 2) respond to the USOC they feel we should remain the NGB. In the case of option two they must prepare to explain why USA Gymnastics should remain the NGB. I’m not sure how long this takes. At some point in the future USA Gymnastics could apply to become the NGB again.
If the Board chooses Option 1 then the USOC will take over responsibilities of managing and funding the High Performance Teams for all of our Olympic sports: Women’s artistic, Men’s artistic, Trampoline and Rhythmic. The USOC gives approximately $2M annually to USA Gymnastics to fund all the HP Teams. High Performance Teams, on the women’s side, is defined as Development camps and the National team. The USOC money goes to pay for things like camps, competition expenses such as travel, hotel, meals, national team member financial support and other related things for all our disciplines. The money does not pay for office salaries or other expenses related to our Junior Olympic programs.
It’s Complicated
I believe the USOC is not aware of the complexity of operating our HP Teams. Our coaches as well as many of our young gymnasts participate in both JO competitions and elite competitions. USA Gymnastics has been committed to fund our HP Teams with money not included in the USOC budget. In other words it requires far more resources to run our teams than they know.
For example:
  • USA Gymnastics funds all premier events, such as American Classic, US Classic, and US Championships as well as qualifying events for other disciplines.
  • USA Gymnastics markets these events and administrates the organization of the events, including hotel contracts, transportation, food, staffing, etc.
  • USA Gymnastics coordinates with the local organizing committees and volunteers to help run our events.
  • USA Gymnastics communicates with FIG regarding international meets, deadlines for competitions, and negotiates hotel, transportation and security.
  • USA Gymnastics communicates with the parents of the Development athletes and National Teams and that’s just the women’s side.
There is more but the point is the USOC will struggle to manage what we have established over the past forty years.
What Happens Now?
The Board of Directors wants to hear from coaches, athletes, parents and club owners regarding this critical decision. Now is the time you should communicate with the Board of Directors what you want. Do you want to fight to preserve our status as the NGB for gymnastics or do you want to relinquish it? I am encouraging you to share this information with the parents and athletes in your gym so they can also communicate with the Board of what they want.
Here are the emails for the Board of Directors. Share it with anyone and everyone but communicate NOW – TODAY if possible!
Chairman: Karen Golz, Independent – kmgolz@gmail.com
Vice chair/Secretary: David C. Rudd, Independent – david.rudd@att.net
Treasurer: Stefanie Korepin skorepin@scsenergyllc.com
Lois Bingham, Independent ebingham@me.com
Kittia Carpenter, National Membership – kittiac@buckeyegymnastics.com
Kathryn Carson, Independent carson.kit34@gmail.com
Ivana Hong, Athlete Director – ivanamhong@gmail.com
Brent Lang, Independent blang@vocera.com
Steven Legendre, Athlete Director – steven.m.legendre@gmail.com
Dylan Maurer, Athlete Director – dmninja@gmail.com
Staci Slaughter, Independent sslaughter@sfgiants.com
Justin Spring, National Membership – jspring@illinois.com
Julie Springwater, Independent jspring@bu.edu
Kimberly Till, Independent kimberlytill@aol.com
Kevin White, Advisory kevnastics1@yahoo.com
Thank you for all that you do to support the athletes dedicated to our elite programs.
 
Tom Forster
High Performance Team Coordinator
Work hard. Work smart. Everyone has value.

It Takes THREE

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As you know I have just returned from a rather lengthy work trip to Europe. My final stop was in the UK.  I really enjoyed the pub culture. These pubs were not just places to meet and have a beer. They were parts of the community. They were set up to be comfortable and you did not feel rushed.



The 3rd place social theory.

In community building, the third place is the social surroundings separate from the two usual social environments of HOME (“first place”) and WORK (“second place”). Examples of third places would be environments such as churches, cafes, clubs, public libraries, or parks. In his influential book, The Great Good Place, Ray Oldenburg (1989, 1991) argues that third places are important for civil society, democracy, civic engagement, and establishing feelings of a sense of place.

In short, it takes 3 places to make your life complete.
Your Home
Your Work
That 3rd place.

Our Gyms have become the THIRD PLACE for many, if not MOST of our athletes.

In Business there is also the rule of 3. There must  be a working partnership between 3 individuals or entities. At it’s simplest form you have the raw product, the manufacturer and the consumer.  In an office it could be the Owner, the Manager, and the Program Director.
Each person must be competent and have the faith of the others for this to be a successful relationship where the whole is greater than the individual sum of its parts.

Each of us must be committed to maintaining the reputation of all of us. And all of us must be committed to maintaining the reputation of each of us.
—Jim Rohn

In our gyms we must have a working triad between the parent, the gymnast and the coach. Each building up and supporting the other.

Our industry has been in crisis for a while. Instead of looking to build up the other parts, we look to blame the other entities and tear them down.  I believe that in USA Gymnastics the BEST IS YET TO COME.  We have great things left to do in all disciplines.

This can only be achieved if we are working together for a common goal. Our strength is in our membership. The partnership between the ATHLETE, the COACH and the CLUB OWNER.  Each party must strive for excellence while supporting each other.

USA Gymnastics should be about the ATHLETES first. The athletes should be protected by the federation, USOC,  Safesport and every coach and club owner.

I find myself in a situation where I am involved in trying to start 2 different organizations. One for the CLUB OWNERS and one for ALL PRO MEMBERS.

The US Gymnastics Club Owners Association has the promise of being an important part of that triad. Of offering a guidance, protection and a voice for the club owners.  Our experience in gymnastics has taught us that failure and set backs are part of the learning  process.  Each board member brings our own views into the mix and that diversity is our strength, not our weakness.

The US Elite Coaches Association is trying to get the  US Professional Gymnastics Coaches Association off the ground. This will hopefully complete the triad.

I was in a bar recently (big surprise) arguing over what the hardest skill was to learn in gymnastics. As this was an educated group of professionals we all were focused on the important basic skills.

  • The Kip
  • The Roundoff
  • The Hurdle
  • Handstand

Each skill (and a few more) were all a good argument. I was more of an observer (mostly because this was in Italy and the conversation was going a bit faster than I could keep up). They asked me what my opinion was.
My response, “L’abilità più difficile? Pazienza.” 
I will save you the Google Translation.  “THE HARDEST SKILL?  PATIENCE”. 
Our end of the bar got quiet. Everyone nodded their head.

I believe in these organization. I believe in the reason they were founded and I believe in the people who took action.

It will take time and patience for us to forge a clear paths.

These organizations could be the base of our future. Each working in the best interests of their constituents while supporting each other.

Vote of No Confidence

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Vote of NO CONFIDENCE

Dear Gymnastics Community and Board of Directors

We, the undersigned coaches of the gymnastics industry and professional members in good standing with USA Gymnastics, have regretfully composed this letter to express our dissatisfaction with the current President Ms. Kerry Perry. Unfortunately, circumstances have left us no other recourse.

This letter is an expression of our “Vote of No Confidence” in Ms. Perry and her ability to run our federation. We understand the severity of this decision and did not arrive at it hastily. We have lost all trust, faith, and confidence in Ms. Perry’s ability to make decision for or lead USA Gymnastics.

USA Gymnastics has, for the most part, been a federation to be proud of, one where decisions were made on a collaborative basis with the best interest of all in mind. Supporting organizations and groups have always relied on USA Gymnastics to display experienced great vision from our current leaders, and where athletes, judges and coaches were given the respect and support needed to achieve our goals.

Throughout the past months, we have had concerns regarding Ms. Perry’s leadership specifically regarding trust, collaboration, decision making, vision, her lack of communication. We also believe that Ms. Perry failed to abide by the mission statement, “Win medals, Grow the Sport, Increase Visibility for the Sport, Lead and Serve the Sport”. All athletes, judges and coaches will succeed in a climate that sustains a passion for fairness. Athletes succeed best when the gymnastics federation maintains a strong partnership with the total membership at all levels. As coaches, we no longer have a voice.

Perry has not created a better gymnastics environment, but instead has created a toxic environment for both coaches and athletes. Without the recognition of mistakes or the willingness to listen to outside entities or her own trained competent coach members, there is no hope for changing or improvement and thus no way forward.

We feel she has a lack of attention to, preparation for, or appropriate prioritizing of, the requirements and interests of our entire membership body,  as well as a failure to recognize and respect the expertise of the educational professionals in the membership.

We feel she has inconsistency in application of rules and an ongoing lack of respect toward many of the coaches and organizations that make up the USA Gymnastics Board of Directors. A federation cannot be run successful with a one-way avenue of communication.  Even when input is sought, there is a failure to follow through or a total disregard for the communication in the first place. Ideas of many; when communication occurs, it is too often delayed and incomplete. There’s just an overall feeling of we as coaches are losing ground all the time. We need a different, more solid leadership, we need a firm direction to head towards. The moral is just too low and feel it is time for a change.

For these reasons stated, we the undersigned are voting “No Confidence” in Ms. Perry and hope and believe that you as a USA Gymnastics professional member and role model will make the right decision and chose what is in the best interest for the industry including the athletes, coaches and judges of all disciplines and vote no confidence as well.

Together, as professional members, we can make positive change.

US Elite Coaches Association for Women’s Gymnastics

Established 1976

USECA NEWS. Advisory Council Agenda

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Dear Colleague,
It has been a very difficult year in the gymnastics community. We at The US Elite Coaches Association remain committed not just to continually educating the gymnastics community but to represent professional members to the Advisory Council and to the USAG Board of Directors.
The AC meeting is Wednesday August 8th.  Kerry Perry and Karen Golz will both be in attendance. USECA will be giving it’s annual report and be part of the overall discussion.  Here is a quick look at agenda items that may be of interest to you.  If you are interested in the FULL agenda please go to the USECA web page.
A.USA Gymnastics COB Remarks                Karen Golz

B. USA Gymnastics CEO Remarks                 Kerry Perry


D. Future of the National Gymnastics Foundation      Mike Burns

E. Safe Sport and NCAA Communication with Recruits      Mike Burns
IF YOU HAVE ANY COMMENTS OR CONCERNS THAT YOU WOULD LIKE ME TO BRING UP- PLEASE CONTACT ME.
I plan on bringing up for discussion the LACK of safeguards for professional members in regards to malicious complaints and unwarranted public suspensions by USAG.
The USECA annual Meeting will be Thursday August 9th at 5:15-6:15 RICC – Room 552 – (5th level in convention center). I will be giving the annual report and reporting from the AC meeting.  BRING A FRIEND!
USECA Meeting Agenda
5:15 Call to Order
1- Financial Report, (and New Website)  Michael Guzman
2- Video/ Media Report, John Min
3- Future Plans and Direction-  Tony Retrosi, Chere Hoffman.
– Possible Training Center Build
– Possible Profesional Members Union
4.- Ideas for growth
5- New Business
MAKE SURE YOU STOP AT OUT BOOTH  AT CONGRESS.
Tony Retrosi
Chairman, USECA

USAG Board of Directors Meeting Today

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This is a copy of an e-mail sent to Advisory Counsel Representatives to Board of Directors as well as to some members of the USAG Board of Directors.  (The e-mail wasn’t to a “select few” on the BoD but to anyone whose e-mail address I had). I know they have many things they have to deal with but I do not mind being a squeaky wheel representing the elite coaches as well as members of the professional coaches community.

To Members of the USA Gymnastics Board of Directors;

As the Chairman of the USECA I  have sent out an e-mail asking for concerns that people wanted brought  to the attention of the Board.

The NUMBER ONE thing from the  USECA membership as well as my consulting contacts is that professional members want some form of protection from untrue accusations brought by parents, athletes  or former athletes. We are not asking to take away anything from Safesport or Mr. Busby.
We want the sport to be “Clean” . There is no room for abusive coaches.
Yet we are all afraid of being unfairly persecuted and thrown out of the sport because of accusations brought by a disgruntled client.
Right now every coach is presumed guilty. Even if investigations clear professionals of any wrong doing the damage done to our careers can be fatal. The damage done to our businesses could ruin us financially.
As I understand the current Safesport rules we have no recourse. Any recourse would be viewed as retaliation.
Possibly the creation of a Committee to Investigate the Credibility of a Complaint. This would allow Mr. Busby to spend his time concentrating on more credible complaints.
The damage done by false or unwarranted accusations can not be understated or ignored.
As professional members of USAG we feel there should some sort protection given to us.
A few quotes from e-mails I have received.

Protection for coaches from the witch hunt.. There needs to be some sort of way to prevent just any unhappy person to call SafeSport and make a false statement. Coaches get put through the ringer and the accuser walks away freely

Thank you Tony… in North Carolina alone I know of 2 current false claims to Safe Sport that the gyms have had to contact USA Gymnastics and even get Cease and Desist orders against the accuser and open a lawsuit.

 Right now it is very open without much accountability 
The next thing that USECA members asked about was the make up of the BoD going forward. Make up of the NEW Board (USOC, an agency in trouble itself, has asked USAG to reduce the number of members from 21 to no more than 15 on the BoD. 20% must be Athlete Directors,  A majority of the Directors must be independent. ). That will significantly reduce the VOICE of many disciplines on the board.
Please address the court briefs regarding the USA Gymnastics lawyers claiming they have no responsibility with regrades to Larry and others. 
 
Please review existing  USAG staff as to their involvement in these matters

Dear Fellow Advisory Council Members:

 

I understand that the Interim USA Gymnastics Board of Directors is meeting tomorrow morning, and I sincerely hope that our representatives take this opportunity to reinstate Kevin White as our duly elected representative as per our vote on Feb. 10.  We as a group elected Bobbie, Evelyn and Kevin as our BOD representatives and with the recent communications and confusion on whether or not Kevin could serve on the board, it is clear to many of us that Kevin did not resign, nor should he resign his position. 

Having said that, I believe that Kevin should serve to represent us on the BOD, as he was elected to do.

Again, this is in no way a reflection on Cindy, and her capabilities to serve as a representative — it is just the legal and right thing to do understanding the circumstances that have transpired over the last couple of months.

I hope that all of you, and most importantly, the Board representatives, support me on this.  Thank you for listening.

 

Best Regards,

 

Tim

 

Respectfully submitted
Tony Retrosi, Chairman USECA
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