USA Championships just finished and we have crowned National Champions who have each been there before. Sam Mikulak and Simone Biles. Kerry Perry, the president and CEO of USA Gymnastics, finally faced the media and as Dvora Meyers points out in Deadspin- Said Nothing. I have a basic idea of the legal ramifications facing Perry. The legal advice she is probably being given is, “Go out there and don’t say ANYTHING“. But by not saying anything, she allows the trolls to control the message.
It has been too long since there was a positive message surrounding our sport. It is hard to tell what we stand for. I am not sure we understand what the words “transparency” and “empowered” mean anymore.
USA Gymnastics used to do GREAT THINGS. Collectively, we had GREAT THOUGHTS and IDEAS and we acted on them. We saw a need and we took action. We believed in our greatness and in the groundwork it takes to achieve that greatness. Some examples are the design of programs that were victorious on the international stage and the implementation of expanded Safety and Risk Management courses. Sure, as a whole, we’ve made some mistakes but if gymnastics has taught us anything it is that FAILURE IS THE PREREQUISITE FOR SUCCESS.
As coaches, when we see a mistake in a skill, we make corrections and continue to move forward. We learn, we grow and we plan for the future. We determine what skills are needed to be competitive. We lay the base, we learn the lead up- AND WE GO FORWARD!
IT SHOULD NOT JUST BE REACTION. IT SHOULD BE ACTION AND PLANNING.
For the last 18 months I feel that USAG has been just about REACTING, jumping from one mistake to the next. We need to move forward, to implement a clear and concise plan and achieve great things again. It’s time for a change.
TO BE GREAT- IT TAKES GREAT IDEAS AND ACTION— COLLECTIVELY
We are going to make mistakes. We are going to have set backs. We are going to take some body blows and get knocked down. But we MUST get back up. This is our livelihood and our future—we depend on it.
By taking great thoughts and ideas and putting them into action we can achieve great things. The time has come to push forward, to demand great things from others and expect great things from ourselves. We need to be accountable.
Our goals as an organization should be:
Education
- Education, leadership and professional development for assisting gymnastics professionals in all disciplines to become better leaders, role models and mentors in our industry.
Stewardship
- Be leaders in the growth of gymnastics popularity and increased participation by collectedly focusing on a working training program and marketing plan of the Men’s Program, T & T, Acro, Rhythmic and Women’s program. We each must act as ambassadors of the sport.
Advocacy
- Give voice to all gymnastics professionals by interacting with the gymnastics governing body at all levels for the development of rules, judging quality, and coaching culture.
Our primary goals will help accomplish:
- Better protection for all participants in the sport, this includes athletes and coaches alike.
- Leadership and integrity at all levels in our sport
- Maintaining a culture that promotes goodness in all areas
We must DEMAND great leadership in our sport from top to bottom. A great leader doesn’t set out to be a leader. They set out to make a difference by using those surrounding them to create a better industry. It’s NOT about the ROLE—it’s always about the GOAL. It is about INCLUSION and not about SECLUSION.
Our leadership must openly surround themselves with people others who have GREAT minds and SOUND ideas. They should have –
- Clear vision—Must be close enough to a problem (or the people within the organization) to relate but far enough away to have unencumbered vision of what path to take now and in the future.
- Patience—We are currently in a wave of OVERCORRECTIONS. We react by swinging back and forth at a dizzying pace. We need leadership who will be patient yet persistent in seeking the answers to problems without rushing into over corrective decisions that in the end cost us credibility and ultimately do not make our sport any safer.
- Ask (and is available to answer) tough questions—be available to the industry
- Knowledgeable of our unique gymnastics culture and leads by example
- Strong relationships within the gymnastics community built on trust.
We cannot continue on this path of seemingly self-destruction. We have worked too hard and sacrificed far too much as an industry to continue with the lack of a clear pathway to change our current culture.
The gymnastics culture has eroded to an embarrassing state and only collectively can we change it to one we can once again say,
“We are proud gymnastics professionals”.
We need this culture change and we need it immediately. We must have stewardship, advocacy and education of our ranks by our ranks to move forward into a positive gymnastics culture we can all be proud of.
Stay Tuned… The US Elite Coaches Association has some things in the works.
