Allen Bower Funding

[Denn]

That does make it seem like an apology for show. I would think that Brett McClure could just contact Allan…

 

[rlayt]

As much as I’ve always admired his career and supported him McClure appears to be a terrible communicator.

Somebody told me he fails to followup or answer emails and he says he’s too busy.

 

[cats]

Amazing that funding can be raised in a half day. It’s almost like raising funds specifically for athletes is something the fanbase and even corporate partners could get behind.

 

[ArnoldRimmer]

Mmm, part of me thinks this is brilliant and part of me doesn’t want to give the fuckers any ideas.

 

[KristyJ]

I agree with Nancy Armour. What the ???

Am I the only one feeling like either USAG is playing favorites in a gross way, or they are so poorly run that they are like chickens with their heads cut off? In a year with an Olympics that requires a lot of alternates due to COVID issues and a world championships, how do you not recognize that you need to care for and nurture your best athletes? Between Bower, Juda, Roos, Jones, etc… there’s a lot of athletes feeling reasonably miffed. And Bower has the biggest case of all by far. They funded five people ranked below him in the AA, seven ranked below him on events.

 

[irichluck21]

I mean how do you fund your entire Olympic team other than one alternate.

It makes zero sense in any capability.

USAG just needs to be dissolved completely and started over from the ground up.

 

[ucrgirl]

Bower as alternate and Paul Juda as obtaining +1 should be added to the national team and receive funding and both should have an invite to Worlds camp.

Why should both have been invited to Worlds trials (which presumably would mean worlds consideration)? It’s not a team competition so wouldn’t team USA send event specialists and maybe our top aa athlete. I’m pretty sure Bower has no standout events. Does Juda?

Granted, usmag should communicate any worlds selection criteria to the athletes in question.

 

[irichluck21]

We don’t know what the Olympic team plans are post Olympics. Typically, Olympians take some time off after the Olympics. This is an unusual year however.

Bower and Juda are solid AA athletes.

Paul Juda won a +1 spot for the Olympics at Pan Am Championships with an 83.000
That score would have placed him 15th at the 2019 Worlds and 5th at the 2021 Europeans.

Even if your rationale about not being event specialists held up, it is very disrespectful of USAG to not allow an Olympic Alternate and an athlete that earned a +1 to the Olympics to the World Team Trials.

I can also see both being in the top 8 in AA at Worlds and depending on the likely depleted field, you never know.

 

[OnoNoKomachi]

The Bower fundraiser now has more than 43,000 $

Message from Steven Legendre, the organizer.

Yesterday
by Steven Legendre, Organizer
UPDATE. All I can say is Wow!!! You all are absolutely incredible and to say that initial expectations have been surpassed is a massive understatement. I have been blown away by the amount of support you all have offered to Allan in his journey and I know he is overwhelmed with gratitude and appreciation for you all. It is amazing how you all have turned a moment where he has felt unappreciated by USAG and turned it into a moment where he has never felt a higher level of love, support, and inspiration.

Given the enormous success of this fundraiser and the sheer volume of donations that have come in, Allan reached out to me to find a way to give back. His funding that he has not received from USAG has been covered and then some and he wants to find a charitable way to pay it forward and help support other athletes in situations similar to his. I hope you all can understand this stance as both myself and Allan never expected this amount of money to be raised in such a short period of time. Specifics will be figured out in the coming weeks and Allan and I are absolutely open to suggestions or recommendations on the best way to help other athletes. After all, if it the generosity and support of YOU ALL that has made this possible and it is the highest priority for us to see that these donations end up helping others in the most impactful way possible!

To all, thank you so much! The gymnastics community, the OU family, the Olympic family, and the random strangers who we now consider family that all were so kind to give to this cause. It takes a village and Allan feels like he has the support of the biggest one out there!

 

[Vanessa_Steck]

That’s awesome that his costs got covered so fast. I look foreword to seeing what that do with the remaining funds.

 

[JDB]

I mean how do you fund your entire Olympic team other than one alternate.

It makes zero sense in any capability.

USAG just needs to be dissolved completely and started over from the ground up.

I’d go even further since USAG is far from the only offender. The Amateur Sports Act should be repealed. The governing bodies practice incredibly exploitative labor relations. Funded members should be acknowledged as employees and all members should have union representation.

 

[choclatechip45]

The only thing that makes me nervous about union representation in Gymnastics is all the under-aged gymnasts would be represented by parents and we have seen how irresponsible parents have been about making decisions with stuff that has come out in the last 5 years.