Chalked Up: Inside Elite Gymnastics' Merciless Coaching, Overzealous Parents, Eating Disorders, and Elusive Olympic Dreams

[QuietColours]

The John and Robin that Sey refers to, and are seen the the Parkettes documentary, were eventually sanctioned by SafeSport. John Holman has been banned for life, while Robin Netwall received a suspension (appears to be done, as I cannot find her on the list any more). Bill Strauss received as "letter of admonishment" while no action was taking against Donna Strauss due to "failing health."

I definitely took issue with her statement that the only reason men coach women's gymnastics is to be able to touch scantily clad little girls, but she definitely dealt with some of the coaches for which that appears to have been true.

 

[Matilda23]

Did Parkette’s have many gymnasts on the World Championships teams? Or was its success just in the number of elites the gym had?

 

[Hatsumomo]

And Sey wasn't even all that good! She obviously had a great work ethic, but little natural talent.

Cue up Elfi Schlegel

 

[IratePanda]

Did Parkette’s have many gymnasts on the World Championships teams? Or was its success just in the number of elites the gym had?

They had tons of elites, but only a handful made Worlds teams--two in 1985 (Sey and Calore), one in 1989 (Kelly), and one in 1981 (Stallone). Oh, and Maloney. I keep forgetting about her. (I didn't really follow gymnastics from 1997-2003.)

 

[QuietColours]

Part III

1987

• She came back to hide. Federation officials are calling to see if she'll attend Worlds, which she qualified to months ago, before her body retreated
• She pretends to workout, going to the gym each day (and arriving later and later). She considers going to the mall instead and eating trail mix with yogurt almonds and dried pineapple until her throat is coated in sugar. She doesn't throw up; she swallow laxatives instead. That seems less sick.
• She stretches for much longer than necessary. She isn't the girl she was two years ago, or two months ago when she left Parkettes.
• She does beam, the only event her lack of energy can handle. She's too afraid to do a single back handspring. She eventually tries and falls
• Lolo hugs her under the beam. "You are the 1986 national champion. You always will be. Don't you ever forget that."
• Who cares? Jen cries, Lolo mothering her the way her own mother can't because she's too lost in disappointment and self-pity–she gave up everything for Jen to do this.
• Lolo sends Jen home for the day. She only asks Jen try to get happy again and move on, to make it to September so she can accept her position at Stanford. She knows Jen will find her body and mind again
• Every failure in her life lingers and chafes for her, her whole life, not making the Olympics the most.

1985-1989

Chapter 17

• Time to Move
  • Lost weight right away because the training sessions were so much more rigorous. Five pounds lost without a thought–Jen and the coaches were satisfied, and so the coaches didn't comment on her eating habits
  • Her mother would give her a bagel with cream cheese and a diet soda after practice and Jen would eat in the lobby. The other girls would watch, appalled. They would never eat in front of the coaches. Jen didn't think about that–she was hungry, and at the time carbs were encouraged for athletes.
  • She'd already started limiting food before the workout, to avoid extra weight in her stomach when she weighed in.
  • John admonished her for being willing to eat a whole bagel (with cream cheese!) and her mother for giving it to her. They both conceded, and Jen went to bed that night without any additional food–just a half bagel.
  • Her grades started to drop too, Bs and missed assignments sneaking in. A teacher talked her about it, which was embarrassing even if she knew that even if the teacher called her parents, they wouldn't worry about one potential B grade for a kid who made straight As and had an exceptional extracurricular to get her into college. But it was humiliating.
  • It was time to move to Allentown.
  • They'd only been commuting a few months, but she'd mastered several new release moves on bars, a tumbling series on beam, and was working towards a tsuk full on vault, which had a 10.0 start value. In the past, all her vaults had started with 9.7
  • It was decided she'd move in with Beth, a coach at Parkettes, and her four-year-old son Wes. Beth coached 7 and 8 year olds and was not involved in Jen's training, which made the situation suitable according to Jen's parents.
  • Jen's parents paid $300/month for room and board.
  • Jen was sad when her parents dropped her off, even though it was her choice. She knew they'd have taken her home, and she wanted to keep training. Also, she knew the commute had been hard on their relationship
  • Beth had been awarded the house in a recent divorce but was struggling monetarily. The house was rarely heated, the blankets scratchy, the towels thin, the house dark. The food was bad and in small quantities–Beth had her own eating disorder and would be held accountable for Jen's weight on top of the financial issues with stocking the cupboards. She didn't have a radio or television in her room and mostly spent her time locked away in there, studying or sleeping.
  • She didn't tell her parents because she didn't want them to worry or pull her. If they asked questions, she knew she'd crack.
  • Molded herself into someone who was dedicated, fearless, and somber and developed habits to support it–dieting, deeply involved body checks. Constant exercising. And sleeping
• The new routine
  • Enrolled at Swain, a small private school. She didn't like it–it was dark, cold, and boring, and the kids were all awkward and could never have survived outside their closed environment
  • Mrs. Kuroda, the mother of fellow Parkettes Missy and Andie, picked Jen up from Beth's every morning and took them all to school. The Kuroda girls hated Swain as much as Jen did, but it was the only option for parents who saw themselves as above Allentown and on the college-prep track.
  • They had a uniform–a navy blazer with the school's crest and a grey flannel skirt. All classes were taken in the same room. She had ended up liking Haddonfield High more than her elementary private school because it made being a conventional teenager an option, if she wanted it. There were six kids in her tenth grade class at Swain, and only one boy.
  • She passed time there just to go to gym. Mrs. Kuroda picked them up at 12:30 and they were at the gym by 12:45
  • First, they had weigh ins. Jen enjoyed these now–with the lack of food at Beth's, she'd continued to drop weight and was now 95 pounds at 5'3. She counted calories obsessively and never topped 800.
  • After practice Beth would take her home and they'd push food around on the their plates. Jen would layer on clothes for the night, because it was so cold and do her homework to keep her parents and teachers out of her business.
  • When she heard Beth put Wes to bed and then lock herself in her own room, Jen would sometimes tiptoe downstairs looking for snacks. Once she'd hoped to find some peanut butter cookies Beth had brought home, but realized Beth had binged on them herself and hidden the empty container. That night, Jen binged on three butterscotch chips and then carefully hid the bag again before going upstairs
  • She went to bed earlier than she ever had in her life, because sleep kept her from being lonely or cold or hungry.
  • Sunday evenings were the worst, after spending an almost normal weekend with her family in New Jersey. And after eating normally with her family, she dreaded the Monday morning weigh in and would exercise to make sure she hadn't gained too much weight

 

[RedBirdie]

Parkettes also had eMjae Frazier make 2021 worlds.

Parkettes would show up at nationals with huge teams, and they've been around forever. But as far as getting to the world and olympic level, no.

Word in the early 2000s was one of the reasons they attracted so many elites and elite hopefuls was that they didn't charge elites tuition.

 

[RichardL]

Uzelac was a huge talent, but only as a junior, unfortunately. She was going to be on the 2002 team for sure but got injured and then never really came back in the same form again.

 

[Passion]

They got Ebee Price to Olympic alternate in 2012. Worlds non-traveling alternate in 2013.

They sent lots of people to other international competitions, like Pan Ams, Pac Rims, World Cups, etc. Loads of college scholarships.

 

[MaryClare]

Parkettes also had eMjae Frazier make 2021 worlds.

Parkettes would show up at nationals with huge teams, and they've been around forever. But as far as getting to the world and olympic level, no.

Word in the early 2000s was one of the reasons they attracted so many elites and elite hopefuls was that they didn't charge elites tuition.

That makes sense, if they weren’t charging tuition. It always puzzled me how they became such a magnet gym when they had pretty modest results given the number of elite they had.

 

[QuietColours]

They had tons of elites, but only a handful made Worlds teams--two in 1985 (Sey and Calore), one in 1989 (Kelly), and one in 1981 (Stallone). Oh, and Maloney. I keep forgetting about her. (I didn't really follow gymnastics from 1997-2003.)

With Kelly you also have the kind-of-making the 1992 Olympic team, and then being politicked off.

 

[RedBirdie]

That makes sense, if they weren’t charging tuition. It always puzzled me how they became such a magnet gym when they had pretty modest results given the number of elite they had.

Throw in that the next closest gym that had elites was Hill's, and Kelli not only charged tuition, she made gymnasts go to real school. Incredibly off-putting for a not-insignificant number of families.

 

[Matilda23]

What were the usual training hours for elites at Hill’s? Just the afternoon/night?

 

[RedBirdie]

I don't know what the current schedule is. From the 1990s through the mid-2010s, it was typically a shorter morning session (2 hours), followed by a 4-5 hour afternoon session. Usually there would be one morning off, and generally no Friday afternoon practice. Then a longer Saturday practice.

Montgomery County Public Schools have long been very accommodating for elites. They've allowed them to come in late and complete the rest of the school day (used to be that MCPS high schools ended at 2:15ish, not sure if that's still the case), and bend over backwards to offer night and online classes as needed. I imagine it's even easier these days with the proliferation of online options.

 

[IratePanda]

With Kelly you also have the kind-of-making the 1992 Olympic team, and then being politicked off.

I was hesitant to open that can of worms.

 

[crdubb17]

I don’t mean to derail the thread, but reading Quietcolours’ recaps took me to back to the CNN documentary on the Parkettes that came out around 2002, about 15 years following Sey’s time with them. Most of the coaches she mentions are shown here, and their methods of training only validate her horrific experience.

If someone finds this in a better quality, please share it!

 

[JDB]

She says men become coaches to coach prepubescent girls in leotards

This is why Chalked Up was hated by the gymnastics community. Sey's accusations against Don Peters were true. And she was right about many male coaches being motivated by pedophilic interests. Many coaches didn't want to admit their friends and acquaintances in the community were malicious. There wasn't much social prestige in gymnastics coaching. So Sey's perspective breaking through to mainstream sports media would have further brought down the prestige.

 

[QuietColours]

Chapter 18

• Politics
  • Zone meet was hosted by Parkettes and she achieved her qualifying score without issue
  • All of 1984 girls had retired
  • It was critical to begin resume building with high rankings and international experience to ensure a spot on the 1988 team. Jen wished she'd been born three years later, so she'd be a perfect 16 instead of a too-old 19 in 1988. She'd had to stay in the top ranks for four seasons, which was difficult. She'd also need to defer college a year
  • Would be including all her new tricks at Nationals to make an impression on the judges with her progress and make them think she could be a leader in US gymnastics
  • Gymnastics is not about who is objectively the best. Politics are important, judges have favorites, and most judges have club affiliations. Certain clubs are also known and accepted as the best, and their athletes get the benefit of the doubt. In 1985, the ranking was SCATS and Karolyis, then Parkettes
  • If an athlete is accomplished, she is given a great deal of leeway no matter what her club–the name carries weight, so mistakes are forgiven. An unknown will get the deduction, not the benefit of the doubt. A former champion will get the benefit of the doubt. If a girl has struggled for so long to be at the top, why should a bad day be counted against her? She can be counted on more than the unknown can
  • Being with Parkettes gave Jen currency with the judges–Lolo's wasn't a top club, so Jen had had to do everything without forgiveness from the judges. Now with Parkettes, she'd have credibility as soon as she walked onto the floor, and she could use that to start building her own reputation
• Nationals
  • John was giddy with anticipation for Nationals. They'd played it safe at the zone meet, and Jen was going to unveil a tsuk full, a Jaeger, and BHS-BHS-LO on beam at Nationals. She was one of "his girls" and he was invested–her doing well would prove he was right
  • She was physically capable of delivering the performance–she'd gotten a lot stronger in the last six months. She'd have a double pike and a triple twist on floor, a planche on beam. Her grace and flexibility, always her strengths, had been elevated. Her nerves were the question
  • Lolo's attitude had been, "We're lucky to be here!" John's was, "This is your chance!" It was a lot more pressure
  • Marched in as part of an army, workouts had been going well, but the tsuk full was still giving her trouble. Usually Parkettes coaches wouldn't let an athlete throw anything in competition they couldn't do consistently in practice, but she'd never done the vault on a hard surface without a spot. They were relying the difficulty score buffer and adrenaline
  • Compulsories went well
  • Optionals started on beam. She did a great routine, and confidence carried her through floor set to "Nine to Five." She was short on the triple, but bounced and sold it as around to convince the judges she'd made it. She was on track to finish in the top half; a good vault would put her in the top third.
  • They announced the vault, finalizing what she would do. If she threw a different vault, she'd get a 0. She came onto the horse too high, but didn't bail out (as required by John) and landed short, hands and feet at the same time and stinging her ankle. Her ankle wobbled as she walked back up the runway, the bones shifting. John saw her limping and encouraged her, "Let's do it this time, then you're all done."
  • Came in too high again. This time when she landed there was a crack as the ankle snapped. She made sure to salute on one foot so she wouldn't get a 0. She told John it was broken, and he told her she didn't know that. Her mom hysterically said the same thing to her father; and her father tested it and confirmed. His diagnosis was mechanical–she understands now he was keeping his tone light so she wouldn't think he was disappointed in her. Jen played it cool too, mostly to keep her mother calm. She wore her first broken bone as a badge of honor
  • She did a touch on bar to officially finish the meet and medalled on floor and beam. It also meant her coaches could petition her to US Championships if she didn't recover in time for the next qualifying nationals
• Recovery
  • She was strangely encouraged–before vault, she'd been positioned for a strong finish and she'd let the judges know she was a contender
  • A trainer wrapped the ankle and Donna Strauss convinced her parents to skip the ER for Dr. Dixon back in Allentown. He was the Parkettes' team doctor and made prognoses after consulting with Mrs. Strauss, developing treatment paths that would minimize interference with training. He was committed to enabling high performance in the short term. He also consulted for the national team. Later, he was accused of experimenting with blood doping
  • An X-ray confirmed the break. She'd have a hard cast for 10 days so the bone could fuse, then an air cast and back to practice. PT and conditioning would replace practice for the 10 days in the cast.
  • This was acceptable to Jen, and her parents didn't argue about it to her.
  • Working out injured was common at Parkettes. Tells about Tracy Butler, how had had a bad elbow break and whose arm never fully recovered to straightening all the way, who listed in cast handstands and danced with her arm at 45 degrees, working around her body's limitations. Her parents were far away and didn't witness it, and the coaches never worried how well she'd be able to use the arm later in life.
  • Jen's goal was to be back to full practices in a month. In three months she'd be ready for US Championships; her coaches had petitioned her through. If she missed it, it would be two seasons lost and she'd have to wait another year to establish her ranking.
  • Days began with PT before school. The PT was employed by the Strausses. He picked her up at 6:30 and took her to his office, where she did range-of-motion exercises. She needed to maintain flexibility in the nearby joints and strength in the muscles. They became friends. He preached to her about his Christian philosophy and he told her that he liked her, but as a Jew and a nonbeliever she was going to hell and needed to develop a personal relationship with Christ to go to heaven. She laughed and kept going on the exercise bike.
  • Bill drove her to school when they were done, then Mrs. Kuroda took her to gym. She did bars even in the cast, with John spotting her. Then more conditioning. Generally still went home earlier than the other girls, because it was hard to fill seven hours with one event and conditioning. Beth's house was empty–she was still coaching and Wes was entertaining himself at the gym. She could watch tv. Crutches made moving more difficult, so she didn't use them, hobbling instead.
  • Her mom called frequently, worried about her. It was at this point they decided her mom would move to Allentown, bringing her brother with her. Their dad would stay at the NJ house during week–he had to stay behind to manage his practice, which funded all this.
  • Jen didn't think that Chris might miss his friends or that he might be disappointed not to graduate middle school with his class, or that he might not want to join a team with a head coach (Larry Moyer) who was known for shouting nonsensical, obscene epithets at his gymnasts.
  • She didn't think about her father's situation either, lonely by himself in the sprawling ranch house. They'd visit on the weekends. She didn't think about her mother's feelings either, that she might feel like she was putting her marriage at risk for Jen's gymnastics.
  • By the time she got the cast off, her mom had rented an apartment across the street from her brother's new middle school. The middle school was violent and scary compared to his old private school. He was challenged to a fight on his first day. A new friend stepped in to fight the guy himself. He was beaten to a pulp after school the next day. Chris was so upset he never told their mom, who never realized how awful his new school was.
  • Her mom picked her up from school, drove her to practice, packed lunches (that went uneaten) and made dinners, and watched Dynasty together.
  • Atrophy shrank Jen's leg to half its normal size when the cast came off. The ankle still felt wobbly and ached. But the pain was bearable. She was ready to work towards Championships.

 

[IratePanda]

Too-old 19 at the '88 Olympics? Tell that to Elena Shushunova (RIP).