Konnor McClain to WOGA

[megansothername]

Agreed. It did seem she was having those issues even when she wasn’t in competition, though, so the fact that’s improved is a good sign. As I said, though, the only thing I care about is that she winds up in a healthy situation.

 

[irichluck21]

Not to compare Laurent here, but look at what the Landis did for Chiles.
Perhaps Valeri will give McClain the confidence she needs which will eliminate the anxiety. If it continues then it is more a mental health issue than a performance issue and she would need more than a gymnastics coach to assist. Hopefully they are working with a sports psychologist.

 

[rlayt]

She’s clearly very talented. I hope this works out for her well-being.

 

[Hatsumomo]

I hope this change will be for the better, but WOGA doesn’t really have the sort of reputation that nurtures gymnasts with mental and physical issues.

WCC is a baby gym but already has shown that they can take a headcase mess of a talent and shape her up into meeting the potential that was always there.

 

[Jack]

You have to assume she at least considered WCC, right? I wonder what the deciding factor was. I’m still not over their complete mismanagement of Ohashi.

 

[blake]

WCC has a lot of elites, perhaps she wants a personal coach like she had at Revolution?

 

[rue_des_plantes]

I wonder if many coaches with athletes going to Trials would even entertain it. The timeline was so absurd, it would have been disruptive in the leadup even if she ended up being a great fit.

It doesn’t sound like hanging around Revolution for a couple more months with Worlds approaching was a good idea, either. Maybe it was a case of who was available. Valeri, MLT, Qi Han, Mrs. Donna Strauss…

 

[Sparklesmom]

In the Golden series she is CLEARLY unhappy. That said, that whole situation is a train wreck. I felt the incredible pressure from mom through the screen. Dad seemed to be okay, but I was horrified to see mom almost pimp her daughter out as a little town star at church. When she told her to freaking tumble down the aisle. WTF? My child is a level ten and never in a million years would I do that! You freaking preserve their body not tell (force) them to freaking tumble on carpet over concrete at church! Not to mention church should be the place where she is just simply “Konnor” not “konnor the olympic hopeful” YIKES! Further, Konnor doesn’t even appear to LIKE the sport. She very much appears to be a child who is very talented and very good but MOM and COACH want this so she is going along with it. From what I have seen over the years that rarely ends well. I sincerely hope that WOGA is truly the fresh start she needs and that she can find her love and joy again. At a minimum I hope it is a place that allows her to not be under so much stress that she vomits her way through training.

 

[irichluck21]

Interesting perspective.

We are so quick to blame the coaches but we cannot forget the pressure that some parents place on their children.

 

[RedBirdie]

Konnor’s mom has been pimping her out since she was a preschooler. Mom’s been pushing this “best gymnast” and “going to the olympics” thing since the girl was 4.

 

[Sparklesmom]

I agree. I noticed during Golden they showed a clip of her on Steve Harvey and honestly she had the same look of slight terror and pressure even then when he was talking about her being a future olympian. Ugh. I really do feel badly for her. This kind of crazy parenting is rampant in the sport from the littles all the way through JO and into elite.

 

[JaJa]

I thought both of her parents came off really badly in Golden.

 

[megansothername]

Totally agree. The whole brushing off abuse allegations as girls just not being able to handle the pressure? Yikes.

 

[Sparklesmom]

The new episode of golden today really was interesting. I hope this ends up better for her than I fear it will.

 

[ucrgirl]

I just wanted to present a different view of what we saw in the documentary. Konor’s parents know about the bad experiences people have had with Valeri, however Konor has had good experiences with Valeri and he is a skilled coach. In the context of the documentary they had to offer some comment about why they are giving Valeri a chance given what other gymnasts have said. And it sounds like they are going to keep a close eye on the situation.

It is possible that many of you have the right read on the situation but I don’t think that it is the only interpretation of how they are parenting Konor and trying to guide an elite athlete.

 

[choclatechip45]

Gymcastic has said multiple times that apparently Valeri when he was Developmental Coordinator/NTC he told coaches about his mistakes in the past. The issue with Valeri he won’t admit anything publicly. So maybe he had a conversation about it with Konnor’s parent. I always thought it was a blessing in disguise for Gabby that WOGA wouldn’t take her and she went to Chow’s instead.

 

[Dex]

I do not blame him for not admitting anything publicly… The people who work with him NEED to know, the public, not so much… He will be crucified for something that happened years ago, and is probably a product of HIS upbringing. With all due respect OUR opinion does not matter. The girls, and parents who need to deal with him need to be confident in the treatment of their daughter. If they are convinced their girls are in good, human hands that is all that counts.

 

[rlayt]

Trust but verify. I was just reading a FB post by a WOGA parent whose family loves Valeryi and insists weighing at the gym ended quite a while ago. I still worry where the lines are drawn between pushing and abuse but it might be different for different athletes.

Maybe Valeryi has grown and changed. In time we will find out. For now the McClains made a decision they think best supports Konnor. As long as she keeps the voice she has learned to use Konnor will be able to stay in the driver’s seat of that.

 

[megansothername]

This is fair enough, but her parents still rubbed me the wrong way. It was the way they dismissed the past experiences as girls just not being tough enough. If they had said “Look, we know there were gymnasts who had bad experiences, but we think his style has changed and Our child has had wonderful experiences with him.” And that was it, I think I would feel differently. It was the convo about weight and the sense I got that they think that gymnasts who had bad experiences just weren’t tough enough that makes me concerned. Even if Valeri is incredible, that attitude from her parents is worrying to me. I had also felt like there was a lot of parental pressure even from previous episodes in ways that concerned me so maybe I was a little biased coming into this one.

At the end of the day only Konnor knows how she feels, and I mostly just hope she can have a positive experience with her gymnastics moving forward, whatever form that takes.

 

[ucrgirl]

Your assessment (and other posters) may be exactly correct. My main point is that there is a lot we don’t know and I think it is worthwhile to pause before we judge someone to be a crazy gym mom/dad or bad parents based on an edited documentary . . . and I worry that our conversation was heading that way in a hurry.