Shilese IG post (Disappointment of Olympic Trials outcome)

[irichluck21]

@L_R the “Jones” on floor alone cost her about .5 alone just on that skill. @Doug1233 and I were astonished that she didn’t stick to a Silivas because she would have gotten more back on execution.

Wong nailed her landings on night 2. I was impressed with the whip triple, one of the best I have seen.

 

[RedBirdie]

That said, Skinner was getting gifts, but no one else was really that far off from what we were scoring, in fact we had several athletes that we felt were underscored on bars night one including DiCello, McCusker, and McCallum.

Everyone ends up underscored compared to Skinner!

 

[irichluck21]

Skinner’s vault scores were appropriate, though I felt that Carey’s Amanar was much better than Skinner and the difference of .067 was not enough. Carey went 9.4 and Skinner should have been 9.2.
But yeah, other than that Skinner got some major gifts.

Day 1 BB we had her at 6.9 and USAG gave her 7.833, Day 1 FX we gave her 7.200 and USAG gave her a 7.967.
Day 2 UB we gave her 7.3 compared to USAG 7.7, Day 2 BB 6.4 for us, 7.4 USAG (that was a crazy over score by USAG only .4 difference from night 1 and night 2 ? LOL) and Day 2 FX we gave her 7.350 and USAG gave her 7.8

 

[Gymmama]

If you aren’t hitting at Classics or at Nationals and are consistently finding yourself sitting around 10th place, your coach shouldn’t need the team coordinator to tell them to reconsider routine reconstruction.

 

[crdubb17]

Exactly. She literally had a deduction free Silivas. If the Jones was that important to keep in the routine, then there should have been a routine constructed where it was put in as the third pass because the Silicas and DLO needed to be there. That’s why I’ve been so frustrated the last several years. Any other coach would’ve had this shit figured out by nationals. Another example is artistry. I get that the the floor routine means a lot to her, but the music and choreography are an E-score disaster. There were just a lot of dumb decisions made in general that could have been avoided, and that ultimately falls on Christian.

 

[Bananna]

Imo Shilese has a ton of potential, but it’s squandered because of poor routine construction and consistency problems. Most of these issues are down to coaching and it’s a massive shame that Christian has never been able to resolve them and that points to his weakness as a coach. That said, Shilese appears to have a good relationship with Christian and it’s up to her if she doesn’t want to move gyms with all of the upheaval that would create if she likes being coached by him.

I didn’t read her post as being bitter that she didn’t make the Olympic team at all, more that she was being overlooked by Tom and the NT staff when others weren’t. For example, Tom has visited MyKayla at her home gym, called Emma Malabuyo when she was thinking of retiring from elite after WC and certainly way more that haven’t been publicised. If other NT members have been getting interaction like that and Shilese hasn’t, then I fully understand her being frustrated if she’s been given the cold shoulder. This could be because of issues of surrounding Christian, but ultimately what went down in 2016 was nothing to do with Shilese and she shouldn’t be ignored by the NT staff because of it. In an alternative universe, with better coaching, Shilese could have potentially made worlds teams and seriously been in the Olympic conversation. Whilst Christian may be responsible for most of Shilese’s problems as a competitor, Tom and the NT staff aren’t blameless either.

 

[irichluck21]

Well the pandemic didn’t help either.

But I do agree, Forster seems to be lacking in several areas and now athletes are speaking out.
Hurd, McCallum, Skinner, Biles, Jones

 

[choclatechip45]

I would have let Shilese at home. I would have taken Riley as the +1 alternate.

 

[dweiss324]

I can’t speak for her obviously, but this level of delusion is not new. I get that theyre young and there’s a lot riding on their investment, but seriously, how do some of them seriously believe what they post/say? How is nobody providing a healthy reality check?? I love that she’s free to speak out, but yeah I just don’t get it

 

[ucrgirl]

Plus, due to COVID, they haven’t had a lot of meets to compare where they stand relative to each other.

Even at camp, it doesn’t seem that Tom provides a great deal of critical assessment. MyKayla Skinner’s vlog from the camp right before Classics (where she had low E-scores and finished something like 12th) implied that she was told basically that things looked good aside from just one skill. (Now she and her coaches could have been unwilling to hear corrections or maybe Tom doesn’t want to say XYZ skill/routine isn’t going to score well.)

 

[JaJa]

Forster seems to be lacking in several areas and now athletes are speaking out.
Hurd, McCallum, Skinner, Biles, Jones

I think that the only criteria when they hired Tom as National Team Coordinator (or whatever title they use now) was that he had a kind of nice guy image. I really think his hire was just reactive and an attempt to get as far away from the whole abusive/Nassar/Karolyi image as possible. Keep him in place a while and then when things settle down hire a more competent person.

 

[ucrgirl]

I think that the only criteria when they hired Tom as National Team Coordinator (or whatever title they use now) was that he had a kind of nice guy image. I really think his hire was just reactive and an attempt to get as far away from the whole abusive/Nassar/Karolyi image as possible. Keep him in place a while and then when things settle down hire a more competent person.

I think you are absolutely correct. I think may make it through the next quad unless the Post-Simone medal count drops so substantially that they are compelled to replace him mid-quad.

 

[Kittentoes]

I wish they would offer the following:
-access to counseling and sports psychologists
-Someone who loves code whoring, although with a more appropriate job title. Someone who would look over routines, make sure nothing is missing, and suggest better alternatives.
-physical therapist led training. Remember when Bama went for a no injury year? I think it would be good to recheck conditioning, stretching, and warm ups, just to make sure they are as efficient and safe as possible.
-bring in dance or rhythmic coaches for a spin clinic. Spinic? If turns are going to be so important, learn to set and spot them well, rather than flail and pray.
-sound communication and expectations. Not so much secrecy.

I’m not saying this would be all on one person, but they would need to facilitate it happening.

 

[emmade]

We don’t know what Tom is doing when he isn’t attending meets or visiting gymnasts. It is plausible that he simply hasn’t had time to do everything expected of him. If that is the case, USAG should hire a National Coach and let Tom carry on performing his duties as Coordinator.

 

[JaJa]

It is plausible that he simply hasn’t had time to do everything expected of him. If that is the case, USAG should hire a National Coach and let Tom carry on performing his duties as Coordinator.

It’s not that he doesn’t do what is expected of him though. It is that he is truly incompetent.

 

[emmade]

I’m not claiming that he is competent at all aspects of his job. He needs help with some, such as interacting with coaches and athletes to provide guidance on routine construction etc. I think he is just too quite, which is interpreted as incompetence. I stand by my belief that things would improve if there was a National Coach to free up Tom to do the things he may be more competent in.

 

[irichluck21]

I hope it is Aimee Boorman.

Let’s see what she looks like as Netherlands Head Coach in Tokyo.

I don’t know that it would be something that interests her, I assumed she was happy at lower level coaching action. However, her working for the Netherlands leads me to believe that she could have a future with USAG as HPD.
She knows what she is doing as a personal coach, but she has had experience as USA Head Coach at Worlds and Olympics. She also has the benefit of the voice/approval of Simone, which is arguably the most powerful one on the planet. She is media savvy also.

 

[JaJa]

I hope it is Aimee Boorman.

She would just be perfect.

 

[YurchenkoLoop]

Idk if he’d be interested, but Brian Carey seems to have played a big role in restoring McCusker’s love for the sport. What he has done for Riley’s and Jade’s gymnastics in so short a time is truly astounding.

 

[emmade]

Completely agree about Carey’s coaching success, however I don’t know how that expertise would transfer to a national scale. Besides, he is a gym owner and may not want to have to step back from the day-to-day running of the gym to free up time to take on national responsibilities. But I think he has demonstrated that he is an excellent coach and what he has done with Riley in particular, is impressive.