Tom Forster resigns

[irichluck21]

ought he quit because his family was getting death threats, not because he was asked to.

No. IIRC he felt pressured to resign because he was a coach and involved with USAG (Jr Development) during Nassar and then when the story broke he was the current NTC after Marta. So he felt he should resign because the current climate with the Nassar situation made it impossible to do the role.

I know Mattie Larson said he made her feel invisible but he was not her coach. I believe he was head coach at Worlds in 2010. So that’s where her complaint came. But she also complained about Marta also.

He’s the right person for the job coaching and technical wise. But he does have current athletes. McClain moving to get coached by him so that’s a predicament for her. Could she move over to Evgeni?

There isn’t really anyone qualified to do the HPD position around to be honest.

I don’t know

 

[irichluck21]

Perhaps there is no one with “clean hands”.

We got Tom and saw what a mess that was…

 

[JaJa]

Perhaps there is no one with “clean hands”.

We got Tom and saw what a mess that was…

There has to be someone who is qualified and is not being investigated for abuse. Was Aimee Bormann approached for it? Mihai Brestyan?

 

[MaryClare]

Err Mihai…

 

[KathySantoni]

I doubt Aimee would be interested.

 

[RedBirdie]

Katelyn Ohashi spoke out quite vehemently against Valeri. Mckenzie Wofford was another who was coached by him and had nothing good to say.

Ugh, such a bad decision for so many reasons.

As far as clean hands…the cynical side of me says any one who has ever coached elite has dirty hands, just a matter of degrees. That said, Brian Carey always intrigued me when we’ve tossed possibilities around.

ETA: guess I should have read the article before posting, because Wofford’s allegations are there!

 

[JaJa]

That said, Brian Carey always intrigued me when we’ve tossed possibilities around.

He would be on my list too.

 

[Doug1233]

I think it’s a little unfair to use 2022 eyes on Valeri’s coaching style from 10+ years ago.

Lots of people look bad if you examine them without historical context. For example, Obama, lauded now for gay rights, would be cancelled into Canceltown for some of his pre-election statements on gay marriage.

Surely we only care about preventing future abuse? I’m sure Valeri wouldn’t even come close to an abusive HPC. If anything, he knows it’s probably the most sensitive issue when it comes to him being in charge - he will be more cautious than anyone.

Whether it’s a good move from a PR perspective, that’s a whole other matter. In fact, you’d struggle to find anyone: A. qualified; B. who wants it; and C. who doesn’t have abuse allegations in their closet. Unless you wanted to go with a complete unknown, or just ditch the role entirely. I wouldn’t be averse to either.

 

[cats]

I’d be terrified to be HPD. Gymnastics Twitter is scary.

Re Valeri, it does seem that the gymnasts he’s worked with in the post-Martha era at least like him. Whether it’s the HPD’s job to just be ok now… I don’t know. It really depends on what his stance is. If he wholeheartedly believes in doing the right thing, having someone who has gone through the evolution of being awful to being decent is good. But he has to be able to demonstrate that for real and also prove that he can not only be ok, but lead others to be OK too.

He also has to answer for Brazil’s 2019 failure to qualify, and address the general problems with injury management that have plagued his gymnasts.

 

[JaJa]

Whether it’s a good move from a PR perspective, that’s a whole other matter.

Its more than just PR – although clearly it would be problematic from that perspective. Hire a guy like Valeri with his history and then wait for the accusations to start flying if there is ever another major abuse issue. Add negligent hiring and similar claims to the next class action. Its just preventative legal advice 101.

And for sure there are coaches who never behaved that way. Hire one of them.

 

[irichluck21]

He also has to answer for Brazil’s 2019 failure to qualify, and address the general problems with injury management that have plagued his gymnasts.

What head coach/ coordinator hasn’t had to deal with injuries though? How was he supposed to know that Barbosa would get injured on their first event in qualifications and was an AA? After the first event they were in a hole and then the other gymnasts made errors under pressure.
Andrade had a history of injuries without Liukin.

 

[One]

Brian Carey always intrigued me when we’ve tossed possibilities around.

From what I’ve seen on Twitter is that Carey decided not to pursue it because he thinks he would have trouble doing the PR aspect of the job.

I think USAG is going to have a hard time attracting qualified people given its reputation and the less problematic coaches probably don’t want to get involved.

 

[ruby]

Quite fascinating that so many of you are willing to forgive him because you believe he has evolved. I mean…let’s hire Maggie Haney for the job, she must have evolved quite a bit as well in the past 3 years?

What kind of evolving do you expect from a man that was brought up and was highly successful in this system? Who coached athletes to huge success with that same system? From a success standpoint he was completely right. Abuse wins medals.

 

[ArnoldRimmer]

There’s more to it than that, though.

Yes, they had bad luck with injuries and to some extent that’s unfortunate and just one of those things. However, Valeri also made the active choice to work with a very small group. He told Hypolito she was no longer needed, and that wasn’t long after she’d put in some competitive performances at a Brazilian national competition. Bear in mind also that at the time he did this, Andrade had already racked up two ACL tears. It was a gamble to assume that she’d be healthy and available for all worlds, and lo and behold she was not.

There’s also the point that they could’ve qualified in 2018 if they hadn’t tanked bars. It was within their grasp.

 

[RAFIKI]

Brian Carey always intrigued me when we’ve tossed possibilities around.

On the What makes you think podcast he said that Jade hasn’t made a decision about Paris so he didn’t get far in the process with that potential conflict on his application. He did say he was interested in the position though and joked about being old news if they get someone really good and no one wants him by 2025.

 

[Doug1233]

Of all the NCAA elites I’d say Jade has the best chance of making it to Paris.

 

[JaJa]

Of all the NCAA elites I’d say Jade has the best chance of making it to Paris.

I wonder though, maybe they can find another coach for her if Brian Carey is a serious candidate for the position

 

[irichluck21]

Of all the NCAA elites I’d say Jade has the best chance of making it to Paris.

Depends on if Biles is making a comeback, if she is, its hands down Suni as a bars and beam specialist considering the need for a bars worker.

Even without Biles, Suni probably has a better shot than Carey, especially if Suni is Chenganaring come 2024.

 

[irichluck21]

I wonder though, maybe they can find another coach for her if Brian Carey is a serious candidate for the position

Doesn’t matter who the coach would be, if Carey is HPD and his daughter is attempting to make an Olympic team, it is a direct conflict of interest.

 

[JaJa]

Doesn’t matter who the coach would be, if Carey is HPD and his daughter is attempting to make an Olympic team, it is a direct conflict of interest.

Yes, of course. You are absolutely right.