Tom Forster resigns

[MaryClare]

I don’t think that is so much of an issue. If you look at the coaches who are currently coaching the top elites, there is no shortage of bars coaches.

 

[Doug1233]

It has been mentioned before of the need for the HPC to work closely with a senior judge who is willing to give frank guidance about routine composition. Perhaps that is something that the combination of Mihai and Sylvia can bring to the table.

100%. Or even the HPC being a judge. Or at least being a Brevet who doesn’t judge at meets. Aimee just got qualified…

Or … BAMF Chellsie???

 

[QuietColours]

I don’t have any particular opinions on Aimee (and am not convinced Chellsie’s done competing), but I really think a brevet judge would be the way to go. The role is more technical, advisory, and organizational with a helping of force of personality and charisma/media sensibility. It doesn’t need to be an elite coach (and I’m guessing most of the brevets in the US have a little coaching experience at least), and I suspect someone who’s primarily been on the judging side of things will come with less history and baggage as well.

 

[MaryClare]

Maybe I’m wrong, but I think Aimee previously ruled herself out?

 

[JaJa]

Maybe I’m wrong, but I think Aimee previously ruled herself out?

I don’t think so. I think it was more like a lot of speculation that she would not want it

 

[MaryClare]

Wasn’t the reason she stopped coaching elite because she wanted more time with her family? Obviously that was 5 years ago and things may be different now.

 

[JaJa]

Wasn’t the reason she stopped coaching elite because she wanted more time with her family?

Whenever someone says they are leaving whatever they are doing to spend more time with their family you know there is something else going on

 

[QuietColours]

Iirc, her kids were really little when she was coaching Simone and her husband put off his career so that they could stay in Texas and she could do the traveling necessary. After 2016, they moved to where his job opportunities were (as the coach to the reining AA champion, she could probably have gotten a coaching job anywhere), and she wanted to be able to balance coaching and spending time with her kids better.

 

[MaryClare]

Oh. I assumed it was genuine, since she had quite young children and had spent a lot of time away from home

 

[JaJa]

I wasn’t being entirely serious. But anyway its been 5 years.

 

[One]

From Twitter, Vanessa Atler’s Facebook post talking about Valeri and the HPC

 

[makam]

The part where he treats gymnasts differently based on how they are performing because he sees it as a reflection of him really rings true to me. Similar to how it seems like Eteri Tutberidze seems to act. Martha Karoyli too obviously. Too invested in what the success (or lack thereof) of the people they are coaching “says” about them. And a like an athlete getting hurt just to hurt them, the coach or they deliberately losing the competition to make the coach look bad or some shit.

And honestly, you can probably trace a lot of his problematic coaching behaviors to that over-investment. A bad coach wants the athlete’s success for themselves while a good coach wants the athlete to succeed for their own good.

 

[onodian]

Vanessa Atler’s Facebook post talking about Valeri and the HPC

we really need a facepalm emoji reaction for these posts

 

[ruby]

And honestly, you can probably trace a lot of his problematic coaching behaviors to that over-investment. A bad coach wants the athlete’s success for themselves while a good coach wants the athlete to succeed for their own good.

I do think that when a coach spends 30-40 hours a week leading an athlete towards their goals, it becomes increasingly difficult to separate the athlete’s goals from their own. It requires a certain level of craziness to get someone to that level. There is so much sacrifice from the coach as well. Lots of time away from the family, coming to the gym at odd hours, getting an athlete through tough times, etc. Some personal investment is needed in order to get the athlete to reach their goals. Pretending that a coach should never want some part of the athlete’s success for themselves is not going to change anything because it is an unrealistic expectation IMO.

 

[MaryClare]

I agree completely and I think it is even harder in gymnastics as you are dealing with teenagers, and teenagers whether they are elite athletes or not, can be obnoxious, emotional and ungrateful!

 

[makam]

Yes, obviously the coach will have some personal investment after years of coaching (and you want them to not be a robot!) but at the end of the day, they also need to be able to step back and realize it is a job and that the floor might be springy in an unexpected way or adrenaline might make that release higher than expected (or that ice is slippery) and the event might not go the way the gymnast or the coach wants and it isn’t anyone’s “fault”. And even if a kid is the most driven olympic-focused nine-year-old you’ve ever seen, that doesn’t mean they will be the same at 15 or 18 and that isn’t anyone’s fault either. And the adult coach needs to find it within themselves to believe and understand that if the culture is ever going to change.

 

[ArnoldRimmer]

It’s about boundaries, isn’t it? Some degree of investment and disappointment is understandable, but equally, this is a job that innately involves taking a punt on athletes whose brains usually haven’t finished developing yet.

 

[Laura722]

The criticism I’ve seen Hill receive is over some of her Facebook comments several years ago where she defended the food at the ranch and the whole system at the ranch they had in place. I believe she said something to the effect of never having seen gymnasts being deprived of food or having to sneak food in. This was in response to what gymnasts were saying at the time (around 2017/2018).

 

[Doug1233]

The gymnasts shouldnt be sneaking snacks and candy in. They should have enough healthy food to feel satisfied.

If it’s offered, but they aren’t eating it and instead want to eat snacks, then that’s not the coaches fault.

I doubt they’re saying “no that’s too much salad for you…!”

This TikTok entitlement to whatever you want to do has to have a limit. Excess weight is a safety issue. You don’t go to the Olympics while gorging on candy. I would hope the days of pointless hours in the sauna in sweats, and not allowing gymnasts to drink water, are over.

 

[MaryClare]

No elite level athlete can eat whatever they like. I was shocked at how terrible the home diets of American (and British) gymnasts are. I doubt what is provided at the ranch is very different from the national training centres of many sports. I remain convinced that a lot of the unacceptable practices we have heard of such as limiting water are a response to poor diets and the coach’s inability to instil any sort of proper nutrition into the gymnasts home life.