Traditional is Toxic

Mandate scores… perfect 10’s at level 3… winning at all costs… emotional abuse… fat-shaming… the largest child sexual abuse scandal in history perpetrated by one man… that is what the traditional gymnastics culture has gotten us.

As a former athlete, a current coach and gym-owner, and a gymnastics parent, I want something better for my kids. I want a gymnastics culture where children go to the gym to thrive and learn life lessons, not to learn coping mechanisms that will hamper them for the rest of their lives.

I want a gymnastics culture where gymnasts learn what it means to set goals, make action plans, and reach their goals, not to do their series on beam only because they are afraid of what their coach might do to them if they don’t.

I want a gymnastics culture where gymnasts learn that food is nutrition and energy, not something to be feared because a coach will weigh her in and make her run if she is “up” one day.

I want a gymnastics culture where parents have a role and a voice, where parents and coaches can respectfully work together to do what is best for their children, not one where parents are told not to go to competitions or not to stay in the same hotel complex as their daughters because they might distract them.

I want a gymnastics culture where coaches and gym-owners put aside winning for the well-being of their gymnasts, teaching them how to heal and prevent injuries, not one where kids hide their injuries and compete through excruciating pain lest they be labeled as “weak” or “liars.”

I want a gymnastics culture where we treat our athletes as what they are: children whose lives we are impacting everyday.

The traditional gymnastics culture is toxic.

It’s time for a new gymnastics culture. It starts with you… one gymnast at a time.