OT Athlete A

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Apr 14, 2017
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For those of you who haven’t watched it, I highly recommend watching the documentary “Athlete A” on Netflix about the sex abuse coverup at USAG. It’s very well done and, while difficult to watch at times, very informative and compelling.

There were a few things I wasn’t aware of but majorly related to, specifically the emotional blackmail and brainwashing of athletes to make them compliant. Like being told by your coach that you’re lazy and unfocused when you’re giving your best, and believing it. And still being too scared to speak up even when you’re sure the coach is out of line because you don’t have faith that the people in charge will prioritise you, a child, over an adult coach who should know not to bully kids. And also fully expecting to be punished for your trouble by having opportunities taken away from you, and accepting this as normal. And only realising how messed up this was in your late twenties.

It’s a very insightful look at training young athletes and definitely offers a lot of parallels to the cheer world. Worth a watch.
 
Also, I think the whole mantra of "this program is a family" can be problematic and potentially (in some cases) contribute to an abuse culture.

(Not even just singling out all star programs here, there are school cheer programs who are big on this, too.)

Ex: After 12 years of being at a program and internalizing "Shady Athletics is family" or "Shady HS cheer is family", a cheerleader is not going to "tattle" on a coach she loves when he or she does something to her that is abusive.
 
I'm sure many gyms and schools have thorough vetting for staff and this doesn't apply to everyone but my last point

Another big abuse factor = failing to understand that not everyone with extensive/successful/high level cheer experience is coach material.
 
It's awful how people turned a blind eye instead of protecting & helping the victims.

The Netflix doc. “Jeffrey Epstein: Filthy Rich" is different circumstances, but again people looked the other way. :(
 
I thought it was amazing. Watching those women give their statements was truly powerful and made me cry... It's insane the abuse they went through and how Larry worked his way in as the "good guy".

It was such a perfect storm of circumstances that led to him getting away with it for so long. I totally get why it went unchecked when you consider: 1) these girls had no clue what sexual touching felt like, and 2) even if they felt something was weird, who were they to question a world-renowned doctor? They were constantly being told their natural instincts about their own bodies were wrong (“You’re not hurt, you’re just lazy”). And even if they felt certain that something was amiss, who were they going to tell? I would’ve been mortified to say the word “vagina” in front of my mom at that age. And I sure as hell wouldn’t go to the adults who yelled at me all the time to make an ugly accusation about the only adult who was nice to me. I would’ve totally ignored all of it in favor or pretending everything was fine. The alternative — that you’re being molested by your doctor and that speaking up might cost you your Olympic dream you’ve literally worked your whole life for — would be too horrible to imagine.

I TOTALLY get where those girls were coming from. Makes me sick.
 
Sidenote:

Mark my words, I fear/predict a major abuse scandal is coming in the cheer world sooner than later.

There's so few oversights, so many coaches not maintaining professional boundaries, owners not not insisting on boundaries, parents who don't promote bpundaries, etc.

It's coming.

Yeah, probably. It seems like wherever there are young kids, there a predators who will find them. I hate to be so fatalistic about it, but I really do believe it’s true.
 
Sidenote:

Mark my words, I fear/predict a major abuse scandal is coming in the cheer world sooner than later.

There's so few oversights, so many coaches not maintaining professional boundaries, owners not not insisting on boundaries, parents who don't promote bpundaries, etc.

It's coming.

I know about a few gyms that are problematic.....
 
What a well done documentary. As a lifelong Maggie Nichols fan, this was a punch to the gut. I never made the connection that her coming forward was why she was left off the team. But that just makes so much sense. Thankfully, shes proven in her NCAA run that she is and always has been the GOAT behind Simone. My prayers go out to all 500 of Larry's victims, I hope they are finding peace knowing he's rotting where the sun cant shine.
 
What a well done documentary. As a lifelong Maggie Nichols fan, this was a punch to the gut. I never made the connection that her coming forward was why she was left off the team. But that just makes so much sense. Thankfully, shes proven in her NCAA run that she is and always has been the GOAT behind Simone. My prayers go out to all 500 of Larry's victims, I hope they are finding peace knowing he's rotting where the sun cant shine.

My blood was boiling watching that scene where they cut her. Admittedly I don’t know much about how gymnastics scoring works, but seeing her put aside for athletes who scored lower than her was infuriating when we now know she was most likely being punished for outing a pedophile (And I LOVE the adorable little spark plug that is Gabby Douglas, but Nichols outscored her fair and square). She never had a shot. I can’t imagine how powerless and voiceless she must’ve felt in that moment, especially when the coaches conveniently blamed her injury for cutting her. This despite the fact that she’d still outperformed other athletes at Trials after recovering, and had a history of coming back stronger after a recuperation period. I was so wound up over that I couldn’t sleep. It was just so wrong.
 
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