All-Star Discuss Your Usasf Struggles Here

[mstealtoyou]

Tweet by one of our athletes.

(With permission to post from her Mom)

 

[amy1k]

When you are part of a regulated industry most often education takes front seat. My staff is trained by an OSHA professional. However, I am secondary to the process as a certified Athletic Trainer is at everything we do and any airborne hazard (blood, vomit etc) and its removal would be overseen. The athletes, too, are brought into a compliance meeting annually and allowed to know all of their rights. They are educated/ trained on how to report any and all violations that compromise their safety and well-being. It is part of the sport's process. It is mandatory. So many here are stating there is a culture of fear and silence. That needs to change...if the industry is promoting that culture whether intentionally or by the conflicts of interest stated in this thread someone needs to get in the driver's seat and advocate. I am sure that there is someone out there, free from restraint, that can get this done...

Yes. And the reality is, once a hazard like that was seen by ANYONE, the routine needed to be stopped without ANY fear of deduction. The CHILDREN should have been removed from the area, been allowed to wash hands, and started over once the hazard was cleared. Anyway, obviously safety is hardly a priority during the season at all, so I don't see why it would be any different at Worlds. Sad.

Eta: I guess the true sad story is that we bought into this all and continue to support it. [emoji17] My kid loves cheer so much.

 

[mstealtoyou]

My heart hurts for the athletes that felt as though they were unsafe out there, and for the teams who faced circumstances that they feel obstructed their capability to perform. But to be fair, my heart hurts for all the teams that had any issues at Worlds. I go back and forth on the stadium issue, it seems sad that F5's amazing accomplishment is being diminished. They were the team that adapted which is sometimes how it is, and often is what makes people champions, in all sorts of sports.

And I am swayed by the fact that it would not have been a unanimous decision by the coaches in the division to redo the division. To me this is not just cold hard calculating ( i.e. We already hit, and you didn't so "no") but an issue of fairness, if some of them felt it was wrong to redo, then it wouldn't exactly be fair to them to have to redo because a team that normally hits under better circumstances wants another chance.

I do, also, see that it was an equipment issue. Which raises the USASF's responsibility in this circumstance. I see why that means it shouldn't have been left up to the coaches. But then they would have been faced with deciding exactly when the floor became unsafe, and I'm not sure how they could have equitably done that. What a mess!

The blessing is that no one got seriously injured, and that there are some phenomenal top level athletes out there who were able to do such amazing things under such dire circumstances. I would be shocked if there wasn't a change in venue next year. And I do believe the USASF needs to step up its game. It's inexcusable if they are not able to minimize this type of risk after knowing about it now. And who the heck is the catastrophic injury insurance underwriter who would allow them to insure the event in the future?

ETA: by phenomenal athletes, I mean all of them, not just the winners. While I am not sure it was safe for them to be put out there to perform, I do admire the heart and talent of each of those kids who did!

Unless I'm missing something on another thread .....I haven't seen anybody diminishing anybody's victory. All ive seen in this thread (myself included) is utmost respect for their ability to hit and win under those circumstances. Part of being a champion is adapting to your surroundings and getting the job done and without a doubt they did that.

 

[Belinda]

Even though some people might think it's annoying, right now I'm so thankful for how the Swedish cheer federations official competitions handles spotters. They go over the floor after each performance to make sure it's safe and doesn't have any bobby pins or anything laying around making it unsafe. Even though it might seem unnecessary and time consuming, it really shows they do care about the safety of the athletes.

 

[klynn64]

Glad you pointed this out! I don't think any of us noticed because of where she was, but that was worse than the panther girl IMO.

1. I'd also like to point out the athlete getting ready to tumbling in the back right corner at 1:10 wiping off her shoes.
2. And the athlete on our left side wiping off her shoes at 1:15.
3. The tick tock on the far left at 2:41 could be called different ways, but to me it looks like the base and backs feet slipped. IMO the tick tock hit correctly, but the "foundation" got slipped up.

I don't think any team is told to go out there and pretend the floor is wet so they can fight it, just in case they don't hit. I've also seen a lot of weird "traditions" as girls get ready to tumble in the corner, but I've never seen wiping the bottom of shoes! Especially by multiple girls. I think we can all agree the evidence is enough to prove the floor was wet. I think it speaks volumes about all of the teams that they were able to hit as much as they did!

Before the mats had condensation during Lg. Coed a few athletes had issues following their tumbling passes resulting from the dread of possibly stepping off the abrupt edge of the mat and into the plants below. There was very little forgiveness relative to the mat before you would suffer serious consequences. I can't imagine the mat being wet and worrying about the slipping much less dealing with the possibility of sliding off the mat and onto the ground below. Who knows what sanction or penalty USASF would have imposed if that happened.

Correct me if this isn't the case but I recall this being a big issue in the stadium last year. And the late performance time for the athletes as well. Not to mention the overcrowding in the stadium. For them to ignore last years issues rather than resolve them speaks volumes about USASF's motivation. It doesn't appear to be athlete safety or a spectator's rights to spectate.

 

[SL&AM]

Tweet by one of our athletes.

(With permission to post from her Mom)

I am speechless.

 

[cheermommaRN]

The overcrowding and long lines happen every year. Last year athletes were falling asleep on the mat waiting for awards to start. I think TGLC got a picture of their kids snoozing on their backpacks and each other.
I'm a conspiracy person so I am convinced that one gym owner is being made to pay for their battle against Varsity by essentially making sure their most loved team never sees gold again but that's just me.

 

[SL&AM]

Eta: I guess the true sad story is that we bought into this all and continue to support it. [emoji17] My kid loves cheer so much.

I sadly agree with you on this.

Even though some people might think it's annoying, right now I'm so thankful for how the Swedish cheer federations official competitions handles spotters. They go over the floor after each performance to make sure it's safe and doesn't have any bobby pins or anything laying around making it unsafe. Even though it might seem unnecessary and time consuming, it really shows they do care about the safety of the athletes.

There seemed to be plenty of downtime during most of the divisions to facilitate a walk around so I could definitely see (think) there could be a case made for USASF to implement that.

 

[Ciara martin]

This tweet from @nowand4ever 's CP (I hope that worked and that you don't mind that I posted this, I can remove it if you want ) makes me so mad. If USASF decided the mat was wet enough that they needed to go and get towels to try and dry it, they should have decided to follow their own rules and declare that the conditions were no longer safe for athletes to compete in.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[kristenthegreat]

The overcrowding and long lines happen every year. Last year athletes were falling asleep on the mat waiting for awards to start. I think TGLC got a picture of their kids snoozing on their backpacks and each other.
I'm a conspiracy person so I am convinced that one gym owner is being made to pay for their battle against Varsity by essentially making sure their most loved team never sees gold again but that's just me.

Also the year before THAT, when TG won. There was a girl asleep on her friend who suddenly woke up when she realized they were gonna be called for first. Poor thing looked happy but a bit delirious..

 

[MomMomMamaMom]

Unless I'm missing something on another thread .....I haven't seen anybody diminishing anybody's victory. All ive seen in this thread (myself included) is utmost respect for their ability to hit and win under those circumstances. Part of being a champion is adapting to your surroundings and getting the job done and without a doubt they did that.

I'm most definitely not referring to you. But yes, the public controversy does have the unfortunate consequence of taking away from their victory. The booing in the stadium over placements alone was enough to start that. But most definitely was not specific to your gym. Nor is this really much different then when fans are upset with teams winning the Super Bowl or NBA finals with controversial calls by the officials. Not a blame statement, just unfortunate. I get that the safety issues need to be addressed, so I don't necessarily begrudge the controversy.

I also get that people like you felt devastated that after all the time and energy invested in the routine something happened to make it so that they didn't get to perform that routine. I mean it when I say my heart hurts for the athletes. But my heart also hurts for F5 who did perform their routine well under adversity, and are now also touched by the controversy. Ultimately, it is just a no win situation.

 

[mstealtoyou]

I'm most definitely not referring to you. But yes, the public controversy does have the unfortunate consequence of taking away from their victory. The booing in the stadium over placements alone was enough to start that. But most definitely was not specific to your gym. Nor is this really much different then when fans are upset with teams winning the Super Bowl or NBA finals with controversial calls by the officials. Not a blame statement, just unfortunate. I get that the safety issues need to be addressed, so I don't necessarily begrudge the controversy.

I also get that people like you felt devastated that after all the time and energy invested in the routine something happened to make it so that they didn't get to perform that routine. I mean it when I say my heart hurts for the athletes. But my heart also hurts for F5 who did perform their routine well under adversity, and are now also touched by the controversy. Ultimately, it is just a no win situation.

Thanks for clarifying.

The boo's came 2 times. When SE was called in 10th. (We were all mostly sitting together and none of us joined in. We just had to laugh at that point). The 2nd was when WCSS was called in 4th. It was mostly fans too. I Didn't see any WC families booing.

 

[cheerKT]

Even though some people might think it's annoying, right now I'm so thankful for how the Swedish cheer federations official competitions handles spotters. They go over the floor after each performance to make sure it's safe and doesn't have any bobby pins or anything laying around making it unsafe. Even though it might seem unnecessary and time consuming, it really shows they do care about the safety of the athletes.

I've seen this happen at many US events between breaks or every few teams. But I really think they usually just look for items on the floor. I'm going to be honest and say I'm willing to bet they noticed but didn't think they had the power to stop the event or know who to go to about it. Which is obviously a problem.

 

[Tealxblack25]

Does anyone know if there is a video of the announcers actually calling SE in 10th and the crowd reaction?
I know there is a video of the aftermath but none of them actually calling it wrong

 

[Ally13]

Someone was asking about an athlete's union (for lack of a better term), doesn't gymnastics have that with USAG? Maybe it's only for the event, but I remember hearing about it even though I can't find it. I know they have a representative of some kind at an event. Taryn Humphrey was it for a while, I remember.

There's not an athlete's union, but there is an athlete representative on the National Team Staff and Terin Humphrey is, or used to be, it. The representative basically just has to show up to the National Team meetings and then Classics, P&G's, etc. I don't think very many athletes or coaches use the rep as an avenue to voice their concerns though.