How USA Gymnastics can lead the way on discussion of sexual molestation in sports
RIO DE JANEIRO — Athlete, parent, coach or simple onlooker, presumably every person who has ever been involved in gymnastics in any way has felt a pang of concern over how the sport must be taught. It requires hands-on coaching, including areas of the body where hands shouldn’t normally be on. It’s uncomfortable, yet unavoidable.
Every sport involving children, just like every pursuit or profession, has pedophiles and molesters and situations that merit constant monitoring. But gymnastics, by its nature, is rife with danger, a level perhaps unto itself in sport. It is why the degree of diligence and the policies in place to guard against problems must be as strong and as ironclad as possible.
It is the only way to assure, as best as possible, the safety of the kids trying to learn and, in turn, the reputations of the vast and overwhelming number of good and decent coaches and administrators who would be outraged by anything less.
This is what made Thursday’s important investigative report by the Indianapolis Star so dispiriting. The Star found repeated deficiencies in how USA Gymnastics handles some reports of sexual molestation involving coaches. The details are troubling and anyone involved in gymnastics should read it.
In brief, USA Gymnastics appears in some instances to have failed in not reporting complaints to law enforcement or sexual assault experts unless it came directly from the gymnasts or his or her parents. Reports from other coaches and parents or gymnasium owners were considered hearsay and were filed away until a first person report came in.
Files got thick but little got done. One gym owner in Florida pleaded with USA Gymnastics that a coach he fired “should be locked in a cage before someone is raped.” Yet that coach was allowed to coach elsewhere until years later he was convicted of “sexual exploitation of children” in Georgia after an 11-year-old girl complained. He’s serving a 30-year prison sentence.
Other times, USA Gymnastics, the sport’s governing body for all ages and levels in the United States, would conduct its own investigations with retired law enforcement, a practice experts disagree with.
USA Gymnastics pushed back on the Star’s story, reiterating its work on the issue and saying the report didn’t contain all of the information on its procedures.
“Addressing issues of sexual misconduct has been important to USA Gymnastics for many years, and the organization is committed to promoting a safe environment for its athletes,” USA Gymnastics president Steve Penny said in a statement on Thursday. “We find it appalling that anyone would exploit a young athlete or child in this manner, and recognize the effect this behavior can have on a person’s life.
[Related: Report: USA Gymnastics protected abusive coaches for years]
“USA Gymnastics has been proactive in helping to educate the gymnastics community over the years, and will continue to take every punitive action available within our jurisdiction, and cooperate fully with law enforcement,” Penny continued.
This could be a situation where both sides are correct. The Star, for pointing out past failures and ringing the alarm bell for parents who assume there is an effective system for background checks of coaches. And USA Gymnastics, for reminding that it is not in favor of these awful crimes and isn’t actively trying to protect low-level coaches at random gyms around the country. It’s not like it was doing nothing.
Aside from the basics of human morality, there is nothing that would kill the sport and the businesses these people have dedicated their lives to than the idea that your kid isn’t safe when you drop them off at the gymnastics hall.
A thorough investigation into how failed or slipshod policies came into place is needed, as is a constant reexamining of current systems. USA Gymnastics does a lot, including criminal background checks on members, publishing a list of banned coaches on its website and offering a how-to guide for parents on filing reports.
Clearly, more can be done, though, which is why the blame game isn’t important here. The solution is.
The concept that a concerned third party can’t provide a credible alert over improper behavior is ludicrous.
If anything, USA Gymnastics should lead the way on a sport-wide discussion of sexual molestation, acknowledging with parents, participants and coaches the obvious and unavoidable particulars of coach-athlete contact. It could be proactive in helping people understand what to look for and encouraging everyone remain on guard. Putting stuff on a website is one thing, but signage, posters and simple tutorials inside gymnasiums around the country would be far more effective.
Everyone should be on guard over this, every voice should be heard and everyone should be encouraged to help protect the children.
See something, say something; hear something, say something. The more eyes and ears, the better.
Molesters live in ignorance and silence. Participation in gymnastics will almost assuredly spike in the coming weeks, after Simone Biles and America’s other gymnastics stars captivate young girls and boys. More and more kids will show up at local gymnastics halls looking to learn.
No one wants to provide the bad coaches the oxygen to continue. That should be the doubled-down mission going forward in a sport that is so susceptible to the worst of the predators.
