Have BG made every abusive club/coach’s dreams come true? A post from one of our founders: While my girls were still doing gymnastics at a toxic club, I posted links to a couple of YouTube videos on my Facebook explaining Sever’s Disease. Along with Osgood Schlatter’s, it’s quite a common problem among very active children…
We are dismayed to see an old rule re-emerging in British Gymnastics’ new Standards and Expectations policy. “Talk with your gymnast’s coach and the club before trialling … with another coach or at another club—even if it’s in a different discipline.” Superficially, this may sound like basic etiquette. But this newly articulated expectation has a…
While the participants in the study reviewed here are Dutch elite gymnasts, the experiences they represent are almost universal and will certainly resonate with many British gymnasts at almost all levels of the sport. “‘Everything revolves around gymnastics’: athletes and parents make sense of elite youth sport” by Froukje Smits, Frank Jacobs, and Annelies Knoppers,…
We’ve been having a look at BG’s new Safeguarding and Disciplinary procedures. This is how we think the make up of the new panels compares to the ICP (Independent Complaints Process) panels. 1. Triaging & Executive Governance: CMT vs. CMG Old ICP Case Management Team (CMT): New 2026 Case Management Group (CMG): 2. Panel Infrastructure:…
British Gymnastics have just published their new ‘complaints process’ (October 2026), replacing the ICP (Independent Complaints Process) that was introduced in 2020 to deal with the flood of complaints after the first broadcast of Athlete A on Netflix. Sadly, we can’t say that the ICPs, or more precisely the ICP panels were a success. It…
We are shocked at how often we see that young gymnasts have been subject to criminal assault and/or battery by their coaches. Unfortunately, there’s a 6-month window for reporting such incidents to the police. This is particularly problematic in gymnastics as children can be frightened to say what happened or worse, this level of violence…
The transformation of elite women’s gymnastics has changed not only who wins, but what is demanded of young athletes. Part 1 of a 4 part series based on Human Rights in Youth Sport by Paulo David From mature athleticism to miniaturisation Over the past half-century, elite women’s gymnastics has undergone a profound transformation. Before the…
What happens when children are taught that obedience, body size and medals matter more than their own well-being? Part 2 of a 4 part series based on Human Rights in Youth Sport by Paulo David When coaching becomes control Elite youth gymnastics can operate as a highly controlled environment in which coaches exercise extensive power…
Why the mistreatment of young gymnasts cannot be understood simply as a problem of individual coaches behaving badly. Part 3 of a 4 part series based on Human Rights in Youth Sport by Paulo David Who benefits from a child’s success? The exploitation of young gymnasts cannot be understood solely in terms of training practices…
If children’s rights are to mean anything in elite sport, they must shape the rules, governance and decisions that determine children’s lives. Part 4 of a 4 part series based on Human Rights in Youth Sport by Paulo David From safeguarding policies to enforceable rights The preceding articles have examined how the development of elite…
Thanks to campaigning groups such as Women’s Aid, domestic abuse in the form of coercive control was made illegal in 2015. This legislation brought adult women, suffering in emotionally abusive relationships, greater recognition, protection and potentially the opportunity for redress. The campaign and subsequent legislation highlighted the fact that abuse needn’t be overtly physical in…
Imagine the summer of 2020. Everyone is at home due to the Covid lockdown. Netflix gained over 26 million subscribers in the first half of 2020 alone, and in June it broadcasts Athlete A. While Athlete A centres on the sexual abuse committed by Larry Nassar, it also exposed the brutal emotional and physical abuse…