Jordan, I agree that a federation banning all sorts of "grey area" coaching (consulting, email, etc.) is difficult. But Brett Sutton's coaching is as clear cut as it gets. He advertises it on a web page. He publicly brags about his coaching skills. And Slowtwitch writes fawning articles about his team every few years (2008 & 2011).
It would really be quite simple to stop him from coaching. A few dozen individuals--tier 1 and tier 2 pro triathletes--could all publicly state that they won't work with him because he has violated a basic tenet of the sport, and that they refuse to enable his continued access to minors. Peer pressure would do the rest. If it drives him to "underground" coaching by email...so what? He doesn't have access to kids this way.
Look, the Penn State scandal opened a lot of eyes. People in charge "thought" Sandusky was properly supervised around kids--but didn't really want to ask too many questions because they didn't want to rock the boat, and because he and Paterno were "too important to the sport."
I make no accusations about Sutton's current behavior. Regardless, there is no way in hell that he should be working around minors. And there is no way in hell that any self-respecting triathlete should be supporting and enabling that by hiring him as a coach.
Penn State opened a lot of eyes, and caused a lot of us to lose tolerance for the "look the other way" attitude that has pervaded sports for decades. And many of us are saying, "ENOUGH!"
This is a basic moral issue, and the management of Slowtwitch needs to decide what's more important--its backing of an influential triathlon coach, or taking a stand against old-school ways where convicted child molesters get to continue working around children while everyone pretends all is well.
It would really be quite simple to stop him from coaching. A few dozen individuals--tier 1 and tier 2 pro triathletes--could all publicly state that they won't work with him because he has violated a basic tenet of the sport, and that they refuse to enable his continued access to minors. Peer pressure would do the rest. If it drives him to "underground" coaching by email...so what? He doesn't have access to kids this way.
Look, the Penn State scandal opened a lot of eyes. People in charge "thought" Sandusky was properly supervised around kids--but didn't really want to ask too many questions because they didn't want to rock the boat, and because he and Paterno were "too important to the sport."
I make no accusations about Sutton's current behavior. Regardless, there is no way in hell that he should be working around minors. And there is no way in hell that any self-respecting triathlete should be supporting and enabling that by hiring him as a coach.
Penn State opened a lot of eyes, and caused a lot of us to lose tolerance for the "look the other way" attitude that has pervaded sports for decades. And many of us are saying, "ENOUGH!"
This is a basic moral issue, and the management of Slowtwitch needs to decide what's more important--its backing of an influential triathlon coach, or taking a stand against old-school ways where convicted child molesters get to continue working around children while everyone pretends all is well.