Geddert was set to turn himself in but instead killed himself yesterday.

So consider him guilty too.

https://www.cbsnews.com/...cs-gymnastics-coach/

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How does Danny Hart sit down with balls that big?

Yeah, I just heard that yesterday. My daughter was involved in gymnastics going back more than 20 years ago. We are in MI and occasionally would go to Twistars for meets and she attended a camp once where he was coaching. Even as a kid she remembers in a tough sport with tough coaches how nasty he was and she had a visceral dislike for him.

Tottally off topic...but as a parent of a 10yrold super athletic daughter my wife and I are so glad she never once showed any interest in gymnastics. ANy sport that requires going ALL IN before puberty freaks me out

A few thoughts on this— I really agree with your sense of caution or reluctance to have a kid go all in on a sport before puberty. It seems like it would create a dependence on the sport and an identification with the sport that can make a developing person really vulnerable.

I’m sure there are ways to do an “all in” approach right, but it would take some very careful thinking and a ton of involvement from the parents. I have a friend who is a world class swimmer whose daughter is now pretty much a world class swimmer, and I think it worked well because swimming was so integrated into their life that they swam and took breaks from swimming like you would read a book and then put it down for a while. Of course you read. Of course you swim. It’s enjoyable and we do it.

I think it’s really important to think about the grooming by abusive coaches as a manipulation of both kids and parents. The kids are victims, and the parents are victims too. The coaches weaken parental authority, like by prohibiting parents at practices and engaging in masked abusive behavior in front of parents in order to give the appearance or make it seem like the parents consent or ratify the abusive behavior. When an unknowing parent is in the room during abuse, that’s really devious. Requiring a kid to be “all in” seems like another form of manipulation. It’s asking too much.

I think calling suicides "death by suicide," is probably a good thing. But when I read in the NYTimes that Geddert "died by suicide," I thought, no he bloody hell did not. He killed himself.

There is a one huge problem with gymnastics . Its the only sport where puberty serves as a past-due date to high performance. 99% of all other sports are late-developing sports where the very top players have spent formative years developing their athletisim playing other sports AND (hopefully) doing so in a low pressure /stress-free environment, where no one sport overtakes their lives and they are free to enjoy childhood.

Yeah there’s a difference between someone who has mental issues and gives into their urges vs a guy who knows his life is now fucked and takes the easy way out.

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How does Danny Hart sit down with balls that big?

A coach who espouses "all in" is one I am going to keep an eye on. It is the easiest way to manipulate parents and swimmers into accepting abuse.

Another thing I watch for is when a coach overplays disruptive parents. I have no problem with closed deck policies because overzealous parents suck. But I am certain that the bad guys use this to their advantage. So a coach who refuses to be supervised has no place working with kids.