A Letter From The Board
None of us will deny the fact that mistakes have been made. And most of us would like to go back in time with wiser eyes, and better knowledge. From the bottom of our hearts we apologize to those that were mentally and physically violated at the hands of evil. You must know that if there was a way for us to ease your pain, we would.
We welcomed Safe Sport to right the wrongs and to develop practices that would better our industry. We learned a harsh lesson about trust, and hopefully everyone uses those lessons for the betterment of the kids we are entrusted with.
Cleaning house is an option, elimination of the structure is not. The actual structure consists of 3500 clubs across the United States. The majority of us are hard working people who love children, and simply love the sport of gymnastics. Most of us pride ourselves on our honesty and integrity, and run programs that meet the highest of standards. We aren’t making excuses for those that have erred, we are leading by example, and confident that our sport will evolve due to the lessons of the past.
Not only are there handfuls of athletes participating in high performance camps and developmental camps, but there are also thousands and thousands of young children training and competing in the Junior Olympic and Xcel programs. Overlooking any of these athletes would be a shame. Just like those training to earn a spot on the next Olympic team, each one of these kids enter our programs with a dream. And the fact is, they are all just kids. Kids who had nothing to do with the heartbreaks of our past. We have no choice but to fight for the survival of USA Gymnastics. USA Gymnastics is more than what you read about in the paper, and not anywhere close to how some people are portraying it on social media. USA Gymnastics is not Larry Nassar. USA Gymnastics is not about abuse, is not about greed, is not about exploitation, and definitely not about winning at all costs. USA Gymnastics is being defined by an ugly few, when there are thousands and thousands of good kids and great coaches within this organization. We are asking for a chance to prove who we really are.
We thankfully have strong leaders like Tom Forster stepping up to make a difference. We have club owners banding together to fight for the athletes, parents and staff we represent. We have National, Regional and State Chairs, and committee members volunteering hours on end for the advancement of this sport. Allow us to bring in more leadership, and allow us to grow to the organization everyone hoped we were. This is our opportunity to build what we want. May we all come together, not only for the love of gymnastics, but for the respect of all athletes both past and present. Change is, and was necessary. Destroying what many have worked so hard to create is just a different type of crime. We’ve already pledged stronger, better and healthier. Please let us move forward for the benefit of our communities. This isn’t about money; this is about kids. Building a new structure takes years, providing everyone a new and improved USA Gymnastics can start today!
