CBC News Investigation of Athlete Abuse by Coaches

[overedge]

This week CBC News has been running an online series on Canadian athletes abused by coaches. The CBC's investigation found 222 charges against coaches over the past 20 years, including 7 against figure skating coaches (with 3 convictions).

IMO these stories do an excellent job of showing how meaningless a lot of the athlete protection policies are - one commentator says "sports organizations are dinosaurs" - and how difficult it is for athletes to get their complaints heard.

The link to all the online content is:
https://www.cbc.ca/sports/topic/Tag/Shattered Trust

and this story is about a skater who was abused, by a coach who was later convicted.
https://www.cbc.ca/sports/shattered-trust-brian-jessup-s-story-1.5013784

 

[Willin]

One wonders how common this is in figure skating. There's one coach in the US that has been hiding in plain sight for years with no consequences, and I'm sure more on a more local level in the US and Canada. I hope we can find some way to take them down.

What I'm even more concerned about is the skaters in other countries where there may not be as much of an infrastructure of culture of detecting and prosecuting sexual predator coaches. In the US and Canada the skaters may never get justice or may have delayed justice, but if they report through channels like SafeSport and/or the police it at least might be taken seriously (even moreso if there's evidence). With increasing cultural awareness in Europe and North America and in the US post-Nassar scandal I would assume accusations are being taken more seriously than ever. In other countries I wonder if these channels even exist to report, and how seriously these things would be taken...

 

[Kasey]

From a former mid-level elite skater I know, I know it's been an open but never talked about problem with certain Russian coaches as well.

 

[Moustaffask8r]

This week CBC News has been running an online series on Canadian athletes abused by coaches. The CBC's investigation found 222 charges against coaches over the past 20 years, including 7 against figure skating coaches (with 3 convictions).

IMO these stories do an excellent job of showing how meaningless a lot of the athlete protection policies are - one commentator says "sports organizations are dinosaurs" - and how difficult it is for athletes to get their complaints heard.

The link to all the online content is:
https://www.cbc.ca/sports/topic/Tag/Shattered Trust

and this story is about a skater who was abused, by a coach who was later convicted.
https://www.cbc.ca/sports/shattered-trust-brian-jessup-s-story-1.5013784

Hope a lot of people will watch this!!!

 

[LarrySK8]

The most heartbreaking quote from the victim here, to me, is, "it could've been a lot different."

 

[Moustaffask8r]

Hope a lot of people will watch this!!!

There is also this one https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPqHGRDyhzg

 

[Scrufflet]

Worth watching! I had not known of this case previously. This situation takes me back to ny years working at a college. I had come from a background in social services and was very clear on boundaries and the difference in power between teachers and students. I naively thought that those in education would be aware and doing the same thing. So often I saw faculty treating students as friends, flirting with them, going out partying with them, etc. And I also students displaying many varied reactions: some angry, some using it to get better grades, some just writing it off... And the sad part is that faculty all had workshops on professionalism yet seemed to ignore the rules! Having rules and guidelines is great; just be sure these rules are followed.
So I ask myself what I would do if I had a child in skating. I think I would start by having a formal meeting with coach/team and ask what their policies are to protect my child and others from exploitation. Who chaperones? How much time is spent away and how is that managed? Have there ever been any charges made at the club? If so, what have they learned from that and what has changed? How do they teach my child and what are their expectations of me as a parent? I would push for details and if they resisted or were obfuscating, it would be a no-go. I would make sure that the coach/team knew that I would be watching them like a hawk and that the safety of my child was first and foremost.
All that being said, I don't have a child in skating. I know some of you have. How did you handle it?