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Background

In August 2020, Gymnastics Australia hired the Australian Human Rights Commission (the Committee) to conduct an impartial investigation into the customs and culture of the sports of gymnastics in Australia throughout all stages. Following the publication of the "Athlete A" narrative as well as statements made inside the international athletics society, along with Australia, a few professional athletes and family members of professional players posted their stories of abusive behaviour as well as the abusive behaviour of other sportsmen by social networking sites, prompting Gymnastics Australia to demand the Impartial Evaluation into Sports activities in Australia (the Evaluation). The essay's focus focused on the athletes' experiences, especially with regard to the types and effects of misbehavior, bullying, harassment, inappropriate touching, including attack on sportsmen inside the sport, systemic patterns underlying motivations for this kind of behaviour, and the systems in place to avoid and address it. Two of the problems mentioned in this report are not specific to Australian gymnasts or the gymnasts’ sport. Sporting organizations from many disciplines are beginning to understand the crucial part they play in forming larger cultures as well as the need for increased diversity, inclusiveness, and security. Additionally, studies looking into the present culture, institutions, and systems have been either undertaken directly by a diverse range of sports or have been commissioned on its behalf. This would include Basketball Australia, which hired the Committee to conduct a race equality review of something like the athletics in which it looked at structural challenges to achieving gender justice, Netball Australia, with such a focus on governance, society, as well as leadership; the evaluation into the society and democratic accountability of the Hockey Australia National Women's High Efficiency Curriculum (Gymnastics Australia, 2021).

Recommendations

Recommendation 1: Transform education to skills development for coaches

Finding: Athletes are at danger of exploitation and harm because of their current coaching techniques. Furthermore, there are uneven regulations and methods to control their behaviour, and hiring procedures for training team are not accountable.

The Commission advises Gymnastics Australia as well as the state and territorial affiliations to switch from 'educating' trainers to 'developing skills' people, as well as in holistic, athlete-centred coaching techniques that protect children's rights and establish relationships based on trust with athletes as well as their family members. At all coaching certification stages, from entry-level to excellent power, these competencies should be cultivated (Lisa, 2021). The Committee recognizes the work recommended by the Founding Course Gymnast Advisory Committee and urges that all such efforts for coaching staff be created with insight from pertinent experts, including anyone outside gymnastics, as well as focus on creating an atmosphere where:

youngsters and adolescents are enabled to shape actions and create decisions that impact their lives as well as their coaching;
athlete safety and wellness, as well as in relationship to body picture, are genuinely prioritized;
the relationship between gymnasts, instructors, and parents are built on mutual respect as well as good communication;
the main purpose of gymnastics education is to maximize every person's ability and help them in achieving their own goals.

Recommendation 2: Strengthen coach engagement and accountability

The Commission suggests the following actions to motivate information sharing among coaches of various clubs, especially at the local or regional scale in which many participants compete:

Establishing And maintaining a trainer mentorship network. The Committee recommended the institution of a coach mentorship system to inspire sharing of knowledge among coaching staff of multiple clubs. This can entail locating and honouring coaches with a track record of sound coaching techniques. The Council is aware that coaches undergoing advanced supervisor accreditation must finish their training with on-the-job mentors. The Commission that clubs, trainers, as well as athletes would mostly benefit from a more extensive systems approach whereby coaches may get mentorship from sources other than their own team (Tim, 2021). This mentorship group should pay special attention to youth coaches who are younger than the range of 18.
Establishing a sport-wide teacher registry: The Commission suggests that there be record of trainers across the entire sport that includes each coach's present and prior employment locations. Coach as well as team certification would be contingent on keeping accurate information on the registry, but only organizations and state and region organizations would have access to it to check credentials and work history.

Discussion

The Commission was informed that there are differences in Australian gymnastics culture at all levels, from leisure to elite, and within all Gymsports. Several specifically mentioned the growing demands and stress of elite gymnasts as well as the detrimental effects that this had on their memories participating in the sport. The Committee found that a population of important behavioural lifestyle factors, such as a "win-at-all-costs" mentality that made athletes feel like "goods and services," the early age of female athletes as well as the innate power dynamics in the coach-athlete connection, a fear-based culture as well as regulate ingrained by mentors, as well as an overall toleration of deleterious and improper behaviors, attributed towards the unpleasant experiences of athletes. The Commission saw that companies did not always practice inclusivity. The Council is conscious that perhaps the sports has made an attempt to cater to the various requirements of its participants, but this is not a common practice. The Commission thinks that gymnastics activities throughout all stages of the sport ought to be ethnically accessible to persons of different origins and sexual preferences and that programs should always be modified to meet the requirements of those with disabilities. Many previous and present athletes have shown a passion and enthusiasm for the sport, and they are aware of the improvements that have come about over time. Significantly improve performance are still needed, according to the Australian gymnastics community, and many have voiced a wish to see a transformative cultural change occur throughout the entire sport (The system of federalism, 2021).

Figure 1. Gymnastics in Australia

Gymnastics instructors are crucial to the sport's success. Athletes interact and spend the most of their hours with them throughout their participation in the sport. It is crucial that coaching staff acknowledge their obligation for, as well as take proactive measures to ensure athlete security and well-being in athletics where the massive majority of competitors are young kids, who really are extremely susceptible, especially girls and young women who could be exposed to gender norms as well as ideologies. Gymnastics instructors have a great deal of influence over how athletes perceive the activity and how they approach it. The coaches serving as a powerful role example and mentor can make this interaction productive. It's also possible for bullying, intimidation, deception, as well as abuse to flourish in an atmosphere where players are expected to have faith in their teachers and where there is a power disparity among both athletes and coaches. According to the report (Clearinghouse for Sport, 2021), abusive and improper teaching practices are still tolerated in the sport, as are negative or domineering coaching attitudes. This examines the justifications for various approaches, such as the notion that disciplinarian and punitive techniques are "essential" for training athletes who would succeed in competition. Additionally, it looks at how coaches interact with players and families as well as their responsibility in coaching candidates. The Commission presents a strategy to coaching that is based on children's rights and offers suggestions for better practices in order to address the problems mentioned through the essay. The suggestions include changing coach schooling to skill advancement with an emphasis on athlete empowering as well as enjoyed significant; coach mentorships, especially for new coaching staff; a whole-sport coach register; as well as a stand-alone nationwide social networking policy for implementation at all levels within the sport. Presently, Gymnastics Australia creates and distributes to the individual state and territory organizations all training materials for coaching certification training. Although Gymnastics Australia officially administers the digital portion of certification programs via their learning system, the provincial and territorial organizations serve as training institutes, supplying the required face-to-face portions. The Committee suggests that young managers be given additional support by creating networks for mentorship including cross-club information exchange, in addition to improved developing skills in constructive coaching approaches and working successfully with youngsters and adolescents (Australian Netball, 2020).

Strengths of the culture

The Australian gymnastics society was asked to name the current cultural positive aspects, and they chose the club's ability to provide youngsters with a pleasant environment while still teaching them valuable talents and capabilities, as well as the athletes' sense of brotherhood. It is assumed that the founding principles of youth athletics are enjoyment and fun. Despite the fact that the attitude at the statistical level was seen as favourable, with several organizations successful in fostering a pleasant environment for kids. But it soon became clear that athletes were subjected to additional expectations and stresses when they moved into high-performance and perhaps more competitive industries.

“I believe the atmosphere at the youth level is fairly nice,' a present athlete said. In small, locally organized clubs, inclusion and involvement are often priorities. Our gymnastics are encouraged to have fun, stay active, and maintain social connections. It's nice that there isn't a "win at all costs" mentality, at least not at my local football club. Gymnasium starts to have issues when instructors become obsessed with victory and then when people start to believe that "athletics is life (Clearinghouse for Sport, 2021)."

References

Australian Netball. (2020). State of the Game Review. Report. (Web page). Accessed from < https://www.birmingham2022.com/news/2731039/australia-celebrate-commonwealth-netball-gold >

Clearinghouse for Sport. (2021). Christine May, Structure of Australian Sport’, Clearing House for Sport (Web Page) < https://www.clearinghouseforsport.gov.au/kb/structure-of-australian-sport >.

Gymnastics Australia. (2020). Gymnastics in Australia Strategic Plan 2020–2023 (Web Page) < https://www.gymnastics.org.au/GA/About_Us/Strategy/Ga/About/Strategy.aspx?hkey=ad487ec0-5ec7-47e1-85db-7d4bb9861178 >

Lisa, G . (2021). ‘Winning Edge fails to deliver, so what now for Australia’s Olympic hopes?’, The Conversation, (Web Page) < https://theconversation.com/winning-edge-fails-to-deliver-so-what-now-for-australias-olympic-hopes-64051 >.

Gymnastics Australia. (2021). 2021 National Affiliation Standards (Web Page) < https://www.gymnastics.org.au/GA/Club_Development/Club_Affiliation/2021_National_Affiliation_Standards/Ga/Club_Development/Club_Affiliation/2021_National_Affiliation_Standards.aspx?hkey=2284426b-faf2-46de-b08e-1952f4b21a8b >.

Tim, F. (2021). Gymnastics Australia, Gymnastics Northern Territory, Review of Governance and Management Structure of Gymnastics Northern Territory.

The system of federalism. (2021). (that is, Australia's Commonwealth constitutional system governing its federated states and territories), strongly influences how the Australian sport and active recreation sector is structured. Clearinghouse for Sport, Christine May, Structure of Australian Sport’, Clearing House for Sport (Web Page).

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