Recently, the story of one young gymnastics coach has sparked a broader debate across coaching circles.
An anonymous coach shared a troubling account in the Gymnastics Coaches Tops and Techniques Facebook group, describing how he was blamed for a student’s injury at his small gym.
According to his post, a young gymnast ignored instructions and grabbed the high bar when she wasn’t supposed to, landing on her head.
The coach said he never told the student to attempt the skill, yet when the child relayed her version to her mother, the blame fell squarely on him. The coach wrote,
“My boss asked me if what the child said was true, and I said ‘No,’” . “This isn’t the first time I’ve caught blame for something. I’ve been coaching for many years, and being that I’m a young man, I feel like the older coaches always need to question me or my abilities.”
Anonymous Coach
His post grabbed dozens of responses from fellow gymnastics instructors.
Coach Vince Quevedo wrote,
You should suggest that cameras be placed in the gym at each station. Pictures say a thousand words. Video tape everything.
Vince Quevedo
Another participant, Konstantin Gelman, shared a personal story illustrating how cameras can defuse false allegations.
Konstantin Gelman, a graduate of the University of Houston, commented,
One time at kid decided to belly flop a yoga ball and rebounded into a concrete wall. I put my hand to block his head and saved his skull. He then went crying to mom that I hit him on the head. Looked at the video and i was in the right. Moral of the story. Cameras, cameras everywhere.
Konstantin Gelman
Coach Katie Monaghan Firmstone wrote,
They should have cameras installed to protect everyone
Katie Monaghan
Similarly, Ashley Sportun recommended using services like Spot TV and saving clips of every incident.
I was also going to suggest spot tv and clip the incidents every time incase there is blame placed on you.
Ashley Sportun
While cameras may solve disputes, many veteran coaches believe more profound cultural shifts are making their jobs harder.
One participant, who said she has coached “for half a century,” lamented that young athletes today seem less disciplined than before. She wrote,
“The kids these past five years are just different. They don’t listen, follow directions, or try very hard,” . “I’ve been called into my boss’s office more in the past two years than I have in my entire career over parent complaints—mostly about my attitude. I’m either too hard, too strict, or too mean, or I’m lazy or silly. It’s insane.”
Anonymous Participant 714
She attributed part of this change to modern parenting trends. “It’s partly this new gentle parenting where kids do whatever they want and have excuses for everything.”
Several coaches emphasized that while cameras help, proactive communication remains the most effective defense against misunderstanding.
One anonymous participant wrote,
“Kids will go home and say anything to keep them from getting in trouble,” “Whenever something happens that could be spun in a different way, I always get to the parents first. What they hear first is what they will believe.”
Anonymous Participant 665
Another participant, Saleh Gaafar Noor, described a similar incident that ended without conflict thanks to direct discussion.
“I was training the girls to jump and touch the high bar, and one of them flipped in the air. The area was fully covered with mats, so nothing happened. I spoke with all the girls and their parents afterward, and they confirmed I hadn’t asked her to catch the bar.”
Saleh Gaafar Noor
Dorothy Wood added that coaches have a responsibility to inform parents of any head injury, even minor ones. She wrote,
“If any child bumps their head, you do need to be telling their parents. Even if it isn’t a hard bump, because they will wonder why they weren’t warned to look out for concussion.”
Dorothy Wood
Cinda Mann Baldwin wrote,
We have incident reports that each coach fills out for an injury. This, plus any video cameras should cover you.
Cinda Mann Baldwin
