There have been some parents in the gym making an uproar over a coach's spot and help with the girls. I don't get it. He's my coach too, but I haven't noticed anything wrong with his spotting and coaching. It feels like they are misreading and reading into things way too much. When you hear the questions they ask you, you wonder, what are you talking about. This is gymnastics. Perhaps they don't know enough of the sport? It is coming to the point where a coach has to be scared of a student coming to hug him, because of what will they think. Don't let the coaches that are actually doing something wrong in their coaching get away with it by accusing the coaches who aren't. Sometimes people get too overzealous for the good of no one (and the bad of many people too). Like the 20/20 story aired Friday: "Sexual Abuse or Harmless Horseplay? Kids Treated Like Cons as Schools Crack Down on Minor Infractions" [quote]Did you hear about the young sexual harassers in McMinnville, Ore.? In February 2007, Ryan Cornelison, 12, and his pal Cory Mashburn, 13, were charged with five counts of felony sex abuse in the first degree. [/quote] It was 'Slap Butt Day'. [quote]The boys were in jail because they ran through the halls at school, swatting the bottoms of girls. Friday is unofficially "Slap Butt Day" at Patton Middle School, where swatting butts is considered a form of greeting by kids but a violation of school policy. [/quote] [quote]"With so many lawsuits, I think that teachers and principals are on a CYA mentality. They basically want to ensure that they're not going to be under the microscope and accused of allowing misbehavior by children to go unpunished. So in order to cover themselves, the police are called," said Padowitz. Today the so-called victims of the felony sex abuse in Oregon don't consider themselves victims. "20/20" spoke to McKenzie and Madie, two of the girls who were questioned. It wasn't only the boys slapping butts. McKenzie admitted, "Yeah, I probably did slap a couple butts."[/quote] And they were also accused as sex offenders for dancing. [quote]"It's just like a really funny dance," says Madie. "All the boys do it

It's probably because of all the news everywhere on teachers/coaches getting arrested/accused of child sexual abuse or having pornography, and the story details opening up and the defendants convicted. There is another news story just posted on this subject: "Gymnastics Coach Faces Child Pornography Charges" (CBS 2 Chicago) http://www.gymchat.com/messageboards/viewtopic.php?t=1578 "Owner Of Gymnastics School Faces Child Pornography Charges" (NBC 5 Chicago) http://www.gymchat.com/messageboards/viewtopic.php?t=1577 It's too bad to go overboard like the parents you say are, because you don't want it to affect a normal coach just doing his job and keeping the gymnasts safe. On the other hand, you shouldn't just dismiss a parent's or gymnast's concern, just in case - but from asking what they think is wrong then you can know if it's a real concern or not. It's true, maybe it's just that they don't understand gymnastics.

I actually like the male coaches spotting/coaching because unlike the female coaches they do think about how they spot, and on the other hand they also do save you with any spot if you need it (and they're strong enough to spot you too! and spot you with less 'effort').

Gymnasts, especially the experienced ones, can tell when a coach's spot is appropriate or not. They should ask the gymnasts who work with the coach what they think. It's easier to get an answer that isn't swayed by the question and the person making the question if the gymnasts are older though, like 12+, or 10+ depending on the girl. Anyways, it's good to ask the gymnasts if you're not always there watching and the gym is big and the parents area is usually in one corner.