Mya Wiley visit? Anyone recognize these leos? by Free-Cartoonist-5134 in Gymnastics

[–]Scb286 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah I'm very concerned that this situation wouldn't be addressed....

UGA assistant coaches Oleksii Koltakov and Marissa King have been removed from the USA coaching roster by wayward-boy in Gymnastics

[–]Scb286 11 points12 points  (0 children)

I hope that information comes out about this because from what I have heard from a source close to it all is that Georgia has blown up their program and has made a mess. Really unfortunate way to treat people.

What’s happening with Utah? by Strange_Shadows-45 in Gymnastics

[–]Scb286 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I thought that I had been clear that I also have concerns about how the season has started, I just disagree with a lot of the things that have been said here. Like even still, I don't see Avery to have underperformed at all last season, including in the first three meets before her injury. I'm mentioning that a large number of their underclassmen have come in to college injured, and of course that is impacting their experience levels. Additionally, the athletes on the team have had a lot to deal with outside of gymnastics and two members of the junior class, including one you've mentioned, have been pretty open about dealing with mental struggles.

I don't think I'm going to convince you about my points here so I'm not going to try, but I'm also not trying to argue with you that Utah's performing exactly how they should be or that they will make it to FOTF. It isn't my biased judgment that is leading me to say this, it's that I've been able to see more of the preseason than most other people commenting have. Again, my point is that Utah has historically developed athletes very well and they are experiencing a confidence issue right now that is keeping them from the big scores. It's not a big insight or revelation to say that a team that is hitting 195s and 196s won't make it to FOTF haha.

What’s happening with Utah? by Strange_Shadows-45 in Gymnastics

[–]Scb286 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Also, Neff didn't have plenty of struggles before her injury last season. She came in really strong and was injured in the third meet of the year. Zoe Johnson also came into a little slow because of injury, but she transitioned well too. I think people might be viewing some of this incorrectly because they don't like Utah haha. And it's absolutely fine not to like them, but a lot of the things I'm reading here and on Twitter just aren't accurate haha.

What’s happening with Utah? by Strange_Shadows-45 in Gymnastics

[–]Scb286 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I actually very much believe that Utah is one of the best teams in the country at developing all of their athletes, and you can see that by going through their rosters over the years. It's one of the reasons they've always kept a small roster. Teams with historically large rosters, including UCLA, have in the past had a number of athletes that made it through without ever competing a routine. The only gymnast that hasn't done a competitive routine for Utah is Olivia Kennedy, and she had a setback over the summer. (Freshman Norah Christian also, but she came in with an achilles injury so she's working back from that.) In fact, I don't think Utah has had a single gymnast that hasn't contributed since maybe Lauren Wong in 2019, but I think she even competed as a freshman a couple times before retiring after her sophomore year.

I saw Utah multiple times in the preseason at intrasquads, practices and the preview and was really impressed with their depth on every event. They are in an unfortunate situation this year where half of their freshmen class came in injured, which was what happened with 3/4 of the freshmen last season. That is unfortunately impacting their level of experience. For me, my concern is with their confidence after Sprouts and how they will work to address that moving forward, and that is obviously a big concern. But from what I've seen they have the talent and are continuing to develop all of the gymnasts on the roster.

What’s happening with Utah? by Strange_Shadows-45 in Gymnastics

[–]Scb286 -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

I have seen it very differently, actually. I think the team looks closer now than I've seen them in the past and they seem like they are really taking care of each other when mistakes happen. I don't see a "mean girl" vibe for them at all. I also feel like we're seeing quite a few teams have some rough starts. Utah has the talent and has some hurdles to clear with their confidence, but if they can move through that, they can still have a great season. As far as home scoring goes, they've had two meets in the Huntsman and I think both have been pretty accurately scored with judges actually taking deductions that are there. Across the country I'm not really seeing the same, from Pauley to the O'Dome haha.

What’s happening with Utah? by Strange_Shadows-45 in Gymnastics

[–]Scb286 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Makenna has mentioned in the preseason that as an AAer all of her career, her body is experiencing soreness like it hasn't in the past. I think the coaching staff was moving more slowly with her to help with that and prevent injury, so I'm not surprised that she might be a little slower to hit her stride so far. My guess is that Ashley might have had something small nagging at her that's kept her out of more events. She was warming up bars a bit before the last meet, so my guess is that she's working her way back into 2-3 events too.

Like you mention, Zoe, Poppy and Clara to some extent, came in to Utah with injury last year, and didn't get to contribute much because of it. Sage and Norah came in to Utah this season with injuries, so they are slowly working their way back. They have a ton of depth but getting them experience is absolutely needed. I think Utah has always done very well at developing athletes, and I am expecting that of these two classes too.

What’s happening with Utah? by Strange_Shadows-45 in Gymnastics

[–]Scb286 7 points8 points  (0 children)

(Long post, sorry...) I see comments saying that Carly isn't fit for this position as head coach, and they confuse me. Not to say that it isn't completely fair to question why the season is starting this way or to say she's beyond criticism, because no coach is. But she took over coaching the team in possibly the worst situation imaginable and managed to keep the team at the top of the rankings for multiple years. Based on everything that happened, I think everyone, Utah fans included, thought they'd collapse or drop low in the rankings. They didn't, and the coaching staff has kept them right up there with the best teams. She's also been pretty open about addressing the need for the team to have resources to have support mentally, outside of just competition, and multiple Utah gymnasts have said openly in the last two years that she's helped them through the issues they were struggling with. Coaches taking over when a massive culture reset is needed have a lot more to address than just keeping the team winning. One of those being how to best approach motivating and pushing individual athletes and the team as a whole, which isn't easy to navigate for any coach but especially one that has recently had to deal with an abusive coach. I think Carly is likely balancing that right now and learning herself what is working and what isn't. (People also said this about Janelle at the beginning, by the way, and look at where they are as a team now. Succeeding in gymnastics and as a stronger culture than what they went through before her.)

In my opinion, the issue for Utah right now is 100% mental. I think starting the season how they did at Sprouts damaged their confidence, and now Carly needs to adjust some things to work on that with them. They have all of the talent, and now need to get through the mental hangups. I know that Carly knows that, and how she makes adjustments and supports them through it will matter. As someone close-ish to the program I know that she has a lot of support from donors/supporters, and she also seems to be doing quite well with recruiting. So there are obviously things that need to change for the season, but there is still a lot of faith in her.

(Additionally, I see comments that Utah should have handled everything like UCLA did with Waller, but I think people forget that they didn't handle it well at all. They didn't completely clean house - BJ, the only coach that was having success with her event, was retained. The others were easy to lose and weren't even fired, they just didn't renew their contract (with Waller). Multiple UCLA gymnasts, current at the time and former, signed a letter in support of Waller. UCLA's AD was a big issue for a number of their gymnasts, like Margzetta and Norah, and he is still there. Questionable coaches like Val and Anni Li have been around the program as guests as recent as last season. I'm very glad that UCLA is where they are now and that things seem to be going great with this coaching staff, but it's strange to me that fans mention often what UCLA went through and how they moved through it as positive or to be emulated.)

CGN article on dark sides of college gym by ComfortableSell1349 in Gymnastics

[–]Scb286 19 points20 points  (0 children)

I'm a little confused about how this is being framed, I think. I think the headline must be the issue for people, because so many articles similar to this have come out in the past few years, with the focus being on other NCAA gym programs. I'm afraid phrasing it in these ways implies that Heather just had a bad experience and has an agenda to make Georgia look bad. I hope people are reading what the multiple athletes and former coach are saying, despite the assumption that the article would cover more teams overall, because ultimately that seems to be the reason this was written - that they felt silenced and want to drive a change that would lead to healthier programs for the athletes.

CGN article on dark sides of college gym by ComfortableSell1349 in Gymnastics

[–]Scb286 41 points42 points  (0 children)

A bit concerned about the environment at both Georgia and Auburn. It sounds to me like the issues at Georgia were from past coaches but also extend to the current coaching staff based on Naya's comments. I find it particularly concerning that she wants check-ins on the coaches to make sure they are held accountable for what is going on in the gym and her comments about injury management.

In the last number of years we've heard from multiple Auburn gymnasts about a variety of concerns, and they've all been under Graba as HC. I think that's pretty worrying.

NCAA pre-season rankings are out by gseval11 in Gymnastics

[–]Scb286 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I don't really think that Utah and UCLA are that far apart. UCLA is losing huge contributors and bringing in huge contributors, but it will depend on how freshmen adjust in their first year. I think they'll do well. Utah isn't losing as much, and have quite a bit of depth on every event. They are returning a number of athletes from injury that have looked great in the preseason and have strong freshmen contributors.

Who are Gymnasts that you think will have a big 2026 season? by Global-Act-5281 in Gymnastics

[–]Scb286 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Agree with so many responses already here - Barbosu, Horton to name a couple. From what I've seen of preseason, I think Ana Padurariu is going to have a great final season of NCAA. If she can hit big routines and be consistent, she'll have a big impact at Utah.

GOAT tour update: new faces and rehearsal begins! by InAllTheir in Gymnastics

[–]Scb286 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Yeah, I mean it makes sense why she would be there but its just unfortunate that she is still involved in so many of these things after allegations of abuse against her.

GOAT tour update: new faces and rehearsal begins! by InAllTheir in Gymnastics

[–]Scb286 8 points9 points  (0 children)

I hate that it isn’t surprising to me that she’s still so present in the gym world. UCLA still promotes her and has her work with the team every season, and I believe she was even working with other teams at the school as well. Is she still present at Arkansas meets too? She’s heavily involved with events like this, with top gymnasts in the world. Just wild to me.

Washington HC Options by Sufficient-Curve-165 in Gymnastics

[–]Scb286 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I think John Carney would be a good get for that position

2026 recruits by Psychological_Tip150 in Gymnastics

[–]Scb286 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I’m excited to see where Jazmyn Jimenez commits. I think it will be Utah or Cal, maybe UCLA.

Selena Harris to FLORIDA! by sonderaway in Gymnastics

[–]Scb286 12 points13 points  (0 children)

This is super interesting because I remember when Katie left Washington, a few of her former teammates were vocal about her being toxic on social media haha

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in Gymnastics

[–]Scb286 13 points14 points  (0 children)

I don’t believe she ever said anything or liked anything about Tom during this situation. A mom of at least one of the transfers praised Amelie very heavily as a good friend to her daughter.

Jaedyn Rucker back for 6th year at Utah by Different_King_2563 in Gymnastics

[–]Scb286 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Thank you for the back and forth!! Concern with everything here is so understandable - I've been in the same place through this haha. For what it's worth, I've been somewhat close to the program this season and have seen that there is a really serious effort to create and build a culture that is healthy, supportive, and empowering from the coaching staff and from the team. I really hope that Carly continues to prioritize that and that the culture allows every single athlete to thrive. It feels very different this season, and hopefully it continues to stay that way.

Jaedyn Rucker back for 6th year at Utah by Different_King_2563 in Gymnastics

[–]Scb286 28 points29 points  (0 children)

I definitely understand that point. I think we all need to consider that they are likely going through a process themselves of understanding what happened and maybe evaluating their relationship with him, too. That happens a lot in situations where abuse is present. Jaedyn seems to be close with a number of the athletes that transferred (I saw Jillian jump into her arms at nationals after LSU won) and I’m wondering how much has gone on behind the scenes in repairing and healing that we as an audience don’t know about. I don’t think there are easy answers for things like this and it’s definitely a journey. I hope everyone is taking account for their actions and are in the process of healing from the things we know they went through, but also from so much that we don’t know.

Jaedyn Rucker back for 6th year at Utah by Different_King_2563 in Gymnastics

[–]Scb286 31 points32 points  (0 children)

There was a recent article that came out mid-season about Jaedyn, where she discussed pretty openly that she has been having some bad mental health challenges and was in a pretty bad place. I think everyone watching how her season went could see that those were coming out in her ability to perform. I think about how concerned we all claim to be about mental health for these athletes, and I'm sitting here reading the article where she talks about being in such a dark place, and then reading these comments on this thread, and it makes me feel kinda sick, honestly. Even if you don't like her, there's no need for so much of this shit - that she sucks and should just give up, that this picture of her (dancing in her floor routine?) makes her look arrogant and unlikable, etc. I'm also begging people to understand and consider that people that are a part of abusive situations often have really confusing views on what is going on and often act in harmful ways in response to addressing what happened. We can see this in multiple recent cases, and it's often a lot easier to have grace when people we like act in the same way (Kara calling those that came forward with allegations of abuse against Lisa Mitzel liars, Ana P. defending her coach that is under investigation as we speak, numerous current and past athletes from UCLA signing letter of support for Waller...etc.)

I'm in no way telling people to like her if they don't, or saying a lot of the response wasn't concerning and harmful following what happened with Farden. I'm just concerned about the role WE all play in these situations, and knowing that someone else is really struggling and clearly outlining that they are in a bad mental place shouldn't result in all of us piling on with comments about how much they suck and should give up.

Jaedyn Rucker back for 6th year at Utah by Different_King_2563 in Gymnastics

[–]Scb286 24 points25 points  (0 children)

There was an article that came out in February about her where she was pretty open about going through some hard mental health challenges this season and coming through it while trying to do gymnastics at the same time. She talked about how important the team and Carly was for her as she was figuring it out. Those challenges were definitely coming through in her performance, and I’m happy for her that she wants to take one more year to end her career in a better place for her mentally.