Nooooooooo!!! 
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Good! I hope it becomes a requirement for a certain age and up, and for parents. Thank you for sharing.
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Chuck White of Diamond Mountain Stables had his suspension bumped twice by SafeSport this month and has had restrictions added, so they are definitely building a case against him. I found that Virginia H/J Judge Lisa Hammerschmidt - the one who got hammered (no pun intended) at a restaurant, did a hit & run, and led Police on a chase, with at least one child in her vehicle - was removed from the SafeSport sanctions, because she plea bargained and the Prosecutor chose not to pursue the more serious charges in exchange for her guilty plea on the charge of driving while intoxicated.
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Yes… it seems that there are some very serious allegations related to his case.
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and the last administration was God-ful??? Wha???
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It sounds like the complaint in 2018 was more about the “toxic culture” he created, which seems to be rampant amongst top coaches (anyone watch that Abby Lee Dance lady? talk about toxic…).
The new allegations had much much MUCH more teeth in the way of sexual abuse.
Unless I read the article wrong, the school turned over the 2018 allegations to the police who found no criminal misconduct. A coach can be a jerk but not sexually abuse the students.
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Yup. Both SafeSport and the police investigated the 2018 complaints, and found nothing.
But one of the recent allegations dates back to 2013.
I think the story is a good example of how toxic team cultures created by coaches like this CAN be linked with underlying sexual abuse issues as well. It can indeed be part of the grooming process.
It’s important for people to understand how these dynamics work.
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Absolutely agree.
But one of the biggest problem in equestrian sport is that Trainers Are Gods and from their munificent hand flows horses, riding opportunities, ribbons, success. Also the hunter culture seems to be one of intense conformity, from barn colors to which brand of show shirt to wear underneath a jacket, to hair style, to which horse is leased/purchased from the Trainer. That Trainer might well be the most trusted adult in a child’s life. That Trainer might be a sexual predator.
It is interesting to me, as an outsider, that this thread has over 2000 responses. Other disciplines don’t seem to have the same focus (the recent one in dressage has faded away). Maybe adult riders move on to dressage and eventing so the power imbalance disappears.
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Very true about trainers=Gods and hell cometh swiftly to those who criticize a BNTs training.
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I don’t know the rules. And I’m not going to read this whole thread that I am late too, but you can report bullying and it’s being done in a vindictive way as the lower levels already. Don’t like a trainer who’s students are beating yours? Just report her for bulling and spin some words out of context.
I’ve seen this. But I am very glad we have safesport.
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People are free to make false or nuisance accusations to any law enforcement agency, but there are often repercussions.
SS has not as far as I am aware made any suspensions for trainers bullying students. SS is too busy following up legitimate complaints of trainers raping students.
I am sure there are cranky pants trainers out there that gossip about wanting to make nuisance reports. Do you think they follow through or is this just trash talk? If they do follow through I have not heard of anything coming of it.
Also it’s quite typical when a trainer is busted for legitimate and real sexual assault of a minor, for them to initially say “its not a real thing, its just someone trying to get me in trouble.”
If you have first hand experience with a trainer actually having to deal with sorting out nuisance complaints about non sexual behavior with SS, it would be interesting to hear how that works.
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In another sport, Alberto Salazar has been banned under Safe Sport for life due to charges of sexual misconduct.. However, none of the allegations made public against him were actually sexual in nature. The Safe Sport allegations against him related to body and weight shaming of female athletes, and also disregard of an athlete’s tendency for self-harm.
If you read the article I’ve linked, the author notes that under the Safe Sport code someone can be banned for sexual misconduct even if “the acts do not involve conduct of a sexual nature.”
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that seems non-sensical.
Or we are using the puritanical approach of the Victorian era: Everything body related is sexual.
Not saying this guy should be allowed around young people, but he should also not be branded as pervert when he is only an a-hole.
They need to work some more on their guidelines, it seems.
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If he only directed the body and weight shaming against females, then yes it is a sex based issue. Plus well shown to be potentially fatal in females.
quote from runners world
Salazar weighed her in front of teammates and shamed her for being too heavy. As a result, Cain, now 25, said she suffered depression, suicidal thoughts, five stress fractures, and didn’t menstruate for three years.
also ongoing accusation of drug abuse / doping and drug testing control interference
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being sexist does not equal being a sexual pervert though. I mean I agree he seems to be an a-hole, but I don’t think SS is helping when they conflagrate sexual assault with behavior like this. The lines need to be clearer.
Mental abuse is bad enough and even if it is gender based, it is not necessarily sexual in nature.
we have done well in the past calling out sexist jerks, but we are drifting back (Husband and I were talking about a golf commentator who said women could not play golf because the boobs would get in the way…his career was short lived after that)
I think there are plenty of boys who are also fat shamed in their sports. It is just wrapped intp the mechanics of ‘weight making’ for martial arts.
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There are real weight classes in some sport. That’s a simple reality of weight class sports.
Most sports are not divided by weight class.
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This is a bit of a tangent from the subject.
But I was watching the news coverage this week of the guilty verdict of the police officer who used a gun instead of a taser. And the male newscaster referred to the judge in the case by saying, “He ruled that…”
Except the judge in that particular case was a woman. I don’t know if it was just a slip of the tongue for the newscaster, or if it was yet another example of the ingrained sexism which assumes that only a man could be the judge in such a high profile case. But that is certainly not a point of view that has disappeared yet.
I also couldn’t help but wonder if the verdict would have been different if that police officer had been male. A lot of the law experts who discussed the case on the news shows seemed to be a little surprised by the result.
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that does not mean there is no weight shaming going on, or it won’t have long lasting effects on the kids.
Is it toxic masculinity of predatorial pehavior?
It’s interesting - I believe (based on what was reported) that all of those who raised complaints were female. That being said, distance running has a real problem with eating disorders in both men and women - there is a tendency to recognize and respond to it in women, while men with similar issues are often dismissed and stigmatized. Without any inside knowledge, I do wonder if there were men coached by Salazar with similar experiences who did not come forward.
Yup - Salazar was previously suspended by USADA/USATF for 4 years in response to those allegations.
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visit Safe Sport and review their Code
Sexual Misconduct includes Gender Related Harrasment . It would be the same within your own workplace . It is defined in the code
Sexual Misconduct does not just relate to sexual intercourse or other sexual contact as we understand it.
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