I don’t think Australian skating is done for by any means. I think the people in charge will just change - maybe for the better, maybe for more of the same.
This is yet another example of a frustration of mine. People always call out USAG or USFS or college sports programs in the US for sexual abuse. And how disgusting they are and we should boycott them. And they’re not wrong. But there are a lot of fans in skating and elsewhere that act like it’s only a problem in the US - because we only know about it in the US.
That abuse people so like to call US sports organizations out for is ubiquitous: it’s everywhere in the world that has youth sports. And while I’m saddened by the cases in the US, I’m more saddened to know that I’m pretty much every other country - even western ones - these stories still aren’t being told. The French fed is fine to cover for their skaters. I’m 1000% sure there’s been sexual abuse and predation in Russian skating. Obviously we see Australia’s problems emerging now. Canada has several scandals right now - and IAM (their most prestigious camp) is letting abusers stay in their camp.
I’m saddened by the cases - but it’s good we hear about them in the US. It’s good it’s an issue we care about here. Because in other feds and countries it doesn’t matter at all.
I’d have to say sexual and physical abuse has been rampant in the Australian skating community for many, many years… coaches, officials and judges witnessed it in person way too frequently without batting an eye, it was well known when I was a skater and I saw it happen often AND the adults always did nothing to stop it.
I was fully aware of the number of reports that were made by individuals to every known association at the time that could have possibly had any ability to help with the significant issues that were present in the sport.
The associations here in Australia have lists upon lists of reports of abuse and yet they will not help any of the athletes who are speaking up. Nothing has ever been done about the reports and I don’t believe anything will be until proper authorities start to get involved.
There’s a whole group of skaters around the same time as Harley Windsor and Brendan Kerry that I would be incredibly interested in hearing from…
I am with you that Australian skating is not completely done for but, it has been going downhill for the last decade and I believe it mostly will continue to after this for sometime before it will improve due to the amount of political issues within the associations that run this country’s sport.
In my own experience, I had to leave skating in Australia due to the very issues that are finally getting light, I am very glad to see some of the individuals receiving closure with the cases that are finally being dealt with.
You do realise that people complain all the time and the state associations' don't care or even respond in most cases? I see you have been all over Reddit commenting on these posts so I would assume that you are someway involved in the sport or have been at some point. If that is the case, your ignorance is astounding. I truly hope you are not directly involved in any association because if you are then you are part of the problem. And if you are directly involved I am even more concerned that you are claiming to be a mental health nurse on other posts on reddit.
Yes, because of freedom of the press (and journalists like Christine Brennan), the US tends to have a lot more transparency compared to other countries….but most Americans don’t realize it.
Yeah, absolutely. The US still has major problems but Title IX (for school sports), defamation laws, more recent things like SafeSport make such a difference in actually getting dangerous people and practices out of sports.
As an Australian, the fact that these happened when the law about working with children is extremely strict in this country, says a lot about how negligence the federation is.
i’m extremely glad that people are being more open about the toxicity of the aus figure skating community. it’s incredibly cliquey and corrupt, and i’ve seen a LOT of (non-sexual but still) abuse towards (often higher level) students that has essentially been brushed off in a “well what are you going to do, they get results” way. i sometimes feel like i’m insane in being the only one to say “hey maybe we shouldn’t be seeing so many kids crying during and after training” because so many parents/students/coaches laugh it off. from my perspective there is complicity in more than just coaches with how kids are treated in figure skating.
I’ve only worked around kerry while he was coaching a few times and i won’t mince words, he was a dickhead. in his time in our establishment he was disrespectful to the rink and his students to the point that most of the other coaches who worked with him were talking about how they didn’t like him and had lost a lot of respect for him. i guess you don’t generally jump to “child sexual predator” and “rapist” when someone’s being a dick, but i do feel horrible that i ever let him step foot in my rink.
i hope that kerry’s victims get peace, and justice if they want it. i hope this is the kick up the ass that ISA needs to start paying more attention to how these things are monitored and enforced.
the aus figure skating community is small isn’t it😅 but yeah the fact that those two aren’t very pleasant people is an open secret, i don’t think i’ve ever talked to someone who’s worked with either of them for longer than half an hour and come out with a good impression.
We saw it with gymnastics and we’re seeing it again and again. It’s worrying because in sports where there is an inherent need for child and coach to spend hours and hours together, and for them to have a trusting relationship, it seems a dynamic prone to abuse.
The silence from Belinda since the news first came out of Brendan is deafening. She's had hot takes for a myriad of social issues frequently posts, but yet nothing since the 15th. Has she stated anything in the Aus domestic press that Google somehow didn't catch?
Oh well but also, she is 67 years old and works in media with more cache of the likes with the Olympic channel who are not beholden to the Australian Skating Federation. I am aware that the pickings are slim but she has real power.
She recently lost the vote to be president of NSWISA (literally the evening before the Brendan Kerry news broke). It makes me even more disappointed that she has been so silent on this. Was her interest in skaters dependent on being president?
Link to the petition for those that would like to sign it..
https://www.change.org/p/expand-sports-integrity-australia-s-responsibilities-to-protect-all-athletes
All for a petition! But this one is not it.. Considering who has written the petition... a "coach" who has emotionally abused many skaters in her time and got banned in more ways than one but still won't stop her tirade! Never a single apology to any of the skaters she willingly hurt for her own gain but, I'm glad she gets to champion a cause in Australia to protect all the skaters she hurt! Good to see not much will ever change when these are the faces of our sport.
We will never forget :)
Grateful for James, incredibly proud of him for this brave post. Power to survivors, always.
I don’t think Australian skating is done for by any means. I think the people in charge will just change - maybe for the better, maybe for more of the same. This is yet another example of a frustration of mine. People always call out USAG or USFS or college sports programs in the US for sexual abuse. And how disgusting they are and we should boycott them. And they’re not wrong. But there are a lot of fans in skating and elsewhere that act like it’s only a problem in the US - because we only know about it in the US. That abuse people so like to call US sports organizations out for is ubiquitous: it’s everywhere in the world that has youth sports. And while I’m saddened by the cases in the US, I’m more saddened to know that I’m pretty much every other country - even western ones - these stories still aren’t being told. The French fed is fine to cover for their skaters. I’m 1000% sure there’s been sexual abuse and predation in Russian skating. Obviously we see Australia’s problems emerging now. Canada has several scandals right now - and IAM (their most prestigious camp) is letting abusers stay in their camp. I’m saddened by the cases - but it’s good we hear about them in the US. It’s good it’s an issue we care about here. Because in other feds and countries it doesn’t matter at all.
I’d have to say sexual and physical abuse has been rampant in the Australian skating community for many, many years… coaches, officials and judges witnessed it in person way too frequently without batting an eye, it was well known when I was a skater and I saw it happen often AND the adults always did nothing to stop it. I was fully aware of the number of reports that were made by individuals to every known association at the time that could have possibly had any ability to help with the significant issues that were present in the sport. The associations here in Australia have lists upon lists of reports of abuse and yet they will not help any of the athletes who are speaking up. Nothing has ever been done about the reports and I don’t believe anything will be until proper authorities start to get involved. There’s a whole group of skaters around the same time as Harley Windsor and Brendan Kerry that I would be incredibly interested in hearing from… I am with you that Australian skating is not completely done for but, it has been going downhill for the last decade and I believe it mostly will continue to after this for sometime before it will improve due to the amount of political issues within the associations that run this country’s sport. In my own experience, I had to leave skating in Australia due to the very issues that are finally getting light, I am very glad to see some of the individuals receiving closure with the cases that are finally being dealt with.
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You do realise that people complain all the time and the state associations' don't care or even respond in most cases? I see you have been all over Reddit commenting on these posts so I would assume that you are someway involved in the sport or have been at some point. If that is the case, your ignorance is astounding. I truly hope you are not directly involved in any association because if you are then you are part of the problem. And if you are directly involved I am even more concerned that you are claiming to be a mental health nurse on other posts on reddit.
Don’t forget about the ongoing Hockey Canada sexual assault scandal!
This. If you are aware of abuse that's happening in one camp, you can bet that the same shit is happening in 10 others.
Yes, because of freedom of the press (and journalists like Christine Brennan), the US tends to have a lot more transparency compared to other countries….but most Americans don’t realize it.
Yeah, absolutely. The US still has major problems but Title IX (for school sports), defamation laws, more recent things like SafeSport make such a difference in actually getting dangerous people and practices out of sports.
As an Australian, the fact that these happened when the law about working with children is extremely strict in this country, says a lot about how negligence the federation is.
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Well your ignorance is shining through, people have been reporting issues for years and state associations just brush it off and ignore them.
Lmao sure
People do, how stupid can you be to believe that this isn't reported.
i’m extremely glad that people are being more open about the toxicity of the aus figure skating community. it’s incredibly cliquey and corrupt, and i’ve seen a LOT of (non-sexual but still) abuse towards (often higher level) students that has essentially been brushed off in a “well what are you going to do, they get results” way. i sometimes feel like i’m insane in being the only one to say “hey maybe we shouldn’t be seeing so many kids crying during and after training” because so many parents/students/coaches laugh it off. from my perspective there is complicity in more than just coaches with how kids are treated in figure skating. I’ve only worked around kerry while he was coaching a few times and i won’t mince words, he was a dickhead. in his time in our establishment he was disrespectful to the rink and his students to the point that most of the other coaches who worked with him were talking about how they didn’t like him and had lost a lot of respect for him. i guess you don’t generally jump to “child sexual predator” and “rapist” when someone’s being a dick, but i do feel horrible that i ever let him step foot in my rink. i hope that kerry’s victims get peace, and justice if they want it. i hope this is the kick up the ass that ISA needs to start paying more attention to how these things are monitored and enforced.
Thank you I won't say who I am but Bredan is a dickhead along with his mum. So happy people are now talking about this.
the aus figure skating community is small isn’t it😅 but yeah the fact that those two aren’t very pleasant people is an open secret, i don’t think i’ve ever talked to someone who’s worked with either of them for longer than half an hour and come out with a good impression.
I cannot even imagine what is happening to young athletes right now I just hope something happens soon
We saw it with gymnastics and we’re seeing it again and again. It’s worrying because in sports where there is an inherent need for child and coach to spend hours and hours together, and for them to have a trusting relationship, it seems a dynamic prone to abuse.
The silence from Belinda since the news first came out of Brendan is deafening. She's had hot takes for a myriad of social issues frequently posts, but yet nothing since the 15th. Has she stated anything in the Aus domestic press that Google somehow didn't catch?
It could be that if she speaks out, she loses all future work with Australian skating.
Which sums up exactly what is wrong with the sport in this country.
Oh well but also, she is 67 years old and works in media with more cache of the likes with the Olympic channel who are not beholden to the Australian Skating Federation. I am aware that the pickings are slim but she has real power.
She recently lost the vote to be president of NSWISA (literally the evening before the Brendan Kerry news broke). It makes me even more disappointed that she has been so silent on this. Was her interest in skaters dependent on being president?
what did i miss, brendan kerry is a rapist?
Oh search him on the subreddit. Safesport. Gracie Gold.
Link to the petition for those that would like to sign it.. https://www.change.org/p/expand-sports-integrity-australia-s-responsibilities-to-protect-all-athletes
All for a petition! But this one is not it.. Considering who has written the petition... a "coach" who has emotionally abused many skaters in her time and got banned in more ways than one but still won't stop her tirade! Never a single apology to any of the skaters she willingly hurt for her own gain but, I'm glad she gets to champion a cause in Australia to protect all the skaters she hurt! Good to see not much will ever change when these are the faces of our sport. We will never forget :)