Ethan Dick of New Zealand during the Men’s All-Around Gymnastics on Day 3 of the XXII Commonwealth Games at Arena Birmingham. Photo: AAP / www.photosport.nz
Gymnastics New Zealand has been forced into cultural change after athlete welfare came under the spotlight.
The organisation is publicly releasing new training guidelines that set New Zealand apart from its overseas counterparts.
The overhaul of training practices would put New Zealand's top gymnasts on a different timeline to their international peers as the governing body fights to keep the athletes in the sport longer - and better reflect New Zealand lifestyles.
Allegations of multiple New Zealand gymnasts, of varying ages and levels of competition, suffering from verbal abuse, physical abuse, bullying and unsafe training methods surfaced four years ago.
A climate of fear and retribution was highlighted by a three-month independent investigation into the culture of Gymnastics New Zealand, which resulted in 10 overarching areas of concern and made more than 50 recommendations for change.
Among the issues raised, the review noted: "Many coaches were brought to New Zealand over the last three decades with the goal of seeking international success for gymnasts here, and they introduced abusive coaching practices which became normalised."
GNZ started the process of change in 2022 and the latest step was the release of new training guidelines.
"For all sport in New Zealand there is work to do," GNZ chief executive Andrea Nelson said.
"We are a constantly changing society and expectations are different and all sports need to be moving with the times and adapting. Gymnastics has probably had a faster learning curve than many others but by no means is the job done.
"There is lots and lots to do but a huge amount has also been achieved and I think it's getting that balance right to allow everyone in the sport to feel comfortable and that they are able to make the right choices to build a great culture."
The training guidelines were designed to weigh the considerable physical and mental demands of the sport with the need to ensure the long-term physical and mental well-being of participants, Nelson said.
"We've deliberately gone about this in a way that does cover both the recreational gymnast and the competitive ones and looking at how people might step between the two to keep people in the sport for longer at a level that fits around their lives.
"One of the bits of feedback that we got when we went to the community to talk about this was in some cases, it's about making sure people are doing enough training to be safe as much as it is about other athletes potentially doing too much training.
"So it's really getting that balance right because gymnastics is such a technical sport that we can keep our athletes safe and look after their well-being."
Photo: 123RF
Coaches, athletes, parents, club managers, GNZ education staff and a consultant from High Performance Sport New Zealand combined to create the guidelines. They were not compulsory for clubs or coaches to adopt - however, GNZ expected affiliated clubs to align their programme training hours with the training guidelines from next year.
Children now needed to be five years old to join the social competitive pathway and from 2026 an athlete had to be seven years old to enter the national competitive pathway. Previously there were no age restrictions.Training hours would vary with age and stage as well as gender.
For example, a seven-year-old boy in the national competitive pathway under the guidelines would be training once or twice a week for a total time of three to five hours a week, while a 15-year-old boy would train four to five times a week for a total time of 14 to 18 hours.
In the performance pathway, male athletes aged between 16 and 18 would train five to six times a week for up to a total of 22 hours.
In women's artistic gymnastics, a seven-year-old in the national competitive pathway under the guidelines would be training two or three times a week for a total time of three to five hours a week.
A 15-year-old girl would train five to six times a week for a total time of 18 to 22 hours in the performance pathway.
Male gymnasts over 21 could train up to nine times a week, and for women aged over 19 the training sessions moved to the maximum of nine sessions.
Hours were based on an all-around athlete. Athletes specialising in fewer than four apparatus could train fewer than recommended hours.
There are currently no restrictions on the amount of hours an athlete may train.
GNZ's head of gymnastics Olympian David Phillips, who came into the role in February, was an early adopter of the review recommendations in his former role as Tri Star Gymnastics general manager.
Phillips was part of the working group that designed the training guidelines and he said they "confirm a change in approach that has been happening for a number of years".
"The document aligns with a large percentage of what our clubs are already doing. I think where there is a distinction in the guidelines is that we're pretty clear about in a New Zealand setting we need to do things a little bit differently to how they're done internationally for gymnastics to be a positive experience but also deliver good performance outcomes.
"There are always going to be outliers and people and training environments that need a little bit of coaching along the way and this is why this is a live document, because the changes that are happening within in New Zealand are also reflective of changes that are happening internationally.
"As it continues to evolve we're going to have to continue to educate our clubs and evolve with it."
GNZ was aware this training approach would have a flow-on effect.
"It is going to look different to other countries who are still doing early specialisation training but we believe in a New Zealand setting it's the right fit for us."
USA gymnast Simone Biles was winning gold medals at this year's Olympics aged 27. Photo: AFP / LOIC VENANCE
Phillips said internationally the age, particularly of women's artistic gymnasts, was lifting significantly.
"A number of decades ago athletes were reaching their peak in their mid to late teens. We're now seeing Olympic medalists into their late 20s and even older.
"That suggests that the life span of a performance athlete is much longer than previously was the commonly held belief, so it makes sense then that there isn't the same requirement to drive skill development so early.
"So what we've done is we've made the assumption that athletes can continue to perform at a high level well into their 20s and beyond and work backwards from there, which just means that in the New Zealand setting, the athletes don't need to be sacrificing opportunities to participate in other sports and other activities when they're young and they've got time to do some sport sampling."
New Zealand's Havana Hopman at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games. Photo: Andrew Cornaga/www.photosport.nz
Phillips' own experience as a gymnast was positive but he knew that was not the case for all of his peers.
"Along the journey I've seen a lot of people leave the sport really young and not always with positive experiences and largely that's been to do with being required to do so much so early when they're young.
"I think that what this different pathway proposes, and the potential of it, is that we retain kids in the sport for longer and hopefully with more positive experiences. I'm pretty excited to see our clubs implement these changes and to see more adult athletes in gymnastics because really that is what we're aiming for with these changes."
The released training guidelines applied to artistic and rhythmic gymnastics, with trampoline and aerobics training guidelines to be released in 2025.
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