CHARLOTTE, N.C. — For years, the sport of gymnastics has faced scrutiny about the way its athletes are treated. But after some high profile and disturbing cases, a culture shift is underway and a Charlotte-based coach is leading the way.
Natalie Kinsey was careful when choosing the gym where her daughter would train. “There are so many horror stories,” she said. “I don’t want my child coming home crying every night.”
They bypassed gyms closer to where they live and specifically chose Perfect Balance where Maddie started training when she was seven.
“I just know that where I’m at is super unique other gymnasts don’t have the same experience as me they’re criticized, beaten down,” Maddie Kinsey said. “I think overall gymnastics gets a bad rap especially with everything that’s happened with USA gymnastics over the past year or two.”
Perfect Balance owner, Suzie Sanocki, said she’s seeing a change in the culture starting to take shape across the country and across all levels of the sport.
“I definitely think there’s a shift from the elite level to collegiate level down to the club level," she said.
It’s an approach Sanocki said she’s always taken.
“We definitely want to train happy healthy kids to the best of their ability gymnastics for us is the avenue to giving them life skills," she said. "It’s less important how good their cartwheel is and more what they’re going to take away from their experiences."
Coaches across the country have been reaching out to her in recent months looking for guidance.
“They are. I’ve had a lot of people reach out because I think we are successful at the highest level but they see us at competitions and see we have a great rapport with our kids so people do reach out and say I want to know how you’re able to have success while maintaining a good relationship with your athletes," she said.
The proof she says that you can succeed in gymnastics with a kinder, gentler approach to coaching? Maddie Kinsey just left for the Air Force Academy and got a full scholarship to compete on the Academy’s women’s gymnastics team.
“It’s so exciting. I’ve been working towards that goal and to see it pay off my hard work and my coaches hard work and it’s so exciting," Maddie said.
In 2017 USA gymnastics instituted Safe Sport, where anyone can report any potential abuse in the sport.
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