In what can be an uncommon association, moderately than being led by a single coach, USA Gymnastics has as an alternative determined to divide the highest teaching function for its ladies’s gymnastics staff into three separate roles. A type of roles can be crammed by Chellsie Memmel.
For many gymnastics followers, they’re beneath the assumption that Chellsie Memmel is the right selection for such a job. She is extensively considered as a gymnastics determine with no previous problematic habits. The perceived lack of a difficult previous is what made her a super candidate.
This text is to remind gymnastics followers that this narrative is solely not true.
Again in 2021 Chellsie Memmel was caught up in an issue the place her title and likeness was used to advertise a gymnastics membership with main abuse allegations. The membership in query was Legacy Elite Gymnastics which followers know because the health club coached by Wu Jiani and her daughter Anna Li. Each are former gymnasts who had extremely profitable careers and are veterans of main worldwide competitors.
Legacy Elite Gymnastics at present has greater than 30 complaints which were filed with SafeSport and these allegations have been recognized to most people through media reviews because the Summer season of 2019. The allegations pressured the resignation of Anna Li in early August of 2019 from her submit on USA Gymnastics’ athlete council.
This chain of occasions was a significant incident on the time and just about all gymnastics followers are aware of this explicit story. The scandal remains to be ongoing with SafeSport reportedly conducting investigations as not too long ago as Fall 2021 and it stays to be seen exactly how these occasions will finish.
The connection to Chellsie Memmel pertains to an episode from April 8, 2021 when Scott M. Reid reported a narrative on Legacy Elite Gymnastics internet hosting a camp that price $600 per every gymnast attending. In an effort to encourage mother and father to enroll (and pay) for this camp, the central attraction was the participation of quite a few coaches representing numerous NCAA packages.
The outcry that NCAA packages had been empowering and selling some of the infamous golf equipment within the nation precipitated sufficient controversy for many school groups to drag their assist. However in the identical article that highlighted the difficulty of NCAA packages aligning with a gymnastics membership embroiled in SafeSport allegations, it was additionally famous that Legacy Elite Gymnastics had one other camp within the works.
Relatively than being aligned with NCAA coaches, it might be headlined by Chellsie Memmel.
In April of 2021 Chellsie Memmel was on the peak of her recognition as she was participating in a legendary Tokyo Olympics comeback try. Memmel had achieved important media consideration for herself, was some of the talked about athletes within the sport, and some of the worthwhile figures any membership may hope to align with as a approach to attract higher attendance figures for his or her camp.
Chellsie Memmel having one of many largest and most influential manufacturers of any athlete is what made it so egregious that she put her assist behind a gymnastics membership with SafeSport allegations. Paradoxically, Chellsie Memmel having a big model and being such a revered determine is what spared her criticism over her affiliation with Legacy Elite Gymnastics.
Memmel not solely was on the flier as a part of the 2021 version of this camp, however she additionally participated within the 2020 version of this camp. Legacy Elite Gymnastics posted a photograph of her in attendance and thanked her for approaching their Fb web page. The Safesport allegations had been public data in 2019.
Again in 2021 Scott M. Reid wrote about this, I shared the story to my social media account noting the point out of Memmel’s involvement. However few wished to love, share, or retweet a scandal that killed what was an amazing really feel good story. Chellsie Memmel was a mom in her early 30s making a profitable comeback in a sport dominated by youngsters and younger 20 12 months olds. The optimistic attributes of her story made few followers need to damper it with tales of ugly habits.
However now Chellsie Memmel is formally affiliated with USA Gymnastics and is ready of energy over baby athletes. It’s incomprehensible that an incoming program lead for the ladies’s program was aligned with some of the notorious gymnastics golf equipment with 30 SafeSport complaints to its title. And this connection got here as not too long ago as final 12 months when stated allegations had been ongoing and public data.
If it was anybody else, the gymnastics group would instantly be in uproar over this. Which is why I implore the gymnastics fanbase to not let historical past repeat itself by ignoring the story in 2022 because it did in 2021.
You can’t have a program lead who treats 30 complaints of SafeSport allegations as inconsequential. In an period the place a brand new tradition is being constructed and we try to arrange an atmosphere the place gymnasts really feel they will belief the USAG figureheads and safely strategy them with allegations of misconduct, having a program lead like Chellsie Memmel with a latest previous historical past of expressing disregard for the severity of SafeSport allegations on her file instantly contradicts that.
Beneath are the final 4 paragraphs from Scott M. Reid’s article from from April 8, 2021:
However the scandal lastly appeared to catch as much as the health club this week. Legacy had been actively selling “beLIeve Faculty Camp,” which the health club stated would characteristic a number of the nation’s prime school coaches in early July. A flier for the occasion beneath Legacy’s brand, the Olympic rings, a number of college logos and mascots, and the slogan “The place Success & Enjoyable Is One!” stated the camp is “That includes Faculty Clinicians from” UCLA, Cal, Florida, Washington, Michigan State, Utah State, Towson and Northern Illinois.
For a $600 payment, gymnasts will prepare for 2 days with the coaches and take part in a question-and-answer session with the school coaches, in accordance with the flier.
However on Friday Legacy eliminated all references to the universities after no less than 5 colleges together with UCLA, Li’s alma mater, instructed SCNG their coaches or representatives wouldn’t be attending the camp.
Legacy can also be selling an elite efficiency camp on the health club in July that includes Chellsie Memmel, the 2005 World particular person all-around champion. Memmel can also be a choose licensed by the FIG, the game’s worldwide governing physique.
Memmel didn’t reply to a request for remark.
