51 athletes make complaints against WAIS, ex-gymnast Julia Murcia meets with WA Police

More gymnasts have come forward about their mistreatment at the WA Institute of Sport, with one former athlete alleging a coach slapped her and put their hands around her neck and shook her. Julia Murcia, who has formed a new group Gymnast Alliance Australia to represent the women, met with WA Police yesterday who she said had told her they believe there could be a possibility for child neglect charges should any of the women want to pursue a formal complaint. Police had told her they would be approaching WAIS. Last week, The West Australian revealed a group of 21 former gymnasts had complained to WAIS about their treatment in its gymnastics program which ran from the late 1980s to 2016. Allegations include that child athletes were verbally abused, made to train on injuries and bullied about weight gains. Ms Murcia said since the women had gone public with their stories, the group of complainants had grown to 51 former athletes. Many had similar stories in experiencing eating disorders and other lasting trauma as a result of their time at WAIS. “We’re encouraging any women, parents to come forward ... I think the main thing (the group is feeling) is that they can’t believe they’re finally being listened to after so long,” Ms Murcia said. Sports Minister Tony Buti met with Ms Murcia this week and described the allegations as “harrowing”. Dr Buti told The West: “It’s important for their experiences to be heard, and it’s important for organisations to listen and make sure the right systems are in place to nurture aspiring athletes. “Any culture that enables belittling, manipulating or physical abuse towards young athletes will not be tolerated by the State Government.” Dr Buti said the Government response would be informed by the findings of an investigation Sport Integrity Australia intends to conduct into the WAIS allegations. They will also look at the findings of the separate Australian Human Rights Commission investigation into the culture of gymnastics in Australia. The Commission is expected to release its findings on Monday. Tracey Gartner was a WAIS gymnast from 1988 to 1993 and says she had nightmares three times a week for 15 years as a result of her mistreatment. Ms Gartner alleged when she was just 15 a coach slapped her “across the face” and put their hands around her neck and shook her in two separate incidences. She says she was also made to train while in excruciating pain. Parents were not allowed to watch training and the athletes were made to feel that speaking to their parents about their treatment was not an option, Ms Gartner said. She said she had come forward to help process her own healing and because she wanted to ensure future child athletes were given better treatment. “The trauma has shaped my life ... I was having nightmares three times a week for 15 years about gymnastics,” Ms Gartner said. She said they trained so much they saw coaches more than their parents which meant they had an immense impact on them in their formative years. Changes she wanted to see included better child psychology training for coaches. “These are such formative years for a human and this is why the emotional and physical abuse has such a huge life long impact,” she said. “ Coaches need to understand that they are effectively raising a child. When training for 30 hours-plus a week, coaches have a huge influence on fostering healthy mental, emotional and physical development.” Sarah Simmonds was a WAIS gymnast from 1992 to 1997. She said for a long time she hadn’t been able to figure out why she had so often felt low self esteem about her body and physical appearance when she had grown up with loving parents and supportive friends. More recently she has been able to realise how her body image struggles started as a result of her time at WAIS where she was told she needed to be on a diet and called chubby from the age of seven. Connecting with the other gymnasts recently has helped Ms Simmonds gain a better understanding of herself. “I realised a lot of the things I heard were not OK as a child ... it was a culture based on fear and a culture based on getting results from such a negative shaming point,” Ms Simmonds said. “In such a crucial part of my cognitive development I was fed these things that created my psyche and my core belief that I’m not good enough. I’m not good enough the way I am.” “I totally understand elite sport it comes with sacrifice, it comes with injuries ... but when you’re a seven-year-old girl ... and you’re hearing that you need to limit your diet to be a successful athlete it’s so damaging. We’ve lost the joy for the sport.” Ms Simmonds said one of the reasons she had come forward was because she wanted to ensure no other child was treated this way. She is now a primary school teacher and looking back she struggles to comprehend the way she and other gymnasts were spoken to as children. “I have such a passion for my job and realise how important my job is in making sure that every child who comes through my classroom leaves my classroom feeling worthy and supported,” she said. Ms Murcia said they had been given draft terms of references this week and were concerned that they largely focused about how WAIS handled complaints. Gymnasts also want to ensure WAIS is obliged to give the State Government a copy of the findings and not keep them secret. WAIS chief executive Steve Lawrence said they believe any points of difference on the terms of reference can be resolved. He said the draft was provided to the gymnasts for consideration and feedback. “I totally understand elite sport it comes with sacrifice, it comes with injuries ... but when you’re a seven-year-old girl ... and you’re hearing that you need to limit your diet to be a successful athlete it’s so damaging. We’ve lost the joy for the sport.” Ms Simmonds said one of the reasons she had come forward was because she wanted to ensure no other child was treated this way. She is now a primary school teacher and looking back she struggles to comprehend the way she and other gymnasts were spoken to as children. “I have such a passion for my job and realise how important my job is in making sure that every child who comes through my classroom leaves my classroom feeling worthy and supported,” she said. Ms Murcia said they had been given draft terms of references this week and were concerned that they largely focused about how WAIS handled complaints. Gymnasts also want to ensure WAIS is obliged to give the State Government a copy of the findings and not keep them secret. WAIS chief executive Steve Lawrence said they believe any points of difference on the terms of reference can be resolved. He said the draft was provided to the gymnasts for consideration and feedback. “We welcome the feedback received and will review the ToR in light of their concerns. WAIS will ensure the WA Government has full access to the report and how we will respond to the report findings and recommendations,” he said. Mr Lawrence said the WAIS board would be meeting Monday night following the public release of Human Rights Commission report to discuss and prepare its response to the recommendations.