**Content warning: this episode explores the disturbing and pervasive issue of sexual abuse in sport. Please make an informed decision about listening to the episode. What Reid details, however, is necessary listening for athletes, parents, coaches, fans, and academics alike to understand one of the darkest sides of contemporary sports. This episode was also recorded before the release of Athlete A, but stay tuned for separate discussions on that in the near future!**
Derek and Johanna speak with Scott Reid, an investigative reporter for the OC Register with decades of experience covering abuse scandals within sports, especially within USA Gymnastics and USA Swimming. Reid traces the long, interwoven threads of physical and emotional abuse with sexual abuse in some sports, dating in some cases in gymnastics back to the 1970s. He provides damning details about the culture of the ‘Karolyi foundation’ that helped cultivate Larry Nasser’s behavior and harm. Perhaps more shocking though is his assessment that because USA Swimming has historically been run by ‘good ole boys’ who created a culture that normalized coach-swimmer relations, sexual abuse is more pervasive in this organization than in USA Gymnastics. He then lays bare the capitalist and structural reasons why national governing bodies, the NCAA, and even the IOC do not think that protecting athletes from harm is their #1 priority. At the end of the conversation we discuss the roles that athletes can play in protecting themselves, and Scott’s take on how sports parents should approach their kids’ coaches, social media, and vice-versa.
You can check out some of Scott’s work discussed in the episode here:
“100s of USA swimmers were sexually abused for decades and the people in charge knew and ignored it, investigation finds”
“NCAA argues in sex abuse case it has no legal duty to protect athletes”
“SafeSport: Amy Nyman made gymnasts feel ‘scared, degraded and humiliated”
Find Scott on Twitter: @sreidreporter
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@Derekcrim
@JohannaMellis
@Nkalamb
@EndofSportPod
www.TheEndofSport.com
**For a transcription of this episode please click here. Huge thanks to @Punkadmic for making this happen!**
Episode 138: Sport and the Climate Crisis with Madeleine Orr
Episode 137: The Hegemonic vs. Inclusive Masculinity Debate
Episode 136: How the Anti-trans Movement Shields Cisgender Sexual Predators
Episode 135: Hungary, Sportswashing, and Global Fascism
Episode 134: Masculinities and Sport with Raewyn Connell
Episode 133: Gunpower and Sports with Patrick Blanchfield
Episode 132: The Barstool Sports Episode
Episode 131: College Sport NLRB Extravaganza
Episode 130: The Definitive Netflix Sports Rankings
Episode 129: Higher Ed 'Crisis' with Asheesh Kapur Siddique and Joe Darda
Episode 128: On The PWHL with Liz Knox
Episode 127: Gaza Genocide and Sporting Politics with Karim Zidan
Episode 126: Football, Manliness, and the Conjuncture
Episode 125: Israel and Russia Don't Belong in Paris 2024
Episode 124: The Swiftie Bowl
Episode 123: Palestine Solidarity
Episode 122: Why Canada Needs a Judicial Inquiry into Sport
Episode 121: Anti-trans Discourse, Sport, and our Fascist Moment
Episode 120: Another College Sport Apocalypse
Episode 119: The End of College Football (A Preview)
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