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Jamie MacDonald • Published 29 Sep 2010 09:30
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A RESHUFFLE of Scotland’s gymnastic staff and the subsequent fallout means a Clackmannanshire coach and athlete will no longer be travelling to the Delhi Commonwealth Games.
Alloa based coach Tan Jia En was made redundant by Scottish Gymnastics last week from his post as national coach and Adam Cox, a gold medal hope in the high bar, announced he would not be heading to India in protest. As a result of the governing body’s decision Tan will no longer be coaching in the Wee County.
The former Chinese champion and the first gymnast to execute a triple back dismount on the high bar, Tan (48), has been a coach since retiring from top level competition 26 years ago.
He told the Advertiser the coaching staff had been advised there would be a restructuring and two new posts were to be created. As the country’s most prominent gymnastics trainer Tan applied and was interviewed for both posts.
He said, “I was phoned and was asked to come in for a meeting last Tuesday. I thought I would be asked for my advice but they came to tell me both my applications were refused. The reason was I didn’t answer certain questions clearly enough.
“I have never been interviewed before in my life. Since I stopped competing I have always walked into jobs. They said my way of talking is not in the new direction which is working in new partnership and development of coaching - which I have already been doing.
“I have tried so hard, working six or seven days a week, and other people don’t care they just say 'I don’t suit the structure’. How can you work for so many years having delivered so many results year after year? It doesn’t make sense.”
With the Games set to begin this Sunday, Tan was invited to stay on as coach until after the competition but he didn’t feel he could continue.
“It was a total shock,” he said. “I did not think I would be in the right state of mind to carry on. My mind was not clear and if I am not focused there could be serious consequences for gymnasts safety.”
Following the move to axe his long-term coach Adam, a bronze medallist in 2006, felt he could no longer compete at the Games and has now quit the sport.
He said, “I wasn’t prepared to go without him. Training had been going really well and there was a chance I was going to medal. To me it was out of the blue and I’m really upset not to be going. It had to be Tan, at this stage I would not feel safe going to the Games without him.”
The 23-year-old, who has trained with Tan for 13 years, added, “That is me officially retired now. It is a shame this is how I’m going to finish but I don’t really want anything else to do with the association.”
On leaving his coaching job in Alloa Tan said, “I leave a group of boys that I coach regularly who now don’t have a coach. Some of the boys are at the highest level and their parents are worried but I would say to them not to make any rushed decisions.”
He added, “I have received lots and lots of encouragement. So many coaches from all over Britain have been in touch to say they fully support me.”
One of the posts went to a gymnastics coach who had Tan as his mentor.
Tan went on, “I am happy it is my friend getting a job but gutted for myself. I did development for 20 years when it was just me organising seniors, juniors and academies. I was always making plans and structures and still have boys in the British elite squad. We had targets and were the only ones in Scottish Gymnastics that were making the targets.
“I hope in a few weeks I will feel differently but at the moment I just feel disappointed.”
The other male gymnast in the Scottish squad, Ryan McKee, will now head to the games with his club coach, Marius Gherman.
A statement on the Scottish Gymnastics website said they had conducted a corporate review and restructure as part of its continuing focus on improving the governance and professionalisation of the organisation.
It reads, “Changes to the structure of the performance set up were critical in supporting the development of the sport in the drive to deliver success at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in 2014.
“Scottish Gymnastics is fully aware that the timing of this restructure is not ideal so close to Delhi, however, appropriate legal and HR advice was sought and a delay in implementation was not feasible and would have been unfair to other staff who are affected.
“Scottish Gymnastics did not take this decision lightly and is doing everything possible to minimise the impact on athlete preparations for the Commonwealth Games in Delhi and the Northern European Championships later this year.”
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