Dominique Moceanu, berated by her coach in Olympics 1996

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henry

02 July, 2010

Dominique Moceanu was berated by her coach Martha's husband, Bela for her weight in front of teammates and the sports world was shocked.

FORMER U.S. Olympic gymnast Dominique Moceanu was berated by her coach Martha’s husband, Bela for her weight in front of teammates and the sports world was shocked.

Other gymnasts downplayed the complaints of Moceanu, who was only 14 when she competed for the 1996 gold-medal team, and praised the Karolyis' results.

"The thing is, the kids understand the Karolyis," said Moceanu's teammate Dominique Dawes. "No. 1, we had a choice. No. 2, we understood the political benefits to being a Karolyi athlete. The Karolyis have clout both at the national and international level."

Many of the best coaches and instructors are disciplinarians who push kids hard and get results; a few are tyrants who push their players too hard or berate them cruelly.

How are parents of hard-driving kids supposed to tell the difference? How much can you really do to contain the behavior of an adult with the power to bench your sports-loving son or your daughter's college scholarship?

Identifying a problem can be challenging, in part because parents don't always attend children's lessons or practices. One should not be so rude with the kids.
In ballet, the lines may actually be clearer, because yelling and name-calling are rare, according to Anastasia Wovchko, principal of the children's division at the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre School.