Athlete tells parliamentary committee Gymnastics Canada’s handling of abuse broke him

Sheehan has twice competed in the Trampoline World Championships.

He and Kim Shore, who appeared before the Status of Women committee and were also present Monday, are co-founders of Gymnasts For Change Canada

Sheehan said a national team therapist groped him when he was a teenager.

“He lifted his hand to my tracksuit and underwear and fondled my genitals twice,” Sheehan said.

When he told a trainer and a complaint was filed in 2019, Sheehan said Gymnastics Canada told him the matter was no longer within its jurisdiction since the therapist was no longer an employee.

The Canadian Center for Ethics in Sport has commissioned GymCan to conduct an investigation.

Sheehan learned that four other people had come forward about their experiences with the therapist.

“This man has never been sanctioned by GymCan,” Sheehan said.

In 2021, after Sheehan shared his abuse and despair at being handed over by Gymnastics Canada in a social media post, he said a conversation with the organization’s social affairs officer, Gretchen Kerr, left him suicidal.

“She claimed I never made a formal complaint so I had no reason to be upset and if I was careful about what I post there would be an outcome that she and I would be happy with,” said Sheehan.

“The organization to which my family and I have entrusted my physical and mental well-being for two decades could not do even the bare minimum to investigate my case unless they were coerced and then tried to silence me. “

Kerr, a University of Toronto professor specializing in sports abuse, appeared at a Heritage Committee hearing last week.

Sheehan criticized Kerr’s position that Canada does not need a judicial or national investigation into abuse in sport.

“With the opportunity to help a national inquiry, Gretchen Kerr — a researcher who doesn’t want anyone else to look further into corruption in sport — stands up,” Sheehan said.

Kerr did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment on Monday, but she did tell MPs last week that a judicial inquiry would squander valuable time trying to make the sport safer.

“We’re going to lose time and money and we’re going to lose progress,” Kerr said. “We have all the information we need to move forward.”

Shore vehemently disagreed Monday.

“Opposition to a national probe must be carefully considered,” Shore told the assembled House of Representatives.

“Intentional blindness, power imbalances and unexplained conflicts of interest must be uncovered and resolved. Adults need to stop choosing to protect their heritage instead of protecting children.”

Others questioned by lawmakers Monday included Paralympic basketball player and AthletesCAN board member Bo Hedges and Western University assistant professor MacIntosh Ross, who represented Scholars Against Abuse in Canadian Sport.

“We cannot move forward in preventing future abuse without educating everyone involved in the sports system as to what it actually means and the responsibilities of everyone to prevent this behavior,” Hedges said.

Athletes, coaches, high-performance directors, technical and medical support staff, business executives and board members all need to be better informed and trained in safe sports, he said.

“We can’t just count on this being achieved through e-learning and resources that people can quickly tick off their list with the click of a button,” he explained.

“Compliance needs to be guaranteed on all these initiatives that are driven with controls to ensure NSOs are accountable. We can no longer rely on the honor system in sport to ensure all of these actions are taken by everyone involved.”

The 100-plus members of Scholars Against Abuse in Canadian Sport want a national investigation, said Ross, who lobbied Prime Minister Trudeau for it.

“Sports administrators are incapable of driving the kind of meaningful sustainable change that this system needs,” Ross said. “The current abuse crisis and Canadian sport cannot be resolved through existing mechanisms. It’s a human rights issue in sport.

“Both I and the Prime Minister are boxers. I hope Mr. Trudeau would stand in the corner of the Canadian people. Throw in the towel on this sports system and save it from itself. It’s not an act of surrender. It is not an act of judgment against those involved. It is an act of love, love for athletes, coaches and officials who need you now more than ever. Throw in the towel.”

This report from The Canadian Press was first published on March 27, 2023.

Donna Spencer, The Canadian Press