Some organizations are recruitment heavy. If we have schools and academies that are legally registered & have employees that function as coaches and an owner who intends to expand, there is nothing wrong with appealing to the next generation and introducing them to healthy mechanisms for controlling their competitive energy & developing good sportsmanship in battles - but not every group functions this way, and I'd like to encourage awareness and signs to look out for to prevent from entering into a different kind of organization that does all the same things - but the illegal way.
Hi my name is David Milner and I protest & do activism to help encourage positive growth & development for the sport of Tricking !
I know what it was like getting into the sport as a youth and finding a group to train with. I think back then I only evaluated athletes based on skill level .. it wasn't until years later that I started to see people for their values and direction. What are their politics? Also, anyone can claim to be anything, and if we are good people, we would only make a claim to be true, and when we hear others' claims, we believe them ! But not everyone makes claims in good faith - some people straight up lie, and others might make claims that are partially true, but could be exaggerated or distorted.
I started to become more objective as I got older - using math to judge athletes, being a witness or using video evidence to have a more concrete baseline, journaling and keeping track of development - staying grounded to reality. Eventually I gained more perspective, and it took years to understand a great section of our industry and see where things were heading. I saw how some organizations and groups in Tricking were fighting for power over the industry. Competition can bring out the best or the worst in us.
Tricking has a story and for every side there are people who win and lose and there are a lot of emotions and rewards and consequences. There are also people who are inspirational or people who hold different belief systems than us and we allocate our emotions and want to compete against and go on the offensive or be on the defensive depending on whats happening around us.
At the end of the day, regardless of how extreme our sport is, sports must be administered in a neutral way.
Event organizers, Leagues, Governing Bodies, etc, all need to create an environment that doesn't provide an inherent advantage to one particular group - but we're all human beings. Being impartial is very difficult, so we have to train our sense of impartiality. There needs to be a group of individuals that don't gain or lose depending on which side of a conflict takes the W. In our industry there has to be governance and leadership that focus on maintaining values and structure and provide the landscape for conflict to take place, but also fight off the part of being human that wants to possibly corrupt the situation.
That's my current aspiration - I'm focused on moving forward and I'm trying to see things with neutrality.
For the younger generation, the biggest issue is "joining a side". I'm not on anyone's side anymore, I don't think, other than the side where people play by the rules vs the side where people intend or objectively do cheat. It doesn't really matter what country or what brand you align with - as long as you don't cheat, you're pretty much cool.
I grew up admiring many athletes from other countries thanks to the internet, and growing up in Toronto made me highly diverse and not caring about people's culture and identity as a dividing factor but more as a form of fusion. Even though I am ethnically hungarian / english-french, born in canada, personality wise I'm just as cultured as pretty much anyone else in Canada, which has a lot - the internet is it's own culture too.
I think a lot of Trickers will have a mix of different ethnic cultural influences, and religion is a different story - that's so personal that it shouldn't really be a factor in sports. Sure, people are entitled to their belief system, but coming into the sport, it's not our place to bring that with us, you know? Keeping that part of your life for you, you shouldn't be treated any particular way, unless it's a religious holiday.
I guess being inclusive, respecting differences, accommodating needs, but fundamentally, it's the sport and executing it in battle is the primary reason most of us go to competitions.
Other groups have ulterior motives though.
Event organizers should conduct a thorough background check on individuals that claim to be in the sport for any given purpose. Also, if there is any word of inappropriate activities taking place by individuals that lead campaigns to facilitate activities that are adult themed, those are legally not allowed to be in the same environment where children are being brought up. In any sports community where children, especially ones who are very young, as young as 10 or even lower, any groups or businesses that intend to direct followers to adult themed activities, or consume substances that have an age requirement are not permitted to promote or be in the vicinity.
There are (2) universally recognized criminal offences called "Counselling" and "Grooming", both of which have to do with a power differential of adults who encourage children to commit criminal offences or adults that prepare children to. As adults & as educators, if you're a coach working with youth, you would be preparing athletes for a career in Tricking, not for a career in the adult entertainment industry.
People will inevitably intend to become who they want to, if it's something they are open or secretive about, but there can't be a direct pathway from our sport. I understand because I think like every other guy (lol) and so my encouragement would be to separate the industries. If you're interested in women, it would be better to check out the modelling industry. In general, I do not condone or recommend drug usage, but athletes that do these things should do so off-property and out of sight. If you want to participate at "underground competitions" in Tricking, legitimate organizational bodies will likely discontinue your career with them, as unsanctioned competitions are typically prohibited.
Criminal activities typically take place in locations that are secretive, and where anything goes. Some people seek these environments and intend to invite naive youth into them, using marketing and other word-play to trick anyone, even kids, into getting involved in scenarios that could one day harm their chances of making a professional career. Unsuspecting athletes that are encouraged to engage in illegal activities means that if people who know or have evidence want to, they could use damaging materials to try to blackmail, extort or threaten to control you. These are some of the methods that crime groups use to gain power and influence over talented athletes, and the worst part is instead of being honourable, they trick kids into that life before children even know what they got into - because of the lies and manipulations groomers and counsellors use.
Legitimate business owners should be aware that these groups exist, and may even be scouting your athletes that you train to represent your brand / country. They could use social media to try to win over your students and pull them into their community, and use slogans like "culture" to evoke a sense of dedication and loyalty to the sport and further dragging them in by using stories of past conflicts and encouraging them to fight for either side of some internal conflict that they're apart of and perpetuating.
There are a lot of stories that have taken place in sports, and we all want to advocate for our favourites and boo our enemies (lol), but that's something that fans of the sport will do - not the athletes, and not business owners.
There needs to be a respectful and professional distance between athletes, organizers, judges and fans, and local or amateur leagues act as pipelines that help start the careers of some athletes, who might then go on to play for another team or country, which is their choice.
What there can't be are links to non-Tricking related activities, especially pipelines that could corrupt the situation.
Family-friendly contests.
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