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Respected Invercargill gymnastics
judge, coach and organiser Colin McMullien admits the sport has long been a
target for paedophiles in New Zealand and overseas. The issue has been brought to the
public eye with Gymnastics New Zealand (GNZ) making spectators register and
label their cameras and cellphone cameras during this week's national
championships in Christchurch, where 10 Southland gymnasts will be competing,
because of concerns about paedophiles. McMullien, who will be judging in
Christchurch this week, said one of his unofficial roles at gymnastics events
was ensuring there were no suspicious people in the crowd. "We do encounter the odd
strange fellow in gymnastics," McMullien said. "I've spoken to (alleged
paedophiles) before at camps. At a camp in Christchurch I was asked to speak
to one guy and he got the message." GNZ's camera protocol was based on
a ruling brought in by the sport's international body, McMullien said. McMullien has been helping
organise the Southland primary schools Gymfest, an event that is run under
the banner of the Department of Education and was therefore not subject to
the GNZ ruling, for the past 22 years. McMullien said he had not
encountered any problems at Gymfest, but other gymnastics events in Southland
had attracted unsavoury characters. He has also been alerted about
offenders by Invercargill district court staff in the past. The limiting of cameras and
cellphone cameras at children's sports events is something that is yet to
become common practice in Southland, according to sports officials spoken to
yesterday. Synchro Swim New Zealand's national championships were completed
at Invercargill's Splash Palace yesterday and meeting organiser Michelle
Anderson said the sport was aware of the issue. A similar process to the
gymnastics protocol had been used at synchro meets in Australia. "We talked about it at the
coaches and managers meeting at the start of the nationals. There are some
children who don't want to be photographed because of privacy issues,"
Anderson said. Swimming New Zealand spokesman Ian
Hepenstall was not aware of any limitations on cameras being allowed into
national events in his sport. At venues used for major meetings,
there were restrictions on who was allowed poolside, and that included only accredited
photographers. Southland secondary schools regional sports director Brenda
Pannett said she was not aware of any issues involving a leering element at
children's sports events in the south. A conference for regional sports
directors was being held in Wellington this week and Pannett said it would be
interesting to see if the issue was raised there. A spokeswoman at Stadium Southland
said the venue had no specific protocols regarding the use of cameras,
although it could be looked at on a sport-specific basis. |
