Camille Martens: Surviving Sport, Red Flags & Becoming the Sports Parent Your Child Needs

Camille Martens survived fear-based coaching and abuse to become a Canadian champion, Commonwealth Games champion and Olympian in rhythmic gymnastics. But she always knew there was a better way, so she now focuses on helping parents build healthy, loving sport environments.Camille has spent four decades in sport as an athlete, coach and parent. She competed at the World Championships and Olympics, founded the Okanagan Rhythmic Gymnastics Club, and became president of Gymnastics BC, a master coach developer, and National Team Coaches Chair for 16 years. She's also the author of MVP in the Stands: Becoming the Parent Your Child Needs in Sport.In this powerful episode, Camille talks to Scott Rintoul about moving away from home at 13, training in Russia and Bulgaria under coaches who normalized fear, weigh-ins and abuse, and competing at the Olympics on a torn labrum. She shares the toll it took on her body and relationships, why she stayed silent to protect her access, and how she tried, and sometimes failed, to build something different as a coach and parent.You'll learn:The difference between "Red flags" vs. healthy "growth edges"Why emotional regulation is the parent's real jobHow intention and impact can be worlds apartTools: keyword check-ins, a fridge scratchpad, the "buddy system"How to build a strong coach-parent-athlete relationshipChapters:0:00 Opening1:34 Introducing Camille Martens3:24 Early path into sport4:54 Discovering rhythmic gymnastics7:15 Moving to Vancouver to train9:03 Making the national team at 1311:01 Protecting an unhealthy environment12:01 Fear-based coaching in Eastern Europe13:48 The physical and emotional cost16:14 A horrific Olympic Games17:26 Starting a club to do it differently18:41 Training in Russia and Bulgaria20:34 Limited contact with her parents22:32 Training alongside teammates in silence23:14 The teddy bear story24:11 Why she stayed25:18 How the sport has changed27:12 What a healthy environment looks like28:35 "Red flags" vs "growth edges"29:04 The coach-athlete-parent triangle30:12 Spotting red flags as a parent33:10 Founding her own club34:06 Repeating ingrained patterns37:11 A hard conversation with her daughter38:02 Intention vs. impact39:45 How her coaching evolved41:19 Why she wrote MVP in the Stands46:07 Parents: sport's biggest stakeholders47:33 Emotional regulation as the real job50:55 Buddy system and keyword check-ins53:14 The fridge scratchpad53:55 Coach-parent talks done right56:29 Why she never coached her own kids58:47 Early specialization in gymnastics1:01:23 Gymnastics in Canada today1:03:19 Her relationship with the sport now1:05:15 The number one issue in youth sports1:07:07 The compliments that mean the mostResources:⁠Camille Martens⁠⁠MVP in the Stands⁠⁠Better Sports Parents