What changed
Clare Hague is coaching at the Horizon Cup in Greece this weekend, despite British Gymnastics issuing her and Dronfield Gymnastics Academy a formal warning lasting two years.
The warning followed investigations into concerns including fear-based coaching, emotional harm and controlling practices. It also includes monitoring and development measures. The Horizon Cup is for junior and pre-junior gymnasts aged 11 to 16.
Why it matters
The issue is not simply that Hague received a warning. It is that she is now working at an international youth event while that warning remains active.
Complainants said the decision felt like “a smack in the teeth” and “adds salt in the wound”. One alleged that gymnasts at Dronfield sometimes felt too afraid to ask for the toilet, with some wetting themselves or avoiding water during training. The governing body introduced rules in 2023 requiring gymnasts to have access to drinking water and toilets, describing the practices they were intended to stop as “on the fringes of abuse”.
British Gymnastics upheld some concerns, but the complainants were not told which ones. That leaves a sharp gap between the existence of a formal sanction and the detail needed to understand how it should affect Hague’s role around children.
Dronfield said it had co-operated fully with the investigation and that no serious issue remained for the club to address. English Gymnastics announced Hague as a Horizon Cup coach while she was still under investigation. The practical question now is whether the warning and monitoring measures carry consequences beyond paperwork, or whether international selection continues unchanged.
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