Yekaterinburg Sports School Bans All Communication Over Parent's Grievance
In the swimming department of the Yekaterinburg sports school Yunost, coaches have been banned from communicating with parents in chats. Even the official MAX messenger was prohibited. Teachers were ordered to leave the chats, and now all information about training sessions, competitions, group activities, or any changes must be found by parents either on the school«s official website, on a notice board in the pool lobby, or at parent meetings.
It turns out the reason for the restrictions is a complaint from one parent, and the chat ban is only the tip of the iceberg. We contacted the author of this appeal and heard the school«s side. The details of what»s happening in this state-funded institution are in this report.
«The Coach Bullies My Son»
The order, signed by Yunost director Alexander Yevdokimov, is posted on the website of the municipal sports school. The document states that the ban on communication in messengers is introduced «to protect the psychological state of students and parents (legal representatives) of students (...), in connection with an appeal from a parent (legal representative) of a student in the swimming sports preparation department.»
The complainant is named Pavel, a father of six children. «A disabled veteran of the Russian army, I don»t work,« he briefly said about himself. His children swim at Yunost: the younger ones are in a paid subscription group, the older ones train for free—on the school»s budget.
«The coach-teacher bullies my son, films him half-naked and, accompanied by caustic comments, posts videos in parent chats for the purpose of harassment. Before the New Year, she posted a video in the chat again that had already been posted there before. When I made remarks in a correct form, I was removed from the chat,» says Pavel.
To clarify: the videos that angered the father were made two years ago at summer sports camps. Young swimmers were relaxing on the beach, swimming, and accordingly, boys were in swim trunks, girls in swimsuits. The coach posted photos and videos for parents to show how the children were resting. One such recording particularly offended Pavel. He provided it to the editorial office. In a short video from the beach outing, several children are in the frame, including his son. The boy was wearing shorts. The coach commented that he wasn«t swimming today because he forgot his swim trunks.
«This video is now under the supervision of the children»s rights commissioner,« the father explains to us. »The coach crossed all boundaries with the sole aim of making my son leave the Yunost sports school.«
Pavel is convinced that his children are being «smoked out» of the section—that he is being settled with for his activism and fight against everything he considers wrong.
Took on Coffee Machines
It turns out that Pavel has a protracted conflict with the sports school. One of the father of many children«s complaints already made it into the news agenda of E1.RU. A year ago he fought against machines selling coffee, oxygen cocktails, and snacks installed in the school»s departments, including in the pool lobby.
«Child-athletes before and after training are poisoning themselves with uncontrolled eating of snacks, crackers, chocolates and other chemical-laden products! In the zone of uncontrolled child access, there are coffee machines with syrups and sugar. Save the children»s health!« Pavel was outraged then in a letter to the editorial office.
He sent his appeal to the prosecutor«s office. Inspections came to Yunost, the director was reprimanded for selling unhealthy food, and the machines were covered with black bags, with notices stuck on them that drinks and snacks could only be purchased from 8:00 PM, i.e., after training sessions.
Immediately after this, inspections came to Yunost again, but for a different reason. A complaint was filed with the prosecutor«s office about a social video from the Ministry of Emergency Situations (EMERCOM) that was broadcast in the pool lobby—there is a TV installed there. The video showed the consequences of careless handling of fire for prevention.
Some applicant demanded to ban the video, as children might perceive it as an instruction for arson—but the prosecutor«s inspection found no violations. Sports school staff are sure that this complaint was written by the same dissatisfied father-activist. Pavel himself, in a conversation with us, denies this: he says they want to discredit him.
Yunost is one of the leading sports schools in the Urals Federal District, and also one of the oldest schools in Yekaterinburg; this year it turns 100. According to information from the official website, more than 7,000 athletes train here. There are departments for football, figure skating, athletics, swimming and diving, hockey, speed skating, and artistic gymnastics.
Among Yunost«s alumni are outstanding athletes—hockey player, world champion and two-time Stanley Cup winner Pavel Datsyuk; track and field athlete, Olympic champion and multiple world record holder in the high jump Ivan Ukhov; runner, world and European champion, Olympic medalist Olga Kotlyarova; multiple world swimming champion Yuri Prilukov; European swimming champion, winner and medalist of world and European championships, Olympic Games Nikita Lobintsev.
Two coaches of the Yunost swimming department, with whom Pavel«s children currently train, after his statements found themselves under investigation in a criminal case under Part 3 of Article 159 of the Russian Criminal Code (»Fraud using official position«). The father of many children is recognized as the victim; he claims that the coaches fraudulently collected money from athlete-parents to organize sports camps and trips to competitions. Allegedly, he paid money for trips for several years, not knowing it was extortion.
«[Fraud] is a serious article; it is not initiated without grounds. This is under the control of the head of the Investigative Committee,» Pavel informed us.
Moreover, Pavel filed a civil lawsuit for unjust enrichment against Yunost and against the two coaches of his children. The father of many children demands about a million: 260,500 rubles (approximately $2,900 at current rates) he spent over several years paying for sports camps and trips to competitions in other cities. Plus 64,000 rubles (approximately $700) that accrued in interest over that time, and compensation for moral damages—675,000 rubles (approximately $7,500). Pavel is sure that camps and trips to competitions should be paid for by the state.
The court of first instance ruled against the Ural resident (the decision is at the disposal of the editorial office). Parents spoke in court in defense of the sports school, explaining that the collection of money for trips and summer camps went only through them.
The court, having heard the arguments of both sides, concluded that there was no illegal extortion. Subsidies from the budget for trips to other cities for competitions or for training camps do exist, but they are not paid to everyone, only to those who show results in local competitions, who compete for the Sverdlovsk Region team—that is, children who can worthily represent their region. The rest, who want to try their hand in other cities, travel at their own expense.
The situation is absolutely the same in other sports and sports schools in the city. One can be outraged that this is wrong or, conversely, argue that everything is adequate and fair, but neither the coaches nor the municipal sports school can influence this.
Left Without Summer Camps
In the summer, parents of swimmers were outraged that due to criminal cases, courts, and scandal, their children were left without summer camps altogether. Every year, one of the groups went to a summer camp in Saransk, where there is a suitable training base. Trips were paid for by parents; budget funding is not provided for this. This time (apparently to avoid another lawsuit) the camps were canceled.
Parents of one of the groups wrote a collective letter to the Yunost director in defense of the coaches, asking to transfer Pavel«s child to another group, to shield them from the active parent. This letter is now the basis for another lawsuit against the sports school.
«They organized petitions (signature collection) in the lobby (of the pool) and illegally transferred my personal data, which subsequently became known to third parties, and also caused moral and psychological harm to my minor child,» Pavel is outraged.
The parents who signed the letter are involved in that lawsuit as third parties. But, according to Pavel, «it is not excluded that in the process they will become co-defendants.»
«My legal unit handles these issues,» says Pavel and explains that the «legal unit» is his assistants: his wife and his six children.
To date, Pavel has filed at least 16 lawsuits in several district courts of Yekaterinburg. All statements and complaints are directly or indirectly related to the sports school where his children train. The defendants are not only Yunost, but also the Ministry of Sports of the Sverdlovsk Region, and personally Minister Leonid Rapoport. There are also lawsuits against Ural media that covered the conflict, giving the floor to outraged parents. And against the head of the local Roskomnadzor—apparently for poor response.
Recently, Pavel sent another complaint to the Ministry of Sports—at recent competitions at Yunost among children«s subscription (i.e., commercial) groups, to participate one had to pay a fee—600 rubles.
The sports school declined to comment on the conflict situation. Lawyer Dmitry Zagainov, representing Yunost«s interests in the civil process, also refrained from commenting on the case. He is now preparing for an appeal in the Regional Court.
Dmitry Zagainov told us that he took on this case as an ordinary civil lawsuit, one of many in his long practice, but everything turned out to be more complicated. He found himself personally drawn into legal battles, complaints poured in against him to the Ministry of Justice, the federal and local bar associations.
To avoid losing his lawyer status, Dmitry proved that there were no violations on his part. Pavel filed two lawsuits against him as well—for protection of honor and dignity and for disclosure of personal data. The processes continue, but the court has not established an administrative offense on the part of the lawyer. Zagainov then himself filed a lawsuit against the activist parent for protection of honor, dignity, and business reputation.
«At one of the court hearings, this parent mentioned in passing that he sends two or three complaints a day. I can only guess about the reasons for such activity, but I won»t voice them,« says Dmitry Zagainov.
Pavel defends his rights not only in Yekaterinburg. Thus, a full namesake of the activist father appears in civil cases in the Vidnoye City Court of the Moscow Region. There he filed more than ten lawsuits demanding compensation for himself and his children. Defendants in various cases are a construction company, a local police department.
Police, in the plaintiff«s opinion, violated the law, somehow harassed him when he was a witness in a criminal case: someone illegally registered some migrants, and he was giving testimony. As third parties, he demands to involve the country»s top policeman Kolokoltsev, the head of the Investigative Committee Bastrykin, businessman Vekselberg. We did not bother to find out whether the oligarch and security officials are threatened with becoming co-defendants in civil cases. Pavel did not deny that he is also the plaintiff there.
«I defend my rights within the framework of the law, I use my right. When my rights and the rights of my family are violated, I go to defend them in court,» he states.
New Cases to Come
On condition of anonymity, an employee of Yunost, who knows the situation from the inside, agreed to speak with us. He explained that they are afraid to object openly in their defense in the institution: they say any word can be used against them, the activist will write complaints—and inspections will again rain down on the sports school.
«One person has organized harassment of the sports school. How is this possible? It turns out, it is possible: flood all authorities with complaints, write to the Investigative Committee, the prosecutor»s office, the Ministry of Sports—everywhere. Now there was a new complaint to the Ministry of Education. By law, every appeal must be responded to with inspections. He simply harassed the sports school. Most of all, the coaches are to be pitied; they pay for lawyers out of their own pocket. They are advised: to cut this knot, it«s better to resign, so as not to irritate him. And then what? Yunost will probably be demolished or simply closed so that there is no reason for inspections. As if it»s someone«s order to liquidate the sports school.»
Pavel, in turn, promised us that there will be more new criminal cases.
«I am defending myself, I am not attacking,» he says. «This is my defense and protection of the honor of my large, prosperous family.»
The Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Sverdlovsk Region refrained from commenting on how the investigation of the criminal case against the sports school coaches is proceeding.
A few years ago, a scandal occurred in one of the Yekaterinburg schools: one of the mothers went to war with the school, seeking the dismissal of the principal.
