It's one thing to question GSA, but if your take over their speedrunning academy is "who needs coaching, just look up a guide or join a Discord", you couldn't be more wrong and hurtful to the growth of speedrunning. A thread:

I have a unique perspective on this issue, as:

1. I work for GDQ on social media stuff, meaning I have access to a wide range of opinions on speedrunning from a ton of people.

2. I created a tutorial with the eventual idea of having it be run on the GDQ stage.

The amount of times that I've heard from people on socials saying "oh this is impossible" or "I'll never be able to be as good as this" or something similar after watching a GDQ run, well I lost count years ago. That is an accessibility issue, though not of anyone's fault.

This is the exact reason I did the Strider tutorial run at AGDQ18. I wanted to dispel the notion that learning a speedrun is impossible. I made something easy to digest and far more accessible to people. I considered the barriers that people had to speedrunning in the run.

You may be thinking "ok so starting in speedrunning is an issue; there are different approaches to that than a coach". You're right, but that doesn't invalidate coaching, nor does coaching aim to only fix that. Accessibility is more than just "how do I get into speedrunning".

Think about your history of speedrunning and where you started and where you are now. Think about more than just your times. What about the process to speedrunning, to learning, to practicing, to researching? I'd guess most of you do things a lot different than how you started.

You spent hundreds, thousands, maybe even tens of thousands of hours getting to where you are now in the process. No doubt you've learned a run faster than your peers at some point because of the general speedrunning techniques you learned over time.

Who's going to teach newer runners those things? Can they learn those things by "looking up a guide" or "joining a Discord?" doubtful. Can they do what you did? Sure. Does everyone have the ability to spend the time you did? No, but that shouldn't be unsolvable.

A GOOD coach teaches much more than learning the run. Speedrunning is just as, if not more, focused on the mental aspect than pressing buttons. A good coach helps people elevate their game by far more than just telling them how to do a trick.

A good coach can analyze someone's run(s), identify physical problem points, identify mental barriers, identify solutions, and implement them. A good coach can give PERSONAL solutions for each individual when possible. How often do runners get that feedback on their own?

Coaching certainly isn't for everyone. It doesn't have to be for you to be effective, nor will every coach out there be effective at what they do. Think about all the coaches/teachers in your life. Some are much better than others, and some you flat out don't need.

Personally I'll reserve judgment on the GSA speedrunning academy until there's more info. Please though, if you're going to criticize, stop belittling the idea of coaching. It's a much needed, and well overdue, concept to speedrunning.