Gymmie recommends we check out this big summer meet. Looks like fun!
The 2009 YMCA National Championships was hosted by the Phoenixville branch of the Freedom Valley YMCA at the United Sports Training Center in Downingtown, Pennsylvania. Opening Ceremonies were June 24th. The competition concluded June 27, 2009
Most gymnastics and trampoline coaches look down on Cheer.
Feel it’s a lesser sport.
Pooh-pooh the make-up and glitzy clothing.
But – fact is – Cheer is a competitive sport on the ascent. Artistic Gymnastics a competitive sport that has flat-lined. Or is in decline in most parts of the world.
About.com Cheer did a poll. Here’s how the general public (and many Cheer enthusiasts) voted:
It would not surprise me if Cheer is seriously considered for the Olympics in my life time.
BMX biking was added in 2008. Skateboard is in for 2012.
Baseball was dropped.
In so-called democratic amateur sports organizations, Cheer may take over Gymnastics due to sheer numbers of participants.
Leave a comment if you have an opinion.
… Or check the thread started by Bill Seely, Executive Director USA Federation for Sport Cheering on the Chalk Bucket Forum. Especially if you know an athlete that might want to try out for Cheer Team USA.
Athletes trying out for Team USA must be 18 years of age prior to December 1st. Online applications are being accepted July 1st.
More Gymnastics Education for us from MostepanovaFan.
Companian piece to my 80s vs Now tage. Montage of skills and combinations innovated in the 90s that are still being performed today (or last quad anyway)
Cathy Haines, Chief Technical Officer for Gymnastics Canada, sent out this great opportunity.
The 2009–2010 Coaching Internship Program is being funded in part by the Government of Canada’s Youth Employment Strategy’s Career Focus program which will provide post-secondary graduate youth with career-related work experience in their field of study.
Through this project, the Coaching Association of Canada (CAC) is offering subsidies of $12,000 to enable sport organizations to hire young professionals for coaching positions leading to permanent full-time employment.
A total of 10 internships are available. The deadline for applications is July 13, 2009 for positions starting August 1, 2009.
The NCAA Women’s Gymnastics Committee did approve a new format for Collegiate Team Finals after all. (There was some doubt after the concept was opposed by some in the dominant SEC Conference.)
… Instead of the top six teams competing for the team title on the second day of the championship, the gymnastics committee wants the top four teams to advance to the finals (a concept the committee has dubbed “four on the floor”). The change would eliminate byes during the NCAA finals, making it easier for fans to follow the standings. The change also would shorten the competition, making it easier to broadcast live, which in turn could give college women’s gymnastics more fan appeal. …
That’s a slight improvement, in my opinion. I’ve attended Finals the past 3yrs and the old 6 team Final did drag a bit.
Even better, is this change:
… The committee also is recommending that the score of every gymnast who competes on an apparatus count toward the team’s final score. Currently, six gymnasts compete on each apparatus but only the top five scores count, allowing a team to make a mistake and still contend for the title. Making all six scores count toward a team’s final score will help fans be more involved in the event, Plinske said. The change would be in effect only during NCAA regional and national competition. …
This will favour teams that have depth. And consistency.
And will also result in more upsets. Delicious uncertainty.
The downside is that teams will take fewer risks.
If NCAA Championships/Sport Management Cabinet approves the change, it starts not next year in Florida, but in 2011 at a neutral site in Cleveland. (That’s a good decision as Florida opposed this change in the original vote.)
