The Philippines hosted and completed the 22nd of the five-day FIG Age Group camps in the capital city of Manila at the Philippines National Training Centre. It was the last of this first series of Age Group Program Camps that were offered by the FIG over the past six months to those countries that had indicated an interest and willingness to adopt and implement the FIG Age Group Program. …
The FIG expert and course leader for this camp was Jeff Thomson, the former Men’s Program Director of Canada and Education Director of New Zealand. He was joined Carol-Angela Orchard who was many time Olympic-coach and is currently a consultant to the British Team and other countries. Both came directly from a similar camp in Vietnam. …
Future plans for the FIG Age Group Program include the conducting of several 5-day camps that had been postponed and additional introductory camps and then 3-day follow-up camps over the next two years for all of the committed countries. …
The financial assistance of the IOC has been instrumental in the production and implementation of this program. It is hoped that such future assistance will help produce and implement similar programs for the other Olympic disciplines of Rhythmic Gymnastics and Trampoline Gymnastics during this quadrennial.
… Development Team Coordinator Valeri Liukin led the women’s May developmental camp this past week at the USA Gymnastics National Training Center at the Karolyi Ranch …
… 40 gymnasts, many of who recently finished their Junior Olympic competitive season at the Level 9 Eastern/Western Championships and the Level 10 Junior Olympic National Championships. Athletes participated in two-a-day workouts …
Coaches lectures … including Liukin, Tammy Biggs, Antonia Markova, Luminita Garcy, Neil Resnick, Todd Gardiner, Ivan Ivanov and Dan Baker.
Chellsie Memmel, who is now an International Gymnastics Federation rated brevet judge, helped with verification of skills and combinations and routine review. …
Tumbl Trak’s 1-day clinics celebrating their 25th Anniversary are now registering. Focus will be on best practice for precompetitive and advanced recreation girls coaches.
Click through for details on the one closest to you.
Aussies were not happy with their results at Olympics 2012.
They’ve been quietly doubling down for 2016.
Gymnastics Australia:
… 29 Women’s Artistic Gymnastics Elite Junior & Senior gymnasts converged at the AIS for the first National Squad training camp of the 2013 – 2016 quadrennial.
The demonstration of acquired skills and combinations was the first objective of the camp, along with verification at the end of the week. In addition, the athletes were put through a series of physical fitness and conditioning tests by the staff at the AIS. …
Located on the shores of Corey Lake, a large all-sport lake in southwest Michigan, athlete participants can count on twice-a-day training …
… USA Gymnastics Trampoline and Tumbling has fostered a unique partnership with Camp Wakeshma, a very old and established Michigan summer camp. … for T&T athletes ages 10 – 16 …
… Ablyazin is training the most difficult floor routine in the world with a D score of 7.1 that can go up to 7.3 for the World Championships! He is training with great energy. Denis hasn’t upgraded his vault. …
Concerning the girls, the only Olympian I saw was Masha Paseka. Mustafina was in Kiev to compete at the Stella Zakharova Cup, Afanasyeva was on leave for personal reasons, Komova is recovering, I didn’t ask about Grishina.
Masha is in good form for this time of the season. She is working hard. She will perform her Olympic vaults.
It was pleasant to see how well Katia Kramarenko is training …
Two of seven 5-day FIG Age Group Programme Camps for Artistic Gymnastics on the African continent were completed over the weekend in Nigeria and in South Africa.
I’m leading in Nigeria and Senegal. Hardy Fink, the Director of FIG Education & Academy Programmes, is on tour leading 4 camps, including South Africa:
NIGERIA: The camp in Nigeria was hosted by the Gymnastics Federation of Nigeria in the planned and new capital city of Abuja from March 18-22 and within the impressive gymnasium in the National Sport Complex.
Thirty Nigerian coaches from all parts of the country attended. … Nigeria has an enormous population and a large pool of potentially super gymnasts.
SOUTH AFRICA: The FIG Age Group Camp in Pretoria, South Africa was for Men’s Artistic Gymnastics only and was held from March 20-24 …
South Africa has among the most advanced and well-prepared gymnasts and also among the most educated coaches from among the 25 countries to which this programme is being introduced. For that reason, it was possible to also explore the higher levels of the technical skills testing program and the higher levels of the compulsory exercises.
… The camp was highly successful and has served to energize the coaches to make greater progress in the near future.
In the coming week, three such Age Group Training Camps will be conducted at the same time in three different African countries. Two of them will be French language camps in Congo and Senegal and one will be an English language camp with Portuguese translation in Mozambique.
I’ve seen superb talent in Africa. Strong, flexible and tough.
A 2012 Olympic Gymnastics Champion is an African American. Any argument that Africans are not well suited to Artistic Gymnastics is nonsense. They’ve simply not had enough opportunity to train the sport.
… The top three juniors were Hundley, Key, and Laurie Hernandez of Old Bridge, N.J./MG Elite.
The top three seniors were 2012 Olympic team gold-medalist Kyla Ross of Aliso Viejo, Calif./Gym-Max, AT&T American Cup runner-up Simone Biles of Spring, Texas/Bannon’s Gymnastix, followed by Lexie Priessman of Cincinnati, Ohio/Cincinnati Gymnastics, the reigning U.S. junior champion, who making her debut onto the senior elite ranks this season.
U.S. Women’s National Team Coordinator Martha Karolyi announced the selected team for the European exchange trip: Ross, Biles, Priessman, Hundley, Key, Peyton Ernst of Coppell, Texas/Texas Dreams, Maggie Nichols of Little Canada, Minn./Twin City Twisters, and Brenna Dowell of Odessa, Mo./GAGE Gymnastics. …
Tumbl Trak’s 1-day clinics celebrating their 25th Anniversary are now registering. Focus will be on best practice for precompetitive and advanced recreation girls coaches. 
“Camp Wakeshma”
Hands on bar clinic for coaches (20 maximum) conducted by Tom Forster and Neil Resnick. 
