I spent last week with the Tumbl Trak video team, visiting Washington State gyms, brainstorming best use of their products with different kinds of user groups. In different kinds of facilities.
Here we are at rural Brinnon Elementary.
Instruction was provided by Carrie Lennox of Jefferson County Parks & Rec who was there 4 days. Fun and fitness in a safe but challenging environment. A mobile program.
We dropped in (and trained) at the Twisters Adult class in Port Renfrew.
Here’s Carrie’s regular “Kid Fit” Parks & Rec class in Port Townsend, a set-up, take-down facility. She’s worked closely with Tumbl Trak for years.
First day in the program for this lad:
Again, the goal is high activity in a fun, safe environment. Rather than put little kids up high on a rope, why not have them sliding on the floor? Fun … and much safer.
I’ll post details on each of those programs on Rec Gymnastics over the coming week.
John Smith at NASA Gymnastics is genius at coming up with drills for Team. We got plenty of video.
The biggest news at Tumbl Trak is that they have a viral video — nearly 600,000 views. You can’t buy that kind of publicity.
Check the Tumbl TrakFebruary 2012 newsletter. Subscribe FREE by emailing newsletter {a} tumbltrak.com.
Tumbl Trak is a valued sponsor of this site. Their corporate mission is exactly in line with my own coaching philosophy.
Those were photocopied back-to-back twice. Folded. One copy kept in the gymnast’s file, the other sent home to the parent on the second last week of the Recreation session.
I posted some thoughts over on RecGymnastics. Leave comments there, if you have strong opinions on the topic.
We’re still looking for Rec Experts to guest post on that site. Email me if interested.
… Once every four years since Russian pixie gymnast, Olga Korbut first captured the hearts and minds of America’s future gymnasts and their parents, there has been a surge of new gymnasts pouring into gymnastics facilities in the days, weeks and months after gymnastics is highlighted in the Summer Olympics on TV.
This has been a quadrennial boon to the sport at all levels and has fueled the growth of the sport at the beginner and team levels for years. On average, there has been a 25% – 37% increase in gym student enrollment in each of the Olympic years, after the television coverage lasting for months afterwards.
In years when there is an American gymnastics heroine (e.g., Mary Lou Retton) or a young international gymnast that captures the heart of the whole world (e.g., Nadia Comanechi) the number of new enrollees is at its highest. ….
After the Beijing Olympics many clubs reported NOT seeing an Olympic membership surge. I speculated that some markets are now “saturated”. That all the kids in a city who might have wanted to try gymnastics, already had.
What about your gym?
Do you have marketing and a strategy for increasing numbers IF you get a flood of new kids?
I’d love to visit more as I learn something new at each facility. Email me if you know of more gyms in Japan where I can observe or volunteer guest coach over the next week.
Tommy Gym
One of my former coaches Shiro Tanaka pointed out that Japanese recreational kids have far better discipline (and more line-ups) than kids suffer in Canada.
On my Recreation Gymnastics blog I make the argument that Montreal should be the first North American host of the World Gymnaestrada:
• a bilingual city with easy, inexpensive access for Europeans
• Cirque du Soleil might partner
• Gymnaestrada in Europe is not growing
• the event needs to modernize, North America would help
• Canada has a strong and growing Gymnastraeda base
• Gymnastics Canada strongly supports the event
Lausanne, Switzerland 2011
Click through for the details … especially the part on why it won’t happen any time soon.
The topic drew only a small group of coaches, resulting in a brainstorming session. I posted the resulting notes on RecGymnastics.com
My main conclusion was that coaches from socialist nations like Canada are mostly ignorant when it comes to business and career planning. The USA has many experts in that field. My strongest advice for coaches is to bring in an expert like Frank Sahlein, Founder and CEO of 3rd Level Consulting.
I’ll be taking my own advice, consulting with Frank this Fall.
Based on the premise that people are made to move, Motion Evolution integrates physical literacy, nutrition education, brain-body science, personal best and play, making the program a complete wellness package.
… Built by Tumblebus, the leaders in the area of mobile gym buses, The Discovery Bus is a 1991 International diesel converted school bus, in very good condition. A propane generator runs two air-conditioning units. The Discovery Bus is not affiliated with any franchise and you will own the intellectual property rights for a program that supports both typical and special needs kids
A wonderful business for anyone who loves working with children. The Bus also works exceptionally well in the market for children with special needs. We provide well defined, clear instructions to get you up and running immediately and we will happily share our extensive experience with the new owners.
The Bus is beautifully fitted out to accommodate a wide range of equipment including tumbling mats, climbing wall, zip line, vault, multiple balance beams, monkey bars, swings, rings, slide, trampolines and more. Safety features include padded gymnastic flooring and carpeting on the lower walls. Additional sensory equipment has been added to the Bus to provide a Sensory-oriented preschool motor development program.
Asking price – $24,500. Email Rochelle@achievabilityllc.com or call 407-977-7874 for more information. We are located in Orlando, FL, but the bus can be relocated.
I am presenting for the second time ever at this excellent event hosted this year at Phoenix Gymnastics, Vancouver.
Aug. 26-28th, 2011
Four NEW presentations in the Gymnastics for All Stream:
~ Making a Career Out of Coaching
~ Building and Maximizing Adult Rec
~ Class Planning for Recreational Gymnastics
~ Bars and Beam – Making it Fun
Other presenters from away include Business guru Frank Sahlein and Steve Arkell, former US National Team Coach. One of my favourite gymnasts ever is presenting, Kate Richardson. Tumbling specialist Derek Hanson will be a big draw, as well.
I’m impressed with the 2nd Edition of the CANGYM recreation program developed by Gymnastics Alberta. It’s a significant improvement on the original.
The CANGYM National Badge Program is Gymnastics Canada’s National Skill Development and Evaluation program for Men’s and Women’s Artistic Gymnastics.
This program is intended for use with participants of varying abilities aged 6 and older, including beginner level participants through to entry level competitive gymnasts.
Utilizing the CANGYM badge program allows participants, coaches, and parents to monitor progress in addition to being a motivational tool for athletes. …
It’s a big binder with supporting documentation available on an accompanying disk. There is no on-line support, however.
CANGYM looks expensive at $110 from Gymnastics Canada. But a club needs purchase only 1 copy. Everything is photocopy ready. In fact, I would say it’s a bargain. I’m not aware of any other badge system as good.
The CANGYM levels are often used for Report Cards.
The program is not perfect for every club, but it’s a great “starting point” for building your own program.
The most controversial part is the CANGYM badge program. Many clubs use it. Savvy coaches break some of the levels into 2 parts, allowing more kids to progress more sessions. Some clubs even produce their own badges rather than use the astonishingly expensive official badges. ($2.53ea).
Overall, I highly recommend the binder as a resource for every recreation program.
