UCLA Gymnastics is well known for having their athletes go on to careers in the Circus after graduation. Less well known is how many girls go on to stunt work.
UCLA magazine posted an excellent article on Bruin gymnasts getting work as doubles on TV and in the Movies.
Five former UCLA female gymnasts work on Make it or Break It.
… Natalie Padilla ‘08, Jordan Schwikert ‘09 and Ariana Berlin ‘10 perform as stunt doubles for some of the lead characters; Tasha Schwikert ‘09 plays a gym-nast on the show; and Karin Silvestri-Coye ‘98 serves as the show’s gymnastics coordinator. …
2008 NCAA Champion Tasha Schwikert
… Other former Bruin gymnastics stars who have found stunt work in Hollywood include Dee Fischer Murphy ‘96 and Kiralee Hayashi ‘00 …
… Heidi Moneymaker, has been doing stunts full-time since 2001 …
Congratulations to Houston coach Kevin Mazeika who will replace Ron Brant as USA Gymnastics Men’s National Team Coordinator.
Commentary on Gymnastics Examiner:
… Mazeika, head coach of the 2004 and 2008 U.S. men’s Olympic teams, is a logical choice for the position, which was vacated by Ron Brant after this year’s World Championships. U.S. teams under Mazeika’s guidance have done well, earning back-to-back Olympic medals for the first time ever.
Mazeika has a long history of coaching successful athletes, including 2001 World parallel bars champ Sean Townsend, 2007 World team member Sean Golden and 2008 Olympic bronze medalist Raj Bhavsar. But he’s not without controversy — in 2007, he came under fire from some in the gymnastics community, who claimed he encouraged athletes to forgo college scholarships in favor of training with him full-time. …
With Team medals at the past 2 Olympics, the USA should keep on keeping on. The Bronze in Beijing was one of the greatest team results in Olympic history. No need to bring in anyone new.
… Mazeika began coaching men’s gymnastics in 1984 and has served on the National Team Coaching Staff since 1988. Over the past nine years, he has coached at more than 35 international competitions and has been head or assistant coach at 15 international team events.
Gymnastics Examiner posted the best article I’ve seen: Ron Brant: U.S. men’s gold ‘is going to happen’:
… Brant officially left his position of U.S. national team coordinator after the 2009 World Championships in October. …
Since the World Championships, Brant has been working in Colorado Springs as the High Performance Director for the U.S. Olympic Committee’s Sports Performance Division, helping guide performance initiatives for 10 Olympic and Paralympic sports, including gymnastics.
A number of factors contributed to Brant’s decision to step aside as U.S. men’s coordinator. “Part of it was the opportunity to grow in a profession that’s hard to do,” he said. “I’m in a position that I can still communicate with gymnastics in a different level…but not be involved in the day-to-day scheduling. The part I’ll miss is the competition.”
Although no replacement has been named, Brant said he expects an announcement to be made by the end of the year.
“Nothing’s finalized,” he said. “Obviously it’s a small group of people.” Potential successors include 2004 and 2008 Olympic head coach Kevin Mazeika, or perhaps Men’s Program Committee Chairman Yoichi Tomita, whose son Yewki spent the better part of the last decade on the senior National Team. …
Check out Carly Patterson’s commercial for the season premiere of “Make It or Break It” on ABC Family …
For an up-and-coming pop singer, getting one of your songs on a HIT TV series can open doors. I hope the tune is featured on the TV show soundtrack, not only on the ad.
HEAD COACH ARTISTIC GYMNASTICS. Full time position available in a world class gymnastics facility, Auckland, New Zealand. Suit senior coach with experience in either Men’s or Women’s Artistic Gymnastics. Hands on coaching of Uneven Bars, Vault and Floor Acro (tumbling) for Women’s development and senior squads.
… Tweddle and Button became world champions within a few hours of each other. Tweddle was first, winning the floor final at the world gymnastic championships at the O2 Arena and proving her all-round credentials in her less-favoured discipline. …
On the other side of the world, in São Paulo, Button clinched the drivers’ championship by finishing fifth in the Brazilian grand prix. …
About £25,000 / year ($41,000) … and a few perks here and there.
… If I was doing this for fame or money I would have retired a long time ago,” Beth Tweddle says coolly as she compares herself to her fellow world champion, Jenson Button. …
I still can’t get too excited about today’s SPECTACULAR.
Olympians Shawn Johnson and Nastia Liukin join us again for this spectular event. This year’s musical host is Ashley Tisdale, who starred in Disney High School Musical movies.
NASTIA LIUKIN
SAMANTHA PESZEK
SHAWN JOHNSON
RAJ BHAVSAR
COURTNEY KUPET
JONATHAN HORTON
IVAN IVANKOV
Are you an experienced senior coach and programme manager? Are you interested in relocating to New Zealand on either a permanent or for a fixed term?
We have a full time position available for men’s and women’s artistic gymnastics at target=”_blank” Counties Manukau Gymnastics. Fantastic $5m purpose built gymnastics facility. One of New Zealand’s top achieving Clubs. Check out our website www.gymsport.co.nz
Please send expressions of interest and a copy of your resume to Marie Stechman at maries @ gymsport.co.nz
I was surprised and impressed to see a Google ad for a program in my area called The Little Gym®. (Not many gymnastics programs are using Google ads.)
The excellent website tells of 300 locations in 21 countries.
Click through if you might be interested.
In order to open a The Little Gym location, a candidate must have a net worth (assets minus liabilities) of at least $250,000. Additionally, the candidate must have $75,000 in liquid assets in order to be considered. …
We are looking for UK based girl gymnasts aged 12 to 15 who think they may be suited to one of the roles below, Nadia or Bee. If you are interested in being considered for this exciting project then please send us a 15 second clip of you talking to the camera (via youtube or other) …
Jessica Ronane, Casting Director at jessica.ronane AT workingtitlefilms.com …
Dates (Shooting, Rehearsal, etc.):Some rehearsal Nov/Dec (subject to availability). Shoot for 1 week late Dec/early Jan.
