From the excellent Stick It Media site:
Next year, the 2011 Men’s JO Nationals are going to be held in Long Beach, CA. This is a great thing, since JOs haven’t been held west of Oklahoma City since 2004. California is a hotbed for men’s gymnastics, and the fact that Region 1 won five individual event titles, an AA title, a regional team title, and a club team title last weekend in Knoxville proves it outright.
The 2011 JO Nationals represent a great opportunity to generate some more much-needed interest in the sport of men’s gymnastics. ESPN and Fox Sports regularly broadcast high school sporting events like football, basketball, and baseball. Many of you remember the good old days of ABC’s Wide World of Sports and recall the myriad of relatively obscure sporting events they would cover, many involving young athletes. One of those events was the Little League World Series. Now ESPN is broadcasting the Little League regional championship games. It’s a big hit. Why? Because baseball is America’s national pastime and it’s fun to watch 10, 11 and 12-year-olds play their hearts out for an opportunity to earn a week long trip to Williamsport, PA to compete against the best little league teams in the world.
Why not produce a broadcast of JO Nationals? …
read the entire post – Open Letter to the Men’s Gymnastics Community
Seems video, TV and online, is the key to growing popularity.
photo – Sam Mikulak on Gymnastics Examiner
Gymnastics Coaching.com 