Tokyo will hosts the 2020 Olympic Games. Watanabe is investigating the current status of gymnastics on the African continent, with the aim of offering support and assistance to upskill the high performance programme on the continent. …
Japanese gymnastics is particularly strong in Men’s Artistic and Trampoline disciplines. The partnership between SAGF and JGA will entail two Men’s Artistic Gymnasts, two Trampoline Gymnasts and two coaches being invited to train in Japan twice a year until 2020 at JGA’s expense.
JGA will also send Japanese Men’s Artistic and Trampoline coaches to South Africa two or three times a year until 2020 to help create a development plan to improve the standard of South African high performance gymnasts. …
Yesterday in São Paulo, the World Challenge Cup Brazil qualifying round was seen by many as Team Brazil’s first rehearsal for the Olympics, to be held next year in Rio de Janeiro.
For the Brazilians, it was a great opportunity to test its gymnast’s ability to concentrate with a loud crowd cheering them on and pressuring them for medals. For the others, it was a chance to interact with the Brazilian hyper-cheering public that filled the Ibirapuera Stadium. …
Two months from now, Greg Marsden will stop going to the office. That’s when the man who has coached the University of Utah gymnastics team since its inception says it will finally sink in that he is retired. “I made the decision a year ago,” says Marsden, who announced he was stepping down as head coach on April 20. “But reality hasn’t hit me yet.”
For the past 40 years, Marsden, 64, has held the same job, as coach of one of the most successful collegiate women’s sports programs in history. …
“When I look at the big picture, I’m really concerned about the future of college athletics as we know it,” Marsden says, citing a recent vote by the power five conferences, including the Pac-12 and SEC, to allow schools to offer full cost-of-attendance scholarships that cover food, transportation and miscellaneous expenses.
“That will add another million or more to most athletic budgets,” Marsden says.
“The next thing coming down the line will be long-term healthcare and the final blow will be when we start paying football and basketball players in some form.
It’s inevitable, and when it happens, there won’t be enough money to go around. Tough decisions will have to be made and I’m concerned about Olympic sports. It’s important for gymnastics to position itself right now. If our meets and championships aren’t live on TV with good ratings, we might not survive.” …
… Hunter was named the 2015 Honda Sports Award recipient for gymnastics, designating her as the top collegiate female gymnast in the country.
Hunter also won the award as a freshman, making her only the second female gymnast in the last 15 years to win the award multiple times.
She was the first Gator gymnast to ever win the award in 2012. Florida has now had three of the past four Honda Award recipients — Bridget Sloan won in 2013. …
The Honda Sports Award acknowledges athletic achievement as well as scholastics and community involvement, and is given to female athletes in 12 different NCAA-sanctioned sports throughout the year. Each Honda Sports Award winner is recognized as the top collegiate female athlete in her sport, and the award is considered by many as one of the highest honors a female college athlete can receive in the nation.
In honor of Hunter winning the award, American Honda Motor Co., Inc., will donate $5,000 to the women’s athletic program at the University of Florida. …
An amazing coincidence: Precisely 50 years later, film of the 2nd World Trampoline and 1st World Tumbling Championships has been discovered. On January 30, 1965 the event was held in London at the Royal Albert Hall and now film of the momentous occasion can be shared with the world.
It was uncovered recently by a retired school teacher who found the film reel in his attic. As an enlisted man in the army, he was given the canister by the base’s film projectionist. The recently retired projectionist wanted to put it in the hands of someone with an interest in trampoline, so he gave it to the future educator, who stored it all these years.
Ted Blake and George Nissen, the competition’s sponsors, had commissioned the 25 minute, 16 mm film to promote the sport of trampoline. …
In the film, you don’t just see the great routines of the Champions of the day – Judy Wills, Gary Erwin, Frankie Schmitz, Wayne Miller, Beverly Averyt and more, but tumbling fans finally get to see the very first World Championship tumblers! …
Umme Salim-Beasley (ooo-me) has been hired as Temple University’s head women’s gymnastics coach, announced Vice President and Director of Athletics Kevin Clark on Thursday. Salim-Beasley has spent the past four seasons as an assistant coach at Rutgers University, and was named the East Atlantic Gymnastics League (EAGL) Assistant Coach of the Year in 2014. …
In her four years at Rutgers, Salim-Beasley served as the recruiting coordinator for the Scarlet Knights and worked with the uneven bars, among other day-to-day duties for the program. …
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