Author: Rick Mc

From France. Special effects are used effectively.

Seems to be a promotion for a video game called FIFA Street 3.

Can you tell it’s WINTER in Canadia?

larger photo – Warren Long

From the beginner level at the QCK Invitational, Regina. More photos.

Justin Slife on Chalk Bucket posted the plea from a gymnast on the team, Bridget Hild:

… Thorr Bjorn began the meeting by stating that, “there is no easy way to say this, so I will just say it. The university has decided to discontinue women’s gymnastics and replace it with Women’s Lacrosse.”

Leaving us stunned and upset he tried to explain that it was because we were not a part of the Atlantic Ten Division. Seeing as football is a part of CCA we thought that this was not a justified reason.

He then told us that it was a Title IX issue and that the Lacrosse team would add eight more roster spots for compliance. The final explanation was that the sport of gymnastics is dwindling. After about 10 minutes the meeting came to an abrupt ending and the administrators left the conference room. They left a team of twenty girls and two coaches devastated, angry, and confused with many unanswered questions.

read the rest of Bridget’s letter that include a list of people to email – Chalk Bucket

Rhode Island is choosing to drop a high profile sport for an up-and-coming sport. Sitting here, it’s hard to know the real reasons for that kind of choice.

Check this CBS news story for more detail on the University’s decision.

I do feel terribly badly for the gymnasts and their coaches.

Rhode Island Women’s Gymnastics – official website

PS

I want to write about a University planning to ADD an NCAA Gymnastics Team? Perhaps a Canadian University.

GymGemz has a super important post online right now. An overview of the impressive work being done in the NCAA:

… if you have been following the NCAA women’s collegiate gymnastics season so far, you are doubtlessly aware of the rising popularity of breast cancer awareness ‘Pink Meets’ all across the country. Just a partial sampling of teams who have had, or are planning to have, such a meet includes: Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, Iowa State, LSU, Michigan, Michigan State, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Utah.

The University of Alabama and the University of Missouri can both lay claim to kicking off this trend. Each school held Pink Meets way back during the 2005 season. This past Friday night, at Alabama’s fourth annual Pink Meet, head coach Sarah Patterson helped present a check for $265,000.00 to Tuscaloosa’s Druid City Hospital Foundation for the Alabama Gymnastics DCH Breast Cancer Fund – for a total of over $600,000.00 in donations to the fund in the first four years.

Former University of Georgia gymnast and current Iowa Hawkeyes assistant coach, Talya Vexler, was diagnosed with breast cancer shortly after her career as a gymnast with the ‘Dogs. Her experience with and recovery from the disease have prompted Georgia head coach Suzanne Yoculan and the Georgia athletics administration to set up a fund for the Athens Regional Medical Center’s Breast Health Center. To date they have raised more than $100,000.00 towards the cause. …

GymGemz

GymGemz on that post has links to specific fund-raisers at participating schools. As always, that site is the best source of information on NCAA Women’s Gymnastics.

Happy Valentine’s Day GymGemz!

by Rick McCharles

I’ve been posting medal predictions for Beijing. Slowly. (I need all the advice I can get.)

Gymnicestics? Seriously? predicts the finalists will come from this pool:

… three tiers, each with four gymnasts in them.

Tier 1;; Daiane Dos Santos – Cheng Fei – Sandra Izbasa – Shawn Johnson
Tier 2;; Alicia Sacramone – Beth Tweddle – Vanessa Ferrari – Jiang Yuyuan
Tier 3;; Yulia Lozhecko – Alina Kozich – Jade Barbosa – Cassy Vericel

Gymnicestics? Seriously?

Not one of that pool inspires me enough to make a prediction yet.

Wendy Allen emailed to let us all know that the Olympic qualifier from Colombia is currently training with her coach in Quebec:

I was at a meet in Gatineau, Quebec this weekend. They introduced a gymnast and her trainer who are here from Colombia training for the 2008 Olympics. …

This is the babelfish translation… A bit stunted, but it gives the overall idea.

Gymélites accomodates the Olympic first gymnaste of Colombia. Natalia Sanchez, 15 years, hardly measuring 4′ 5 and weighing only 75 pounds, are involved at present with the gymélites in preparation for the Olympic Games of Peijing envisaged for next August.

… trainer, Andres Llanos, are here for 50 days with an aim of perfecting his preparation for go of Peijing, where it will be the first woman of the history of her country to be taken part in it. This stay among us is made possible thanks to the generosity of the hotel Four Points, which offers a free lodging for this young young lady like to her trainer, for the duration of their stay among us.

Indeed, the Colombian government offered only one to them light per diem of 25 $ per day for their stay among us, which would have been insufficient had not been generosity of the Four Points.

If it is among us, that was made also possible thanks to the complicity of Mr. Dave Fallon, one of our highly skilled trainers, who had the chance of met for the first time at the time of the behaviour of the Pan-American championships in August 2006.

Wendy saw this in French on the Gymélites website.

Full list of Olympic qualifiers on the Gymnicestics? Seriously? blog.

Gymnicestics? Seriously? – Have you seen that new site yet? I’ve just subscribed.

Thanks to Head Coach Dan Kendig who warmly welcomed me to his gym. Dan’s coached Nebraska to team Championships 12 of the past 13 years.

In the first video, Assistant Coach Tim Garrison has the team practice landings at the same time as they work beat board drills. Efficient training. Gymnasts were required to stick a certain number of layouts. And a specified number of layout fulls.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

The NCAA is so strong this season that, in the end, the team sticking the most landings will be the most successful. Personally I feel there is too much emphasis on landing in the NCAA rules. (It reminds me of FIG gymnastics circa 1984.)

In the second video, Assistant Coach Danna Durante trains beam tumbling sequences uphill on to mats. Later the girls took the same skills up on to high beam.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Nebraska Women’s Gymnastics

For the many girls who love gymnastics more than their boyfriend.

With All Your Heart on Flickr

Dan Kendig, Head Coach of Nebraska, was just talking to me about his concept of inserting air floor sections under the diagonals of a competition gymnastics floor.

Now I hear that Doug Davis of TumblTrak has already made ENTIRE floors with an air floor base:

2004, Tumbl Trak introduced a revolutionary product called the Air Floor. In the last 4 years, the Air Floor has become widely popular for tumbling and cheerleading. If you are unfamiliar with the product, an Air Floor is a 3-inch thick, semi-sealed, inflatable mat that uses “air-cushioned” technology instead of spring technology to create rebound or bounce. …

A frequent comment heard since the first Air Floors were introduced is, “Wouldn’t it be great to have a whole floor of this!” In response, Tumbl Trak has developed, over the last three years, 6-foot wide Air Floor strips that can be connected side-by-side, creating the Air Cheer Floor that is either 42’x42’ or 54’x42’ depending on how many strips are used. This development has been motivated, in large part, by the cheer industry. …

In March of 2007, the Air Cheer Floor was well received when used as a practice floor at the European Cheer Nationals in Denmark. In December of 2007, the Air Cheer Floor was used as the competition floor at the Flygirl meet in Toronto, Canada. And finally, in January of 2008, PAC West Spirit Group’s Apple Cup in Tacoma, WA became the first USASF sanctioned cheer meet to use the Air Cheer Floor.

Kiki Bittner, General Manager of the PAC West Spirit Group, commented on how well the Air Cheer Floor performed during the competition noting that it does not resonate like the spring floor, providing a more stable and consistent surface on which to stunt. Pleased with the Air Cheer Floor, PAC West Spirit Group plans to use it for their Lilac City Competition in Spokane, WA as well as for their National Competition in Portland, OR in March 2008.

… If you have any questions about this product, do not hesitate to call us here at Tumbl Trak (800-331-4362).

TumblTrak February 2008 email newsletter

Product details are not yet on the TumblTrak website.

Who’s going to be first to set up an Air Cheer Floor for use at an invitational Artistic Gymnastics competition? I want to be there.