Otherwise, you soon might not have a local Gym Club. 😟
Click PLAY or watch Morgan Hurd’s story on Twitter.
Category: ethics
Gymnastics training in Sweden during COVID-19
Sweden has, unlike many other countries, not imposed any lockdown, with most measures being voluntary. …
Most schools and Universities are closed, but not Primary schools.
The Swedish government has tried to focus efforts on encouraging the right behaviour and creating social norms rather than mandatory restrictions. And voluntary has worked in many cases.
Most public sports competitions were postponed, but Gymnastics Clubs could continue training if they wished.
One Gym decided to close for 10 days to get organized. Then reopen only for competitive WAG and TeamGym. (Each Gym made their own decision. Some decided to close voluntarily.)
Anton @GymSwedeAnto:
On the WAG side, we have a pretty strict hygiene regimen the gymnasts and coaches all follow. We’ve begun washing our hands like it is our religion:
-When we come into the training hall
-Before line-up at the start of training
-After warm-up
-After each rotation (sometimes 3 or 4 apparatus)
-After break
-After stretch before going homeWe also have rotating shifts amongst the coaching and office staff cleaning the gym for three hours every weekday. This includes sanitizing mats after each use in training and during the cleaning shift, mopping floors, and using disinfectant wipes to clean non-pourous training surfaces.
The gymnasts often help out with disinfecting the mats they used during training.
We’ve also taken to using the plastic sides of our mats instead of the soft sides, as well as laying panel mats over our closed-foam pits to diminish the chance of infection transmission on surfaces that are not easily disinfected.
As seen in the photo, we have marked out 2 meter distances on our floor and all over our training hall …
We’ve also set up five chalk stations at bars to keep distance there as well. …
As far as actual gymnastics, the girls are training skills they are comfortable with, a lot of drills and progressions, and a lot of basics.
Coaches have been asked not to spot gymnasts until we get clearance from an assortment of government authorities allowing us to do so. It absolutely does make things interesting; not being able to spot the gymnasts and keep them that extra level of safe.
One of my biggest challenges right now is keeping up motivation. With no competitions or training camps for the foreseeable future and no timeline for them to return, the gymnasts sometimes wonder what they are training for. It isn’t easy, but we are making it work …
We’ve had zero transmissions or infection …
Leave a comment if you have any questions for Anton.
Update – Another Swedish club closed for 14 days.
Reopened with one class at a time, no parents allowed inside the building (1 parent allowed if the child is younger than 5).
- First 5 minutes is to wash hands, etc.
- Cleaning between sessions.
- No hugs, high fives or spotting.
- No food in the building.
remembering Brown coach Jackie Court
For more than four decades, Jackie Court shaped legions of young women through gymnastics: as a coach at Brown University who led the team through a landmark legal fight for equity in collegiate sports, as the creator of the competitive gymnastics program at the YWCA, and as a seasoned judge assessing performances throughout the state. …
Court, of South Kingstown, died Easter Sunday, April 12, at age 81. In 1969, she became the first woman of color to coach at Brown. …
‘A woman who overcame everything’: Paying tribute to college sports pioneer Jackie Court
Jackie was the voice in the early development of women’s gymnastics in Rhode Island. She organized the first tri competitive high school meet and USAG State Meet. Jackie was Rhode Island’s first state chairperson and held the position for 18 years. …
Her son, John Court, is Head Coach at Arizona Gymnastics. His team was NQS #27 before the 2020 season was cut short due to the COVID-19.
Belgium WAG resume training
Valentina Rodionenko said the team should go back to Round Lake and be quarantined there, so that they would be able to train.
She cited the example of the Chinese national team that kept training … throughout the quarantine ….
Some other national teams (at least partially) kept training and some are gradually returning to the gyms now. For example, the Belgian WAG team has been allowed to resume training recently. …
At the moment, however, Round Lake is serving as a quarantine center for Russian athletes who were evacuated from abroad.
The Sports Minister Oleg Matytsin said that next week, the Ministry will be discussing plans for elite athletes to start training but did not commit to any specific date and said that quarantine limitations would have to be lifted first.
NCAA sports after COVID-19
American institutions of higher learning are all deciding on when and how to reopen. Some may not be open in September.
What does that mean for College sport?
They’re scrambling to make up for lost money. The University of Cincinnati ended its men’s soccer program, and St. Edwards University in Austin, Texas, announced last week it was cutting men’s and women’s golf and tennis, along with men’s soccer. …
Students are weary of online classes, but colleges can’t say whether they’ll open in fall 2020
Right now we don’t know. 😕
Greg Marsden linked to a letter from the Intercollegiate Coach Association Coalition (ICAC) opposing a request by the Group of Five Commissioners to allow conferences and schools to cut the number of sports sponsored to be considered for Division I status.
Mike Burns and Heather Perry signed on behalf of NCAA Gymnastics.
Sports Canada – Safe Sport
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Morgan, Angelina, Chen Yile on COVID-19
crying at Gymnastics
Anne Josephson:
Is pushing kids until they cry just a part of gymnastics?
Here is the answer: yes and no.
… there are times when kids cry for a host of reasons that are normal and acceptable, perhaps even good. Crying can release tension. It can cue us that what we are doing matters. It can let the adults around the child know that the child is in distress and may need comforting or further guidance.
So how is a parent to know when the tears are a warning sign versus when the tears are just a normal part of life? Here are some things to consider …
related – THE KEY TO HAVING A HAPPY RELATIONSHIP WITH YOUR COACH, ATHLETE OR PARENT
Responsible Coaching
Gymnastics Canada supports Coaching Association of Canada’s Responsible Coaching Movement:
Keeping Sport Fair, Fun, and Safe
Responsible coaching allows you to support your participants’ right to a safe, positive environment. Here are some ways to protect your athletes and yourself both on and off the field of play:
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Engage in Safe Sport Training
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Ensure your organization has taken the RCM Pledge.
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Support your organization having key policies, like a Travel Policy and a Code of Conduct, and see that these are current and enforced.
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Ensure that all coaches and volunteers are appropriately screened.
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Encourage coaches and volunteers to take the Commit To Kids, Respect in Sport, and NCCP Make Ethical Decisions training.
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Ask yourself, ‘What are some ways that I, as a coach, can support the Rule of Two?’
Read more on Coach.ca
Verona van de Leur autobiography
Simply Verona: Breaking All the Rules
Published in hard cover March 19, 2020.
Verona was an excellent gymnast, named Dutch Sportswoman of the Year in 2002 after winning the all-around silver medal at that year’s European championships and the silver medal on floor exercise at the world championships.
After early retirement she had life threatening personal problems. Fell out with her family. Lived in a car with her boyfriend.
Eventually she had a conviction for blackmail and a prison sentence. She began performing in adult webcam shows and then in adult films.
Read a Guardian interview detailing her chaotic life story:
Gymnastics Coaching.com 