Category: Gymnastics

1995 Gymnastics documentary – For The Love of the Game

The late 1990s were the bad old days in my opinion.

Little Girls in Pretty Boxes was published 1995.

A Canadian documentary includes 3 National Team members:

Lisa Simes, 1994 Commonwealth Games medalist and All-American captain for Michigan.

Jackie Bender, the best Artistic gymnast all time at 1-arm handstand work on Beam.

And Sarah Rainey who is very eloquent and outspoken about why she left the sport. Today Sarah is Head Coach of East York Gymnastics in Toronto.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube. (24min)

you CAN keep form on layout step-out

Luisa Blanco as posted by Spencer on Balance Beam Situation.

KEEPING UP WITH THE COOL GIFS – WEEK 2

NCAA programs on #BlackLivesMatter

As usual, UCLA sets the Bar for supporting minority rights. Unapologetic.

Willing to support Black Lives Matter #BlackLivesMatter  loudly.  And proudly.

UCLA gymnasts use social media to speak out, support Black Lives Matter movement

BUT … how did other prominent College teams handle the worldwide protests?

Dvora Meyers posted a good overview:

Florida was much criticized by former athletes

As was Alabama.

Duckworth, in a statement posted to social media, said things about growing and learning and inclusivity without mentioning Kiaku by name or saying the word “race” or any of its variants.

As was Auburn.

Jeff Graba posted this note to Twitter in response to the statements from three former Tigers. On the whole, Graba’s note is disappointing in the way that many of these statements are: vagueness about what was alleged, failure to mention the words “black” or “racism” or any of its variants. …

University of Georgia head coach Courtney Kupets Carter put out a statement that managed to avoid using the words “black,” “African American,” “racism,” “police,” “brutality,” or “injustice.” Also, for a statement that is ostensibly about what the Black community is enduring, it makes heavy use of “I.” …

LSU head coach DD Breaux’s statement did mention “people of color” and nodded to protest as a means of enacting change, but that’s as far as it went. ..

And this from the University of North Carolina gymnastics team is perhaps the strongest and most unequivocal of all the statements put out by any of the women’s programs.

Carolina Gymnastics @uncgymnastics

Enough.

June 6th 2020

Some of the coaches are, no doubt, restricted by contract in what they can say publicly.  But — moving forward — programs should be called out if there’s no real change.

I’ll be cheering for UNC and UCLA.

Click through to read Dvora’s entire important post.  And subscribe if you can.  This is real journalism. 

We Need to Address Racism In Gymnastics

 

 

Kurt Thomas documentary

Kurt died unexpectedly of a stroke at age-64.  What a shame.

If you don’t know his story, watch this entertaining new documentary.  He was a cocky kid from a poor background.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube. (24min)

USAG: Black Lives Matter

On June 1, we unequivocally affirmed that Black lives do matter, and that we stand in solidarity with the Black community and with all of those who fight for racial and social justice. …

  • We will require implicit bias training for USA Gymnastics staff and leadership positions, and will endeavor to make similar training available to all members.

  • We will work with a credible researcher to analyze the role of implicit bias in judging.

  • We will use our platforms to amplify the voices of our community members from traditionally underrepresented groups, in order to share their experiences more broadly and facilitate continued conversation across the gymnastics community.

  • We will strengthen our internal hiring practices for both employees and contractors, to ensure that we are more intentional and proactive in seeking out staff, contractors, and business leaders from underrepresented groups.

  • Juneteenth (June 19th) will be a day of reflection for USA Gymnastics staff going forward. We are encouraging our staff to spend this day listening and learning, and finding ways to commit to concrete action steps to become better allies and advocates. We invite member gyms and clubs to recognize this important day in the history of our nation in their own way. …

A Letter to the Gymnastics Community on Racial and Social Justice

 

SAVE Seattle Pacific Gymnastics

Terrible news. 

SPU announced publicly on Monday afternoon what Marshall learned on Monday morning: that its women’s gymnastics program had been discontinued, effective immediately. The Falcons Gymnastics Center will also cease operations and will no longer host youth camps, and the accompanying club team will no longer be sponsored by SPU.

A university release stated that “the decision to discontinue gymnastics came following an extensive review of the state of that sport in the NCAA Division II structure. Although the assessment and decision began prior to the COVID-19 outbreak and rests on its own merit, the adverse effects (of) the pandemic on the program’s funding model expedited this decision.” …

The university release stated that scholarships for Marshall’s student-athletes — including grants awarded to incoming students beginning in fall 2020 — will be honored. SPU gymnasts seeking to continue their careers at another institution will be released without penalty and are free to transfer immediately. …

‘Shocked and devastated’: Seattle Pacific gymnastics coach Sarah Jean Marshall says her program was cut without warning

Sign a petition on Change.org:

Reinstate Seattle Pacific Women’s Gymnastics

Oh WOW – triple double off Beam

All hail the G.O.A.T. 

I doubt any other female gymnast has ever considered this skill, even into a foam pit.

Click PLAY or watch it on Twitter.

Tatiana Groshkova – double full-in, back-out

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

advanced plyometric leg strength & power

In the bad old days, Soviet gymnasts would use a line of Springboards set on edge.

Click PLAY or watch it on Facebook.