Category: parents

United States Gymnastics Club Owners Association at risk

SANDY SPOKOINY-FLORES:

The United States Gymnastics Club Owners Association pleads with our elected officials to hear our cries for help as we not only see our own economic plight, but we also dread the possibility of us not being able to survive and continue to do what we do for the communities we serve. …

We would like to suggest an immediate, nationwide 2-month freeze of mortgages and/or rent for our businesses, as well as for all homeowners and renters affected by these closures. …

 

McKayla Maroney update

Click PLAY or watch it on Twitter.

TIPS for parents with kids at home

Robert Andrews:

The shutdown of schools and all sports programs has created quite a shock wave in the families, homes, and lives of athletes who suddenly find themselves without a sport.

I have been receiving a lot of inquiries from parents seemingly lost on what to do with their athletes at home. …

Normalize the first week or two …

Have regular family meetings …

Help your kids create a written planner …

Empower them to take responsibility …

Connect with others …

Try new things to stimulate your mind, body, and emotions …

read more …

A Parents Guide to the Sports Shut Down

GYM SCHOOL with U.S. gymnasts & coaches

I’ve seen a LOT of options online where gymnasts at home can log in for workouts and inspiration. Most are free.

This GYM SCHOOL costs $79 for a 6 week course — but has the potential to be best of all.

Half of that $79 goes back to the individual athlete’s club within two weeks of the conclusion of the program. Awesome.

Starting March 23rd, classes will be held 3 times a day on weekdays.

40 instructors leading 90 Facebook live classes.

Many online programs are USA only — but this one is available worldwide for anyone with a Facebook account.

Click through for details.

Or email Cory Tomlinson at cory (a) youmakeitloud.com with questions.

Simone (again) calls for independent investigation

I have to question the competence of a communication department that doesn’t even know Simone’s correct Twitter handle.

They tagged a fan site by mistake.

related –

Simone Biles publicly shames USA Gymnastics after birthday tweet

 

 

weighing gymnasts – British Gymnastics position statement

Created as a guidance document for clubs, coaches, parents and gymnasts the statement gives advice and reasoning on the complexities surrounding weighing gymnasts with the gymnasts optimal long-term development at its core.

The advice highlights the need for clear reasoning, appropriate methods, correct consent and the use of qualified practitioners in order to safeguard the physical and mental health of the gymnasts. …

BG

Break the Fall – a book review

Break the Fall by Jennifer Iacopelli was released Feb 18th.

I finished it in less than 24 hours.

That’s surprising since I’m decidedly NOT the target audience for Young Adult / Teen romance.

This novel is heavy on Gymnastics, light on the typical YA cliché teen crushes and rivalries.

Jennifer: For me, when writing sports fiction, the sport itself is what the plot will stem from, so it’s almost impossible for me to write a book about sports that doesn’t heavily include the competition, practices and training that would be a major part of any athlete’s life.

Often we’ll see books about an athlete that’s injured or an athlete that had to give up their sport as an exploration of their identity away from the thing they love, but that’s been done so much, I’m more interested in what it takes to strive to compete at the highest levels, to try to win and what happens when you do (or don’t).  …

And the Gymnastics is well informed.

I assumed Jennifer was an ex-gymnast or coach, but she’s actually a kick-butt librarian.  Her sports were tennis and softball.

Jennifer: “… what I worked on the most was making sure the gymnasts were portrayed as realistically as possible, in and out of the gym. …”

The American National Team Director is lead away in handcuffs, accused of tampering with drug test results. Later charged with sexual assault.

When the rest of the Federation supports him, the equivalent of the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee suspends the equivalent of USAG and delivers the U.S. Olympic team to a new coach only weeks before the Tokyo Olympics.

That’s a good plot device.

Jennifer loosely based the new Olympic coach on Kim Zmeskal.

She was inspired to write a Gymnastics novel after following the Nassar / USAG scandal: “… people in a position of power abusing athletes or failing to protect athletes from abuse …”

The story starts at Olympic trials 2020. Ends on the last day of Apparatus Finals in Tokyo.

If you are wondering whether your gymnasts should read this book it does have a lot of profanity. And there is discussion of sexual abuse though none of that is graphic.

The audio version is available on Scribd and Audible.

Amazon

Dominique Dawes Gymnastics Academy

Now 43-years-old, the triple Olympian superstar is opening her own Gym.

Barcelona 1992 (bronze), Atlanta 1996 (gold), and Sydney 2000 (bronze).

You could never forget ‘Awesome Dawesome‘ once you’d seen her perform live.

She’s also the first African-American woman to win an individual Olympic medal in Artistic Gymnastics.

Now with 4 children under age-6, Dominique was looking for a program that would care for her own kids much better than she was treated in the bad old days.

Instead, she decided to open her own Gym.

Past Pain Inspires Olympic Champion Dominique Dawes to Open New Gymnastics Academy

“It’s really to create a healthy culture, a culture that’s needed in the sport.”