Category: parents

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.”

Rosie MacLennan talks mental health

The double Olympic Trampoline champion sometimes suffers from depression.

Watch it on TSN – As Long As I Breathe

This released in conjunction with the #BellLetsTalk program.

Rosie wants anyone else suffering any kind of mental health problems to feel comfortable talking about it.

Details:

“Over the last decade, the Bell Let’s Talk Community Fund has helped more than 650 organizations on the front line of mental health care drive real change in their communities,” said Bell Let’s Talk Chair Mary Deacon.

“We welcome this year’s fund applicants and look forward to offering our support to even more exciting projects in 2020.”

MarketWatch

former coach sentenced to 50 years

A former gymnastics coach was sentenced Friday to 50 years in prison for sexually assaulting young female gymnasts in North Texas and Oklahoma.

Skipper Crawley, 53, of Kemp, Texas, pleaded guilty …

Still pending against Crawley are 10 counts of lewd child molestation filed in Tulsa County, Oklahoma. …

AP

Michigan’s Sierra Brooks

There’s much for Michigan to be proud of from its 2019 season. The team came back from missing nationals entirely in 2018 to finish 2019 in 5th place, which quietly ranks as Michigan’s best result of the decade. In fact, Michigan hasn’t done better than 5th since Elise Ray was a freshman. …

Michigan has brought in two of the nation’s top L10 recruits in Sierra Brooks and Gabby Wilson …

Balance Beam Situation 

“I felt like I had accomplished everything I wanted to do in my J.O. (Junior Olympics) career and was looking forward to coming to Michigan.

Leaving home and my club gym family were heavy factors that weighed on my decision, but the pros and cons led me here. I am glad it did.” …

How a Junior Olympic Standout Wound Up at Michigan a Year Early

The Routine Podcast interviewed Sierra.

Youth Sport too Expen$ive

In the USA, training at a top children’s sports club is very expensive.

That we know.

Even worse, inexpensive opportunities for children’s sport and fitness through schools and community programs are disappearing. 😕

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube. (13min)

talking to your gymnast on the car ride home

… it is in the best interest of youth athletes if their parents support their athletic experiences no matter the level of competition they play in. …

Frost believes parents who put too much pressure on their kids, especially during that ‘car ride home,’ will chase them away from sports. If a kid is afraid to get into the car ride home after a bad game, it is unlikely he will want to continue to play.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Rachael Denhollander on USAG

Guardian: It’s been more than three years now since you came forward and this movement started. How do you feel about everything USA Gymnastics has done since?

Rachael Denhollander: Disappointed. They have completely refused any shred of transparency and accountability.

They have refused to identify even one thing that went wrong. They have refused to identify even one coach that was abusive or one abusive situation, to point to something and say, hey, we shouldn’t have allowed that.

And if you cannot even acknowledge the problem, you cannot fix the problem. …

Rachael Denhollander: ‘When you speak out against your own community, you lose everything’

why more girls than boys drop out of sport

I coach at one Gym where some of the teen gymnasts are training — but still deciding whether or not to compete this season.

That’s working well. They are less worried about getting routines ready in time. Having more fun. And are more consistently motivated day-to-day.

Teenage girls should place a lower priority on competition. A higher priority on FUN and FITNESS.

According to Gatorade’s recent “Girls In Sports” study, girls are dropping out of sports at 1.5x the rate that boys do by age 14. By age 17, more than half of girls will quit playing sports altogether.
…

Refinery29 partnered with Gatorade for its #SistersInSweat movement, in hopes of figuring out why this is happening. Over the course of two weeks in August 2017, we polled 1,000 teenage girls in the United States between the ages of 13 and 18 to find out their reasons for giving up on something that has been proven to make them happier, healthier, and more confident throughout the rest of their lives. …

Young Girls Are Dropping Out Of Sports — Here’s Why It’s A Problem

Thanks Jeff.

related – keeping TEENS in Gymnastics  

a Gym Mom reflects on Compulsories

Mia Pomerenke:

… My daughter just made the jump from compulsories to level 7. …

I wish I videoed more of the struggles, the falls, the 15th places.

I wish I saw the progress in the small steps along the way.

I wish I never got caught up in comparing my child to other athletes.

I wish I enjoyed the process more.

I wish I relaxed.

I wish that I told her even more how wonderful and strong and amazing I think she is. …

Read more on Facebook.