tumbling, tramp, diving, acrobatics, circus, cheer, dance, martial arts, X sports … and more
If one of your gymnasts were injured, you wouldn’t advise them to do nothing while unable to train. There are many things athletes can do while out of the Gym.
Coaching is the same.
Nick’s 32 minute Facebook LIVE can be listened to like a podcast. No need to watch the video.
Click PLAY or watch it on Facebook.
I’ve coached both MAG and WAG all my life.
In men’s camps and competitions, everyone is much more supportive of one another than in WAG.
You feel judges are there to help you improve the athletes, not to criticize.
Sam points out that he’s never felt any malice or negativity from any of his competitors on the world stage. It’s all been good.
I remember well the wonderful Ivy Lu when she competed for Gymnix.
And she became a fan favourite superstar competing the last 4 seasons for Minnesota.
A class act in every way, Ivy thanks the sport of Gymnastics for making her the fine young woman she is today.
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. …
Sam Oldham won Bronze in Team at the 2012 Summer Olympics.
The youngest member of the squad.
Very eloquent, in this interview Sam discusses the challenges he faced mentally and physically during his career.
Click PLAY or watch it on Twitter.
Mykayla is happy with the change to Indianapolis from the Ranch.
It’s going in the right direction.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
College athletes speak.
Being able to talk helps. A support system helps.
An episode of depression is like an injury.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Student athletes shouldn’t have to hide who they are.
Click PLAY or get a glimpse behind the scenes on Twitter.
The Pride Meet was Feb. 9th vs. #20 Arizona. 🏳️🌈
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.
Olympic athletes join SK-II to declare #NOCOMPETITION in beauty
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
As the world’s sporting talents are gearing up for Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, a band of top athletes have joined forces to declare a battle against beauty standards that they’ve never signed up for, led by cult-favourite beauty brand SK-II.
… Biles, along with an impressive roster of fellow Olympic athletes, including world-record holder swimmer Liu Xiang and the Japan volleyball team, have joined forces with SK-II for #nocompetition, a new global campaign created to inspire women to live by their own definitions of beauty.
Biles admits that in an image-obsessed era, ignoring the pressure to measure up isn’t always easy, not even for her. “I’ve been dealing with scrutiny my whole life. I had to go through puberty in the public eye. It’s hard and social media doesn’t make it any better, but I think the campaign will help us as women to speak up about toxic beauty standards,” …
Gymnastics Coaching.com 