solo gymnasts at Jr Worlds

Many nations sent only one gymnast to the 1st ever Junior World Championships.

Ruan Lange (53rd AA) from South Africa, for example:

“… this event has been extremely friendly, and that has really helped me. I think it’s the friendliest event I’ve ever been to.

The vibe has been amazing. I have been training and competing with the boys from Syria, Bulgaria and Iran, and it is very cool, because it’s like our own little country. We have already swapped social media details, and we will all definitely stay in touch.”

Lange has been particularly supportive of Lais Najjar (SYR), laughing and high-fiving with the Syrian throughout the competition.

Small teams bond together to find friendship and motivation in Gyor

Team USA at Jr Worlds

Tom Forster talks about training strategy at Jr Worlds.

ALSO, the American coaches made signs supporting their athletes.

Steph Currie’s Mom’s advice

Before establishing himself as one of the greatest basketball players in the world, Curry was overlooked by virtually every big Division I college basketball program, …

(Mom) said something along the lines of: “NO ONE gets to write your story but you,” …

Stephen Curry says the best advice he ever got came from his mom when he was 13 years old

Read Steph’s story from Jan 2019.

Underrated.

Dear Future Me: Morgan Hurd

Morgan reads a letter to her future self.

Watch her on ESPN.

Coaching style can reduce injury risk

It makes sense.

A more careful, caring coach who listens to athletes you would expect to have lower incidence of both traumatic and overuse injuries.

We have no definitive data on this, however.

Closest I’ve seen is this article by Dave Tilley:

DOES POSITIVE OR NEGATIVE COACHING STYLE INCREASE INJURY RISK IN ATHLETES?

Chris Waller on Kyla Ross

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Nick Ruddock on Gym culture

It All Starts With a Vision
Communicating Your Culture
Leadership
It’s Your Ship
Be Accountable
Develop ‘Buy In’
Be a Role Model
Encourage Diversity
Remove Toxicity
Avoid the 3 C’s