tumbling, tramp, diving, acrobatics, circus, cheer, dance, martial arts, X sports … and more
National Association of Intercollegiate Gymnastics Clubs
New for this season:
All athletes will now be allowed to compete with spandex shorts that are either black or match the main color of their competition leo. There will be no uniform deduction …
via email
This should be allowed at all levels of competition everywhere, of course.
U.S. Olympic Committee CEO Sarah Hirshland:
… the next step in the Section 8 process is for me to select an independent, three-person hearing panel with representatives from the USOC board of directors, the NGB Council and the Athletes’ Advisory Council.
The panel will next review my complaint and USAG’s response, hold a hearing, create a report and recommendation for the full USOC board and then the board will take an action.
A formal timeframe is not described in our bylaws, so I don’t know exactly how long this process may take. At minimum, we expect it will take several weeks, perhaps a few months.
It is important to note that during this process – and per our bylaws – USAG will continue to operate as a fully recognized member NGB of the USOC.
We are not shutting down USAG. Nor is the USOC taking over USAG. In the immediate term there are no changes for USAG members or clubs. …
USOC Statement Regarding Latest Developments To Section 8 Complaint Against USA Gymnastics
We support diversity and inclusion …
https://twitter.com/DMendoza2032/status/1064953089189306368
via GymCastic
While it might be rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic, no doubt some future organization replacing USAG can use some of the existing policies and procedures.
USA Gymnastics Karen Golz, Board chair:
Top Priorities for the next CEO:
- Work to ensure the safety of athletes.
- Lead an organizational transformation to rebuild trust and move the organization forward in a positive and inclusive manner.
- Ensure transparency in USA Gymnastics operations to build organizational and public trust.
Key Experience
- Experience leading cultural change, organizational transformation or turnaround in a complex setting.
- Experience in gymnastics, either as an athlete, coach, parent or administrator.
- Proven stakeholder management skills; history of working effectively with a board and a diverse constituent base or membership organization.
Personal Characteristics
- Unquestioned integrity, credibility and character.
- Strong, transparent communicator and motivator.
- Knowledgeable about gymnastics and USA Gymnastics as an organization.
- Team-oriented and collaborative.
Read the full statement.
… the beginning of the end comes in the summer of 2016, thanks to three things: a tough police detective, a dedicated team of journalists in Indiana, and a homeschooling mom from Kentucky.
That mom is Rachael Denhollander. She’s also a lawyer and a devout Christian. …
I’m still astonished that American medical associations took so little of the blame. ☹️
Will Graves is a mainstream sports reporter who actually understands Gymnastics. He was nervous to be exposed as a fraud when talking to Spencer and Jessica, but I found his perspective legit.
(Says he’s been schooled by Nancy Armour and Scott Bregman. 😀)
All three attended Doha Worlds in person.
Will’s outsider’s perspective is interesting in every way. I particularly liked his view on interpreting Simone to the rest of the world. The general public might not know Gymnastics, but they certainly know the name Simone Biles.
Will agrees she’s the most dominant athlete in any sport right now.
In fact, he ponders whether her performance at Worlds prelims might turn out to be peak Simone.
Happily Will’s daughter just started Gymnastics. Hopefully she’ll get him hooked for many years to come. 🙂
Listen up:
It seems inevitable that the current USAG will be disbanded.
Some organization will (eventually) replace it.
No former USAG Board members will be returning. But personally I’d like to see Tom Forster — for example — stay on in his current role. Perhaps some others.
Many in the burn it all down camp assume that everyone currently involved is responsible. That things will be better if everyone is new.
Why? There’s no logic to that. A brand new group of volunteers and staff will stumble and bungle until they get experience.
Tony Retrosi:
We must look for ways to FIX the problem. Not the blame. Fixing the problem is good for all of us. Not one side or the other.
I truthfully believe the best days of gymnastics lay ahead of us. We have great things to accomplish in all disciplines and aspects of the program.
We can work to protect ALL participants while remaining dominant at international competitions. Look at the genuine smiles from the gymnasts at World Championships in Doha and Russia. …
Expecting to enjoy this book, it was even better than anticipated.
This book is must read for any Beam / Floor coach.
Life Is Short, Don’t Wait to Dance is a thankful celebration of Gymnastics, a refreshing respite in an era where conversations are often dominated by the crimes of an evil doctor.
Miss Val is one of the most successful College coaches all time. Yet, as a dancer, she doesn’t pretend to be a technical expert or biomechanist. Her specialities are artistry, musicality, dance and choreography. A non-gymnast, she became one of the greatest NCAA Beam coaches in history learning on the job.
Even more interesting to me is her skills set of all those MANY things that coaches need outside Gymnastics.
Miss Val is a case study on those MANY other things.
Surprisingly, I also recommend the book to non-Gymnastics readers. Life lessons for all. I learned a lot.
She discusses one issue I hadn’t seen addressed before: the awkward words ‘victim’ and ‘survivor’. She tells of Jordyn Wieber’s dislike of both words. I use victim as much as possible over survivor.
I loved the section on face tattoos. UCLA does NOT wear face tattoos. As an old dinosaur, I agree with Miss Val on this. Can we start phasing those out? Please.
For once an author openly admits her ghost writer is a contributor. That’s Steve Cooper, one of the GymCastic team.
Aly Raisman doesn’t do that, for example. Her co-author is journalist Blythe Lawrence.
I enjoyed hearing her team rules at UCLA. It’s a challenge to motivate young women away from home for the first time.
Miss Val didn’t talk enough about the high rate of injury in College Gymnastics, in my opinion. UCLA has had more than their share. I’ve always attributed that to her tendency to recruit Elite gymnasts over Level 10s. Elites tend to arrive with more injuries, I suspect.
Miss Val reads the audio book. It makes the content more personal. Get the audio version if you can.
Spotting blocks are even better than a channel pit for introducing new skills on Bars and Horizontal Bar. There are hundreds of different configurations.
For example, introducing forward Giant.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Al Fong went through 5 prototypes before deciding on length, width, channel gap, and adjustable heights.
Great for the kids. And great for the coaches who will suffer fewer spotting injuries.
Tumbl Trak – Al Fong Spotting Blocks System
Gymnastics Coaching.com 