Gymnastics Coaching.com

A detailed recap of every NCAA Division I, II and III competition held this weekend! …

• Oklahoma earned the top score of the week with a 197.7. Earlier this fall, it was reported that coach K.J. Kindler had the team wear tank tops that read “#2? as a nod to their second place finish at nationals last year and as motivation to finish on top this year. Seems to be working!

• Bridgeport has a roster listing 30 athletes, and this weekend, they were able to field two completely different teams, one of which competed at Arkansas while the other stayed in Connecticut to face local rival SCSU. …

read the rest – NCAA Week 2 Recap

Smith’s Chances for Glasgow?

From a new blog out of the UK, the Men’s Gymnastics Perspective:

… With a five-man team to be selected, and Whitlock, Thomas and Oldham surely the first names on the teamsheet, Smith will be targetting one of the two remaining places on the team.

With such a strong top 3 England could have enough quality to win the Team title without even needing the 4th and 5th men. This luxury might enable some surprising or risky choices for those places – and after 18 months out of the sport Smith could certainly be considered a risk. In the end it will all depend on the selectors’ strategy.

Will the selectors buy into the romance of Smith’s last swansong, and the further exposure this will bring to a growing sport, or will they have the mindset that Smith’s time has passed and that the time is ripe to blood exciting new British talent ahead of Rio? …

Smith Comeback: Main Rivals for Glasgow Commonwealth Gymnastics Place

Louis should not be selected. He’d only compete one apparatus. And I don’t really want him over-scored. Again.

That said, I wouldn’t be astonished if he was given the nod. Louis brings great media attention.

Could he be named honorary Captain?

An assistant coach?

One commenter points out that Frank Baines could compete for Scotland. And that Brinn Bevan is competing at the YOG later on in 2014 and is not trying for Commonwealths.

“never quit on a bad day”

Good advice from Nastia:

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

The 2014 Nastia Liukin Cup series of meets began Jan. 10-12, 2014 with the Atlanta Crown Invitational.

new Cirque show – Kurios

It was naming day at Cirque du Soleil headquarters on Monday.

Director Michel Laprise announced that the Cirque du Soleil’s new tent show, his first as a writer and director, will be called Kurios – Cabinet of Curiosities. And it will draw its inspiration from the latter half of the 19th century. …

Montreal Gazette

Delve into a world of curiosity where seeing is disbelieving: the world of KURIOS™ – Cabinet of Curiosities from Cirque du Soleil®. The show immerses you in a mysterious and fascinating realm that disorients your senses and challenges your perceptions, leaving you to wonder: “Is it real, or just a figment of my imagination?”

ABOUT THE SHOW

African Gymnastics Championships

FIG:

… There are 70 days to go before the opening of the 12th African Gymnastics Championships in Tshwane (RSA) on March 25. Check out the beautiful competition website and get to know some of South Africa’s top contenders.

12th African Championships

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

I travel to South Africa this week. Looking forward to seeing my friend Derick Sholtz at Visions Gymnastics.

related – First triple FIG Academy held in Pretoria (29 coaches from 4 nations)

two more NCAA Achilles injuries

The Utes won the meet with a 196.65, followed by Boise State (195.85), BYU (194.55) and SUU (192.025) in front of 14,910 at the Huntsman Center.

The night got off to a bad start when standout Kassandra Lopez tore her Achilles tendon during warmups. …

The Utes compared the situation to last year when standout Corrie Lothrop suffered the same injury early in the season.

Utah gymnastics: Utes overcome setback to win opener