North Stars Gymnastics

Located in Boonton, New Jersey, North Stars Gymnastics Academy is one of the top gyms in the country. North Stars Alumni includes gymnasts Noel Couch, Ashley Miller, Jaime Pisani and Traci Sommer. …

Click PLAY or watch it on Gymnastike.

http://www.gymnastike.org/embed/MzE0NjY4OTg5?related=1

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Good to see Leonard Isaacs.

Qatar – Goal to be sport superpower

You know Doha, Qatar, from the FIG events they have hosted.

FIFA World Cup goes to the Middle East for the first time in 2022. Tiny Qatar will host. (facilities bid VIDEO)

Qatar has bid for the Olympic Games too, but wants to host in October (cooler weather) rather than July or August.

You might think these kind of events are ambitious for a nation of fewer than 2.5 million.

But they have BIG GOALS for sport.

They’ve won 4 Olympic medals so far, and want more.

Following the 2008 Summer Olympics, Qatar was, along with Saudi Arabia and Brunei, one of only three countries to never have sent a female athlete to the Olympic Games. They sent 4 female athletes to London.

Vanessa Ferrari’s coach, Enrico Casella, and I are in Qatar leading a week long age group coaching Camp for FIG. We visited Aspire along with an international group of Trampoline Judges, here for a regional course.

The Aspire Zone, also known as Doha Sports City … was established as an international sports destination in 2003 …

These sporting venues include:

Khalifa International Stadium, a 50,000-capacity stadium primarily used for soccer matches.

Hamad Aquatic Center, an Olympic-size swimming pool.

The Aspire Dome, which is the world’s largest indoor multi-purpose sports hall and contains 13 different playing fields.

Aspire Zone is also home to Doha’s tallest structure, the Aspire Tower (which looks like an Olympic torch), and is adjacent to Villaggio Mall, the most popular mall in Qatar. …

They hosted the 2006 Asian Games here. Very successfully.

Lord Sebastian Coe, Oscar Pistorius, Mark Spitz, Carl Lewis, Johann Koss (Right to Play) and many other sport dignitaries are here for the Doha GOALS Forum.

Topics of discussion include:

Debate: Is the pursuit of money killing sport or can money buy success?

The role of the corporations

How do we encourage more women and girls to participate in sport?

Revealing the Doha goals roadmap

This nation is very much committed to becoming a leader in education and sport training. Enrico and myself have been to most of the best amateur sport facilities around the world. We’ve never seen better than Doha Sports City.

Click PLAY to see some of the facilities on YouTube.

related – Qatari women prepare for Olympic debut (VIDEO)

Women’s Artistic Gymnastics is alive and well here. 🙂

MAG Intercontinental Judges’ Course

Top Men’s Artistic Gymnastics judges from around the world convened in Bratislava, Slovakia for their Intercontinental Judges’ Course for the 2013 – 2016 Cycle on December 4 – 9, 2012. …

A total of 108 participants from 58 different federations participated in this course that is the only opportunity for judges to certify in the highest brevet category …

FIG

End of an era. Steve Butcher takes over from Adrian Stoica as MTC Chair.

straddle back with extra flip

mike durante:

Sara doing a straddle back with an extra flip! or maybe you would call it a jaeger over the low bar from the high bar……either way. Its cool

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

rumour – WAG Code back to 8 skills

Buzz was that Women’s Artistic Gymnastics was to return to counting 10 skills — same as Men’s Artistic.

But the word I heard is that sober second reflection ended up nixing the idea. We’ll be staying with 8 skills.

Leave a comment if you know anything.

M’rcy Matsunami – counter Kim

Valentin of the The Gym Press linked to M’rcy Matsunami from Premier Gymnastics, now attends the University of Alaska, training a unique new skill.

Uploaded on Jul 6, 2010

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Aesthetic Gymnastics

IG’s John Crumlish continues his trip through the Baltic countries. This stop: Tallinn, Estonia, where a unique form of gymnastics is thriving in the absence of artistic gymnastics.

Estonia’s artistic gymnastics program disappeared soon after the country earned independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, but Estonian gymnasts are enjoying success in the relative new discipline of aesthetic group gymnastics, said longtime Estonian choreographer and coach Mall Kalve. …

Aesthetic groups consist of six to 10 gymnasts who perform routines from under 3 minutes in length (2:15 to 2:45), without apparatus. Kalve said she hopes an apparatus will be added in the next couple of years to bring an element of risk to performances.

Aesthetic group gymnastics began at the international level in 1996, and the first world championships were held in 2000. Although the discipline was initially most popular in Europe, teams from Asia, South America and North America (specifically Canada) now participate at world championships and World Cup events. …

read more on IG – Estonia’s Gymnasts Shift From Artistic to Aesthetic

Click PLAY or watch a clip from 2012 World Championships on YouTube.