First season: … gymmie is clueless, and mom is clueless. It’s all fun and games. The novelty comes from wearing a leo at a young age and getting to wear intricate web-style hair styles and pretty scrunchies.
Mom has no clue about the sport, has no concept of what scores are, what skill elements are required, what routines should look like, and is pretty oblivious to other gyms in the area because she chose the one right down the street from her house. The focus is not on winning at all…..all concern is placed on her own gymmie and whether or not she will make it through the routine without running off the floor crying or having to go pee pee. …
Here are some statistics from Australia that speak against the popular wisdom that Artistic Gymnastics is one of the most dangerous sports for children.
Coach and educator Trevor Dowdell looked at State injury surveillance reports and Australian hospital admissions due to sport injury.
Part of his conclusion:
… Injury can, and does, occur in gymnastic sports but gymnastics does not present the higher hospital ED presentations and hospital admission injury numbers, injury rates, and types of injuries found in many other popular Australian sports.
While sprains, strains and fractures predominate in all sports, face, eye, intracranial, internal organ, spine and nervous system injuries that are common in other sports were limited in gymnastics. Because of gymnastic’s stable “field of play” and closed skill type the most common gymnastic hazards (i.e. falls) can be anticipated and controlled. In summary, participation in gymnastics in the Australian club context should not be considered more dangerous (injurious) than other popular sports. …
If those statistics are correct, then fewer gymnasts are taken to hospital for ‘traumatic’ injury than I would have expected. Good news.
image via Gymnastics Alberta
It doesn’t account for ‘overuse’ injuries that don’t require taking kids to the hospital, of course.
This is a follow-up to the tragic death of Michelle Maitland on 18th June 2009 in Australia.
Michelle was killed when her head struck concrete falling from a tumbling trampoline during an Adult Recreational class at Gymnastics Townsville. The club was found Guilty of safety breaches under the Qld WH&S Act in October 2010 and their appeal was dismissed in March 2011.
If anyone can hit concrete from a trampoline device, the club should be found liable.
Australian politician Rob Messenger has been pushing for higher standards for the safety and well-being of children in Queensland’s gymnastics clubs. And it seems there’s been some positive action. A report is expected by end of June 2011.
Michelle’s mother, Ann, sends this update:
Gymnastics Queensland board of directors has replaced their CEO twice since Michelle’s death. Since their appointments, the new CEO and Board has been taking charge of enforcing existing regulations, introducing safeguards and improving education of their associated clubs’ managers and staff. A forum was held in May to inform the club managers of the board’s decisions and a series of workshops have been organised to remind clubs of their obligations and responsibilities. The first of these was held on 7th June in Brisbane. DVD’s of the workshops will be issued to clubs who do not attend. These actions have been taken ahead of and separate to any recommendations that may come out of the report being prepared for the Attorney-General.
That’s a start.
If any materials are made available from Gymnastics Queensland that we can share with the rest of the world, I’ll post them.
R.I.P Michelle Maitland
5 Nov’ 89 – 18 June 09
You made a difference
The best quadruple twisting layout I’ve seen on Floor was from Michigan’s Kent Caldwell, who used it to win the Winter Cup new skills challenge in 2007.
… Coach Ed Burch shows gymnastike a drill he uses to teach and perfect BIG tkatchev releases. His gymnast shown in the video is Tory Wilson who competes a tkatchev immediate gienger combination on uneven bars.
Burch was the coach of 1992 Olympic High Bar Gold Medallist Trent Dimas.
”To this day I thank God that he gave me Pilkin. And it’s not because we won so many titles and medals together. He and I travelled a 20-year path on the edge of risk (what is gymnastics without risk?) and I never had a single injury.
Coaches often try and force training and bam!- there is an injury. All girls are different. Some have growing bones, others a weak back, and others still react in their way to over training. You have to be very careful to reach peak form. And absolutely with an individual training regime.
Grandpa had his second heart attack defending my rights to an individual workouts in front of head coach Leonid Arkayev.
So, here I am, my arms and legs and back are all healthy. And I have a son….
Gymnastics Coaching.com 