gymnastics coach on trial in Scotland

I don’t link to many of these stories. But this one is big in the news in Scotland right now. A man is charged with abusing 14 girls and one boy over 22-years.

… A Scottish gymnastics coach accused of sexual assault has told a trial he did not behave inappropriately to the young female gymnasts he taught. …

BBC – Gymnastic coach sex charge denial

Most of these stories come out of North America, it seems.

coach Bruce Blake joins NASA

coach John Smith
coach John Smith

Bruce Blake, a national level gymnastics coach, has joined the award-winning coaching staff at the North American Sports Academy in Gig Harbor.

Blake will join forces with directors Linda and John Smith at NASA Gymnastics to round out an accomplished staff.

Gateway – Experienced coach joins NASA Gymnastics staff

Congratulations, Bruce. Great gym. Great Staff.

Beautiful part of the world. Gig Harbour, Washington State.

ectomorph v mesomorph gymnasts

There’s an interesting thread on the International Gymnast forum:

do you think there’s a pattern between a gymnasts peak age, and their body type?

The discussion is around whether ectomorphs (e.g. Nastia) can continue in Women’s Artistic Gymnastics longer than mesomorphs (e.g Shawn Johnson).

There’s no research to back this up. But my gut tells me yes. I think it’s true.

… and I can’t believe we are still talking about whether Shawn Johnson will make a comeback. How many months does she have to be off training before fans concede.

Nastia
Nastia

video tribute for gymnast Benoît Caranobe

Past Olympic gymnast for France, Frederick Nicolas, now with Cirque du Soleil, linked to an excellent edit.

This is my tribute to Benoît Caranobe, 2008 Bronze Medalist in the Men’s Individual All-Around at the Beijing Olympic Games. Exactly one year ago from the post of this video, Benoît became the first Frenchman in 88 years to stand on the olympic podium for this sport. I made this video to commemorate his achievement in the Men’s All-Around, as well as to thank him for his inspiration.
—–
C’est mon hommage à Benoît Caranobe, la personne qui a gagné la médaille de bronze au JO Pékin 2008. Il y a exactement un an de la date que j’ai téléchargé ce clip sur YouTube, Benoît est devenu le premier homme français sur le podium du concours général depuis 88 ans. J’ai fait le montage de ce clip pour rendre hommage à son succès au concours général et pour le remercier de son inspiration ! …

Song : “Beautiful is Gone” by The Ruse

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

It strikes me that there are tens of thousands of these videos for female gymnasts. But very few for the men.

party for Francis Allen tonight

Friday night at Embassy Suites in downtown Lincoln, where Husker gymnastics alumni and friends from across the country will gather to roast a man who’s highly regarded for both his technical skill as a coach and his entertaining personality.

Francis has a way of making people smile. He’s an original.

francis-allen

“You could also say he’s a pioneer, the father of gymnastics in the state of Nebraska,” Nebraska women’s coach Dan Kendig said. “Francis started the first age group program in Lincoln. He was the Husker men’s coach for four decades, but he was gymnastics, period. I sometimes thought he went to bat more for our women’s team than his own team.

“He was there to see great gymnastics, period.”

The 67-year-old Allen said Monday he’s having no second thoughts about retiring. He grew frustrated and weary pouring over line-item budgets for his program. It was getting ridiculous, he said.

He plans to spend more time coaching at his Nebraska School of Gymnastics, as well as continuing to make leather grips for gymnasts. In fact, Allen has preliminary plans to manufacture his specialized grips at a factory in Norman, Okla.

Who knew Allen made grips for former Olympic greats Mary Lou Retton and Shannon Miller, among others? …

Lincoln Journal Star

Thanks Francis, for all your many years of contribution.

Parkour in the Backyard

When you see free running / parkour highlight videos on YouTube, it often looks like the sequence is done ad-lib.

Fact is, to survive, free runners must train. Carefully.

Increasingly the training resembles gymnastics training. Here bigboobspecial practices on the frame of his trampoline.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

(via FlipCatch)

gloves for bar safety straps

As a follow up from our post gymnastics bar safety straps

From Evelyn in Ireland:

We use the exfoliating gloves that you can usually buy in any normal chemist/supermarket/drugstore. They work perfect. They are a bit rougher than normal woolen gloves to give more grip. They are inexpensive and the kids can buy them in a variety of different colours which keeps them happy!!

safety-strap-gloves

🙂

Kyle Shewfelt – KidSport PSA

The 2004 Olympic Floor Champion did a nice Public Service Announcement on TV featuring gymnasts from his original club, Altadore.

Click to watch it.

Kidsport_LogoKidSport Mission:

We believe that no kid should be left on the sidelines and all should be given the opportunity to experience the positive benefits of organized sports. KidSport provides support to children in order to remove financial barriers that prevent them from playing organized sport.

We do this by:

Raising funds in the community to pay registration fees for KidSportâ„¢ kids to participate in sport programs.
Gathering used equipment for KidSportâ„¢ kids to use in sport programs.

Advocating the value and benefit of kids playing sports in the pursuit of lifelong health and wellness.

Raising funds in the community to pay registration fees for KidSportâ„¢ kids to participate in sport programs.

We believe that through participation in organized sport activities, kids learn the values of:

  • Co-operation
  • Team play and friendship
  • Commitment to goals
  • Personal excellence
  • Healthy competition
  • Self-esteem