Gymnastics Coaching.com

An inspiring article on the former University of Minnesota great who will be trying out of the US Olympic Team at VISA Championships.

Olympic spotlight: Former Minnesota Gophers gymnast Guillermo Alvarez. Ex-Gophers gymnast eyes Olympic berth to show other Hispanics they can dream big.

Since graduating summa cum laude as a psychology major in 2005, Alvarez has mostly shelved his aspirations of an advanced degree and focused on his longtime Olympic dream.

The nation’s top collegiate senior gymnast in 2005, the former Gopher doesn’t drive a luxury vehicle. He doesn’t live in a tony downtown loft. And, despite training full time the past three years, Alvarez isn’t assured of a spot on the medal-contending U.S. men’s Olympic gymnastics team.
…

“I’ve been lucky to grow up in this country and to actually have the opportunity to train in this sport, because that’s something my father and his family didn’t have.

“The work they did paid off to give me the life that I have now.”

His father, Amando, emigrated with his parents and five siblings from Rio Verde, Mexico, in the 1950s, and they endured potato fields and labor camps in Idaho to fulfill their American dream.

“It’s pretty important just to have the face out here, especially now that immigration is such a big issue and there’s so much negative publicity about it,” Alvarez said of his Mexican roots. “To be able to show that, ‘Hey, I came from that.’ I want to give back, so other kids who don’t grow up in the richest neighborhoods can aspire to similar things.” …

read more …TwinCities.com

Alvarez is actually eligible to compete for Mexico. But would prefer to qualify for the American team.

UPDATE: Talked to him. He’s not eligible to compete for Mexico. Lesson learned: Can’t believe everything I see on the internet.

One of the best of many good things about Australia is that Aussies value sport. That’s how they became one of the most successful sporting nations in the world, per capita.

Down Under you can purchase for your kids …

Personalised Growth Charts
Personalised Birthday Cards
Personalised Special Occasion Cards
Personalised My Heroes Post-e-cards DVD’s
… more

… with an autographed photo of a sports star.

For example:

details – My Heroes

International Aussie gymnasts are available too.

Nice.

(via Australia Gymnastics Blog)

Some of the most original, most interesting photos I’ve seen this year were shot by Kelly Lambert.

This one is from her NCAA 2008 Championships “Practice Set”.

see more – flickr collections – Kelly Lambert

Gymnastics British Columbia has an interesting pilot scheduled. And check the price:

ACRiX Instructor Training Course

ACRiX Program Description:

The new ACRiX Program (Applied Circus: Radically Extreme), falling under the Youth CanMove initiative, aims to get youth more active in the sport of gymnastics.

ACRiX merges Circus Arts and Gymnastics into seasonal programs that can be put into place within schools, community centers, gymnastics clubs and neighbourhood houses. The goal of this program is to provide unique opportunities to disadvantaged youth and to offer sustainability in the program by training the youth in the classes to become ACRiX and gymnastics instructors.

Some of the skills presented within the program include acrobalancing, juggling and object manipulation, with equipment such as balls, rings, clubs, flowersticks and diabolos.

… This one day certification course

Date: Sunday, July 6 , 2008
Time: 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Where: Vancouver Phoenix Gymnastics
Conductor: Aaron Johnson and the Vancouver Circus School
Cost: Free !!*

They’ve found a way to make gymnastics training COOL. (add the words “extreme” and “circus”)

More information on the Gymnastics B.C. e-Xtra newsletter.

ACRiX has been added this year to the BC Coaching Intensive workshops:

Related post: great idea – Gymnastics Intensive (2007)

Recall this athlete had been banned from the Olympics by the IAAF.

In a landmark ruling by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, South African athlete Oscar Pistorius – nicknamed ‘Bladerunner’ after the carbon-fibre prosthetics he uses in place of his amputated lower legs – has won the right to compete against able-bodied athletes, and plans to represent his country at either the Beijing Olympics or the later London event. …

Futurismic

In an era where we are demonizing “cheating” by performance enhancing drugs, this is a very interesting development.

Here’s a totally believable movie trailer based on the Cirque du Soleil show Ka’ in Las Vegas.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Twin Brother- Orlando Bloom
Twin Sister- Miranda Otto
Chef Archer’s Daughter- Keira Knightley
Chef Archer- Chow Yun Fat
Counselor’s Son- Tom Hardy Twin Brother’s Guardian- Djimon Hounsou
Forest Prince- Rudy Youngblood

I’d LOVE to see this film. Sadly, it’s only real in the creative mind’s eye of editor masongoliver.

I’ll say that again. There is no movie version of Ka’. This is a fake trailer.

I normally don’t post online Forum rumours. But this one looks to be true.

Shavahn Church is retiring (quelle surprise), Aisha Gerber will be taking her scholarship this autumn at UCLA. …

College Gymnastics Board

The girls are even better than I expected. And there are so many talented girls. Hundreds.

I followed “the babies”, the youngest competitors.

Beam
Good tumbling, in general. Backward layout 2 1/2 twists were not uncommon. Most girls stayed on the apparatus.

Vault
Younger Level 10s showed layout Yurchenko or Handspring front, minimum. I was shocked at how many tiny kids were able to do good Yurchenko 1/1. (I wouldn’t believe 50lb kids have enough mass to deflect the beat board.)

Floor
The top gymnasts showed two double somersaults. Most often double pike and double tuck. There were very few double Arabians from the younger girls.

results Level 10 – Junior A
results Level 10 – Senior A

Patrick Carmichael from Island Gymnastics Academy sent in some photo of their new P.Boards. A local woodworker named Paul Bagoloe made them from sturdy Maple. Pat likes them:

“He actually molded the shape of a real PBar out of metal and attached it to a steel plate. They ran around $1000!”

These are an essential training aid. If you’re not sure what P.Boards are used for, check this related post: gymnastics – flat parallel bars

More than 400 elite female gymnasts from across the country will compete in the 2008 Women’s Junior Olympic Level 10 Championships at the Silver Spurs Arena on Saturday and Sunday.

To qualify, gymnasts must first have won state and regional championships …

Gymnasts in the Level 10 Championships are divided into eight age groups and are generally from (10) to 19 years old …

Competitors who place in the top 10 at the Kissimmee event will earn medals and the chance to become National Team members. …

Orlando Sentinel

photography at the meet by Timeless Images