Gymnastics Coaching.com

I just attended an impressive gymnastics coach / athlete camp organized by Gymnastics Alberta. Women’s Technical Committee organizer Valerie Oudin was pleased with the turn-out.

It seemed everyone I spoke with at the camp agreed that the only way to move forward with coaching is for coaches to own the gym. In Canada we call this the “American model”. (Most Canadian clubs are parent-controlled, non-profit societies to avoid paying business tax.)

Though it is difficult for a business to compete against a non-profit club in terms of fees, it is possible. In fact, Valerie and her husband Michel Arsenault set up Champions Gymnastics in Edmonton. Within about a year they were already turning a profit.

They offer consulting for coaches who want to do the same thing:

Start Your Own Gym …

BUSINESS PLAN Template (Full template pro-forma financial forecast))

OPERATIONAL POLICIES Templates (29 policies)

REPORT CARDS & LESSON PLANS & TESTING SHEETS (For Parent-Tot; Pre-school; Recreational

Badge programs Templates

PROGRAM & ADMINISTRATIVE Templates (Approx. 80 forms)

NON-PROFIT CLUB BY-LAWS Template

Consulting work thereafter

Champions Gymnastics Inc. – Edmonton- Alberta- Gymnastics Club

Leave a comment below if you know of others offering help for aspiring coach / owners.

Known as the Alexis Brothers – Marco and Paulo Lorador have a slow motion pairs balancing act that has astonished audiences for decades. Many have tried to duplicate it. The brothers are currently with Cirque du Soleil’s Mystère in Vegas.

old video clip on YouTube – Saltimbanco

We come from Portugal but we grew up mostly in countries like Italy, Spain and France. We traveled with our parents thru Europe working in small circus. At a young age, we were fortunate to travel thru Europe and by the time we were 14 and 16 years old, we got to see all of Europe and won great awards for our performances in the biggest festival in the world. We were very lucky to be able to see and learn all the different cultures and languages. We first came in United States in 1983 to work for Ringling Brothers. It’s been now over 15 years that we work in the States and we are currently working with Cirque du Soleil since 1992.

On a more personal subject we both like sports, all kind of sports. The only sport that we still do is soccer. We both like to train in the gym and keep in good shape since it’s a very important part of our show. We speak currently 6 languages such as French, Spanish, English, Russian, Italian and of course, Portuguese. People always ask us what is our favorite country or city we have worked. It is hard to say each country is beautiful in it’s own way, but I have to say that one of the best audience we have is in the Unites States. They seem to be louder and they are not afraid to show it.

As for injuries, we had a few but not too threatening for our act. That is why we keep going at the gym regularly. Not only to improve our look but to keep the injuries as minimum as possible. When you do so many shows a year, you need to constantly maintain your body and your mind in good health.

official website – Alexis Brothers – About Us

Check their photos and videos.

I first heard this from Dr. Bill Sands. His recommendation came from research at the University of Utah.

I now drink chocolate milk myself after strenuous exercise.

But this was great news for coaches and parents of young athletes who can be very picky about what they eat and drink.

…the study by the scientists from Indiana University was supported in part by the Dairy and Nutrition Council. …

The small group of fit athletes who took part in the study were asked to work out strenuously on a stationery bicycle, then drink low-fat chocolate milk, a fluid-replacement drink like Gatorade and a carbohydrate replacement drink like Endurox R4. A few hours later, they were asked to cycle again until they reached exhaustion.

The test was repeated three times — once with each kind of drink — and the data showed that the cyclists were able to go between 49 and 54 percent longer on the second stint after drinking chocolate milk than when they drank the carbohydrate drink. The difference between the milk and the fluid-replacement drink was not significant. …

The milk folks tout their product as a less-costly and healthier alternative to the more traditional energy drinks.

Study: Chocolate milk good for athletes

Chocolate Milk: The New Sports Drink? – CBS

I never saw this one before.

This ice making machine at Calgary Gymnastics Centre is perfect.

It’s positioned centrally inside the gym. Any athlete or coach has quick and easy access. Fill your own (double) plastic bag in case of inflammation or injury.

Compact Ice Maker

After speaking with one of the judges, Ray Heiderich, I went back to review the finals on YouTube.

The quality of the video is surprisingly good.

FIG still has the regulations wrong on the most spectacular men’s event. Everyone wants multiple release skills in series (like Nemov and Paul Hamm). But what we got at Worlds was mostly complex pirouettes — difficult to evaluate. And not exciting for the general public.

I was impressed with Vlasios Maras from Greece. His Pegan (double front over the bar with 1/2 twist) was the best I’ve ever seen. (And Pegan himself was in the final.) Click PLAY or watch the video on YouTube.

Compare his routine with:

video – Aljaz Pegan, Slovakia

video – Philippe Rizzo, Australia (gold medal – superb Tak 1/2, immediate Def)

The clips narrated by Tim Daggett and Blaine Wilson come from the fantastic WCSN.com World’s coverage, only $4.95 for everything.

Just got the final line-up of my presentations in Victoria, Australia, Jan. 11-14, 2007.

I am one of the guest coaches at the huge Leaps and Bounds coach and judge education conference.

All levels of coaches will attend though most sessions are directed towards recreation and developmental gymnastics. I am really looking forward to it.

Now — why don’t we have huge coaching conferences like this in Canada?

Wonderful photo.

(I’m trying to clear my depressed brain right now with this uplifting image.)

No matter how good your pit, check frequently that there is no way to get through to the floor.

This is a terrible accident.

… a 27-year-old gymnastics instructor died from injuries he suffered in a freak accident at a Marlboro gym, authorities said.

McCurdy died early Wednesday from injuries he suffered Tuesday night while trying to perform a move called the Quad Front Flip, police said.

Police said all safety procedures were followed at the Jonas Gymnastics Academy on Commercial Court, and it also appears that the flip was within McCurdy’s capabilities, but the flip went horribly wrong Tuesday night.

“It appears this was a tragic accident,” said Detective Sgt. Paul Reed.

On Tuesday night, members of an adult team were training at the gymnastics academy. McCurdy, formerly of Mount Joy in Pennsylvania’s Lancaster County, was a part-time instructor there. He was not working on Tuesday; he was practicing, but was not a member of that team, police said.

In a Quad Front Flip, gymnasts run, jump onto a trampoline, then do four somersaults in the air before landing on their feet, police said.

A roughly 6-foot-deep foam pit is in place for gymnasts who do not land properly. The bottom of the pit is lined with pieces of foam padding, about a foot thick, and on top of those pieces of foam are more foam cubes piled about 5 feet high, police said.

But when McCurdy tried the move, he only did about three somersaults, Reed said.

The instructor was still in the tuck position when he flew headfirst into the pit, and landed in between the pieces of padding, police said. He struck his head on the concrete floor, said Reed.

Gymnastics flip ends in death | Home News Tribune Online

A death like this makes us all feel our own mortality.

Coach Mack, posted a tribute video to his good friend Jon on MySpace. Watching the video you get to know Jon as a gymnast, rock climber, poet. A wonderful guy.

This is just tragic.

First up is 2007 European Artistic Gymnastics Individual Championships

Then 2010 Worlds in Rotterdam October 17-24.

FIG obviously has faith in the Dutch organizers.