Go Team GO!

Good luck to all of the tumblers competing this weekend in Sudbury.

This qualifier will decide who will be attending the Provincial Championships and Eastern Canadian Championships.

April Schedule 1st Draft

Here is the 1st Draft of the April Schedule. Please note that there is a strong possibility that some of the dates and times will change. I will continue to post updates here on the blog. Please try to pay attention so that you do not miss a class or show up when we have had to make alternate arrangements.

Thanks!

Additional & Daytime Training Next Season

Yes, we are in the process of changing the tumbling program slightly.

As some of you may know there is already an additional training on Monday nights for a few athletes who were specifically invited to participate.

For next year we are increasing these additional hours for some to include a day training.

I understand the question then comes to mind: How do you get selected to be part of these additional training groups?

Several criteria are looked at:

1) Potential & Talent: As long time coaches we feel that we are fairly strong judges of natural talent and ability. We can see after a short period of time who has the right combination of physical abilities to attain a high level of proficiency in tumbling.

2) Fear & Mental Fortitude: Tumbling can sometimes present itself as 'scary' to the athlete. An athlete's ability to deal with challenging new skills and frustration is pivotal to their ability to progress quickly.

3) Work Ethic & Passion: Some athletes come to the sport very serious, passionate and ready to put in 110% every training. As well some have chosen to dedicate their athletic careers to tumbling only.

4) Ability to Compete: Some athletes naturally perform well under the stress of competition. They thrive or are simply calm while competing.

So if you have not been chosen to be part of these additional trainings there are several possible reasons why. Please note that your athlete may not possess all of the criteria, some may lose these abilities, some may gain them at a later stage.

Each athlete in the program has been evaluated individually throughout the season and at this time those athletes who have been invited are those that we feel would most benefit from these additional trainings.

Please note that your child may be selected in the future but not being selected at this time does not diminish the fact that your child was selected to join the program because they are themselves talented and interested in tumbling.

Please remember that the tumbling program is a competitive program. The athletes are continuously being evaluated. If you wish for your athlete to get ahead and be invited my suggestion is to support them as best you can, provide them with encouragement and positive reinforcement. If this is something they wish to excel at and that they are meant to excel at they will.

If you have concerns or questions feel free to address them to myself, Don, at dholmes_tumbling@hotmail.com

Julianne Who?

Just wanted to introduce everyone to Julianne. She is our interim Developmental tumbling coach taking care of the Developmental 3 tumblers. Congratulations to Julianne's ladies at the Canuck Cup.

I am slowing getting around to posting some pictures from the past few competitions. Things have been pretty busy.

Sunday March 30th

Julianne's Developmental Group 3 is the only group that will have training this Sunday, March 30th.

All other groups do not have training. Regular classes will resume on Monday, March 31st.

I will have a complete April Schedule up on the blog later today.

Friday March 28th

Just a reminder that there is no training this Friday, March 28th due to the 3rd Ontario Cup in Sudbury.

NO TRAINING FRIDAY MARCH 28TH

Sunday, March 16th NO TRAINING

Note that there is no training on Sunday, March 16th as all the coaching staff will be at the Canuck Cup.

Please keep up with the March schedule that was posted at the end of February here on the blog.

There are some changes next week as well as it will be the Easter Weekend. Stay tuned.

Canuck Cup Schedule

Here is the schedule and the directions to the Canuck Cup. The address of the Futures Gymnastics Club is 6991 Millcreek Drive, Unit 8, Mississauga (not the Laird location).

See you all there. If you do not have your suit Niki and I will bring what we have received with us to the competition. Please make sure that if you have not received your suit to bring an alternate bodysuit of some sort to the competition just in case.

National Training Cancelled

March 4th

SNOW CANCELLATION

National Tumbling Cancelled due to the impending snow storm. We will make up the class from 7:00 to 9:00pm tomorrow March 5th.

Niki's Provincial DC group will train as per regular.

Don's Developmental 2 group will train as per regular.

Sorry about the short notice. It was an iffy call but we do not want to have to drive home in the worst of it again like the last two major storms.

Thanks for your understanding.

For those of you attending Ontario Winter Games either practise your passes on your beds or visualize. Option 2 might be better.

NEW COACH Julianne Birch

I just wanted to introduce Julianne who starts coaching today.

Julianne has been in and around gymnastics for a long time. Longer than I have actually.

Julianne is a full-time mom and a part-time teacher's college student. Needless to say Julianne knows how to effectively manager her time and multi-task.

She is a Level 2 certified Gymnastics and Trampoline Coach. She has coached at several other gyms in the past and was the Gymnastics Ontario Trampoline and Tumbling Program Manager from 2002 to 2004.

We look forward to having Julianne work with our Developmental 3 Tumbling group for the next while.

Thank you to Julianne for helping us out and we would like to welcome her aboard.

All the best Julianne!

MARCH SCHEDULE REVISED

Hopefully I have it all right this time. Note that the schedule could still change so keep checking the blog for updates.

Thanks for your diligence.