Casting Call for Kids

CASTING CALL

Here is a link to the Open Auditions for kids to be part of the Opening Ceremonies of the 2015 Pan American Games created by Cirque du Soleil.

https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/open-auditions-for-children-for-the-opening-ceremony-of-the-toronto-2015-pan-am-games-auditions-registration-14707571743?aff=campagneemail

Now's your chance to become a Cirque du Soleil performer (without having to Run Away to join the Circus!)

2nd Ontario Cup Windsor

The 2nd Ontario Cup Tumbling competition will take place at the 

Winstars Gymnastics Training Centre 

(inside the Central Park Athletics building).

  Entre by the east sliding doors.

Address: 

3400 Gran Marais Road East at Central Avenue, 

Windsor, ON, N8W 1W7

Please note that this is the first draft of the schedule.  

It will likely change closer to the date. Updates will be posted here.

Happy Holidays

Inside Halton Article on World Class OGC Tumblers

World Class Tumbler: Michael Chaves

To see a short article on the OGC Tumblers who participated in the 2014 World and World Age Championships in Daytona follow the link:

http://www.insidehalton.com/sports-story/5204136-oakville-tumblers-top-canadians-at-world-and-world-age-group-championships/

Worlds & WAGs 2014 Daytona

Finally getting around to posting some photos from the 2014 World Championships and World Age Group Championships for Trampoline & Tumbling that were held in Daytona Beach, Florida in November. 

Cover of the 2014 World Trampoline & Tumbling Championships program.

The competition venue was beautiful and just a walk away from our hotel.

So strange to see a seahorse as a Christmas decoration.

Our accommodations was right on the beach, had a great pool but ... WIFI... we need WIFI!

Michael Chaves of the OGC was chosen to carry the flag in the opening ceremonies of the 2014 World Trampoline & Tumbling Championships.  This was Michael's first Senior World Championships.  

Here is a shot of our 

2014 Canadian Senior Tumbling Team:

Men: David Findlay (Burlington), Vincent Lavoie (Drummondville, QC), Jon Schwaiger (Burlington), Michael Chaves (Oakville), Bianca Zoonekynd (South Africa)

Women: Jordyn Sugrim (Burlington), Erin Templeton (Calgary), Emily Smith (Burlington)

Michael often forgets he is Canadian and goes to cheer with the and for the Portuguese.

Opening Ceremonies of the 2014 World Age Group Trampoline & Tumbling Championships.

Our Age Group Tumblers of Rylee Davison and Haven Swarts arrived to watch the Finals at the World Championships.  Michael placed 11th by scores but due to the two per country rule in Finals where they take top eight Michael was in the 9th place position and first alternate to go to the finals.  Congratulations to Michael on being the top placing Canadian Male tumbler at his first Worlds. 

Feels great to wear the Team Canada jacket.  

Rylee Davison competed in her first World Age Group Championships in the 8th position.  Here is Rylee and coach Don in the training gym prior to stepping out onto the floor for finals.  Rylee landed a bit short on her final pass remaining in the 8th overall spot.  Congratulations to Rylee on ranking 8th on the planet in the 13/14 Girls Tumbling division.

Haven Swarts moved up to the 15/16 Girls Tumbling division but at only 15 she was at a disadvantage trying to chase the more experienced 16 year olds.  Haven landed her passes putting her in 10th overall at her second World Age Group Championships.  

Riding the walkway in the airport on the way home.  Too many hours in an airport to get from Daytona to Toronto. From hotel to Toronto 15 hours.

The next World Championships will be held in Odense, Denmark in November of 2015.  

Good luck to all of our OGC Tumblers who have dreams of competing there.  Your preparation starts now!

To see all of Don's videos from the World Championships and World Age Group Championships go to his Youtube Channel.  

Follow this link: https://www.youtube.com/user/donaldarchieholmes

December Tumbling Schedule for OGC

Here is the December training schedule for the OGC Tumbling Program.  

Please note that there are lots of changes to the schedule.

Have a happy holiday season.

To see in a larger format click on the image.

1st ON Cup Tumbling DRAFT Schedule

Here is the MOST UP TO DATE schedule for the 

1st Ontario Cup for Tumbling 

(provincial levels only). 

This schedule was circulated Saturday, November 30th.  Most of you received a paper copy on Sunday.  

All tumbling will now be on the Sunday.

The competition venue address is:

The Osborne Academy of Acrobatics

1420 Bayly St,

Pickering, ON

 SUNDAY, DECEMBER 7TH

To see in larger format click on the image.

Sunday, November 30th SCHEDULE CHANGE

Here is the schedule for 

Sunday, November 30th's 

Tumbling Mock Meet 

for Provincial Level Tumblers.

National Tumblers: You will be training from 11:00am to 2:00pm.  You are not part of the Mock Meet as you do not compete until the 2nd Ontario Cup in January.

All regular Provincial Classes are cancelled due to the Mock Meet.  

Don't forget to bring your twoonie to cover the cost of judge's gifts for that day.

If you have any questions please speak with your coach.

Updated Tumbling Event Schedule

Here is the updated 

Tumbling Event Schedule for 2014/2015. 

Please note that the 2nd Ontario Cup 

has changed dates and location.

To see in larger format click on the image.

Good Luck at Worlds and WAGs

To the OGC Power Tumblers heading to the World Championships and World Age Group Championships this week in Daytona, Florida.

Good luck to Michael Chaves who will compete for the Senior Men's Tumbling team.

Good Luck to Haven Swarts who will compete in the World Age Group Championships in the 15/16 Girls Tumbling division.

Good Luck to Rylee Davison who will compete in the 13/14 Girls Tumbling division. 










To get more info on the World Championship and World Age Group Championships check out the ttworlds.com 

November Tumbling Schedule for OGC

To see in larger format click on the image.

Please note that Don will be gone from November 4th to 17th for the World Championships and World Age Group Championships.  The National Group will have Amanda and Daniela as supply coaches assisting Niki during this time.

The OGC Christmas Banquet will be on December 3rd at Rattlesnake Golf Course.

The 1st Ontario Cup for Tumbling will take place December 6th and 7th in Pickering.

2nd ON Cup Change of Date/Location

Please note that the 2nd Ontario Cup for Tumbling has been changed.

The new dates are 

Saturday, January 30th 

and 

Sunday, February 1st, 2015.

The location has changed to the Windsor instead of Ottawa.

Photo-Shoot for OGC Website

Please note that this week the OGC will be taking photos for the OGC Athlete Profiles on website.

Here is the schedule:

Monday, October 27th 

6:00pm Tumbling Interclub group

7:40pm Tumbling Provincial 1 group

Tuesday, October 28th

4:40pm Tumbling Developmental group

8:00pm Tumbling Provincial 1&2 group

Wednesday, October 29th

7:20pm Tumbling Provincial 2,3 & 4 group

7:40pm Tumbling National group

The large group photo will take place on Saturday, November 1st at 4:00pm.

Please wear your OGC leotard, tracksuit jacket or an OGC t-shirt.  If you do not have any of these things please wear a leotard you usually wear or a navy t-shirt if you can.

Week of the Movie Shoot

Here are some scheduling notes for the OGC Tumbling Program for October:

Thanksgiving Weekend: Sunday, October 12th & Monday, October 13th 

there will be No Training for the tumblers.

Movie Week:

Developmental Tumblers: No Training.  Amanda and Daniela will schedule a make up class for one of the classes missed.

Interclub and Provinical 1 groups: We have set one training Monday, October 20th at the Simcoe Gliders Gymnastics Club from 5:30pm to 8:00pm.  Simcoe Gliders is about 1 hour and 15 minutes drive from OGC.  We can try to arrange car pooling.  There will be no other training schedule for Interclub or Provincial 1 that week.

Provincial 1&2: We have set one training for Tuesday, October 21st at Simcoe Gliders Gymnastics Club from 5:30 to 8:00pm.  There will be no other training for the Provincial 1&2 group that week.

Provincial 2,3&4:  We have set one training for Wednesday, October 22nd at the Synergy Gymnastics Club, (formerly Etobicoke Gymnastics ) Etobicoke for 6:00 to 8:30pm.  There will be no other training that week.

National Group: We have set two trainings for you at Simcoe Gliders on Tuesday, October 21st and Thursday, October 23rd from 6:00 to 8:30pm.  There will be no other trainings that week.

Address of the two clubs:

Simcoe Gliders Gymnastics Club Inc

172 South Drive Grandstand,

Simcoe, ON

(under the grandstand seating of the horse racetrack)

Synergy Gymnastics

(Priviously Etobicoke Gymnastics Club)

1186 Martin Grove Road,

Etobicoke, ON

We realize that these two clubs are quite far away.  The problem is that we have a large group of athletes and we cannot take them all to the same place and the other gyms that are closer are quite full.  Simcoe presently has no tumblers and is welcoming us to come and train.  This is where Haven Swarts used to train.  She makes the drive from Port Dover 4 times per week to train tumbling.  We can make the drive a couple times this week, I'm sure.  If you can help with car pooling please let your coaches know.  If you choose to take the week off instead of traveling to these other gyms please let your coaches know so that we can adjust trainings if we need to.  Sorry for the inconvenience.  Thanks for your cooperation.

Family Fun Night Fundraiser Saturday October 4th

2014/2015 Tumbling Program Event Schedule

Here is the first draft of the 2014/2015 Tumbling Program Event Schedule.  

Correction:

Tumblers & Tiaras will actually be on the Saturday, February 7th rather than on Monday, February 9th.

October Tumbling Schedule

Here is the October Tumbling schedule for the Oakville Gymnastics Club's Tumbling program.

Please note that we will be taking the Sunday and Monday off of the Thanksgiving weekend.

We will also take Halloween night off.

During the week of October 19th to 25th the OGC will be hosting a movie shoot.  We are currently working on alternative training locations for that week as the gym will be off limits to training.  We will inform each group of the scheduling changes for that week.  Be aware that we will be traveling to other gyms to train.

Parent Meeting Information 2014 2015 Tumbling Season

Communications from the 2014 September Parent Meeting

Congratulations to all the tumblers who were offered spots in the Oakville Gymnastics Club Tumbling Program for the 2014/2015 season. We do appreciate your dedication, commitment and loyalty towards the tumbling program.

Biographies:
Don Holmes – Co-Head Coach/Co-Director of the Tumbling Program Coaching the National Tumbling group
Niki Lavoie – Co-Head Coach/Co-Director of the Tumbling Program, coaching the National Tumbling group
Amanda George – Coach Developmental, Provincial 1 and Provincial 234 Groups
Daniela Petrova – Coaching the Developmental group, Provincial 1&2 group and the Provincial 234 group
Kiana Ng – Coaching the Interclub group
See the website under Competitive Staff.

The One Year Contract Policy:  As you know the Tumbling program offers your child a space in the program for one year and at the end of each season we do ask all of our athletes to “ReTryout”.  By implementing the ‘Re-Tryout’ and ‘Tryout’ protocols we are not trying to be mean or unsupportive of those athletes that we have been working with and developing over the previous year (or years). Our program is a competitive program with a limited number of spaces. We are simply trying to ensure that those athletes who are the most deserving of a spot on the team are receiving those spots. If at some point we do ask your child to leave the program this may be thought of as a good thing allowing the athlete the opportunity to explore other sports where he/she may be more suited physically, mentally or socially. Also, at that time we may invite them to try an alternative gymnastics discipline or program in the gym as we do believe that GYMNASTICS IS FOR ALL and we wish to keep everyone in the gym in some capacity.  We need to weigh Competitive Wants vs Recreational Needs.

Summer Attendance: During the summer session we expect 50% attendance as a minimum. We would prefer that your child attends 100% of their scheduled classes but we understand summer schedules are far more diverse and we would hope that kids take the time to enjoy summer camps, weeks at the cottage and time with family. Please send an e-mail to your athlete’s coach with the dates that your child will not be at tumbling. Low attendance in some groups on specific weeks may allow us to accommodate other athletes who have summer training conflicts and permit them to make the minimum number of training hours.

Fall/Winter/Spring Attendance: During the school year we expect 80% attendance as a minimum. Obviously the less your athlete trains the less they will progress and the less they will be prepared for competition. It is in your best interest to have your athlete at the gym as much as possible.

Violation of Attendance Minimums and Removal from the Program: We cannot hold spots for athletes who do not attend the program. If you have schedule conflicts that will prevent your athlete from reaching the minimum attendance requirement but wish to remain as part of the tumbling program please e-mail the Tumbling Program Directors outlining your situation.

OGC Code of Conduct:  We have created a specific code of conduct for our athletes.  This Code of Conduct document is mostly for athletes when they are traveling with coaches separate from parents.  As we travel to competitions you will see this document and if you have any concerns with it at that time we can address them then.

Schedules: Summer Schedules and Fall/Winter/Spring schedules have been distributed. We understand the logistical difficulties that families encounter by receiving these schedules in June as summer camp registration and vacations need to be booked several months in advance. Please note that we create our schedule with careful consideration. We realize that there will be conflicts and we have outlined how we are attempting to provide concessions for these conflicts.  Also note that due to the ever evolving space usage of the gym we may find it necessary to change a scheduled class temporarily or permanently depending on the situation.  We cannot foresee these situations but we will try to provide you with as much notice as possible prior to changes.

Tumbling Program Weeks Off during the Summer: Note that these change each year as we need to address the competition schedule that is also, ever changing.  We will try to let you know well in advance so that you can plan vacations/camps/etc.  Tentatively we plan to take a week in July in 2015 and the last week of August.  We will post the definitive weeks off in April or May via the blog.

Active Rest: During the rest periods we expect athletes to remain active. We give the tumblers a checklist of activities to do during their off time in order to keep them fit.

Nutrition: We will post some nutrition information on the blog at some point to assist you with meal planning for effective trainings and competitions so keep your eye on the blog.

Water Bottles Tumblers ONLY:  Tumblers are permitted to bring water bottles into the gym and store them in a box under the tumbling bulletin board so that athletes do not have to cross the gym to get to the water fountains.  Only OGC Tumblers will be permitted this.  Please send your child with a reusable water bottle for all trainings.

Viewing Area Closure: During the summer months and on some holidays the viewing area may be closed in the evening.  On these days there will be no parent viewing. Your child will be let in at the sliding glass doors at the front of the club and be ushered out at the end of their session. When the viewing area is closed no one is permitted in the gym lobby for safety and liability reasons. Our apologies for the inconvenience that this might cause.  If there is an emergency and you need to contact us inside the gym we ask that you bang on the back door of the gym to try and get our attention.  There is usually someone standing in that corner by the trampolines preparing to take a turn so we will here you knocking.

Individual Parent Meetings: We offer individual parent meetings as we or you feel they are necessary. If you have individual questions that pertain to your specific situation we ask that you not address these in a public forum but leave it to an e-mail or individual meeting.  We will be doing Progress reports with all tumblers and their families in December, March and May (just around the ReTryout time).

Chain of Command:  Speak to your child’s coach(es) directly for anything you may have questions about.  Then you may speak to Don and Niki.  If we are not able to help you then you can speak to Wayne Hussey the COO of Oakville Gymnastics Club.  If you have a question about an event/competition DO NOT contact Gymnastics Ontario directly.  DO NOT contact the host club of an event directly.  If you have a question address it through the coach(es) and we will ask GO or the event host for you as your question is likely one that other’s have.

Sponsorship: Athletes are able to search for sponsors to offset the costs of training and competitions. The OGC has created a sponsorship package for all competitive athletes. Please enquire if you are interested in sponsorship.

Fundraisers: We do two fundraisers that we try to keep easy and simple.  We will be sending out information on the Family Fun Night.  Details about other fundraisers will be posted as the events take place.

Event and Competition Schedule:  See separate post on the blog.

Competitive Structure Provincial and National – See attachment, previous post. 

The Competitions.
Competition Schedules:  A tumbling competition usually last 2 days.  The athletes usually need to be there for only half a day as the awards for their flight tend to run within 1 to 3 hours of the tumbler’s final tumbling run.  The schedule for the weekend of competition usually comes out the week prior to a competition.  We will post the competition on the blog as soon as we have received it and will provide the address of the event as well so that you can use your GPS to locate the competition venue.

National Tumblers: Need to attend an international meet at some point in order to qualify to the Canadian National Team.  We will speak directly to those who individuals who this pertains to.

Travel competitions:  It is possible that we may attend a competition outside of Ontario.  Any competitions that are not Gymnastics Ontario qualification competitions, Ontario Championships or Canadian Championships the costs for the coaches to attend will be cost shared over the athletes that attend the competition.  Registration fees for Ontario qualifiers are included in your OGC fees.  Registration fees for all other competitions will need to be paid at the time of the competition.

Competitive Wear:  We change our competitive singlet and shorts/leotard every two years.  More information will be coming very soon about this.   Tracksuits will remain the same this year.  National Tumblers must buy the tracksuit jacket.  Purchasing the tracksuit pants is optional but please show up to competitions with pants on.  Provincial and Developmental Tumblers the Tracksuit is optional as we do not use the tracksuit for “March In” or “Awards” ceremonies at competitions. There is a possibility for swapping or purchasing a lightly used tracksuit from another athlete.  Information will be distributed via e-mail regarding a Swap or Exchange Day.

OGC Tumbling T-shirts:  Will be available on the clothing racks in the OGC lobby.

OGC Optional Apparel:  We plan to make some hooded sweatshirts, sweat pants and other OGC apparel available for purchase this fall as well stay tuned to the blog for more information on these items.

Therapy Clinic:  The Glen Abby Massage Therapy and Sports Injury Therapy Clinic located inside of the OGC is open to all.  It is not restricted to the athletes of the OGC.  All Oakville Community members are welcome to use the OGC clinic.   

Sport Psych:  We have a new therapist working in the clinic who deals with Sport Psychology.  Her name is Sarah Dybka and was herself a power tumbler coached by Don and Niki.  She is available for one on one sessions and will be starting regular additional work with the OGC National tumbling group in order to give them the competitive psychological edge in the 2013/2014 season.

Car Pooling:  If you are looking for Car Pooling options please create a simple classified advertisement and email it to Don.  Please include your Name, closest intersection or school for pick up location, your phone number or email address.  Don will then distribute this advertisement to the athletes in your child’s group or if you wish, to the greater competitive gymnastics community within the OGC.  

Any Financial questions please direct to Agnes Jankura in the main office.

Check your e-mails regularly for OGC info.

READ THE BLOG REGULARLY: It is VERY IMPORTANT that YOU keep up-to-date on the blog. It is the online bulletin board for our program. Everything is archived there so you can go back and pull any information that you might need. http://ogctumblingprogram.blogspot.com/


Questions?

Any questions can be directed to:
Don Holmes dholmes_tumbling@homail.com 
Niki Lavoie niki_rowland@yahoo.com
Amanda George wildcatsamandag@hotmail.com
Daniela Petrova dany_ip@yahoo.com
Kiana Ng kiana_ng@hotmail.com