2009 Fall Newsletter

Bids Needed

The following Region 8 USA Gymnastics events are open for bid:

            Regional Team Training Camp                        July 23-25, 2010

            National Team Training Camp                        September 10-12, 2010

            Level 8, 9 & 10 Training Camp                         October 8-10, 2010

            Level 9 & 10 Regionals                                    April 14-17, 2011

            PREP Optional Regionals                                    April 28 – May 1, 2011

Please use Training camp bid form and/or Regional competition bid form to bid.

Bids needed by 12/11/09 for Region 8 Committee meeting 12/18/09.

Region 8 USA Gymnastics Hall of Fame

Help!  We need nominations for 2010 Region 8 USA Gymnastics Hall of Fame.  Below please find Criteria, list of present Hall of Fame members and link to nomination form.

Below are listed the members of the Region 8 USA Gymnastics Hall of Fame:

Class of 2007                          Class of 2008                                    Class of 2009

Lenette Calvin                        Wendy Bruce                                    D D Breaux           

Evelyn Chandler                     Michelle Campi                                Tom Cook           

Delene Darst                           Kim Chase                                        Robert Dillard

Mary Lou Dillard                    Lucy Weiner Fox                             Brad  Harris

Marian Dykes                          Joan Gnat                                         Jeff  LaFleur

Ray Gnat                                 Brandy Johnson                                D J Milem

Muriel Grossfeld                     Kathy Johnson                                  Johnny Moyal

Wilma Guy                             Dominique Moceanu                        Sarah Patterson

Tim Keckler                           Carly Patterson                                  Dan Thaxton

Debby Kornegay                    Chelle Stack                                      Jeff Wood

James Linderholm                  Morgan White                                  Suzanne Yoculan

Rene Niccollai                        Kerry Englert Zimmer

Hoylene Noble

Paul Padron

Sheila Ragle

Tim Rand

Toni Rand

Elaine Wulf

Please use Hall of Fame Nomination Form to nominate your choice for 2010.

Region 8 Hall of Fame Criteria for Selection

 Purpose

The purpose of the Region 8 Gymnastics Hall of Fame is to recognize outstanding Regional gymnasts, coaches, officials and other people who have made a major contribution to the gymnastics tradition of Region 8.  In honoring recipients worthy of this recognition, the inductees should have possessed lifestyles which identify each as a positive role model for the youth of our community in addition to excelling in the particular endeavors.

Nomination

The Region 8 Committee should nominate and elect inductees through a balloting process using an application form that, among other items, provides for a biographical sketch of each nominee.  This process is complete when the number of candidates determined originally by the Committee has been selected.  The number inducted will reviewed annually.  For nomination to the Hall of Fame, a quorum of at least 80% of the Region 8 Committee must be in attendance, and the candidate must receive a minimum of 75% of the votes.  Voting will be secret ballot.

 The prospective inductee:

    * Must be at least 25 years of age

    * Must be a current or past athlete, coach, official trainer or other person who has made exceptional contributions to Region 8 gymnastics and who has lived a lifestyle as a positive role model.

    * Will be evaluated on accomplishments while in Region 8 or accomplishments since becoming a resident of Region 8

 In addition, inductees must have met one of the following criteria:

    * A native of Region 8

    * Competed at a gym in Region 8

    * Live in Region 8 sufficient length of time to be considered a resident.

Region 8 Rules and Regulations

Please find an updated version of Region 8 USA Gymnastics Rules and Regulations.  Rules and Regulations is a compilation of Region 8 Committee minutes.

Bids Awards

The following bids have been awarded for 2010 and 2011.

2010 PREP Optional Regionals have been awarded to Southeastern Gymnastics to be held in Cabarrus Arena in Concord, NC on April 22-25, 2010.

2011 Level 7 & 8 Regional have been awarded to Georgia All Star Gymnastics to be held at Kell High School in Marietta, GA on April 8-10, 2011.

SACC Elections

State Chairman will be held in 2010.  Nominations will be called for in January.  Look for nomination forms online in January.

National Award

Congratulations to Marian Dykes for receiving a 30 year service award at USAG National Congress.  Region 8 thanks Marian for her 30 years of volunteer service.

Thank you!!!

A big THANK YOU to the following gyms for doing a great job hosting Region 8 USA Gymnastics training camps in 2009:

            Tampa Bay Turners                        Regional Team Training Camp

            Orlando Metro                        National Team Training Camp

            Gymnastix                                    Level 8, 9 & 10 Training Camp

Technical Notes

As a new optional season starts, coaches and judges should continue to use the guidelines that were presented in the summer clinics and judging courses.  The USAG Women’s Technical Committee and the Junior Olympic Committee place a strong emphasis on excellence of execution.   Deductions at all competitions should follow this principle.  There are several updates and changes I would like to remind you of:

Q&A- There is a question and answers section on the regional web page under the technical section.   Questions can be submitted on line.  Answers will be available on this site for all to see.  This should help keep us all on the same wave length in this busy year with all of the new rules.  You can access this Question and Answer at Q & A.

There is also a specific place to submit Prep Opt Questions and Answers.  You can found that at PREP Opt Q & A.

Judges’ Accreditation - Clarifications regarding procedures:

-    All past ratings are valid through the end of December 31, 2009

-     Judge’s must have tested and received a new rating by December 31, 2009 in order to judge in 2010.  Remember to plan ahead.  The assignor may have to set a date earlier than December 31 in order to obtain a replacement judge.

-    Former judges who have no current rating may start testing again at the level they previously held.

-    Judges who hold a current foreign Brevet and are now living in the U.S. will be required to submit documentation of their Brevet and attend a Level 10 Optional judging/rules clinic prior to being assigned to a Jr. Olympic meet. A person who held a foreign Brevet in the past, but does not hold a current Brevet rating, may begin testing at Level 10.

-    All Optional-rated officials must test at Level 5/6 in order to judge at the Compulsory levels.

-    CPE deficient: If there is a need to assign a judge who has not completed their CPE, the assignor must inform the meet referee, so that the specific judge’s fee will be reduced by $5.00 per hour as per the Rules and Policies, page 66, A. 9. c.2).

-    When hosting a clinic, it is the clinic organizer’s responsibility to have staff available, in addition to the clinician, to sign the CPE forms. Reminder that for multi-track clinics (like Regional Congress), only sessions that pertain to coaching and/or judging of competitive gymnastics can be used for CPE hours. It was suggested to designate the CPE-eligible sessions by an asterisk and to title the judging/coaching tracks as Women’s Artistic, rather than judges/coaches.

Petitions - In order to petition to the Level 9 or 10 Regional Championships, the coach must provide a photocopy of a least one pre-state meet score from the current season (at the level to which the gymnast is petitioning) indicating that she has achieved an All-Around score that is a minimum of 35.00 AA.  If the gymnast competed in the previous year’s Regional, East/West or National meet, she may submit that All-Around score, provided that it is a minimum of 35.00 AA and is also at the level to which the gymnast is petitioning.

Petitions for Regionals should be mailed to Marian Dykes – it is the coaches responsibility to get all information needed for the petition.  The petition must be received no later than the Wednesday following the state meet.  Please call or FAX Marian to notify her that a petition is coming.  A check for the entry fee must accompany the petition sent to Marian.  If the petition is accepted, Marian will forward the check to the Meet Director.

Qualification to Level 7 & 8 Regionals is by placement.  Therefore, there are no petitions to Level 7 or 8 Regionals. Prep Opt requires participation in the state meet.  Therefore there are no petitions to Prep Opt Regionals.

JO News

Dear Region 8 Professional Members:

I am currently gearing up for my trip to Omaha, Nebraska for our November 13-15 J.O. Committee meetings. We are going to mainly be covering the 2013 compulsory routines and the changes that people asked for in the survey. I hope we had a good response in Region 8.

On a different note, the summer of 2009 was another great one for Region 8. In July we were in St. Petersburg, Florida for the second annual “Regional Team” Training camp and it was great. The camp was comprised of the top “up and comers” in the Region and the talent was hot. The focus of the camp was basics and core skill development. The kids and volunteer coaches worked extremely hard and everyone was very happy with the results.

In August we traveled to Cancun, Mexico for the third annual Region 8 “All-Star” trip. The team was made up of the level 9 & 10 athletes that represented Region 8 the best at 2009 Easterns and Nationals. This year’s team was as follows:

Level 9

Caroline Nice of Southeastern

Christina Pheil of Tampa Bay Turners

Jennifer Rochefort of Georgia Gymnastics Academy

Emily Kelley of Georgia All-Star

Amanda Condreay of Lafleur’s Largo

Caroline Bradford of Elite, LA

Level 10

Kailyn Hawkins of Southeastern

Lindsey Cheek of Georgia Elite

Rebecka Bennetts of Georgia All-Star

Ashleigh Gnat of ACE

Kristin Aloi of High Point

Summer Garcia of Olympia Elite

The athletes and coaches took part in three very intense training sessions at CAR – Cancun with head staff Brad Harris, David Parraga, Ludmilla Shobe and Ray Gnat. Everyone involved really enjoyed the workouts but enjoyed even more the relationships that were created and the true feeing of camaraderie. It is our hope that this trip has been and will continue to be a great source of motivation within the Region.

I would like to personally thank Nilson Savage of Classic Events and the University of Denver for his incredible hospitality on the trip.

In September the second annual Nationals Team Training Camp was held at Orlando Metro. The camp played host to the Region’s top Level 9, 10 and Elite athletes and coaches. We also (for the first time) had several NCAA coaches on the staff due to a new allowance in the rules to do so. I am going to work very hard to insure that this trend continues and hope to have on staff, at least one representative from every college in the Southeast of the USA. Thanks to Jeff Wood and the great people at Metro for an awesome experience!

October saw Region 8 in Buford, Georgia for the Level 8, 9 &10 Training Camp. Our host club was Gymnastix, owned and operated by David and Michelle Pomerantz. The camp had a great energy and everyone seemed to get a lot out of it. Thanks to David, Michelle and the staff at Gymnastix for your hospitality and the use of your wonderful facility.

 In addition to our great hosts I would like to thank everyone who is involved and continues to support our three training camp system. Although we are moving in the right direction we still do not have 100% participation. I have asked and will continue to ask that every club that qualifies athletes to Level 8-10 Regional Championships be a part of at least one of the three camps. Being a part can mean: hosting a camp, sending athletes, volunteering to coach or all three. Please understand that all of the funds raised go directly back to our athletes and coaches for apparel and our “All-Star” trip. Please do your part.

Thanks a lot and GO Region 8 –

Brad Harris

Region 8 Junior Olympic Committee Chairman

Region 8 Address Book and Planner now available

Region 8 Address Book is now available at Address Book Order Form

Region 8 Planner is now available at Planner Order Form

Region 8 USA Gymnastics Annual Financial Report

Income           

Clinic-Workshop Income                        12,973.99

Donation:           

Auction                                                  4,910.00

Donation                                                   1,374.00

Pro & Ath Rebates                                        15,004.05

Promotional Income                                      4,154.00

Repayment Other Inc                              110.00

Travel Reimbursement                             261.00

Total Income                                                38,787.04

Expenses           

Awards                                                     443.46

Clinic-Workshop Exp                          9,232.13

Communications:           

Newsletter Printing Postage                             789.00

Phone                                                              1,079.82

Postage                                                     157.58

Total Communications                        2,026.40

Competition                                                     860.00

Office:           

 Supplies                                                      922.44

Other:           

 USAG Membership                                         82.00

Condolence                                                   100.00

Total Other                                                   182.00

Other Expense:           

Bank Charge                                                     75.46

Total Other Expense                                         75.46

Promotional Expense                        3,684.59

Rebate Distr to States                        7,502.04

Travel-Meetings                                    9,188.30

Total Expenses                                    34,116.82

Total Income/Expenses                          4,670.22                       

USA Gymnastics Rules and Policies

The hard bound version of the 2009 - 2010 Rules & Policies is available.  The 2009 - 2010 Rules and Policies is posted on the USA Gymnastics web site at R & P.

There is also an update to Rules and Policies on the same page:

ANNOUNCEMENT:
Revisions have been made to the 2009-10 Women’s Rules and Polices book. If you have already downloaded a hard copy, please replace the following pages with these revised pages:

• Directory: ix, x, xi
• Part Two, Section IV: pages 39 & 42
• Part Four: pages 57-58, 61-62
• Part Five-Meet Officials: page 73
• Part Six Equipment: pages 77, 79-82

*Please note that the motion approved in the JO Committee minutes from May 2009 in regards to the requirement for additional matting for landings on Vault, Bars and Beam to be equal to the size of the competition landing mat has been changed. It now reads: For Levels 7-10, if an additional CLM or a 4” supplemental landing mat (“throw” mat) is used for landings, it must be a minimum of 7’ by 10’.