Region 8 Professional Members:
Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a great holiday season and an awesome off-season of training.
The Region 8 Board recently met in the Nashville area and there a few announcements that I would like to make.
The Tim Rand Memorial Fund will soon be renamed the “TR” Legends Fund. Toni Rand graciously felt that the fund should go beyond just naming Tim, since we have lost many wonderful people that have meant a great deal to the Region. On behalf of the hundreds of athletes that have benefitted from this wonderful fund, I would personally like to thank Toni for her generosity over the last five years.
With the above stated, we wanted to find a fun (and profitable – of course) way to commemorate the five year anniversary of Tim’s passing along with the ringing in of the new fund’s naming and came up with a great idea! On Sunday, August 12th, in conjunction with Region 8 Congress in Nashville, we will be organizing a golf tournament. This tournament will allow us to honor Tim’s life, while doing something he loved and also celebrate the next chapter of the fund that bared his name. Please mark your calendar….more details are to follow.
The newly named “TR” Legends Funds will once again be paying for 100% of the Level 10 entries into Nationals in Hampton, VA and our Level 9 Eastern entries in Landover, MD. Thanks to everyone that supported the fund last year…. thanks for keeping the memories of Region 8’s - greats alive and really making a difference in the lives of our athletes and families.
Region 8 has once again, reserved a block of rooms for the J.O. National Championships. For reservations, all coaches and athlete families will be given a booking link at Regional Championships - post qualification. The rates will be $129.00 and $139.00 respectively, plus tax per night and the hotel is within .8 miles to the venue. The block release date will be April 17th,2012. We will be in two hotels (across the street from one another) with plenty of rooms to accommodate all of us. If you have already booked hotel accommodations at another hotel in the Virginia area please cancel them. The Region is really making an attempt to foster National Team camaraderie.
Training Camp Changes and Announcements:
# 1 = “Regional Team” Training Camp – July 20-22, 2012 – BID Needed!
Qualifiers:
ALL Level 7 & 8 Regional Qualifiers.
TOP’s National Qualifiers that competed L 7 and above in the previous year.
# 2 = “R 8 Nationals Team” Training Camp – September 7-9, 2012 – BID Needed!
Qualifiers:
ALL 2012 NIT Qualifiers
All 2012 L 9 and 10 athletes that qualified to the L 9 Eastern or L 10 National Meet
All active elite and “pre”- elite athletes.
# 3 = “L 8, 9, 10 Regional Training Camp” – Oct. 5-7, 2012 – ACE – Longwood, Florida
Qualifiers:
All L 8, 9 and 10 athletes that qualified to the previous year’s Regional Championship meet or above.
It is my hope that our camp system will continue to provide great training and learning opportunities for our athletes, coaches and judges alike to help Region 8 continue on its path to National prominence. With that said however, supporting our training camps will continue to be of the utmost importance. Region 8 will continue our requirement stating that a club must be in “good standing” in regard to training camps to be eligible for the ALL-STAR Trip. In “Good standing” means that each club must do one or more of the following:
- Host a R 8 Training Camp within the last 2 years
- Send a volunteer coach or coaches to a Camp to actively work with gymnasts within the last 2 years (NEW in 2010)
- Send an athlete or athletes to a Camp within the last 2 years (New in 2010)
- Make a $1,000 donation to the Regional Apparel Fund
Clubs failing to meet these criteria are making the decision to be ineligible for funding of the “All-Star” Trip if one or more of your athletes qualify. An athlete from a club that is deemed NOT in “Good Standing” may only attend the trip at her own expense. Additionally – if the coach or coaches wanted to accompany their athlete they would have to pay for 100% of the trip. Please do not put yourself in this position.
We stuck with these criteria with the knowledge that the training camps cannot be a success without the support of ALL of our clubs. The funds created by the camps are the funds that are the life blood our athletes and coaches for apparel and our “All-Star” trip. Please do your part with the understanding that when you support the training camps you are ultimately supporting yourself!
Due to the Olympics, in 2012, the “All-Star” trip will be in June on the 14th-17th weekend in either St. Pete Beach or Orlando, Florida. The team will once again be made up of the level 9 & 10 athletes that best represent Region 8 at 2012 Easterns and Nationals. The team and attending coaches will be housed in a local hotel and be transported via bus while in the host town. It is our hope that this trip has been and will continue to be a great source of motivation within the Region. The Region will furnish the funds for the athletes and the head staff (minus meals and excursion fees). Coaches that qualify athletes that are not on the staff may also attend but at their own expense. The qualification system is as follows:
The top six – L 9’s (plus ties) and the top six – L 10’s (plus ties) from Eastern/National Championships will make up the team. The team is chosen as follows:
Any athlete(s) that place first in the AA get first priority.
Any athlete(s) that place second in the AA fill any remaining spots.
Any athlete(s) that place third in the AA fill any remaining spots.
If there are still spots available the athlete(s) with the highest AA score regardless of Age Group will make up the remainder of the team. Graduating Seniors are ineligible for the trip.
Thanks a lot and GO Region 8 –
Region 8 Junior Olympic Committee Chairman
