GYMN-L Digest - 16 Mar 1995 to 17 Mar 1995

There are 7 messages totalling 210 lines in this issue.

Topics of the day:

1. Pan Am Womens Event Finals Results
2. Pan Am W EF news
3. When to start children (3)
4. Pan Am W AA
5. U of Illinois

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Date: Thu, 16 Mar 1995 21:15:01 PST
From: ***@CCM.FM.INTEL.COM
Subject: Pan Am Womens Event Finals Results

Since Rachel's computer must still be down, here's a summary of the
results for 3/16 (women's event finals). The US team/Nunno dedicated
its performances to Stormy Eaton.

Summarized from UPI:

V
1. Chow 9.718 <<< 9.787 (Hristekeva), 9.65 (front pike 1/2)
2. Miller 9.708
3. Portuondo, Cuba 9.662
UB
1. Miller 9.812
2. Chow 9.725
3. Portuondo 9.65
4. Diaz, Puerto Rico 9.587
BB
1. Borden 9.612 <<<described as a problem on her Chen
2. Portuondo 9.60
3. Gonzalez, Cuba, 9.5
4. Teft 9.478
FX
1. Miller, 9.812
2. Borden 9.787
3. Gonzalez 9.387

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Date: Fri, 17 Mar 1995 00:41:46 -0500
From: ***@AOL.COM
Subject: Pan Am W EF news

A few scattered items on womens EF. A couple of AP quotes are in "quote
marks"

Mara
**********

Miller won fx & ub, silver on vault
Borden won bb, silver on fx
Chow won vault

Annia Portuondo won silver on bb and bronze on both V and ub

"Her team mate Leyanet Gonzalez, followed her gold in the 1991 Havana Games
on beam with bronze on the same apparatus and also on the floor."

"Miller, who turned 18 during the games, fell on her dismount during the
optional team competition and on her mount in the all round final, which she
won only because Chow also fell on the same exercise."

"Argentina's Romina Plataroti, one day older than Miller, missed out on
an individual medal for the second games in a row."

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Date: Fri, 17 Mar 1995 11:00:52 -0500
From: ***@LYNX.DAC.NEU.EDU
Subject: When to start children

I am a parent who never had the opportunity to do gymnastics, dance,
etc. (parents excuse they didn't have enough $, roll my eyes) anyway, I
am trying to be a good parent and want to know what age is good to
start. My daughter is 2.8 and has very long legs! If you would like to
send to me directly my address is jfranzek@lynx.neu.edu

PS. Are most gymnastics schools open on Saturdays? A new school opened
in our area but it does not have Saturday classes (bummer for working
parents.)

Thanks, Julie

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Date: Fri, 17 Mar 1995 11:22:59 +0500
From: ***@HEDLEY.EAST.SUN.COM
Subject: Re: When to start children

I am a "gym mom". I have been for about a year and a half. I can tell you
my daughter's gym says that you can start at any time. The do what they call
Mommy and Me classes for 18 month to 3 years, and after that they have a series
of beginner and competitive programs. My younger daughter started when she
was four my older daughter just before her 8th birthday. For competitive
purposes, my older daughter started too old (fortunately I don't care about
that); she will start competing just after her 10th birthday, believe it or
not that makes her pretty old.

My younger daughter will probably never compete. She is on the preteam, and
has very good skills, but not really the temperment required to compete
(she is the dancer in the family).

After she turns three is a good time to start. Be careful about making it not
fun though. There are a couple of kids with parents so serious about making
stars of their kids, that the kids hate it. One little girl, whose mother
pushed the coach to move her to team before she was emotionally ready, quit,
burned out at age 6!

Our gym does Saturday and evening classes. Search around, there is bound to
be a gym not too far that can accomodate. Make sure you check out the facility,
ask to speak to the owner or a coach about the program, check for certification,
and do a free trial class (any decent gym will request that your daughter
try one class before committing).

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Date: Fri, 17 Mar 1995 13:11:47 -0500
From: ***@PERFIT.ZKO.DEC.COM
Subject: Re: When to start children

Julie,

Last summer we were looking for an activity for our daughter; she was 3.5 at
the time. There was a gymnastics summer camp at a gymnastic school in the next
town over, so we enrolled her for a session. Her class was all pre-schoolers.
The daily schedule was to play around on the equipment for a while, have a
snack, do some arts and crafts, play some games, then get back on the
equipment. It lasted for about 3 hours, one day per week.

She loved it (thank God!) so much that she has been involved in a more
structured class over the winter (1 hour per week - just gymnastics). We have
also signed her up again for the summer camp - 3 hours per day, 3 days per week.
She really enjoys it, so we don't feel that we're pushing her. It's fun to see
her do some of the skills she's learned at home - like knee scales, V-seats,
cartwheels, and front supports on the furniture (discouraged :) ).

Starting your child at 3 or so is a good idea only if he/she enjoys it. Since
the attention span is minimal at that age, a mixture of gymnastics and other
activities is good.

Steve

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Date: Fri, 17 Mar 1995 14:10:15 EST
From: ***@BBN.COM
Subject: Re: Pan Am W AA

The difference between two newspapers covering the same news:

The NY Times reports that the U.S. women swept the AA, but that
the U.S. baseball team isn't doing very well. The AA and
baseball scores are given.

The Boston Globe reports on an "geriatric (18)" Shannon Miller
barely beating her younger teammate Amanda Borden [I guess 17
isn't geriatric] by only 0.012 [guess the reporter doesn't
see many AA competitions, like, say, at Barcelona], and that
she "didn't even show up" at the BB final [gee, maybe because
she didn't qualify; a Globe reader could easily infer that she
just decided not to come!]. The short squib also reports
that Steve Nunno admitted that Shannon would be lucky
to do well at the Atlanta games. The rest of the article
suggested that the U.S. was wasting its money ($4 million)
to send a team to the Pan Am Games, and that the baseball
team was getting worse with every game (baseball scores
are given).

Just another example of the editorializing in the Globe's
news coverage that leads me to skim the Globe and rely
on the Times for all but local news.

>>Kathy

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Date: Fri, 17 Mar 1995 18:38:04 -0500
From: ***@TIGER.HSC.EDU
Subject: U of Illinois

I apologize for posting this to the net, but I can't find your address.

I am no longer at the University of Illinois (either campus). I am currently
at Hampden-Sydney College where I am desperately trying to start
tumbling and cheerleading clubs. The nearest college with girls is
Longwood and they still ahve their gymnastics facilities despite
dropping their program just a few years back.

As far as I know, U of I has varsity and club teams at both campuses.
I competed in the NAIGC many years ago as well as for the U of Chicago
when I was in high school. The gymnastics clubs at Notre Dame,
Indiana Univ., Purdue, U of C, and the other NAIGC (as they are now
called) club teams were always a lot of fun to compete against. I
remember in high school the 'elder statemen' of the U of C teams would
clean up in the AA and event finals! My coaches were well past their
college careers and would still keep in shape. We all loved compete.
I remember my first meet where I competed 3 cartwheels as my tumbling
pass!

I like the NAIGC schools because (at least historically) they provided
a place for gymnasts, former, current, and new, a place to continue to
learn and show off their skills. It didn't matter that you were
missing both C's and 2 of 4 B's. You did your routine to the best of
your ability and laughed with friends over mistakes and any 'odd'
occurances (which ALWAYS seemed to happen). There were individuals
with good gymnastics. There were also individuals who were clearly
learning, but for the most part I kept my love of the sport through
this format. I doubt I would have learned the range of skills I have
no had it not been for this relaxed atmosphere.

Anyone out there part of the NAIGC?

Julius

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End of GYMN-L Digest - 16 Mar 1995 to 17 Mar 1995
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