I love the Winter Olympics.
There seems to be so much more comradery than in summer games and certainly more than pro sports. I am an Olympic Junkie- At one point I had the TV on a US hockey game, my computer streaming a cross country ski race and freestyle skiing streamed to my iPad. (To my complete embarrassment they all happened to turn to CURLING just as my wife walked by. She now thinks I have an unhealthy appreciation for this sport). When an athlete in any of the sports finished, there was sincere congratulations from other competitors. There was an interview with one of the skiers who hung in for a silver medal. They asked her if she was nervous watching the person who eventually took bronze compete seeing if her score was going to be better. She said, “nervous? I was cheering for her. She’s a great skier and I wanted her to have a great run.”
Watching and listening to Men’s Winter Cup in Las Vegas was AWESOME. Listening to the men cheer for each other at Winter Cup when some one rocked a routine or cheer encouragement when they had an error made me smile. That is the spirit of sport. That is what I’d like to see at more women’s and girls meets. We have all been to a meet where an inexperienced coach tells the girls they are coaching to not look or speak to other competitors and certainly do not cheer for them. I remember standing next to a coach and watching her pump her fist in delight when a competitor from another team fell on Beam. This wasn’t the Olympics, this wasn’t even a State Championship. This was a Level 6 at an Invitational.
I am a very competitive guy. I do not like losing BUT, I want to beat you on your best day. I have had medals and trophies that I do not feel I earned because a better gymnast happened to fall. My best memories are of competitions where I may have placed 5th or 6th- But there were simply 4 or 5 better teams or individuals.
One of the benefits of training camps is that when gymnasts train together, they have the opportunity to gain respect for each other. They become “team mates” in the sense that they have spent time together working for a common goal. They get fired up when a gymnast gets a new skill and they get to hear the cheers when they get a new skill. When they travel to a meet and their are teams there who they were at at training camp with, they are excited. Excited to see a friend, excited to show off their progress and excited to see their friends progress. Few things in our sport feel as good as that.
March 7-11 is Gymnix International in Montreal. Gym Momentum coach Chris Lakeman will be there coaching the Jr Team from Germany. Jeremy Mosier ill be coaching his team from Alberta, Canada. A few years ago Rob Murray’s gymnast representing the USA won the SR International AA and one of his juniors won FX. GOOD LUCK to all of you who will be competing. I will be there. Let me know if you want to get together.
We already have a few NEW clubs signed up for camp and a few returning clubs. It is going to be Exciting!
