SENSIBLE WORKOUTS
Stop The Madness!
Let's get back to being educators and people who are GOOD for families.
Compulsory gymnasts DO NOT HAVE TO GO MORE THAN 6 HOURS A WEEK.
Why are they going 9, 12 & 15 hours a week?
To compete against the other gyms who are going 9, 12 & 15 hours a week?
Stop The Madness!
Let these children have a life outside of gymnastics.
Few gyms are making money on team. Why? Because the team practices so many hours.
Why don't we charge a lot for those hours? Because the parents won't pay $6, $7, $8 an hour for so many hours.
Why do so many coach/owners not have a life outside of gymnastics? Because they have so many practice hours for the team.
Stop The Madness!
It is a fact, the vast majority of the compulsory kids never go on to optionals.
It is a fact, team takes up some of the prime time hours in the gym.
It is a fact, some gyms are struggling because they don't have enough class kids.
It is a fact, some gyms don't have enough quality class teachers, but lots of team coaches.
It is a fact we have a lot of gymnasts on our teams who don't win much. (but who are sacrificing all of those hours of their lives)
It is a fact that many gyms have dropped out of USAG State competition because they have no chance of winning.
It is a fact that many gyms are seeking AAU competition and league competitions rather than USAG.
What difference does it make if the Level 5 State Champion scores a 38.00 or a 34.00?
Let's get real crazy and start training Level 4's 7 days a week and have 39.00 scores?
Stop The Madness!
Gymnastics professionals, stand up for what is right. Stop tearing up families just because some coach across the state is willing to sacrifice his business, his family, his life, to win a trophy by having his compulsory kids work out 4 or 5 days a week. And we follow suit just to stay competitive.
A solution!
USAG - Go to 2 divisions of state competition.
Division 1 for all compulsory gymnasts who practice more than 6 hours a week.
Division 2 for all compulsory gymnasts who practice less than 6 hours a week.
That was simple.
Some will say, how can we tell if a gym is abiding by the rules?
Trust people. Continually promote and announce the rules at the qualifying and the state meets. Do you really think that an entire coaching staff will blatantly break the rules to win? Wow.
Do you really think that an entire team of gymnasts will break the rules? Do you think an entire group of team parents will lie and break the rules?
The up side of this far out weighs a possible attempt by some coach to risk his/her reputation and dignity with the other coaches, the gymnasts and the parents.
Stop the madness
Let's all compete on an even playing field and really find out who the best coaches are rather than the weak coaches who have to put in ridiculous hours just to win.
It is time we all stepped up and STOPPED THE MADNESS!
This e-mail is being sent to 3200 gyms across the country and to hundreds of other gymnastics professionals. It is our duty to see how our industry has drifted to the ridiculous and to make the changes for the benefit of the children and the families. Start spreading the word and let's make this change!
Have a great day,
Tom B.
Tom Burgdorf
GYMNET Sports
112 Donnie Lane
St. Peters, Mo. 63376
tomgymnet@aol.com
"http://www.gymnetsports.com/"
Phone & Fax 1 636 980 1903