USGF Gymnastics - January/February 1981

I gympasts. choices a~ailable to a clear view of the gymnasts, peek into Art Stone Gy~astic Supply , window. Let the colorful assoftment of leotards, I and accessories Bull you into ' shoes, briefs ,

the gymnasti and coaches Gymnastic Smithtown,

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~ GYMNASTICS VOL. X, NO.1

JAN,fFEB.1981

"The Official Publication of the United States Gymnastics Federation"

CONTENTS--Athlete Representatives Involvement in' USGF Management (Editorial by Roger L. Counsil) Why They Are Better ...

(Guest Opinion by Don Peters)

Why They Are Better

pg.7

Report to ,China (Mens report by Abie Grossfeld) China Diary (Report by Don Peters)

5 7 8 12

Austrian Exhibition Tour (by Women 's Gymnastics Coach-Fritz Reiter) _ _ _ __ __ _ _ _ _ __ 14

A mericans in London

pg. 22

See How They Fall (Bio Mechanics Corner by Gerald S. George) _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 16 Chunichi Cup &. Tokyo Invitational (by Mrs. Delene Darst) _ _ __ _ _ _ __ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ 18 Coca Cola Invitational in London (by Ed Zimmer f, Chuck Ehrlick) _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ __ __ _ _ _ 22 Second Four Continents Championships in MRG (by Andrea B. Schmid) _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ 24 National USGF Modern Rhythmic Gymnastics-UPDATE (by Andrea B. Schmid) _ _ __ __ _ _ _ __ _ _ __ _ __ _ _ 26 Disorders of the front of the Thigh and Knee in Gymnasts (Sports Medicine View by Dr. Neal Small) _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 28

Women's Elite Program Report pg. 34

USA vs China Gymnastics Judge's Report (by George Beckstead f, Mike Milidonis) _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ 30 Women's Elite Program Report (by Ed Zimmer) _ __ __ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _---"'34 Classifieds _ _ _ _ __ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 36 USGF Calendar &. Notes 38

United States Gymnastics Federation

,

.

MEMBERS: Amateur Athletic Union; American Sokol Organization; American Turners; Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women; National Association for Girls and Womens Sports; National Assocation of College Gymnastics Coaches; National Association of Collegiate Gymnastics Coaches/Women; National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics; National Association of Women Gymnastics Judges; National Collegiate Athletic Association; National Federation of State High School AssQCiations; National Gymnastics Judges Association; National High School Gymnastics Coaches Association; National Jewish Welfare Board; National Junior College Athletic Association; United States Association of Independent Gymnastics Clubs; United States Gymnastics Safety Association, Young Men's Christian Association.

USGF GYMNASTICS

ON THE COVER: Colorado Springs artist and gymnastics coach Dave Black (noted for his original sports art) highlights Rhythmic Gymnastics to commemorate the addition of the sport as an Olympic event starting in 1984,

PAGE 3

~F AMERICAN ATHLETIC

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•

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Editorial

by Roger L. Counsil

ATHLETE REPRESENTATIVES INVOLVEMENT IN USGF MANAGEMENT

'.

Recen tl y through a mand ate of th e United States Olympic Com mittee, the USGF Board of Directors has ad ded a group of athl ete representati ves .

These representati ves are athl etes equall y representing the men's and women 's segments of th e sport w ho have been co mpetitors on national tea ms w ith in th e las t ten yea rs. Th e group of athl etes ha s alread y parti cipated in one Board of D irectors meetin g and I mu st say, have added a brea th of fres h ai r to the proceed in gs. It is very refres hing to hear the v iewpoints of those w ho have so recentl y parti cipated in co mpet iti ve gymn astics, and th e in sights they have to offer, often tim es clarify th e issues w hich are be in g debated in the boa rd meetin g.

Th e mand ate fro m th e Un ited States O lympi c Com mittee was to include twe nty percen t of all board s of all national sport governin g bod ies as athl etes. Th e proced ure th at we fo ll owed in th e USGF office was to hold an election of th ese board members by their peers - all of the athl etes had parti cipated on internation al teams w ithi n th e last decade . In thi s manner of se lecti on, we felt th ere co uld be no man ipul ati on of perso nnel onto th e board by any pe rson or perso ns w ith vested interest. Th e representat ives on the board are tru e representa ti ves of th e athl etes and are makin g every effort to open lin es of ongo in g com muni ca tion w ith the athl ete's com munit y.

Th e athl etes have now, since takin g their place on th e board , beco me in vo lved in oth er co mmittees o f the USGF Boa rd of Directors. The Exec uti ve Committee of the USGF now ha s one ath lete represe ntati ve as do the men 's and wo men's fore ign re lation s co mmittees. Aga in , the athletes' v iewpoint ha s been very helpful and I am sure w ill co ntinue to be.

We, in th e USGF , need input from the ath letes and we need an avenue by w hi c h th e athlete s ca n m ake th eir fedings kn ow n . Th e athl ete representa ti ves have prov ided us w ith thi s avenue and are very effecti ve in makin g th e w ishes and needs of the athletes know n. At the present tim e, th e athl ete representati ves to th e USGF Board of D irectors are as fo ll ows: Mr. Bart Conner, member of 1980 O lympic Tea m; M r. Peter Korman , member of 1976 O lympi c Team; Mr. Wayne Young, member of 1976 O lympic Tea m; Miss Kath y John so n, membe r 1980 O lympic Team; M rs. Lind a Mu lvihill , member 1972 O lympic Team ; Miss Nancy Thies, member 1972 O lympi c Tea m and M iss Li sa Cawth ro n, member 19 77 Wo rld Cup Tea m.

These athl etes co mpri se twe nty perce nt of the USGF Board at thi s time.

•

" The follow in g statement on the role of th e athl ete representati ves to the USGF was prepared by Peter Korman for presentati on to the Gymnasti cs Comm unit y . As a w ho le t he USGF Office enco urage s athl etes to commu ni cate w ith th eir representatives shou ld they fee l th e need ari se. The statement is as fol lows:

NEW USGF CONSTITUTION BY-LAW In November, 1980, a new by· law was add ed to the USGF Constitution co nce rnin g athl ete's ri ghts. It reads: Athl ete's Rights: Th e Un ited States Gymn astics Federation w ill provide any athl ete w ho ma y believe he or she has been denied an opportunity to compete, for rea so ns oth er th an th ose rul ed by the Na ti ona l office for reasons of proven profess ionali sm , w ith a properl y co nducted hea rin g. Norm al procedures are as foll ows:

USGF GYMNASTICS

(1)

At hlete is not ified of hi s/her suspens ion or den ial of oppo rtunity to compete in a given even t or seaso n. Thi s notification mu st be in w riting and should be se nt to the athlete via registered mail.

N otificati on shall provide th e athl ete w ith reasons for such action and ind ica te the USGF Committee w hich took th at ac ti on as we ll as the member's names w ho co mpri se th at USGF Committee.

(2) Athlete may then wri te the USGF Nat ion al Office to request a hearin g if he or she fee ls the ac ti on in question is unfair. If th e hea rin g befo re th e app ropria te USGF Fore ign Relat ion s Committee fail s to sati sfy the athl ete, he or she ma y as k that th e iss ue be brou ght before th e USGF Exec uti ve Comm ittee for appea l. As a fin al area of appea l, the athl ete may ask that the USGF Board of D irectors co nsider the matter.

The Athl ete's Associa ti on is one of the many organ iza tion s represented on the USGF Board of D irectors. Thi s assoc iati on, w hi ch all USGF ath letes are members, has th e ri ght to be represented by not less th an 20% of votin g st rength of th e USGF Boa rd of Directors. The Athl etes Assoc iati on is therefor represented by 7 voting members, an d one member of th e USGF Executi ve Committee : Bart Conner 2325 Westw ood Dr. Norman, Oklahom a 73069 (405) 325 -1739

Peter Kormann (Exec uti ve Comm ittee) Gymna sti cs Coach U. S.N.A. A nn apoli s, Md. 21402 (301) 263·536 8 / 267-3 153

Brent Si mmons 622 Monrow A uro ra, III. 60505

Ka th y Johnso n 58 12 O ld Stone Mountain Rd. Ston e Mountain , Ga. 30087 (404 ) 923 ·8174 / 938· 1212

Wa yne Yo un g Gymnastics Coach B.Y.U. Provo, Utah 84601 (80 1) 378·49 11

Lind a Mu lv ihil l 148 W. 12th Ave. Eu gene, O regon 9740 1 (5 03 ) 344·200 1 / 344·2000

Na ncy Thies 2870 Chateau Springfield , Or. 97477 (5 03) 746 -8 367

Li sa Cawthron 1403 Country Clu b Rd .

A rlin gton, Texas 760 13 (8 17) 265·5415

It is th e responsibility of these 7 athl ete representat ives to refl ec t the viewpoints of th e U SG F athl etes to th e rest of the Board of Di rectors. If an issue or top ic sho uld arise co nce rning an athlete's ri ghts, or a poli cy dec ision w ith reference to an athlete, co ntacting one of these seven representat ives wo uld be the avenue for an athl ete to follow: Th e Foreign Re lat io ns Comm ittee (F RC) is a standing comm ittee establi shed by th e USG F. Th ere is both a men's and a wo ma n's FRC. Th ese co mmittees wo rk c lose ly w ith th e USGF Exec uti ve D irector, (Roge r

Cant. an pg. 34 PAGE 5

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT Effective, Monday, February 2, all activities of the USGF Member路 ship Program will be conducted at: USGF/Membership Program

clo Bayly, Martin & Fay/San Antonio P.O. Box 17800 San Antonio , Texas 78217 Telephone: 1-800-531-7205 1-800-531-7224 1-800-292-5721 (Texas only) All records and functions of the Tucson office have been transferred to our above San Antonio office.

'.

Zheng Zhu Chu

by Don Peters In the U.S.A. vs . Chin a dual meet held on Oc tober 2 1st in Peking our wome n's team fared pretty we ll. We lost by 2.4 points, andl . 7 of th ose points we re lost on va ult (a n event that we bea t th e Chin ese on ea rli er thi s yea r in Hartford ). Th is was due to our tea m' s probl ems in adju stin g to a wooden boa rd. Had thi s probl em not occ urred, th e meet wo uld have been very c lose and quite poss ibl y we could have wo n. We had onl y one major break on bars and onl y one fa ll fro m th e bea m. Sounci s like we' re almost on a par wi th th e Chin ese - doesn' t it ? Well , I' ll not delu de you; we are not on a par w ith the Chin ese. In fa ct. th ey are mu ch better th an we are ri ght now, Jnd three yea rs from now th ey w ill ha ve left us fJ r behind.

So w i ll th e Ru ss ian s, Ea st Ge rm J ns and Rom ani ans unl ess we make so me se ri ous changes in our program now.

Wh en yo u wa tch our girl s here at home , they loo k pretty good. W hen yo u see th em in th e sa me trainin g gym w ith th e Chin ese, you immedi ately see th at we have one ve ry obvio us weak ness.

Exec ution . We do not stri ve hard enough for perfecti on w ith each indi v idual element of our girl s' rou tines. We have made difficulty a hi gher priority in our trainin g systems and as a res ult we Jre no t spendin g th e tim e to per fec t eJc h movement , and it shows it se lf in th e form of sloppy, un stab le routin es. Th ose coJc hes w ho have tri ed to emph as ize executi on w ith th eir

USGF GYMNASTICS

month s ea rli er. O ur national tea m has an annu al injury ra te th at exceeds o ne hun dred pe rce nt (counting onl y injuries th at interrupt training for three weeks or more).

These injuri es often occur beca use we do no t train our gymnasts we ll enough on ba sics and we all ow them to compete w ith movement s th at are in man y CJses margin al at best. Ma ny tim es Ihey ha ve no " rese rve" w ilh a dan gerou s ski ll. There is no margin for error to prolec t th em if Ihey are havin g a bad da y . We shouldn ' t all ow a gymn as t to do a skill unl ess she does it so we ll th at if she does a "ba d" one she ca n still make it.

We have gal to ease the press ure for more d ifficult y and force our gym nasts to exec ute better by improving Iheir ba sics. I am not suggesting thai we change th e rul es. Th e rules are fin e. I am suggestin g th at we stri ctl y appl y the execuli o n dedu cti ons so th at sloppy wo rk does not ge t rewa rded. O ur girl s have to be shown th ro ugh . Iheir scores, th e most mea nin gful way Ihat we have ava il able to us, th at a low double back loses .3 (even if th ey make itL and if th ey have to "cowboy" they lose .3 , and if th eir toes aren 't pointed on every tri ck th ey lose .1 each time, etc.

Th en, and onl y then , w ill we effeci a meanin gful change towa rd s better execution in th e individual programs throu ghout our co untry.

I hope th at I don' t sound like I think difficulty is not important, or that I think execution is more important than difficulty . I do no t. Both are equa ll y importanl to a better team score. I do, however, think a grea ter empha sis on executi o n w ill , in Ih e long run , res ult in bO lh belt e r execution and grea t diffi cult y. Here is w hy. In ord er to execute better you have to improve yo ur .2 bas ics, and better bas ics all ow for more di ffi cult y. ~ Take th e fo ll owin g exa mpl e: Presentl y, none of .Q. th e girls on th e nati onal tea m ca n do a fu ll-in o n fl oor. I' m sure most of them ca n do th e movement on trampoline oroff mini-tramp, so it's not the skill gymn asts fin d th eir efforts thwarted by a jud gin g th at is hold in g th em back. Th ey ca n' t do il beca use system th at places a hi gher empha sis on difficulty Ihey don' t tum ble we ll enough. Th eir rou nd-off fli p-flops aren ' t stron g enough. If o ur jud ges and fail s to deduct the many executi on errors th at our gymnasts make. Man y of th ese coac hes have required high doubl e backs w ith legs together and g ive n up and jumped o n th e diffi c ult y Can t. on pg. 21 bandwagon ; and mark my wo rd , our national team w il l suffer for it in th e years to co me.

I predi ct that if not hing is done about thi s prob lem we w ill not place higher th an sixth in Mex i co C it y. It w ill no t be be ca use th e internati onal jud ges wi ll ded uct more severely than our jud ges, beca use they w ill not. They use the sa me scorin g system. vVe w ill lose to the Ru ss ians, th e Romani ans, th e Chinese, the East German s, and th e Hunga rian s beca use we w ill no t " hit" as we ll and at least two of our best gy mna sts w i l l be in jured at th e tim e of th e co mpetition !

In rece nt yea rs (s ince th e pu sh for greater d ifficulty started) we have always had at leas t tw o ke y injuri es o n o ur tea m at eve ry maj o r co mpetition. In Fort Wo rth , our bes t gymn ast mi ssed th e co mpet iti o n co mpl etely, one girl dropped ou t after compu lsor ies, and three oth ers co mpeted w ith pai nful injuri es. Yo u know the res ult. Thi s yea r our dual meet w ith Chin a was sc hedul ed six month s in advJ nce and all th e girl s trained very hard for thi s meet. Two of our top four mi sse d th e mee t du e to injur y and one did wa tered -do w n ro utin es beca use she was Wang Ping Chn recoverin g from a se ri ous injury th at occ urred two

PAGE 7

USA & China gymnastics teams prior to competition. photo by Abie Grossfeld

Chef de M iss ion: Frank Cumi skey Men's Tea m: Ma tt A rnot , Ph il Cahoy, Ba rt Con ner, Denni s Hayden, "Va ll ace M ill er and Kev in Prad y.

Men's Coaches: Ab ie Grossfe ld and Mas Wa tanabe Men 's j udges: George Beckstead and M ike M ilidoni s Wo men's Tea m: Ma rc ia Frede ri ck, Ke ll y Ga rri son, Beth Kline , Amy Koopman , ju lianne McNamara, Tracee Tal avera and Li sa Zei s Women 's Coaches: Don Peters and Kathy G. Tibbet s Women's jud ges: Lind a Chenc in sk i and Sharon Va lley Trainer: jack Rockwell

Men's Re port By Ab ie G rossfeld Our group assembled in Sa n Fra ncisco where Sadao Hamada and Jackie Wa lker brought the teams to Stanford U ni ve rsity fo r a workout. Sadao and Jac kie were wo nd erfu l hosts and made ou r layover pleasa nt. We left Sa n Francisco on November 13 and after 30 hours of travelin g arri ved in Peking on November 15. After stops in Honolulu, Guam, Ma ni la, Kwan gc how (Ca nton) an d fin all y Pek in g, the Earth seemed small. no t to mention th at it seeilled to me like Wo rld War II revis ited. tn Pekin g we sta yed at the Evergreen Hotel and had three interpretersM rs. Chen, M iss Chen and Miss Chou - ass igned to us. M r. Chen Sheng Jin of the Pek in g Gym nastics Associat ion of China was consta ntl y w ith us and proved to be Illuch help inforilling us about the cOlllpetition format and the Ch in ese gYlllna stics program. Mr. Chen was mo st coo perati ve and pl easa nt.

Bein g in Pek ing three days before th e competiti on, enabled us to get we l l accustoilled to th e apparatu s and enviro nillent at th e site of th e compet it.ion - Worke rs A rena. Th e floor exerc ise area co ntained co iled springs w hi ch gave good spring but th e top Illat seeilled hard to our gYlllnasts. The top

PAGES

REPORT TO CHINA NOVEMBER 13-24 , 1980

ca rpet shedded its Illateria l so sO llle cOlllpetitors left the FE area w ith b its of green pile on their hair, back or sea t. It made for a good laugh. The hi gh bar and rings had to be ra ised - w ith readil y ava il able "vood bl oc ks under th e upri ghts - to accolllillodate Ph il Ca hoy, the ta ll est gymnast. The Chi nese did w hat th ey cou ld to please us. Th e paral lel bars, pOlllm el horse imd va ulting horse were fine. The va ultin g board was a used wooden reuthertype board w hich had co nsiderably less sprin g than our "super" boa rd s but presented no real prob lelll to our gym nasts. No top Illat was placed on th e fitted pOllllllel horse Illat wh ich left th e Illetal base extensions exposed.

Fortunatel y, no one landed on the Illeta l extensions. Th e rings hun g from new un sewn lea th er straps whic h we taped togeth er ju st above the rings.

During wo rkouts and compet it ion wa rm -ups, a three inch soft rubber ma t was provided to cushi on hard land in gs. Our gYllln asts sa id that they went " right throu gh" th ese soft Illats; th erefore, th ey prov ided I ittl e ex tra protection.

The Chi nese requested to have the competition onl y for indi v idu als and not a team sco re. Th ey we re co nce rn ed about th e potential animosi ty th at could ari se from los ing. We ass ured th em th at if we lost, we wo uld still be fr iend s.

Th e Chinese had the Illen's co mpetiti on set up so there wou ld be two groups. Each group wo uld be composed' of six gymn as ts, three frolll each team . However, th e format was changed to just have one group sin ce th ere we re only seven gymnasts competin g al l-around. Four other gymnasts split th eir events and were li ke ju st two all -arou nd men. In other words, talt A rnot co mpeted on PH , R, PB and HB , wh ile Bart Conner took part on FE and va ulting. To not take unfair adva ntage, the Chinese had two of th eir gym nasts wo rk three events each. It was agreed upon to add the four out of five hi ghest scores per event for th e team total s. As it turn ed out , we had to

Cant. on pg. 10 USGF GYMNASTICS

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CHINA REPORTfrom pg. 8 w ithdraw De nni s H ayde n fro m th e comp eti t ion j u st pri o r to th e com petiti o n . Th erefore, all fo ur sco res on each event w o ul d coun t for us, w hil e the Chin ese had th e extra fifth sco re.

Th e day before th e meet Denni s H ayden hurt hi s sho uld er w hil e tumblin g. Sin ce Denni s co uld not do even a ro undoff w ith o ut pain ju st prior to th e meet and at the advice of o ur tra in er, Jac k Rockwe ll , Denni s w as w ithdraw n.

Before th e entire co mpetiti o n bega n, w e we re asked to selec t three of o ur gymn asts for each event fo r th e fin als. In oth er w ord s, the fin ali sts we re not based upo n th e prelimin ary co m petiti o n.

The W orkers Arena seemed to sea t abo ut 10,000 peo pl e w hi ch w as about o ne third fill ed th e first day of co mpetiti o n and abo ut half fill ed for th e fin als. N BC taped the meet w ith Bart acting as th e ex pert co mm entato r.

US Women's Team with coaches going bananas on the Great Wall.

Floor Exercise: To ng Fei, Li N in g and Li H siao Ping did full tw istin g do ubl e back som ies . Xie Ti e Huan did an exce ll ent do ubl e la yo ut w hil e Lu M ing used both super " C"S . Co nn er and M ill er started w ith full tw istin g doubl es . W hil e Conner to uched o n hi s, M ill er touched on hi s doubl e tw ist fini sh. Ca hoy 's feet slipped o utfrom und er him on a tw istin g di ve wa lkover.

Pommel Horse: Th e A meri ca ns perfo rmed we ll on PH sco rin g 9.7,9 .4 , 9.3 and 9.05. Th e Chin ese sco res we re 9.8, 9.65 , 9.6 , 9.55 and 9.45 .

W hil e the Chin ese diffi culty was supe rb , the difference in o ur sco res w ere mo re in the exec uti on (amplitud e of sw in g, body extensio n and po inted feet) rath er th an the content of the exerc ises. Howeve r, Li Hsiao Pin g's (9.8) content was ex traordin ary. He is trul y o ne of the wo rl d 's best o n po mmel horse . Phil Cahoy 's 9. 7 was indi ca ti ve of hi s fl aw less perfor mance.

Pommel Horse Routines: Li Hsiao Ping: (18 years old ; Na t'l PH Ch ampion of Chin a) Start faC in g end , loop wa lk up to pommel loop, trave l in w ith hand betw een pommels, immediate moore w ith hand s betwee n pommels, bac k moore trave l out on pommel, 180 degree spindl e fro m uphill circ le, o ne circle, bac k moore trave l in , half circle, 2 V, flair circ les, 3 leg cuts, 2 front sc isso rs and 1 bac k sc issor, 1 c irc le, I , po mm el loo p, wa lk to reverse loo p o n end , backw ard w alk across ho rse (reverse Magyar w alk in 3 circles) to 2 loo ps on end, V2 circle, wa lk around (uphill moore but w ith hand s o n horse), V, circ le, loop V2 turn di smo unt.

Phil Cahoy: Uphill moo re imm edi ate, fro nt in immedi ate moore o n oth er pommel , 1 circ le, o ne po mmel Ru ss io n moo re, imm edi ate travel out , immedi ate front in moore, immedi ate front out, 2 circles, back trave l in , 1 circl e, bac k tra ve l o ut, ,/, circle, bac k stoc kli in , 1'/, fl air circles, undercut 1 leg c ircle, 1 bac k sc isso r, 3 front sc isso rs, 1 circ le, moo re, fro nt out imm edi ate loop '/2 turn off.

Li Ning: (17 yea rs o ld ; 3rd AA Chinese Nat' l Champio nships) Start fac in g end , 2 loops, wa lk up to po mm el and ac ross to oth er po mmel loop imm edi ate travel, immedi ate do ubl e bac k moo re travel on pomm el, '/2 c ircl e on end , do ubl e bac k moo re travel immed iate kehre in , 3 front scisso rs, 1 bac k sc issor, 1 circl e, fl air, flaired moo re, imm edi ate flair trave l out, ,/, circ le, loop, hop , V2 c ircl e, loo p '/2 off.

Kevin Prady: Center of horse, '/2 circle, Ru ss ian moore, imm edi ate trave l out, loop w ith second hand nea r pomm el, imm edi ate bac k stockli in w ith hand betwee n po mm els, 1 circle, hand betw een po mm els, fro nt out

PAGE 10

imm edi ate loop, uphill c ircl e 180 degree spindl e, kehre in , 1 c ircle, 1'/ , fl air circl es, 1 bac k sc isso r, J fro nt sc issors, fl air circle, tra vel out, ,/, circl e, loo p, ,/, circle, loop '/2 off.

Rings: Th e o utstandin g ro utine fo r us th e first d ay of co mpetiti o n w as th at of Kev in Prady - w ith a so lid 9 .4. In th e fin als, Phil Ca hoy's exce ll ent sw in g in both directi o ns and good full in do ubl e di smo unt ea rn ed him a 9.45 and ti ed him fo r first w ith Li Hsiao Pin g and Li N in g. Kevin aga in rece ived a 9.4 and pla ced 4th . Xie Ti e Huan d ispl ayed extraordin ary strength and good sw in g but fell fo rw ard on hi s do ubl e layo ut di smount.

After wa tching the Chin ese, and th e Japanese at the Chuni chi Cup , too many of our gymn asts do not rea ll y fulfill th e strength requi re ment and are give n th e " benefit-of-the-do ubt. " Two Ring Routines Follow: Xie Tie Huan: (19 yea rs old ; 4th in Na t'l s o n rin gs) Pull to in verted hang, kip to cross (held perfectl y leve l), pull o ut to " L", strai ght bod y straight arm press hand stand , bac k giant loc ked arm to hand stand , front giant to in verted cross (held hi gh), lowe r to cross (held leve l), lowe r to re verse hang, kip " L", hollow bac k hand stand , bail to doubl e layo ut di smo unt.

Tong Fei: (19 years old ; Chinese Na t' l A ll-A ro und Ch ampi on fo r 1980; w on prelim s w ith a 9. 7 - was not in fin als) High cast, hi gh inloc ate, straight arm back ri se hand stand , bac k giant hand stand , fall over to w hippet (H onm a), straddl e " L", straddl e plan ch (held hi gh), lower to cross (held), lowe r to reverse hand , kip " L", straddl e straight arm press hand stand , bail to full tw ist doubl e bac k di smo unt.

Vaulting: In general, th e Chinese had co nsiderabl y mo re fli ght th an o ur gymn asts.

Tong Fei: (9.7) Tsukahara full tw ist piked, Cuervo (hand spring ,/ , tw ist bac k).

Bart Conner: (9 .55 ) Tsuk layed out, Tsuk full tw ist.

Xie Tie Huan: (9. 525) Handspring pike fro nt, Tsuk la yed out.

Li Ning: (9.4 5) Handsprin g pike front , Tsuk full tw ist.

Dennis Hayden: (9. 375 ) Handspring tu ck front , hand sprin g full tw ist.

Kevin Prady: (9. 20) Tsuk piked , Tsuk full tw ist.

Parallel Bars: Phil Cahoy w as excell ent both days sco rin g 9.7 both in Prelim s and Final s. Tong Fei also scored a 9.7 in the Prelim s but was no t entered in Fin als. Li Hsiao Pin g scored a 9. 7 in Finals thu s ty in g Phil fo r first pl ace.

Routines: Phil Cahoy: Center o f bars, glid e kip reve rse cut suppo rt , press to hand stand , stutz handstand , ba ck somi hand stand , forwa rd pirouete, cast, bac k ri se front somi suppo rt , sw in gin g front pirou ette, diomid ov, layaway, front ri se 1'/ 2 tw ist fro somi off. li Hsiao Ping: From end , glide kip reverse cut, cast support, sw in g hand stand front pirouette, stutz hand stand , 1'/ 4 tw isting di omidov to single bar (cross) glid e ove rshoot throu gh straddl e " L" , press hand stand , '/ 4 turn to hand stand , diomidov, doubl e ba ck off.

Tong Fei: From end of bars, cast to reverse cut, straddl e pl anch (ho ld ), cas t, back ri se fro nt somi support , sw in gin g front pirou ette, stutz hand stand, bac k somi throu gh hand stand , stutz, forwa rd d ip sw ing reverse cut , press hand stand , double bac k off.

Zhou li Ming : From end , c as t support sw in g in g fro nt pirou et te, diomidov, stutz hand stand , drop ba sket hand stand , bac k somi hand stand , . mi ssed. . doubl e bac k off. lu Ming: From end , glid e reverse cut , cast support pi ro uette, stutz hand stand , back so mi , stutz , cast ,/, turn support, cast, back ri se straddl e cut " L", straddl e stiff-stiff press, do ubl e bac k off.

Li Ning: Glid e kip reve rse cut , press out to giant sw in g to support , swingin g pirouette, cast, back ri se straddle cut " L", straight arm straddl e press hand stand , stutz hand stand , di omidov, stutz, doubl e bac k somi di smount.

Horizontal Bar: Thi s proved to be th e hi ghli ght event of th e co mpetition.

A ll perform ers did th eir ro utin e w ell. Tw o of th e Chinese did triple somi fl yaways and o ne did a doubl e tw isting doubl e. A lso th ese perfo rmers used one arm giant combin ation s but it w as not th ey th at scored a " 10" tw ice fo r th eir hi gh bar perform ance . It was Zho u Li M in g. Tong Fei received a 9.9 in th e Prelim s and a 9. 8 in th e Fin als, w hil e Phil Caho y received a 9.8 both days. Phil bea utifull y perfo rm ed both a pike front somi o ut of in verted giants and a ve ry hi gh voronin straddl ed. Thi s co upl ed w ith hi s fl amboyant, spec tac ul ar style ea rn ed him a ti e fo r seco nd w ith To ng. How ever, Zho u Li M in g left no do ubt w ho should have wo n hi gh bar.

USGF GYMNASTICS

Tong Fei: Wi th undergr ip, hi gh start to hand stan d, imill ed iate stoop throu gh, shoot to in ve rted giants, hop pirouette , 1 giant , 2 ri ght arm giant s, 1 left arm giant, giant to Tkachev (reverse hecht), svv in g fo rward hop to undergr ip, kip fro nt giant , pirouette , giant to stalder shoot, 2 giant s, double tw isting double so mi di smou nt.

Stretching excercises with the hospitable Chinese.

':

Zhou Li Ming: (10): Still hang w ith overgrip, lift shin s to ba r, drop legs and w hip into hi gh cast w ith 'I, tum , swin g up hi gh in front. change grip , Endo shoot, immed iate front pirouette , 1 giant , 1 arm giant to anoth er 1 arm giant to a Gienger (fl yaway '/, tw ist ca tch w ith legs together), kip change, front giant, pirouette, giant, stalder, hop, Endo shoot, Y. giant to Jaeger (front so mi catch), kip change, giant, stoop throu gh circl e shoot, in ve rt ed giants , hop p irouette, 2 giants fu ll tw istin g doubl e fl yaway . (20 yea rs olel) The fina l team score was: Chin a 229.30 USA 222.95. vVe performed admirabl y in li ght of th e fact th at v,,Ie onl y had one O lympic team member and a j uni or team member, w hile th e Chinese had at least three of th eir top six gy mn asts compe tin g. Phi l Ca hoy's performance was o utstandin g in tyin g for first in two events (R and PB) and pla c in g second in PH and H B. He was also our top A ll-A round fini sher wi th a 56.05.

Th e days fol low in g the co mpetiti on we visited the Peking Ph ys ica l Culture Institute (started in 1953) and spent two workout sess ions w ith th e Chin ese going over comp ul so ry interp reta ti ons and techniqu es. \Ale also talked about our nation al program s. It seems that the ir yo un g gymn asts (to 10 yea rs) do onl y co mpul so ry part s and do not co mpete. Th en, during the nex t age group, 10 to 12 years , they ca n do opti ona ls and co mpete. Th ey did say th at boys sta rt as young as 5 yea rs old but usuall y start at 6 or 7 yea rs o ld. After regular academic schoo l , youn g gym na sts practi ce at a spec ial "amateur sc hool" fro m about 5 to 9 pm. Pek ing ha s about ten such ama teur sc hoo ls. Yo un gsters showin g ab ili ty are se lec ted to th eir Prov in cial tea m w hi ch co nsists of 10 to 15 gym nasts. A male at any age ma y make their Na tion al tea m. There is no junior nati onal team - onl ya nati onal tealll.

Th e Chinese sa id that th ey have man y top 14 and 15 yea r old male gymna sts.

Th e Institute's gym had all th e apparatus for men and wo men and even a portable overhead spottin g belt on an A-frame. Th ere we re not any pits or very thi ck mats. Howeve r, th eir quant ity of tripl es, one arm G iengers and related gyra tion s ce rtainl y indi ca te the use of th ese trainin g aid s in the ir good training cen ters. We did not see them. The Chin ese impli ed th at they do no sc ientifi c resea rch in gymna sti cs. From talkin g to them , their nat ional program does not seem too unu sual or specia l, yet their gymnast ics is ve ry spec ial. We ca n see th at th ey wo rk hard and are among the wo rld 's best.

The ir techniques, di fficulty and gracefulness ce rtainl y indicates that they are doing thin gs ri ght. I might add th at the Chin ese were most interested in the sc ienti fic resea rch that we might do. They did indicate that the ir coac hes do se rve a two or three month intern ship periodi ca ll y .

As for non-gymna sti c acti viti es, we shopped frequentl y at the Friend ship store and loca l shops, had a ban quet w ith dignitaries at the Peki ng Duck Restaurant, visited the Forbidden City, th e Su mm er Palace w here we met Kenn y Rogers, and the only man-made stru cture th at ca n be see n from th e moon - the Great Wa ll.

Th e Chinese are th e fr iendli est and wa rm est peo ple th at I ha ve encountered in 28 yea rs of tra ve lin g th ro ughout man y co untries. M y onl y regret was th at we did no t see more of the ir gym nas ti cs program s. •

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PAGE 11

CHINA DIARY

by Don Peters 11 /13/80

11 /14/80 11 /1 5/80

11116/80

11 /17/80

Depart from LAX w ith Beth KI i ne and George Beckstead. A rrive in Sa n Franc isco and are met by Jack ie Wa lker and hu sband along w ith Tracee and Ju l ianne and are transported to Stanford U . for wo rkout. O th er girl s arri ve 2 hours later. Ma rcia does not arr ive; seems th at she read her ti cket w rong and missed her fli ght in New Yo rk . Linda makes arrangement s fo r her to take a later fl ight and meet us in Peking. A ll the girl s loo k good in w orko ut. No ma jor pro blems.

9:00 P.M. depart Sa n Francisco on Pan Am flight to Ma nil a w ith stopove rs in Hawa ii and Guam .

Th is day did not happe n ?

Arr ive in M an i la. Ve ry hot, and we four are dressed for the co ld weath er in Pekin g. Frank books four hote l roo ms and we all take turn s tak in g mu ch needed showe rs.

Depa rt Ma nil a on Phi lippine A irl ines to Ca nton and Pekin g.

A rri ve Pek in g 9:00 P. M. and are taken to th e Eve rgreen Hotel and checked in . Everyo ne is ex hausted and goes stra ight to bed .

Breakfast at 8 :30. America n style - eggs, sa usage, toast, etc.

Meetin g at 9 :30 w ith Chin ese offic ials to dec id e Meet form at.

Meet to be don e w ith two squads (3 USA and 3 Chinese in each squ ad). Seemed fair, so we agreed .

1 :00 Li ght w orkout. A ppa ratu s very good. Bars excell ent, th e best I've ever seen. Beam also good . New Ch in ese sprin g floo r. Hard er th an AM F bu t good spring. Va ult boa rds very low and not ve ry sprin gy. G irl s had mu ch difficulty .

6:00 Depart fo r Peki ng Du ck Restaurant for we lco me banq uet. Served " Pekin g Du c k", ate everythin g but th e feath ers. Li nd a and Kath y got sick on each oth er afterwa rd s.

Maybe th ey don' t like duck?

5:30 A.M. Awa ke to sou nds of runnin g feet in courtyard.

Stud ents and w orkers do ing morn ing PT . Take cold showe r (no hot water at thi s hour; later in the morning th ey turn th e boiler on ).

11 /18/80

8: 00 Brea kfast A meri ca n style. No one is brave enough to try a Chin ese breakfas t.

9:00 Visit th e Forbidden City. Very impress ive palaces of th e emperors of th e M in g and Q ing dynasti es. Built in 1400 AD .

Outstand ing art ohj ects. Wa s es pec iall y impressed w ith jade ca rvings.

1 :00 Train ing at til e arena w ith th e men's tea m. Bars and beam went we ll. Va ult - youn g girl s stil l havin g problems w ith boa rd . M arc ia is fine. Jul ianne is doing better but ,路v ill not do p iked front '/ 2, w il l do tu ck '/ 2 in stead . FX - did dance th ro ugh rout ines w ith layouts for tumb l in g. Marc ia and Kel ly also tumbl ed. Kelly and Amy stil l havin g some probl em adju stin g to the fl oo r.

8: 30 Breakfast 9 :00 Coac hes and Offic ials went shopp in g at the Fri end shi p Store. Very good bu ys on art works, jewe lry, cloisse net, jade, etc. Gymn asts stayed at hote l to rest.

1 :00 Trainin g at arena .

Bars - Light w orkout. I only requ ired on e routine.

Beam - Everyon e loo ks good , but Ke ll y is hav in g some probl ems w ith her punch fro nt mount off of th e reuther boa rd.

She's hitting about 50 % but she's ve ry experienced w ith the skill so, I think th at we' ll go w ith it. We 've dec ided to take out Amy's ga iner wa lkovers to bac k tu ck. Ma rcia's new dismount (double pike) loo ks solid .

A my and Kel ly still having tumbl ing problems.

Floo r We've dec ided to take o ut the seco nd double back in Ke ll y's routin e and to do double tu ck in stead of doub le pike in th e first run.

Saved thi s event fo r last so as not to upset th e rest of Va ult th e w orkout if th ings we nt badly aga in . lulianne and Ma rcia are gett ing better each day. A my is also improv in g, but I don't thi nk th at the tsuck full is possib le. We w il l have to go w it h piked tsuck. Ke ll y w ill be O K w ith tu ck tsuck. Li sa tri ed a hand spring front and landed in a deep squat and injured her gastroc. Not

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Cj .~ ~

USGF CHINA DELEGA TION: (L to R ) Front Row-J u lianne B eth Klin e, Trac ee Talav era, Lisa Z eis, Amy Koopman, Mm'cta Fred erick, Abie Grossfeld. Back Row-Mik e M ilido nis, Don Peters, K elly Garrison, Wa lly Miller, Dennis Hayden, Phil Cahoy, Matt Arnot, Kath y Tibb etts, Sharon Va lley , Linda Ch encinsk i, Ge orge B eckstead.

McNamara~

~

)

11 119/80

, I

sure how seriou s; may be a probl em tomorrow .

Chinese gi rl s look grea t. Th ey are goin g wit h th eir best three and th ree young on es (11 , 12, 13) . Tw o little ones do fu ll -in s on th e fl oor and off the beam . O ne does RO fu ll on th e b e ~m ,md one does RO FF Layout on th e beam . Young girl s bars are good, but o lder girl s are grea t. A ll th e Chin ese are grea t on th e beam .

8:30 Breakfast. Ma rc ia is sick w ith nausea. M ay have drunk the wa ter? Li sa's leg is stiff but not swo llen. lack Roc kwe ll is w ork in g on it. He thinks th at she' ll be able to go. By th e \-vay, lack is fantasti c!

11 :30 M en leave fo r wa rm -ups.

1 :00 Girl s and I leave to wa tch men's co mpetiti on. Ma rcia and Li sa stay at th e hotel to get more rest. Kath y, Lind a and Sharon stay to make sure th ey get to th e arena on tim e.

2:00 M en's Competiti on.

5: 45 W arm -ups. Spirits hi gh. Li sa's a little apprehensive about her leg. Marcia is feeling better.

Vault - Chi nese brin g a new boa rd . It's a littl e better. Li sa w ill do a tu ck tsuck.

Bars - Everyone loo ks ready.

Beam - A little nervous but not bad .

Floor - Havin g troubl e w ith double pikes. Eve rythin g else is okay.

7:30 Competiti on Begin s. Girl s in good spirits. Li sa is be ing tough bit in g the bu ll et.

Vault : l eis - 8.5 Tuck tsuck.

Tal avera - 8.9 Clean handspring full.

Garri son - 8.9 Piked tsuck. Fa ir.

Koopman - 8.9 Piked tsuck.

Frederick - 9.5 Strong layout tsuc k.

Mc 'amara - 9.5 H andsprin g fro nt '!, tucked.

Team-45. 75 China-47.45 - 1.7 Bars : lei s - 9.0 Shaky, but no ma jor breaks.

Tala ve ra - 9. 1 One break . M issed back stalder hop.

Garri son - 9.3 Good set. Better th an workouts.

Koopman - 9.S Good set.

Frederick - 9.8 Great set.

MCI amara - 9.5 Ca me short on stem rise and did cover up routine.

Tea m- 47 .20 China- 46.95 +. 05 Beam: leis - 9. 15 a fall s.

Talavera - 9.40 No fa ll s.

Garri son - 8.70 Fall on mount.

Frederi ck - 9. 10 No fa ll s, bu t touc h on dismount.

Koopman - 9.30 o fa ll s.

M cNa mara - 9.60 No falls.

- 1.4 5 China- 48.00 Tea m- 46 .55 Floor Ex : l eis - 9.30 Clean.

Talavera - 9.30 Weak di smou nt.

Garri so n - 9.50 Good routine.

Koopman - 8.55 Fall s on mount and di smou nt.

Frederi ck - 9.20 Fall s on di smount.

M cNa mara - 9.65 Good routine China- 46.55 Tea m- 46. 95 +. 40 USA - 186.45 China-188.95 All Around : 1. M cNamara USA 38.25 China 1. Cheng 38.25 3. Li 38. 10 China 4. l ui 37.75 Ch ina 5. Frederi ck USA 37,65 6. Yang China 37.45 Other USA Scores: Talavera 36.70 Garriso n 36.40 Koopman - 36.25 Ze is 35.95

11120/80

Breakfast Depart fo r shopping at th e Friend ship Store Lunc h at th e Hotel.

Depart for W orker's A rena for w arm-ups.

W arm-ups. G irl s see m down, ve ry leth argic, and not ve ry exc ited about th e prospec t of co mpeting aga in . Tracee see m s p syc h ed and determin ed to redeem herse lf for yesterday'S mistake on th e bars. A my's Isuck is improvin g so we are goin g to try th e ful l.

JULIANNE McNAMARA winner of th e All-Around was the high-scoring American on th e beam in team competition with a 9,60, 7:00

Li lu Frederi ck Talavera BarsCheng l u Beam- Cheng Wu Talavera

Floor -

tv\cNamara Wa ng Garri son USA

Go ld Si lver Bronze

11 /21 /80

11 /22 /80

11123 /80

8 :30 9:00 1 :00 4: 45 5 :30

USGF GYMNASTICS

Competit ion begins.

Vault-

1 1124 /80

2

o

9.7 9.4 9.70 9.70 9.65 9.80 9. 70 9.60 9.65 9.60 9.55

Layout and full Layout and front 'I , Layout and fro nt tuck Excel lent rou tine Excell ent rout ine

,v luch better than tea m competit ion Very cl ea n routin e Presented very wel l

CHINA 3 4

3

8:30 Breakfa st.

9: 15 Depart for Great Wa ll . Tw o hour dri ve, but worth eve ry minute. The most impress ive man-made thing th at I've eve ry seen.

12:30 Lun ch at restaurant at th e W all .

1 :30 Depart to M ing Tombs. Ve ry interestin g. Go t some ni ce pictures of the kid s on th e ston e anima ls that guard th e tombs.

5:00 Retum to hotel 6:00 D inner (eve ryo ne beginning to tire o f Chinese food) 9 :00 Dancin g at th e " D ance Hall ". Tri ed to teach th e Chinese offi c ials and interpreters how to D isco. We failed.

8: 30 Brea kfas t.

9:30 Depart for shopp in g downtow n. Found a bookstore w ith gymn asti cs books. We re taken to an art s and crafts store.

Prices better than th e Fri end ship Store. Exce llent art , glasswa re and jewelry.

1 :3 0 Train i ng at spo rt s sc hoo l. A pp aratu s poo r. We nt throu gh our co mpu lso ri es for th e Chin ese.

6:00 Di nner "Ameri ca n style" .

6:4 5 Depart for shoppin g trip dow ntow n.

8 :30 Brea kfast.

9: 30 Depart for Summer Palace . Ve ry beauti ful Pa lace and ga rd ens of th e emperors of the M in g and Q uin g dynasties . We ran into Kenn y Rogers and he posed for pi ctures w ith the kids.

Later, at lu nch we we re se rved chi cken co mpl ete w ilh heads.

That we nt over big w ith the kid s.

3:00 Trainin g w ith th e Chin ese at th e sports sc hoo l . Yo ung Chin ese girl s showed us th eir fl ex ibili ty dri ll s. Chin ese coac h showed me how to make the grips th at the Chinese girl s wea r.

6 :00 Return to hotel to pack. Sharon, Lind a and Kath y we nt to a Drama Dance perform ance and ca me back rav in g aboul it.

5:00 Wa ke up.

5:4 5 Depart for airport and HOME. •

PAGE 13

USGF AUSTRIAN DELEGATION:(L to R) Front R ow-L yn L edel'er, Brian Meeker, K elly McCoy, Sharon Shapiro, Trina Tinti, Amy Wilson, Breck Grigas, Tracy Curtis. Back Ro w -Ken A llen, B eth and Kurt Th omas, Carlos Spivey, Mitch GayI01'd, Fritz R eit er, Susie Van Slyk e, R ick Atkinson and T om Hardin.

by Frit z Reiter Women 's Gymna sti cs Coach In April , w hen th e poss ibility of th e Austri an Exhibition Tou r was first di sc ussed it seemed so obvious that I should be going as the US coac h. After th e first exc itement subsid ed th e rea lit y sunk in : W hy me? Th ere are so many qua li fied coac hes in th e US that it see med preposterous to ass ume th at I wo uld be se lec ted. Then Kell y Ga ll agher, Gymna sti cs O lympica's El ite gymnast in 1980, fini shed 15th in th e Championships of th e USA and occ upied one of th e places w hich we re to go to Austria. But the trip was uncertain as it wa s to be an Exhibition Tour and not a competiti on. So, when I was in fo rm ed of my se lection in ea rl y fall , I was quite thrill ed. The prospect of see in g my famil y after so many years and meeting my fri end s from my gymn asti cs days was ove rw helming.

As my preparati ons for the trip proceeded I began to feel an increa sin g sense of PR I DE to represent my "chose n co untry" in my " nati ve co untry"! I w as sure th at th e gymn asts and offic ials o f ou r delegation wo uld like Austri a and her bea uti fu l land sca pes and the hi stori c bu il di ngs. But the peop le wo ul d th ey li ke the people? In my many trave ls for th e sport of gymna sti cs I kn ew the one real difference betwee n different pl aces is PEOPLE' I shou ld not have been worried beca use all th e people we met we re extremely fri endl y and always attempted to ac co mm oda te our w ishes before we could th ank them. I was proud of the people of A ustri a.

A few years back, whe n I had the fortune of being part of the F.I .G. World Team w h ich quad renn ial ly does a post O lympic promotional Exhibiti on Tour through Bra z il - I was room in g w ith th e pub li sher of th e " Intern ational Gymn ast" ma gaz ine, G lenn Sundby. I still cheri sh thi s opportun it y of shar in g two wee ks of my li fe w ith G lenn w ho has co ntri buted so much of hi s energies and resources to the grow th of gymn asti cs . One thou ght G lenn expressed so vividly on our journ ey made

PAGE 14

quite an impress ion on me: " WE NEE D TO FIND MORE W AYS TO OFFER OUR YOUNGSTERS THE OPPORTUN ITIES TO MEET W ITH THE YOU TH O F OTHE R COUN TRIES" . Wha t better way ca n you thin k of. than in th e form of an exc iting Tour of Exhi biti ons.

The group of gymnas ts w hi ch made up our US tea m was a good mi x betwee n ex perienced , tra ve l-w ise athl etes and eager but timid newcomers.

Th e leadership was made up of our 'c hef de mi ss ion ' M rs. Roe Kreutzer from Phoeni x, A ri zona, Mr. Ken A ll en from O shkosh, W isconsin (w here the. is O shkosh, Ken ?) w ho wa s th e coac h for our men's te,1Il1 and myse lf. in charge of th e girl s. Roe is a wo nderfu l lady and so mu ch respon sible for my bi g break in the Un ited States (s he in still ed so l11u ch needed CO FIDE CE into my gymn ast - Deni se Cheshire - on e week befo re she won th e ation al A ll A round titl e). It was a good feelin g to share my co untry w ith Roe. Ke n is on e of my favor ite person s in th e USA. I' ll never forget hi s compass ioned understandin g on our tr ip to the Ch unichi Cup, Japan w hen on th e day of departu re I co ntrac ted laryngitis. Sharing l11 y A ustria w ith good fr iend s was a grea t pleasure for l11e.

Immed iately upon ou r touchdown in Vienn a we were recei ved by an offic ial de lega ti on headed by M r. Ko hun , th e pre sident of our host orga ni zati on, the W AT w ho welco med us to A ustri a and introduced us to our guid es, Renate, Peter and Eri c. It was here w here I also met my fal11 il y afte 13 years for the first til11 e aga in . Much to l11y surpri se all the di stances of va ri ous places in l11 y l11 emory appea red so l11uc h shorter, it wa s hard to bel ieve. A l11erica - w hat enorl11 ous dil11ensions' Oddl y, it wa s ri ght th en w hen I se nsed w hy I wanted to be in A meri ca, the greatest co un try on Earth !

Austri a is beauti ful an d th e kids ad l11ired th e sights of ancient bu il dings and art s, enjoyed brows ing for so uven irs to take home to th eir fam ili es and fri end s. Th ey also seemed to enj oy th e deli cious iood.

Th e nex t day we trained at the al l new U ni versity Trainin g Center and got to see ou r gYl11na sts fo r th e first til11 e in act ion. 'VIle we re to ha ve an

USGF GYMNASTICS

opportunity to wo rk out on th e ac tu al eq uiPlllent to be used at our first perform ance in th e "Stadthall e", on Sa turd ay afternoo n. It soon becaille apparent th at th e equipment wo uld not be of th e quality we are used to in the States. However, after so me bri ef mom ents of surpri se th e girl s adjusted to the co nditi ons and showed an exce llent attitude abo ut it. Yet th e JET-lag and the ru shed conditi ons haillpered our performa nce on our first ni ght somew hat, es pec iall y on Bea m , (we are not used to gettin g up and performin g w ithout wa rill-up illlmediately before th e perform ance). O n th e o verall , howeve r, the girl s cut th e mu stard a bit better th at day th an th e boys w ho admittedl y had worse co ndition s to cope w ith .

As would be expected of a WO RLD CH AM PI ON , Kurt Thomas adju sted to th e lowe r qu aliti es of th e equi pment best. Kurt had jo ined our group fro m London w here he covered the Ru ss ian Exhibiti on for ABC-TV. With thi s o ne and oth er simil ar tours we have stepp ed in direc t competition w ith all th e superpowe rs in our sport. Th e organi zers let us know th at we had been in vited in an effort to maintain an East-West balance. Last yea r th e Chin ese Na ti onal Gymn asti cs Team toured A ustri a and the Ru ss ians are bein g as ked next yea r w ith th e Japanese to fo ll ow afterwa rd .

Lynn Lederer, Tracy Curti s, Kell y M cCoy and Trin a Tinti more th an made up for th e below par perform ances of our team on th e Beam w ith nothin g short of excellent Uneven Bar-sets. The V ienn ese bega n to se nse th e wo rld cla ss level of th e Ameri ca n gymn asts and th e rewardin g appl ause started rolling in . Acco rding to comm ents from my hometown fri end s, most of them had never seen some of th ese move ments in perso n and it ca n be ass umed th at the audience co uld grasp the level of difficulty even less. They certainl y did not expect A meri ca ns to do such world class gymn asti cs .

Lynn's creati ve movements from one bar to the other and her daring piked Comaneci dismount ove r the low bar, Tracy Curti s' superform and Kell y McCoy's prec ision in hitting th e hand stand position, and especiall y the li ghtn ess w ith w hi c h Trin a Tinti we nt thr o ugh her vary in g c ircl e-move ments and flo wed throu gh th e air on her di smount - as if w eight less - fi ll ed our hea rts w ith prid e and th e "Stadth all e" w ith resounding appl ause . Th anks to th e w ood en boa rd s our w arm-up sess ion

" The Viennese began to sense the world class level of the American gymnasts and the rewarding applause started rolling in ... " o n th e ho rse va ult was di sco u rag in g. Th e perfo rm ance during th e Exhibition on the other hand was a smashin g success . Vienna's gymnasti cs enthu siasts we re excited . Th ey had never seen such a barrage of hand sprin g 1 '12 front va ults by tin y girl s.

Without question , the girl s mi ss the "Sprin gfl oo r" a lot more th an the boys. Perh aps "AMF" could ship its excell ent fl oo r along to meets and exhibition s abroad and w rite it off, (j ust kiddin g, Larry) ! Wh at we did not have in tumblin g we made eas il y up in d ance, choreograph y and orchestrated mu sic. As usual wO lllen's floor is one of th e hi ghli ghts of any gymasti cs show and so we re th e routin es presented by Susie Va n Slyke, A my W il so n, Trina Tinti , Lynn Lederer and Tracy Curti s w ith her brand new arrangement.

Our Exhibition in Vienn a was part of a program w hi ch spotli ghted va riou s form s of gymn asti cs. W e enjoyed th e perform ances of hundreds of children and adults includin g mother and baby demonstrati ons and a jazz-group perform ance choreograph ed by an old fri end of min e from the fo lkdance group I used to belong to. She is now a teacher in one of the three Sportsgy mn as ium s A ustri a has instituted to foster thei r sportsm ind ed yo uth .

The Show was M. C' d by one of Austri a's foremost TV personaliti es, Kurt Votava .

M y fri end s had arran ged a get togeth er at one of Vienn a's pop ul ar " HEURI G EN" (pl aces w here peopl e go to get together to have a good tim e,

USGF GYMNASTICS

Tracy Curtis

photo by Fritz Reiter

sin g, laugh and li sten to accordion and violin mu sic). I arranged th at o ur w hole delegati on was abl e to attend thi s pl ace of " G EMU ETLI CHKEIT".

Th e typi ca l Hunga ri an style mu sicians pl ayed to th e honor of the Ameri ca n athl etes w ho joined in w ith rh ythmi ca l clappin g of th eir hand s.

O n Monda y our guid es, Renate and Eri c sa fely brought us to Lin z, our second stop on th e tour. Peter brou ght Kurt Th o ill as and hi s love ly w ife Beth in w hat was reported as an incredible recordbrea kin g dri ve in so meon e's Mercedes Benz th at evenin g. Generall y Lin z is known for its indu stri al sites and it co mes closest to produ cing L.A. 's Smog. Not even I was awa re of it s love ly old tow n or th e hospitality of it s peoople.

In retrospect Lin z was the gymn asti cs highlight of our tour. We had somewhat adapted to th e time and the organization of the show w as superb . With the exception of th e floo r and the board s th e equipment was excellent. If I eve r felt the effect of a pos iti ve attitude towa rds th e outcome of one's w ork it was here in Linz. As in V ienn a, vaultin g provided som e probl ems. How ever, dri ve n by a need to pl ease th e audi ence as we ll as themse lves Sh aron Sh apiro and Tracy Curti s w ho both had mi ssed th eir vau lts asked for ano th er turn to make up for it. Both were rewarded w ith a thunderou s appl ause after their hits. Kell y M cCoy slipped off the Bar on her di smount after perfo rmin g nearl y fl aw less up to that point. She jumped up and performed th e d ismount tei th e p leasure of th e audience. We used a printin g mistake in th e program to show the peopl e th at our girl s are also at home on the " Hori zo ntal Bar." Th at even ing we ce lebrated th e success of our perforill ance w ith our Lin ze r fri end s, exc hanged gift s, expresse d our gratitud e ove r th eir hos pitality and fo rgot th e fac t th at the yo uth hostel we were staying at didn ' t have any eleva tors.

The weat her had not graced our v isit to A ustri a yet , but it did so b y openin g up ju st as we were in the mid st of the A lps. Spec tac ular views opened up and snow co nditions were good enou gh to sense the mi ght of th e A lps and to slide down th e mountain side on o ur backs. (The more mature

Cant. an pg. 3 1 PAGE 15

BIO-MECHANICS CORN ER

Uneven Parallel Bars ...

Overgrip Giant Swing ...

The Descent Phase ...

HSEE HOW THEY FALL"

By Gera ld S. George, Di rec tor U.S.G.F. Bi omechanica l Ta sk Force Ju st as in the men's Horizontal Bar Event, the ba sic objective in executing an O vergr ip Gia nt Swing on the Uneven Paral lel Bars is to circl e about the upper rail w ith as ful ly extended a bod y shape as is mec hanica lly poss ible.

However the precario us, yet necessary, proximity of th e upper to the lower ra il of th e Unevens poses a unique ph ys ica l co nstrai nt on th e gymna st, the effects of wh ich beconie pa rti cularly obv iou s during th e ascent ph ase of thi s skill. More often th an not, the performer is seen having to co mpensa te by undu ly altering and/or m isaligning her bod y shape in order to margin all y comp lete the giant swing or otherwise suffer w hatever consequences lay hi dden for fa ilure to comp lete! In eith er case, ma ximum techn ica l execution is se ldom, if ever, rea l ized.

Since swing-oriented gymnasti c ski ll s are essenti all y govern ed by the sa me set of mechanica l princ iples, it wo uld be to the advan tage of all concerned not on ly to understand th e natu re and function of such pri nc iples but also to know how to best max imize their effect. In so do ing, exec ution of an Overgrip Giant Swing becomes an asset rather than a liabil ity to the aspiring perform er.

In skill s cha racterized by a pendu lum sw in g Illotion (Fi gure I), most of us are we ll aware that the cont inuou s dow nwa rd pu ll of gravity ca uses a perform er's bod y to accelerate (s peed up) throug hout th e entire descent and that the greatest ve loc ity (most speed) is attained at or very nea r th e exact bottom of the swin g. During the ascent ph ase of th e swin g, it is aga in that inev itab le naggi ng fly, grav ity, w hi ch c lai ms respon sibi lity for the correspond ing decrease in ve loc ity (s low down).

It is interestin g to obse rve, however, th at th e alllount of sw ing rea lized in the ascent pha se is always sO lllewha t less than in th e descent ph ase. Th e stopping force of fr iction, created main ly by the hand s circ li ng abou t th e bar ra il (a nd to a mu ch lesser extent by air resistan ce), reduces the alll ount of upswi ng that otherwi se (friction-free state) mi ght have been atta ined . In sp ite of this re lative difference in sw ing alllpl itude betwee n the descent and asce nt, there exists an illl portant relation sh ip : I The greater the swing amplitude attained in the descent phase, the greater th e potent ial for increased ampl itude in the resulting ascent phase.

Figure 2. OVERGRIP GIANT SWING DESCENT PHASE

A

.,P==========

Figure 1. BASIC PENDULUM SWINGING MOTION

Of course , the ease with wh ich a bod y ca n c irc le about a bar is directly re lated to its shape. If, for example, increased impetu s is needed to co mplete the ascent phase of a giant swing, the perform er must begin to shorten quickly her rad iu s of rotat ion at, or immediately after th e exac t bottom of the swing. This matter of " tradi ng off" rad ius length for increased rotat iona l impetu s, " a robbing of Peter to pay Pau l" so to speak, furth er substantiates the critical illlportance of the descent ph ase: For: II Neither th e amoun t, tilll ing, nor quickness of shorten ing th e bod y's turnin g radiu s ca n adequately increase th e performer's rota tion al rate wi tho ut a lread}! having generated a sufficient quantity of c irc ular Illotion prior to the ascent phase.

Conseq uent ly it is th e descent phase itself that must be con sidered as th e primary source, the cau sa tive fa ctor, the co ntroll able va ri able setting th e

PAGE 16

USGF GYMNASTICS

,

"the precarious , yet necessary, proximity of the upper to the lower rail of the Unevens pose ~ a unique physical constraint on the gymnast ..."

uppermost l imits for w hat can potentiall y occu r in th e ascent ph ase of any circul ar swin ging skill. And since a maximum quantity of swinging motion is requi red to successfull y comp lete th e ascent phase of an Overgrip G iant Swing on th e Uneven Parallel Bars, th e necessity of ca refu ll y exami ning the uni que nature of th e descent phase becomes patentl y obvious.

There are at lea st two important mec han ica l factors w hich serve to regulate (a nd in thi s instance maximize) descent swi ng am plitude. The fi rst, and perh aps most obv ious, va ri abl e deals w ith th e starting height of the swin g. As depicted in ill ustration A of Figure 2, th e gymnast initiates the descent ph ase of the giant swing from a region of hi ghest poss ible loca ti on relative to the bar, i.e. , a full y extended hand stand pos ition. Such a startin g positi on mea ns that the performer ca n cover the grea test poss ible distance during the descent phase . Thi s is a distinct advantage in that it allows gravity to act upo n (acce lerate) th e body fo r a lon ger durat ion of t i me.

Consequently, a greater quantity of moti on can be made ava il able to help maximize amplitude in the oncomi ng ascent pha se .

A second and equally importan t co nsid erati on for max imizing swing amplitude is distance, i.e. , th e di stance between th e bod y's ma ss center (located at or near the perfo rmer's waist) and th e ax is of rotation (bar). Thi s di stance, common ly referred to as th e " radiu s of rotation ", shou ld be as great as is mechanica ll y possible throu ghout th e entire descent ph ase.

Howeve r such a consideration reads eas ier th an it lives beca use th e gymnast is also confronted w ith th e task of having to clear the lower bar of th e apparatu s.

It is obv iou s that , by decreas in g sufficientl y one or a seri es of joint angles at the proper time, a performer can manage to avo id str iking the lower bar rail. What is perhaps not qu ite so obv ious ce nters about how to accomplish this wh ile still insuring the largest possible rad iu s of rotation throughout every point in the descent swing.

Fi gure 3 provides us with an interesting compar iso n of how to obtain the best of both wo rld s. In each of these co nceptu al models, a se lected joint angle is decreased sufficie ntly eno ugh so as to allow only a most minimal " tota l bod y clearance" from th e lower rai l. A lthough the phys ica l distance between th e ax is of rotat ion and eac h of the performers' feet is prec ise ly the sa me, the resu ltan t change in their respecti ve radii of rotat ion is dec idedly different.

Rather than bending at the should er joint angle, the performer in th e second example chose in stead to decrease the hip joint angle. Thi s resu lts in a co mparati ve ly smaller percentage of body we ight being pu lled inward towa rd the ax is of rotation (upper bar rail). Consequently a co mparati ve ly longer radiu s of rotation is achi eved in th e second example.

Expanding these basic co ncepts in terms of ma ximizing the descent phase of the actual Overgrip G iant Swin g (Fi gure 2). the aspiring performer wo uld be wise to consider the following suggesti ons:

greatest distance from the axis of rotation , i.e ., the hip joint.

2. Decreas ing th e hip joint angle se rves as th e cue to beg in decreasin g the lumbar angle (lower back).

3. Decreasing the lumbar angle then serves as th e cue to begin decreas ing (bendi ng) in th e thoracic (trunk) area.

4. Each bod y sha pe change progressivel y bui lds upon the oth er sufficiently enough to permit minimal clearance of the lower bar rail.

S. This progress i ve sequence of decreasin g first the hip joint, th en t he l umbar area and fina ll y t he trunk area ca nnot be overemphasized.

Illustrations E-F 1. Just as the total bod y un it approaches the lowe r bar rail, the legs are quickly stradd led (latera ll y) as w ide as is mechanicall y possib le and then are instantaneously returned to thei r or igi nal feet together posi ti on .

2. No te that th e perfo rm er rap id ly unfo ld s from th e deep ly hol lowed bod y shape such that a ful ly extended (yet sli gh t ly arched ) total body shape is attai ned we ll before arrivin g at th e exact bottom of th e swing.

Since the mech anica l characteri sti cs of the desce nt ph ase set the stage for al l that is to fo ll ow, it should begin to become somewhat c lea rer to us th at see mingly m inor d ifferences in descent swing techn ique, more often than not, resu lt in major differences in total performance. The descent pha se therefore is the very genesis of all swing-oriented gymnastic ski ll s. Who was it that once sa id .. ? . Everyone likes to swing, A nd those w ho engage in the sport of gymnastics lo ve it, Yet champions w ho border th e lunatic fr inge of exacting execution live it.

And that's th e simpl e truth .

Figure 3. EFFECT OF BOD Y SHAPE ON RADIUS OF ROTA TlON

Illustration A 1. Th e ski l l should be in iti ated from a fully-extended, ve rti ca l handstand position .

2. Parti cu lar emphas is should be placed on ma inta inin g both co mplete protra ction (hol low-c hest) and full elevation of the shoulder girdle .

3. Th e straight-line shape observed in the arm-trunk angle, as we ll as the aforementioned shou lder gird le position , should be steadfastl y maintained throughou t the entire descent pha se.

Illustrat ions A-8-C 1. Every attempt should be made to retain the full y-ex tended shape of the total bod y unit for as long as poss ible during the initial as pect of the descent phase .

Illustrati ons C- D-E 1. Note t hat the requ i red body shape changes occur in a progress ive, sequenti al fas hion and are initiated from a point of

USGF GYMNASTICS

PAGE 17

CHUNICHI CUP & TOKYO INVITATIONAL November 28 & 29, 1980 December 4, 1980

By M rs. Delene D arst USGF Delegation D elen e Darst- Chef d' Mi ss ion & W omen 's jud ge Paul Ti ckenoff- Men' s jud ge Bill Sa nd s- W omen 's Coac h Fran c is A ll en- Men's Coac h-onl y fo r Chuni chi Cup A my Koopman- Gymn ast Tracee Talavera-G ymnast jim Hartun g-G ymn ast-onl y fo r Chuni chi Cup Phil Cahoy-G ymn ast -o nl y fo r Chunichi cup Mas Wa tanabe-Men's Program Directo r, USG F Chuni chi Cu p-N agoya, j apan A ll-Around Co mpetiti o n-Co mpetiti on II Fin als Competiti o n-Co mpetiti o n III Tokyo In v itati o nal- To kyo, japan Finals Competiti o n-Competition III Countri es Parti c ipa tin g: Ca nada Chin a Czec hoslova ki a-Women o nl y Hun gary japan Germ an D emocrati c Republi c Rom ani a-Women o nl y Korea-Wom en o nl y U SA Age of Gymn asts: 14 and over for w omen Men were pro babl y all over 20 Steffi Kraeker was o ne of th e o ld est wo men N umber of G ymn asts: Wo men Men Chuni chi 17 plu s 2 extra 13 j apanese fo r sco re onl y To kyo 17 plu s 2 ex tra 11 -Ameri ca n men j apanese had to go ho me Th e co mpetiti o n fo rmat for Chuni chi was all in vited gymn asts co m peted th e first day for all -a round awa rd s as we ll as to p 8 qu ali fyin g in eac h eve nt for fin als th e seco nd day. Th e first d ay' s scores were added to th e fin al sco re fo r pl acement. It was all opti onal competiti on .

In Tokyo each co untry dec ided w hi ch gymn asts would enter w hi ch eve nt. In general eac h gymn ast was in o nl y 2 events. If a co untry onl y had o ne gymn ast, fo r exa mpl e DDR, o nl y had Steffi Kraeker, so she entered all fo ur. Thi s was a fin als (Co mpetiti o n III ) o nl y w ith no scores bein g ca rri ed.

IV.A. Evaluation of Events Vault 1. M ost va ults perform ed were Tsukahara in tu ck, pike, and layo ut.

Fro nt 1 '/, Sa ito in tu ck Tsukahara w ith full (1/l) tw ist Sin ce I was jud gin g anoth er event ca nnot co mm ent o n frequ ency .

Unevens 1. & 2. A ll gymna sts had mo re th an eno ugh d ifficulty fo r Co mpeti tio n II requirements. A ll bu t five competitors had CK requirements as we ll.

Seven gymn asts rece ived 2 tenth s in o ri gin ality and six rece ived 1 tenth

PAGE 18

Trac ee Talavera

photo by Rich Kenney

in ori gin ality. Six gymn asts had no o ri gin ality in their ro utin es. All but o ne gymn ast had an extra C fo r 1 tenth under bonu s.

3. M ost of th e exe rc ises were we ll co mposed w ith va ri ety in movements. A co upl e of ro utin es had repetiti o n of movements and worked o n o ne ba r to the max imum all owed. I saw no new moves o n the bars durin g any of the competiti o n .

4. Onl y one gymn ast had a fallon the di smount, one had a 3 tenth hand to uc h, and th ere w ere no oth er seri ous faults in prelimin ari es . In fin als there we re no se riou s faults. In th e Tokyo co mpetition three gymn asts had o nl y 2 " C" el ements, o ne gymn ast fell tw ice and on e fell on ce.

5. In general fo r all co mpetition s th e tec hniqu e o f exec uti o n was good. w ith a few being outstandin g. Eve n those w ho got into troubl e showed good tec hniqu e.

6.( lt appea rs fro m th e sco rin g o n th e wea ker gymn asts th at jud ges d id not take into acco unt virtuosity and th at there we re no dedu cti ons for " lac k of" .

Beam-Co uld no t see .

Fl 60r Exercise 1. ~ n th e prelimin ary competiti o n all gymn asts had all th e necessa ry ~ i ffi c ult y. In fin als at th e Chuni chi Cup all had max imum diffi culty, but i:\th e To kyo meet o ne gymn ast had o nl y 2 "C" elements and repea ted a doubl e full tw ist se ri es fo r no credit th e seco nd tim e. She also fa il ed to perf orm a large lea p or dance pass. Th e jud ges fa il ed to score th e ro utine corr~tl y as she rece ived a 9 .25 ave rage. Fo urteen gymn asts had at least on e C\ skill , all co min g fro m a do ubl e bac k sa ito.

2. O ri gin aNv most often ca me fro m : (1) do ubl e jump turn , (2) 1 '/2 tw istin g sa ito bacl<wa rd (3) hand stand do ubl e pi ro uette. O ne gymn ast rece ived .2 in ori gi ~a lity fo r a 1 '12 front sa ito to a front suppo rt.

3. In general most gymnasts lac ked in dance and conn ecti o ns. There we re ro utines that had wa lk or run into the co rner and wa it for the tumblin g pass . O ne gymn ast di smounted w ith an "A" skill and three we re lac kin g a natu ra l gymn asti c " B" skill. Th e sco res did no t reflect the lac k of suc h.

4. Most exec uti o n mi stakes ca me from fa ll s in tumblin g. Th ere were 3 fa ll s o n dou b le bac ks and seve ral gymn asts should have rece ived at least .2 fo r leg se parati o n o n th e do ubl e bac k. Th ere was also lac k of v irtu os ity in so me ro utin es th at was not dedu cted . I perso nall y fe lt the fl oo r sco res in general were too hi gh by .2 to .3 tenths and o n th e weake r ro uti nes by

Cont. on pg. 27 USGF GYMNASTICS

j

CHUNICHI CUP & TOKYO INVIT. cant. from pq. 18 B. 1.

2.

3.

[

4.

5.

y 6.

7.

r

more than .3.

Evaluation of Organization of Competition Apparatus was excellent and very we ll maintained. The lack of a sp rin g floor was an adjustment forthe girls w hich they made. Th e ad ju stment to the hard , less springy board took longer and probably affected the girls' vaults more than the floor. By the la st day they seemed to be adjusted to the board.

The facilities were good in all aspects. In Tokyo the gym was sma ller but big enough for sufficient room in all events. The athletes section was on the floor, off to the side w hich made for some confusion and a feeling of a lack of organization.

Scoring was done manuall y at the Chunichi Cup. It was very we ll organized and clearly presented. The length of time the sco res were flashed cou ld have been longer. It was hard to catch the average if yo u weren't looking as soon as the score was flashed. In Tokyo the Seiko timers that were used in Ft. Worth were used. Again the average was not shown long enough.

Scoring personnel we re excell ent and very efficient.

Result sheets were hard to find in Tokyo. No one was informed of where or when they wo uld be available. In Tokyo they were given to eac h delegation at the banquet. It was much better organized there.

The audiences were rather sparse. The lack of enthusiasm probabl y reflects the japanese culture. The best and most enthusiastic audience was at the exhibition in Sabae.

The banquets and Sayanara parties-there were four in all -were most outstanding. The food was plentiful and excellent. At one of the banquets there was traditional japanese entertainment which was excel lent. A lso at each party except the last one, each delegation sang a song.

Also in Fukui they planned two tours , one to a textil e factory and one to a glass frame manufacturer. They were both ve ry interesting. It is unfortunate that the American woma n's coach chose to take the girls to wo rkout during the two tours rather than go on them.

WHY THEY ARE BETTER cant. from pg. 7 toes pointed , then these girls wo uld have to work hard on their round-off flip-flops and in time I' m sure that they would improve enough to be able to supply the forces necessa ry to do a full-in. Now, w hen our gymnast gets her full-in but she has to cowboy to make it and maybe it's not very high.

Should we deduct for the execution errors? Yes! We must, because if we encourage her to use this trick w hen she has no " reserve" we w ill be asking for an injury to happen. She should be encouraged to use the full-in only when she can safe ly make her bad ones. Remember, our team cannot do we ll unless all of our team members are health y and able to perform to the best of their abilities.

Earlier in thi s article I predicted a poor finish in the World Championships because of injuries and not " hitting" . To hit (to not ha ve any major errors) in a major competition in vo lves technical , ph ys ical and psyc hological factors. Tec hnicall y, you must have reserve on all of yo ur skills (you must be technicall y proficient) so that a minor error does not become a major deduction.

Physical ly, yo u mu st possess enough endurance to be strong at the end of yo ur routines (reserve endurance) so that if yo u have to struggle through some minor problems during the routin e, yo u wil l still ha ve enough left to make the dismount. Also, phys ical ly yo u must be free of serious pain so that yo u do not have to override normal defense reactions (flinching, etc.). Psyc hologicall y, yo u must be confident, both in yo ur ability to perform yo ur routines and in yo ur ability to do it w hen it counts. The former comes from successf ul

USGF GYMNASTICS

It was another experience other than gymnastics w hi ch wou ld have enhanced the trips for the girls.

V. judging Analysis A. The leve l of jud ging on bars was approximately th e same as USGF. Most of the scores were fairly accurate. On floor the scor in g was mu ch higher than in the U.S .

B. Chunichi Cup Preliminaries

Final s

Tokyo

Scores 9.5-10.0 9.0-9.45 8.5-8.95 8.0-8.45 Be low 8

Vault 1-5.88% 9-52.94% 4·23.52% 2-11.76% 1-5.88 %

UB 5-29.4 1% 10-58.82% 2·14 .28%

11 -64.70% 6-35.29%

FE 5·29.41 % 10·58.82% 1·5.88% 1·5.88%

9.5-10.0 9.0-9.45 4-50% 8.5·8.95 3·37. 5% 8.0-8.45 Below 8.0 1-1 2.5%

5-62.50% 3-35.90%

9.5·10.0 9.0-9.45 8.5·8.95 8.0-8.45

4-44.44% 3-33.33%

4·50% 2· 25% 2·25%

Beam

2-22.22%

6-75% 1·12.5% 1-12.5 % 2-22.22% 3· 33.33% 3-33.33% 1·11.11 %

3· 37.5% 5-62.5%

3-33.33% 4-44.44%

C. There were no protests for any of the competitions.

D. judges meeting was only for assigning judges and fi llin g out score sheets. There was no discussion of OV or RV moves or anything on the Code. In the first meeting Mrs. Buger did hand out pictures of all the new moves that have been added to the Code. The OV-RV li st was also given out.

VI. The trip went ve ry we ll with no major problems. Most of this was due to the warmth and hospital ity of the japanese. It was also due to the fact that Mr. Watanabe was w ith us to help with the translation and understanding of procedures, etc.

Everyone was very pleasant to travel with and there were no serious problems . Al l in all it was an excellent trip. If our girls cou ld have performed • better it wou ld have been that much better of a trip .

injuries, greater endurance from the abi lity to " hit" more routines , and greater confidence from the knowledge that yo u can " hit" yo ur routines even on a bad day.)

If we had a selection system similar to the Russians, our coaches could handle this problem themselves. They cou ld simp ly stick to their guns and demand better execution from their gymnasts .

If we had a national coach, he cou ld handle the problem just by orderin g the personal coaches to make greater execution demands. But we ha ve neither. Our kids make the team based both on how they perform and how they are scored. So, if ?-. the judges are rewarding difficulty, no matter how ~ poorly it' s done, then most coaches will permit ~ their gymnasts to do marginal sk ill s if it improves their chances of making the team. And we do not have a national coach with authority over the individual coaches. Consequently, our only hope is with the Technical Committee and the judges Association. If they emphasize execution in their ~ judging at al l levels, maybe by 1984 we call get ~ this who le thing turned around.

P.S. After reading this article, I' m afraid that some readers might take this as a crit icism of the repetitions in training (made possible by technica l girls who competed in China. I assure you that is proficiency), and the latter is learned through not the case . The girls who competed in China "s ucce ssful " meet experience, (a lso made (Amy, Julianne, Kelly, Lisa, Marcia and Tracee) possible through technical proficiency) . performed better than any U .S. team in recent A ll of these factors are vital. But the one that is yea rs. They were wonderful to work with and I am most important and which we as administrators, ve ry proud of them. M y article critic izes a trend in coaches and judges have the most control over is U .S. gymnast ics that is making success more technical proficiency. And since these factors are difficult for these girls, and in no way reflects nor inter-related , a sh ift to better technical execution should it be interpreted to reflect , on the va li ant ma y improve the two other factors invol ved in " hitting ". (Freedom from pain by reducing efforts of these gymnasts.

•

PAGE 21

â&#x20AC;˘ London Coca Cola Invitational In

Wembley Arena-December 12-13 Nobuyuki Kaj itani of japan won th e men's all-around , and Romania ' s Emili a Eberl e tied Zhou Xiaolin g of the Peop le' s Repub li c of Ch ina for the wo men's titl e at th e 1980 ve rsion of the Coca Co la In v itational in London on the 12 and 13 of December. Lyn Lederer was the so le medalist for the USA, a sil ver on floor exercise. Tracy Curtis, Breck Grigas and M itch Gaylord all made finals in at least one even t.

The re lat ive ly inexperien ced USA team of Lyn Lederer, Tracy Curti s Breck Grigas and M itc h Gay lord were cheered warm ly and loudl y in the competition , w hich started ju st a few days after th e death of john Lennon on American so il. Not being sure of any reaction aga in st Americans in th e homeland of the fa ll en si nger after the tragic ki lli ng, the USA co ntingent was treated well by all Englishmen they ca me in co ntact w ith , and as usua l the USA athletes were beseiged by autograph seekers. However, the USA gymnasts were se nsiti ve to some booing during the co mpetition .

O n the competiti ve side, Olga Mostepanova (lea rn how to pronoun ce this name, you' ll see it again), a twelve year o ld Ru ss ian w ho stand s no higher than the va ulting horse, showed the crowd that little girls ca n dance as we ll as throw big acrobati c skill s. The opinion of severa l observers was, at 12 yea rs of age, Mostepanova ca n execute her dance elements as we ll as Nelli Kim ever did! Nelli , by the way, performed exhi b iti on routines on beam and floor. A lthoug h her routines were extremel y watered dow n, and she is visibl y heavier than her appearance at the Fort Worth World Champion shi ps, the English crowd proved Nelli is st ill the Queen of th eir hearts .

Cheryl Weqtherstone (GB) trains in Conn. w ith Coach Andy Antonelli .

A lthough living in the USA for th e past nine years, Cheryl is a Briti sh citi zen by birth . A second place in the GB Champi onship October ea rn ed Cheryl a spot on the GB team in the Coca Cola Invitational.

Lyn Lederer Men's Highlights HB - Morisue (Japan) and Li (C hina , not the " fireplug" Li) did beautifu l tripl e flyaways off hi ghbar, both of them ki ck ing out and landing w ith relati ve ease .

Kajitan i (Japan) perform ed a reverse hecht, imm ed iate Ca lifornia hop, immediate stalder sequence on HB .

PB -It was an A ll-Asian show as the Chi nese and j apanese took four of the top five spots. Kajitani ' s reverse st raddl e-cut was terrific.

V - Vern ih (USSR) d id a layout Tsuk that may have not landed yet. Mitch Gaylord made final s with a good full tw isting Tsuk (tuck) after havin g problems adjusting to th e wood va ulting board.

R- Breck Grigas swung a strong so lid set for second place after prelim s. inclu ding a so lid iron cross th at he hadn' t used since hi gh sc hoo l. A fa lter on his '/2 in -'/2 out dismount in fina ls cost him the sil ver medal.

PH - Pommel Horse took it' s toll , w ith on ly six of th e twelve gym nasts completin g c lea n sets . Kajitani proved again th at short people ca n swing hi gh.

FX - Odorhean (Romania) mounted with a fu ll -in ba ck-o ut, had a 1 '/ , twi sting Arab ian 1314 on hi s third pass, and dismounted w ith a double back ... w ith a broken bone in hi s foot. Popov (USS R) did a Thomas Fla ir to immed iate straddle-up to hand stan d .

Women 's Highlights VAULT - The USA girl s had some troubl e adjustin g to th e wood reuther board . . . but no comp laints. Tra cy Curti s did a very good handspring-front va ult to a flawless land ing, but a little short on di sta nce. Havin g a stronger second va ult in fin als may have earned Tracy a medal. The vault th at seemed to score best was a " layout Tsuk" . . . in piked position.

BARS - Eberle (Rom ani a) did everythin g to a hand stand . . . and a good clear-hi p piked front w / '/2 tw ist dismount. Kono (Japa n) surprised everyone.

Mostepanova (USSR) may have the best Delchev on uneve ns in the world ;

USGF GYMNASTICS

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(good height and d istance from th e bar) but she stood on th e low bar, jumped to a front support, th en casted to a hand stand, (a blatant stop) and still scored 9 .3S! BB - Lyn Lederer hi t so li d and made Fin als.

Mostepanova' s strong dance was co mbin ed w ith a FF-Iayout (2 foot takeoff) tu ck back and tu ck front, al l fl awless. V ladarau (Romani a) was so lid but had stock tumblin g. Zhou' s leaps we re great!

FX - Lyn Lederer exec uted her d ance del ibe rately and prec ise ly, combin ing it w ith a RO 1 '/2 tw ist step-out RO FF piked double back - (a tumb li ng pass she confidently hits every time, prac ti ce or co mpetit ion, and neve r w ith a spotter). Zhou (C hin a) mounted w ith a tu ck double back, but

Coca Cola Inv it ation al Men's Fi nals

1 T2 T2 4 5 6 1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2 3 4 5 6

FX Zh iqia ng Popov Odorhean N ing Morisue Gr igas PH Ka jitani Zhi q ia ng N ing Popov Vern ih W inc h R Ka jitan i Mori sue Vern ih Zhiq iang Grigas Popov

PRC URS ROM PRC JPN USA

18.95 18.90 18.90 18.80 18.50 18.40

JPN PRC PRC U RS URS GBR

19. 10 19.00 18.95 18.85 18.50 18. 10

JPN JPN URS PRC USA URS

19. 10 19.00 18.95 18.70 18.65 18.60

URS JPN JPN PRC GBR USA

19.275 19.20 19.20 18.975 18.825 18.65

5

V Vern ih Kaji tani Morisue N in g W inch Gay lord PB Ka jitan i Popov Morisue Ni ng Vern ih

JPN URS JPN PRC URS

19.30 19 .05 19.00 18.90 18.55

1 2 3 4 5 6

HB Kaj itani Morisue Zh iq iang Ning Vernih Popov

JPN JPN PRC PRC URS URS

19.65 19.45 19 .35 19.20 18.65 18.50

1 T2

12 4

5 6 1 2 3 4

Women' s Final

US Team to London (L to R ) L ederer, Curtis, Grigas, Gay lord. dropped out of a trip le fu ll on her second tumb l ing line. Fairly stock tumb l ing from Mostepanova - a piked double, (a RO A rabian-RO- FF-fu ll , and a double full) was combined w ith absolutely awesome exec ut ion of her dance .

Th e Briti sh A mateur Gymn asti cs Association , along w ith th e Coca Cola spon sors, we re ve ry acco mm od ating and helpful throu ghout our stay . A ll the meals w ere provided for and the sa me for transportation . Any problems th at arose, they worked to so lv e it as quick ly as poss ible.

Our last ful l da y in London found us tourin g even th ough it was anoth er damp and rainy one. On e of the athletes, Tracy Curtis, couldn' t rea ll y take part as it turned out the next day, the day we left, she had bronchiti s. A doctor had to come to the hotel in ord er to diagnose and prescribe the necessa ry medicati on. Oh, was she sick! That Sund ay, all of us except for Bill Sand s and the gi rl s, had an opportunity to see many of the sights in London . By the time we got back, w e were ve ry tired .

The fli ght took 16 '1, hours, eight at th e airport and 8 '1, on th e plane. So, w hen we fin al ly arr ived at O ' Hare, it was 1 :00 AM - eight hours later th an our sc hedu led arri va l. â&#x20AC;˘ Women' s A ll-Arou nd Resu lts Uneven N ame Vau lt Ba rs Beam Floor Cou ntry Emili a Eberle ROM 9.50 9.60 9.20 9.30 Z hou Xiao li ng PRC 9.20 9.55 9.40 9.45 Yayoi Kano 9.25 9.55 9.35 9.35 JPN O lga Mostepanova 8.95 9.35 9.45 9.65 USSR Ma ri lena Vlacla rau ROM 9.35 9.15 9.45 9.30 Natalia Ili en ko 9. 10 9.45 9.10 USS R 9.55 Lyn Lederer 9.10 9.10 9.3 0 9.40 USA Zhuo Jingl ing PRC 9.30 9. 10 9.30 8.70 Cheryl Weatherstone GB 9.30 9.40 9. 10 8.50 Mandy Gorna ll 9.30 9.20 9.00 8.50 GB Noriko Kondo 9. 10 8.85 8.50 9.15 JPN Tracy Curtis USA 9.30 9.00 8.00 9.10 M en's A ll-Around Results Porn Par High Nam e Cou ntry Floor H o rse Rings Vault Ba rs Ba r N obu yuki Kajitani JPN 9.20 9.55 9.50 9.55 9.60 9.80 A ndre i Popov USSR 9.40 9.45 9.40 9.25 9.60 9.65 Xu Zhiq iang PRC 9.55 9.40 9.30 9.30 9.40 9.60 Li N ing PRC 9.30 9.25 9. 15 9.50 9.50 9.75 Igor Verni h USSR 9. 15 9.20 9.45 9.65 9.30 9.40 Masao Morisue JPN 9.35 8.30 9.50 9.65 9.45 9.70 Ba rry Winch GB 9. 15 9. 10 9.00 9.40 9 .35 9 .30 Breck G ri gas USA 9.3 0 8. 70 9.4 5 9.30 8.65 9.20 Mitch Gay lord USA 9. 05 8.40 9.25 9.40 9.30 8.40 Da n Odorhean ROM 9.40 8.45 9. 10 9.40 8. 75 8.55 Keith La ngley GB 8.65 8.80 9.20 9.40 8.75 8.45 A urel ian Georgesc u ROM 8.75 8. 15 8.65 9.25 9. 10 9.00

USGF GYMNASTICS

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1 2 3 4

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V Eberle Ji ngJin g Gorn al l Wea th erstone Cur tis Vlaclarau UB Eberle Xiao ling Ka no Ili enko Weathersto ne Mostepa nova

ROM PRC GBR GBR U SA ROM

18.85 18.625 18.55 18 .025 17.775 14 .05

1 2 3 4 5 6

ROM PRe JPN U RS GB R URS

19.40 19.30 19. 10 19.05 18.55 17.75

1 2 3 4 5

B Xiao ling Ka no Mostepanova Jingli ng Vladara u Lederer FX Mostepa nova lIienko Lederer Eberl e Xiao ling

PRe JP N U RS PRe ROM USA

18.85 18.80 18.75 18.70 18.60 17.55

URS URS U SA ROM PRe

19. 15 19. 10 19.05 18.75 18.70

Po s

37.60 1T 37.60 1T 37.50 3 37.40 4 37.25 5 37.20 6 36.90 7 36.40 8 36.30 9 36.00 10 35.60 11 35 .40 12

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The SECOND FOUR CONTINENTS CHAMPIONSHIPS โ ข In MODERN RHYTHMIC GYMNASTICS

by Andrea B. Sc hmid The Second Four Continents Champion ships in Modern Rh ythmi c Gym na sti cs took place December 2-4, 1980, in Ri o De Janeiro, Braz il. Th e young U.S. Team performed far beyond ou r expectation s. But let us start at th e beginning.

Fi rst Day The Championsh ip began w ith th e group co mpetit ion. Th e young (average age, 16 yea rs) team perform ed th e routin e very we ll only w ith small execution faults. We fini shed second ri ght after the Japa nese tea m, w ho placed 4th in the last World Championsh ips in London , 1979 , and defeated Canada who finished 7th in the Wo rld Champi onshi ps last yea r, and competed in World Champion ships w ith group since 197 1 and Braz il w ho competed sin ce 1975. Th e U.S. entered a group in the World Championships th e first time in 1979.

First Round Results : Compositi on score japan Exec ution score 2. USA Composition score Execution score Co mposit ion score 3. Ca nada Exec ution score 4th New Zea land 16.70; 5th Braz il 16.30; 1.

Second Round Results: japan Com pos ition score Exec ution score 2. Ca nada Com positi on sco re Exec ution score 3. USA Composition score Execution score 4th New Zeal and 16.85; 5th Braz il 15.50;

9.6 Total 8.9 9.25 Tota l 8.25 9.20 Total 8.20 6th Mexico 14.65.

18. 50 17.50 17.40

Th e competition then continued w ith Clubs and Ribbon alternating. Sue Soffe did an excellent club routin e, 9.05. Unfortunately she m issed two parts in her ribbon routine w hi ch is one of her best events - 8.75. Lydi a Crabtree did a nice club routine and made the final in thi s event too .

The Japanese gymnasts performed very we ll , but Sue, our fo ur-time Nationa l Ch ampi on strongl y chal lenged them. The two Brazil ian gym na sts were ve ry impressive and one co uld see th at th ey have a new Ru ss ian coac h. Debby Brya nt (Canada) the Al l Around Champion of the first Four Continent Championships placed 6th . Kerry Dough erty of New Zea land had improved sign ifica ntl y since th e World Champion ships and placed 7th . Lyd ia Crabtree (USA) placed 9th . Lydia looked good in the worko uts but had d ifficu lty handling the pressure of the competiti on. Thi s was her second international experien ce as an ind ividua l compet itor. I hope in th e future we can give more intern ati onal competition experience to our gymnasts so they w ill be prepared for a bi g champi onship like thi s one.

PAGE 24

Ota , Mi chi yo (Japan ) Soffe, Sue (USA) Kimura, Kimie (Japa n) 5a ntos, Lui za (Brazi l)

Clubs Ribbon 9. 10 8. 75 9.05 8.75 8.70 9.40 8.80 8.95

Total 36. 15 15 .')')

35.95 35.35

9.55 Total 18.00 8.45 9.20 Total 17.25 8.05 9.20 Total 16.70 7. 50 and 6th Mex ico 14.75.

The competition then continu ed w ith Rope and Hoop alternating. Both of our indi vidual co mpetitors, Sue Soffe and Lydi a Crabtree started w ith good routines. Sue competed first wi th rope. At th e begi nning of the exercise, she dropped her rope for a second, but after that her routine was f l aw less. She received 9 .0 which p laced her in the prel imin ary co mpetition , second after the Japanese girl , Ota 9.05 . Lydia started w ith an excellent hoop routine 8.9 . She placed 5th and made the final s in thi s event. Then, Sue performed her hoop routine , she had a coup le of small ba lance fau lts and slightl y missed one of her ca tches but overall her rou tine was expressive and we ll executed. She aga in pla ced second 9. 15 after Ota 9.25. Lydi a has a very difficult rope routin e. She seemed to lose conce ntrati on and made several large mi stakes - 8.5.

Second Day On the second day, the co mpet ition aga in started w ith group performance. The group performed very we ll again, but we placed 3rd thi s day, one tenth behind Canada. I have to remark here th at Canada and Japan had tw o brevet judges and they co nsequently had th eir tw o judges judging the group competition , w hi le we sent one brevet judge (myse lf) and one international judge (Annelis Hoyman). The brevet judges got their judging ass ignment first, and then th e intern ationa l j udges shared the remaining places.

1.

1.

2.

2.

4.

All Around Results Rope Hoop 9.05 9.25 9.00 9.15 8.85 9.00 8.80 8.80

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Awards for Individual Ev ents/ Rope (L to R) Sue Soffe/USA (2nd plac e), Michiyo OtalJAPAN (1st place) and Luiz a Santos /BRAZIL (3rd p lace)-tielJane Lalzor/CANADA (3rd place)-tie.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

Lopes, Clarisse (Braz il ) Bryant. Debbie (Canada) Doughert y, Kerry (New Zea land) La lzor, jane (Canada) Crabtree, Lydia (USA)

8.90 8.80 8.50 8.85 8.5 0

9.00 8.70 8.60 8.90 8.90

9. 15 8.80 8.80 8.25 8.55

8. 15 8.80 8.70 8.35 8.20

35.20 35 . 10 34. 60 34.35 34.15

Th i rd Day - Final Competiti on The fi nal competiti on started w ith the indi vidual events. Sue Soffe did an exce llent job in both th e rope and hoop com petiti on and pl aced 2nd in both events. In the club and ribbon rout ines, she made a few mi stakes but still pl aced in the top group. Lydia performed a ni ce club rout ine. With her hoop routi ne she cou ld have placed third but unfortunately she mi ssed a catch and the hoop roll ed ou t of the floor area .

Individ ual Events Results Rope : 1. O ta 18.00 2. Soffe 17.85 3. Lalzor 17.75 3. Sa ntos 17.75 5. Brya nt 17. 65 6. Kimura 17. 60 6. Lopes 17.608. Doughert y 17. 15 Hoop: 1. O ta 18. 50 2. Soffe 18.20 3. Lopes 17.95 4. Sa ntos 17.5 5 5. Bryant 17.40 6. Kimura 17.40 7. Lalzor 17. 25 8. Crabtree 17 .00 Clubs: 1. Kimura 18.60 2. Lopes 18. 15 3. O ta 17.904. Soffe 17.80 5. Santos 17. 75 6. Brya nt 17.55 7. Crabtree 17.25 8. Doughert y 17.2 0 Ribbon : I . Ota 18 .30 2. Kimura 17.65 2. Bryant 17. 65 4. Soffe 17.45 5. Santos 17.40 6. Doughert y 17.35 7. Pereira (Arg) 17.0 8. Duncan (NZ) 16.90

Group co mpetition was the c losing event. The exc itemen t was high as each country had a chance to improve its standing. Th e co mpetiti on was

USGF GYMNASTICS

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21 espec iall y close between th e USA and Ca nadian team. The teams entered w ith the follo w in g scores in the fin al competition: 1. Japan 27 .82 2. USA 26. 525 3. Ca nada 26 .325 4. New Zealand 24. 70 5. Braz il 23.995 6. M ex ico 23 .60 , but we didn' t have to wo rry. Our team did a spl endid job I Th ey performed th e routin e w ith elega nce and co nfidence and held on to their second pl ace.

The group perform s a total of three times in a cham pionshi p. The group routine is jud ged by two juri es, each jury co nsisting of four jud ges and a head jud ge. Jury 1 jud ges co mposition an d Jury 2 jud ges technique of executi on on the first two perfo rm ances. Both juries judge execution on the third or fin al co mpetiti on. Ca lcul ati on of th e score fo r th e group exercise is a compli cated procedu re. The fo ll ow in g tab le should clari fy th e process : PRELIMINARY COMPETITION

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PAGE 25

National USGF Modern Rhythmic Gymnastics-UPDATE Andrea B. Schmid , Chairm an, M RG Committee

SUB-COMMITTEES OF THE MRG COMMITTEE Th e fo ll ow in g sub-committees or deve lop mental pro gram s we re estab li shed at the 1980 USG F Congress 1. Age Group Develop ment Committee Chairm an: Mrs. Nora Hitze l Purpose: Th is sub-committee shall ha ve direct res pons ibilities for th e develop men tal aspects of th e Age Group Program co mpul so ry program, c lini cs for gymnasts and coac hes.

2. Elite Developm ent Committee Cha irm an : Mrs. Barbara Parcher Purpose: Thi s sub-committee shall have the responsibil ity of coo rdi natin g the tra inin g aspects - cli nics, semin ars, cam psto deve lop th e Eli te gymn ast and coac hes.

3. Coaches Deve lopment Comm ittee Chairm an: M rs. Jeanne Sanders Purpose: Thi s sub-com mittee shall have th e direct responsibility of training coaches at the Age Group level.

4. Judges Trainin g Comm ittee Chairm an: M rs. Norm a Zab ka Purpose: Thi s sub-co mmittee shall have the direct respon sibil ity of

Modern Rhythmic Gymn asti cs is one of th e new O lympic Sports w hi ch w ill be included for th e first time at th e 1984 Ol ympi c Games in Los A ngel es. With thi s new presti ge of becoming an O lympic Sport, we are recei ving add iti onal attention , financia l help, and encouragement from USGF to promote thi s beautiful sport. The goa l is to e levate MRG to a place along side its co unterpart -Arti sti c Gymn asti cs. Thi s req uired us to reform our organization and start developmental program s. At the 1980 USGF Congress in SI. Loui s, M isso uri , man y of these new reforms we re establi shed.

MRG COMMITTEE Th e purpo se of th e Modern Rh ythmi c Gymn asti cs Com mittee of the United States Gymn ast ics Federati on shall be to promo te, se rve , and administer th e MRG program at all leve ls of ability throughou t the United States. Th e M RG Committee w ill have ove r- all respo nsibility for th e direction of the MRG program of th e USGF. Th e Comm ittee is now composed of the fo ll owi ng members: The M RG Committee was en larged w ith the elected new Regional Chairmen.

1 . Charter Members: Chairman - Dr . An drea B. Schmid , Ph ys ica l Edu ca ti on Department Sa n Francisco State Un ive rsity, Sa n Franci sco, CA 94132 M rs. H elena Greathou se, 4975 S. W. Ange l Avenu e, Bea ve rton , OR 97005 Mrs. Monika Heilbut, 685 West End Ave nue, New Yo rk , NY 10025 Mrs. Nora Hitze l, George W illiams College, 555-31 st Street, Dow ners Grove, IL 605 15 Dr. An neli s S. Hoyman, 805 Ma in es Bl vd. , Champaign, IL 61820 Mrs. Jane Jurew, 710 Humphrey, Oak Park, IL 60304 M rs. M ildred Prcha l, 24 19 Scovill e Ave nue, Berwyn, IL 60402 - Mrs. Norma Zabka , Hunter Co llege, 695 Park Avenue, New Yo rk, NY 1002 1 2. Reg iona l Chairmen: I. Mrs. Barbara Parcher, C.S . U. Sac ramento, 6000 J Stree t, Sacramento, CA 958 19 II. Mrs. Janelle Bennett, Oregon Gymn asti cs Academ y, 14270 N.W. Science Park Dri ve, #60 5, Portl and, OR 97229 III. Ms. Patti McC urry, 2044 E. 12 Pl ace, Tul sa, OK 74104 IV. Thi s position is open V. Mrs. Gwendol yn Hilliard , 18085 Fairfield, Detroit, M I 4822 1 VI. Mrs. Jeanne Sa nders, 44 Normandy Dri ve, Sudbury, MA 01776 VII. Ms. Ell en Garlicki , 67 Map lewood Ave nue, Bogota , NJ 07603 VIII. Thi s posi tion is open

The USA Team at th e Hotel Nacional trainin g and ce rti fy in g ju dges throu gh the USGF certifi cati on process.

5. Publi c Relati ons Comm ittee Chairman: Mrs. Gwe ndol yn Hilliard Purpose: Thi s sub-com mittee shall have the direct responsibiliti es for pro mot in g and introducing the spo rt in order to enh ance the growth and deve lopmen t of MRG in th e entire co untry .

A ll th e above fi ve sub-co mmittees w ill work in close cooperati on w ith th e MRG Committee and w ill be guided by the MRG Committee deci sions .

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PAGE 26

FOREIGN RELATIONS COMMITTEE A Foreign Relations Committee for MRG was establi shed at th e 1980 USGF Congress. The F. R.C. cons ists of five elected representati ves from th e M RG Committee and coac hes and athl etes represen tati ves . The elected positions are as fo ll ows: 1. M RG Committee Chairm an (C hair of F.R.C. ) 2. Elite Deve lopment Committee Chairm an 3. Judges Trainin g Com mittee Chairman 4. 'Coaches Representati ves 5. * Ath letes Representati ves ' Positions #4 and # 5 are open to non-MRG Comm ittee members onl y .

Purpose : To deve lop guid e lin es for the se lect io n, training , and respon sibili ties of gymn asts, coaches , and judges in preparation for International Competiti on.

First Meeting of th e FRC w ill be held on February 22, 1981 , Oakland , Ca lifornia.

USGF GYMNASTICS

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MRG RESOURCES 1 . Moder n Rh ythmi c G y mn as ti cs 1980-84 Co mpul sory Rou tin es ($5. 00lboo k plu s $1.00 postage fo r 3-5 boo ks) 2. Code of Po ints fo r Modern Rh yth mic Gymn asti cs w ith suppl ement ($2.50) 1 and 2 order from : U SG F, P.O. Box 7686, Ft. Worth , Texas 76111 3. Schmid , A ndrea, Modern Rhythmi c Gymn asti cs . Mayfield Pu bli shin g Company, 285 Hamilton Avenu e, Palo A lto , CA 9430 1 ($ 11 .95) 4. ' Hoc tor Records, Wa ld w ick, N .J. 07463 5. * Kim bo Edu ca ti onal, P. O . Box 477, Long Branch, N. J. 07740 6. 'Statl er Reco rd s, In c. 1795 Express Dri ve, North Smithtow n, N Y .

11 787 *4, 5, and 6 Compani es have boo ks or pamphl ets in M RG w hich are â&#x20AC;˘ accompanied by a LP reco rd . W rite for a 198 0- 81 catalog.

L to R Individual Competitors Lydia Crabtree, Sue Soffe rh y thm ically pose in Rio. 1981 MRG NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS Date: Th e 198 1 M RG Nati onal Junior and Seni or Champi onships w ill be held in Tulsa, Oklahom a, June 4-6, 798 7.

Qualifications: Juni ors 12-1 4 yea rs of age - quali fyin g sco re 30 poin ts AA Seni ors 14 and up - qu ali fyin g score 32 points AA Events: 1. Ind ividu al : Ro pe, Hoop, Clu bs, Ribbon 2. Group Exerc ise: 3 ba ll s and 3 ri bbons w ith opti onal mu sic Note: Gymn asts wa nting to try out for th e Na ti onal tea m in group exerc ise mu st either co mpete in " M ini -routine" to co mpul sory mus ic or have th e " M ini -ro utine" w ith the co mpul so ry mu sic included in their group exercise. Film and text fo r th e m ini-ro utine may be purchased from : Mrs. Barbara Pa rcher C.S.U. Sacra mento 6000 J Street Sacramento, CA 95819 (Reg ional MRG Meets w ill be held fo ur weeks prior to th e Na ti onal Champi onships) NATIONAL MRG CLINICS Date: The Na ti onal M RG Championships w ill be fo ll owed by a Judgin g, Coachin g, Elite, and Age Group Compul so ry Clini cs on June 7, 8, and 9, Tul sa, O kl ahoma, 198 1. The c lini cs w ill be co nducted by Elite coac hes, Intern ati onal ju dges, and authors of th e co mpul so ry routines. It w ill be open to gymnasts, coac hes, and j udges. For furth er info rm ati on on both th e Na ti onal Champi onships and Clini cs, co ntact: Ms . Patti McCurry 2044 E. 12 Pl ace Tul sa, OK 74104 The Nat ional M RG Cham pi onshi ps and Clini cs w ill be foll owed by th e Junior and Seni or A rti sti c Gymn asts National Champi onshi ps, w hi ch begin June 10- 13. Thu s, Tul sa w ill be the Gymnastic Capital in June of 198 1.

MRG CALENDAR National June 4-6, 198 1 July 24 -29, 198 1

Nati onal Junior and Seni or M RG Champi onships Tul sa, O kl ahoma Nati onal Sports Festi va l, Syracuse, New Yo rk

International Ma rch 14-1 5, 198 1 Ma y , 198 1 Ma y 15- 17, 198 1 June 19-21, 198 1 June 27 -28,198 1 October 16-1 8, 198 1 October 21-24, 198 1

Czechos lovak In vitati onal Bul gari an In vitati onal Corbeil In v itational Princess Grace Cup, Monaco Israel In vitati onal Hungari an In v itati ona l Wor ld Championshi ps, M uni ch, Germany

' December, 1982

Fou r Continents Championshi ps, Auckl and , New Zea land Wor ld Champ ions hi ps, France ' Octobe r, 1983 'Competi tion ind iv idual exercise: rope, hoop, clubs, rib bon - group exercise w ith 6 ba ll s

USGF GYMNASTICS

USA Team: Barbara Parcher, Assistant coach/manager, Su e Soffe, Lydia Crabtree, Selena Woolery, Sandra Shannon, Michelle B eruba, Wendy Hilliard, Valery Zimring, Nancy N ewfield, Karla N ew ell, in front, coach Alla Svirskiy .

SECOND FOUR CONTINENTS cant. from pg. 25 2nd Presentation Com positi on IC,) = 10 po rn ts = 20 po rn ts Execut ion IE,) = 10 po rn ts FINAL COMPETITION 18th fin ali sts) Composit ion IC, + C,) = 20 poi nts Exec ut ion IE, + EI ) = 20 poi nts

=

40 points: 2

20 poi nts

FI NAL SCORE = 40 poi nts Group Competition Results 1. Japan 36.995 2. USA 34.4 75 3 . Ca nada 34.100 4. New Zeala nd 32.4 75 5. Braz i l 31.645 6. Mex ico 30.400

We all were ve ry proud of the good pe rform ance by our girl s and are grea tl y enco uraged abo ut our prospec ts in th e future. Many peopl e co ntributed to thi s success. First of all our Na ti onal Coach A li a Svirski y, th e choreograph er of the grou p routine. Th e routine is interestin g, d ifficul t, and ve ry ori gin al and surely deserved th e ni ce hi gh co mpos iti on mark 9.2. She also did an excell ent job to make th e girl s wo rk in uni so n and w ith good techni que - both dance and handlin g the apparatus. This was a grea t accompl ishment cons iderin g the limited ti me th e girl s wo rked togeth er co mpared w ith th e oth er teams w ho all li ve in o ne city and have a na ti onal coac h hired to wo rk w ith th em. In our team four girl s ca me from Los A nge les (Va lery Z imrin g, Na ncy Newfi eld , San dra Shann on, Selena Wool ery) and three from Detro it (Wendy Hilli ard , Karl a Newe ll , and M ichelle Berube). Th e three Detroit girl s had to move to Los A ngeles in September to w ork w ith th e group . Wend y li ved w ith her aunt. Selena's fa mil y offered th eir home to Mi chell e, and Va lery's fa mil y offered the ir hom e to Karl a. M ary M o unt Catho li c High Sc hoo l co ntri buted th eir gy mn as ium fo r team wo rko ut. Barb ara Par c her helped th e team tremendously as manager and ass istant coac h, alon g w ith Shiela Sim pso n, our mu sica l accompani st. Espec iall y grateful ackn owled gment is extended to Norm a Za bka, past chairm an of M odern Rh ythmi c Gymn astics w ho behind the scene organi zed and made all these thin gs poss ibl e.

I wo uld like to mention one oth er grati fy in g thin g, and th at was our USA cheerin g group . Zina M ironov (Coach of the Detro it girl s), Gwen Hilli ard (Region V chairman), Jeanne Sa nders (Region VI chairma n), and Han na Chri sti e (Ca liforni a North chairm an). These peopl e shared th eir ga ined know ledge in the form of workshops and cl ini cs and thu s encouraged different pa rts of the country to take part in thi s beauti ful sport.

We are off to a good beg innin g w ith thi s new O lympic Sport ! â&#x20AC;˘

PAGE 27

SPORTS MEDICINE VIEW

DISORDERS OF THE FRONT OF THE THIGH AND KNEE IN GYMNASTS

by Dr. Nea l Small Beca use of the frequent leapin g and squatting in gym nastics, the knee extensor mechanism is often ca ll ed upon to wo rk overtim e. Th e knee extensor mechani sm is in the front of th e leg and extends from above th e hip joint to the tibial tuberc le w hi ch is th e knob ju st below the knee. Th e upper portion of th e extensor mech ani sm is th e quadriceps mu scle. Thi s four part mu sc le covers the front of th e thi gh and is ent irel y responsibl e for pullin g th e knee joint from the flexed (bent) position to the extended (straight) position. The quadriceps attach into th e upper border and both sides of the patella (kneecap). The patella moves up and down in a groove formed by the co nd yles of the femur (thigh bone). At the lower border of the patell a the patel lar tendon or iginates. Thi s run s from the patell a to th e tibial tubercle.

-Strains (Grades 1- ill) -Contusions -Hematomas ",.-

: " '. :

Di so rders of the quadrice ps mu sc les them se lves are common injuries in gymnasts. These inc lude mu sc le strain s of va rious grad es from grade I (mi ld pull ) to grade III (rupture of all or a portion of the mu sc le). Other problems ari sing in thi s area in clude mu sc le co ntu sions and hematoma s. Th e treatment of musc le strains (other than gra de III), mu scl e cont usion s and hematomas is sy mptomatic. The mu sc le is strapped or supported wit h a compress ion w rap. Ice is appli ed for th e first 48 hours fo ll owed by hea t until th e swellin g and sore ness ha ve resolved. Ultrasound and w hirl poo l are helpfu l. A rubber thigh sleeve for support has also proven to be usefu l both during recovery and after return to co mpetition. Th e gymn ast should not stress the leg in practice or competit ion until v irtuall y all th e swelli ng and pain have reso lved . The severely swoll en and tender thi gh ma y represent a grade III stra in (mu sc le rupture) and should be eva lu ated by a ph ys ician as soo n as possible. Signifi ca nt quadrice ps ruptures are best trea ted by surgica l repa ir.

-Chondromalacia - Patellar dislocation - Recurrent patellar subluxation

Quadriceps

-Jumper's knee Femur -Sindig-LarsenJohannson disease Patellar tendon

,\\I. 路-'-'"-Tibial tuberosity

-Osgood-Schlatter's disease

\

--=-...

--~==

PAGE 28

USGF GYMNASTICS

~GYMNASTICS The Official Publication of the United States Gymnastics Federation

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Patell ar di sorders in gym nasts are quite co mmon. In rece nt yea rs, a broad spec trum of di so rders result ing from in stability of the patella in its groove during fl ex ion and extension of th e knee have been described. The most severe extreme of thi s spectrum is acute di slocat ion of the patell a. Thi s is a relati ve ly unco mmon cond ition and is man ifested by an acutely painfu l and swo llen knee wh ich is so metimes loc ked in flexion. Occasionall y the patell a is visible far ove r to the lateral (outer) side of th e kn ee. The athl ete shou ld be taken to a ph ys ician imm ed iately . M ilder degrees of patell ar problems are more common. Th ey include rec urrent sublu xa ti on of th e patell a and chondromalac ia. Recurrent sublu xations are actuall y partia l di slocat ion s w ith th e patell a slidin g back into the groove spontaneously .

Th e gymna st w ill interpret thi s as the kn ee "going out of socket " or "som ething ca tching uncler th e kn eeca p". The trea tment for thi s degree of patell ar in stability is usually a progra m o f quad ri ce ps rehabilitati on stress in g th e vastu s medi ali s portion . Thi s portion of the quadri ceps pull s the pa tell a towa rd the med ial (inner) side and ca n keep it from sli ding out latera ll y if strengthened. A lso helpful temporar il y is a knee sleeve or brace w hich surround s the patel la and supports it. Thi s brace ca n ~ s u a ll y be d isca rded w hen th e quadrice ps have been rehabilitated .

Chondrom alac ia of th e patell a is a conditi on of softening and irregularity of th e joint surface (undern ea th surface). The ca uses are obsc ure but ma y res ult from recurrent sublu xa ti on, from a fall on the front of th e kn ee or a d irect blow to the patel la. Th e co nserva ti ve trea tment of chondroma lac ia in c l ud es th e same mea sures used fo r rec urrent sublu xa tion . Both chondromalac ia and recurrent subluxa ti on of th e patell a may req uire

USGF GYMNASTICS

surgical treatment if th ey do not res pond to quadriceps rehabilitati on and patell ar bracin g. A rthroscop ic surgery has been very usefu l in trea ting these di sorders and has all owed a rapid return to practice and co mpetiti on.

Beca use of th e frequent leaping and squatting during va ri ous routin es, th e patell ar tendon is pull ed and stretched both at its upper end w here it ori gi nates from the patell a an d its lower end w here it in se rts into the tib ial tubercl e. Infrapatell ar tend oniti s (also ca lled jumper's kn ee) may occ ur w here the tendon attaches to the patell a. A bon y projecti on or loose bone fragments may res ult. Thi s co ndition is known as Si ndi g- Larse n-J ohan sson di sease. Ten donitis, bony proj ection s and loose bone fragments may occ ur at the lowe r attac hment of th e patell ar tendon as we ll. In thi s area the co ndition is known as Osgood-Schl atter's d isease.

Jumper's knee, Sind ig-Larsen-J ohansson di sease <l nd O sgood-Sc hlatter's di sease are treated co nserva ti ve ly in th e majority of cases. The gymn ast need not be removed from practi ce or competition except in very rare in stances. Treatment co nsists of oral anti-inflammatory medi ca ti ons, hea t and ice contrast th erapy, exercises to strength en the quadri ceps and padd in g to protect the tender area . Treatment in yea rs pa st included casting, inj ection s and surgery. It is now generall y accepted that these condition s are se lf-limited and w ill res ult in no perman ent di sa bility even if th e athl ete is all owed to co mpete. Castin g and surgica l trea tm ent are used now, on ly very rarely . There is probab ly no place for inj ecti ons in the trea tm ent of th ese prob lems, beca use inj ec tion s of stero id s such as corti sone ca n wea ken tendon tiss ue and eventua ll y ca use a tend on rupture.

â&#x20AC;˘

PAGE 29

USA

CHINA GYMNASTICS JUDGES'REPORT

vs

by George Beckstead & M ike M ilid oni s The USA G ymnastics Competition with the Peoples Republic of China was an extreme ly rewarding experience for all delegation members. The delegation members included: Delegation Leader-Frank Cum iske y Men 's Team Coaches-Abe Grossfeld Judges- George Beckstead Mike M ilidonis Mas Wa tanabe Dennis Ha yden Men 's Team-Matt Arnot Wally M iller Phil Caho y Bart Conner Kevin Prad}' Women 's Team Coaches-Don Peters Judges-Linda Chencill5ki Kath y G. Tibbets Sharon Va lle y Women 's Team-Marcia Frederick Julianne McN amara Kell y Garrison Tracee Tala vera Lisa Ze is Am y Koopman Th e Chinese were exce llent hosts during th e entire tour , competition and sightsee ing. We we re fortunate to see th e Great W all , M in g Tombs, Summer Palace, Forbidden Cit y, an Acro batic Show, and enjoy a wo nderful Peking Duck Banquet.

Th e Chinese delegation coordinated all sc hed ules w ith Mr. Frank Cumi skey. The trainin g sess ion s prior to the co mpet ition we re we ll organized at the competition site, th e Workers Gymnasium. The USA delegation members trave led to , and participated in all trainin g sess ion s prior to and after the competitions. The Chinese coac hes, gymn asts, judges, and officials were present at all trainin g sess ion s. The attendance of both delegations at th ese sess ions provided an excellent opportunity to exchange co ncepts of trainin g, jud gin g, coac hin g, and orga ni zat ion of programs w ith the coaches , judges, gymn asts, and offic ials.

The discu ss ion s w ith the Chinese official s related mu ch inform ation co ncern ing their interpretation s of th e 1979 FIG Code of Points. Topi cs of interest i ncl uded: A Comparison of award criteri a for ri sk, ori gi nality and virtuosity . Th e USA and China interpret th e Code similarl y. The Chin ese awa rd ri sk according to the guidelines in the Code as long as th ere are no major execu tion faults , in excess of 0.3 points. Originality is recognized for a period of one yea r or until co mmonl y performed. Virtu os ity mean s fla w less exec ution .

There ten ds to be a leni ency in execution deducti on for th e w ide strad dling of th e knees in multiple sa ito wo rk on all events.

Th e Chinese w ork w ith much difficulty on all events.

Floor Exercise - The Chinese are excellent tumblers. Th ey wo rk w ith mu ch speed and quickness w hich yield s great speed in rotation and hei ght.

Pommel Horse - The difficult elements and combinations show n by the Chinese were amazing. Spindles, Magvar trave ls forward and ba ckwa rd .

Russian wa lkaround betwee n the pomm els, mu ch travel and back moore w ork on the horse bod y, and mu ch " one pomm el" w ork. The sc isso rs were generall y w eak in exec utio n, how ever the flair combination s we re we ll exec uted w ith moores and trave ls. They swin g fa st, stretched and high.

Still Rings - The Chinese show a stron g composition in th eir routine composi ti on, usua ll y two to three addition al strength elements. O ne gymn ast performed ; kip to in verted cross, giant to planche, strai ght straight press out, giant, bail to L cross , pull out, straight arm press, bail to doub le layout, 9.6. There was a wea kn ess in the lowe r back in the fin al position s from swin g work. A nd as in most fo reign co untri es, lea th er straps were offic ial equipment.

Vault - We used the old , flat , woode n reuther-type board. The Chinese run fast and are very quick and powerful off the board w hich is placed c lose to the horse.

Parallel Bars - Thi s was bas ica ll y a stock even t for co mpetition. Th ere were some interestin g elements shown in th e w orkouts, includin g: gian ts to handstand , giant to immediate straddl e cut, etc.

High Bar - Thi s was probabl y the best event for the Chin ese and th ey are

PAGE 30

among the best in th e wo rld on thi s event. Exa mpl es of difficult y included: One arm giant to one arm giant to ,/, turn saito ca tch pik ed.

O ne arm gian t right arm to O ne arm giant left arm .

Wrong way stalder to pirou ette over th e top.

Ma ny types of sa ito catc hes and release wo rk in th e same routines.

Two tripl es landed we ll , and one doubl e tw istin g doubl e landed we ll.

Wang Ping Chn

photo by David Demanty

We felt ve ry co mfortable w ith th e judgin g atm osphere. The judges had opportuniti es to di sc uss tec hni ca l and interpretative area s prior to , duri ng, and after the com petiti ons. The few co nfe rences w hi ch were held we re quite efficient and objec ti ve . Th e Ch inese used three differen t jud ges and one superior judge. We were as ked to ac t as superior jud ges, but chose to act as one of the four co unting jud ges. The judges were: Superior - Liu , En Chun 1. George Beckstead 2. M ike M ilidoni s 3. Chi eu, Shen Lee 4. Chieu, G uon Fen and Liao, Hao Yu The USA del ega ti on worked we ll togeth er in th e trainin g sess ion s and th e competiti ons. Th e co mpetition s w ith the Chinese we re ve ry fri end ly, as we re th e trainin g and entire tour ex peri ences. The USA did no t fi eld th eir stron gest men 's tour tea m, however th e team perform ed we ll.

Fo ll owin g the two days of compet ition we had th e opport unit y to train w ith th e Chin ese tea m at the Peking Institute of Ph ys ica l Cu ltu re. The first

USGF GYMNASTICS

da y of tra inin g was ve ry rnuch li ke a cornp ul sory clinic. 'vVe di sc ussed the USA interp retat i o n s of th e 198 1-84 \No rl d and Ol y mpic Games Compul so ry Exe rc ises, includ in g the GjA and ationa l Team Gu idelin es.

The gymnasts wo rked on the difficult part s togeth er, includin g: Floor ExerciseHandsp ring di ve to the hand stand , use a quick back lift motion.

Back ro ll to a mome ntary hand stand , reverse pirou ett e.

Steps into th e last tumblin g pa ss.

Pomm el HorseTh e rh ythm of the routine swin g.

Single leg connection s, pick up from the sc isso rs into circ le.

Back Stock li through to th e dismount.

Still RingsThe ba ck roll (one on ly, in Ch ina) to lever.

Di smou nt , w ith a strai ght holl ow body down swi ng, and qu ick chest ri se on the release, wi th out dowels.

Vau ltBe explosive .

Parall el BarsStraight arm "vork on peach and streuli .

High BarMount wi th th e '12 turn at the han dstand.

Th e Chin ese also prefer the late stoop-in techniqu e.

Th e undergrip kip is perform ed hi gh w ith almost straight bod y.

The seco nd d ay of trainin g was mu c h more an open di sc uss ion atmosphere w ith th e Chin ese delega tion. Members of th e men's tea m talked w ith the Chinese gymnasts about trainin g techniques, life styles, co mpetiti on, travel, etc. The coac hes, judges and trainer further disc ussed deve lopmen tal program s, ph ys io logica l testin g and athl ete se lect ion, biom ec han ics, coac hin g methodo logy, and rul es interpretations. O ur program s are ve ry simil ar in makeup and empha sis.

The Chin ese deve lopmenta l program offers gymna sti cs in stru ction for boys ages five and up. Boys seven yea rs of age and up, w ho show natura l ability and potential , are in vited to participate in provincial amateur sports sc hoo l programs. Tr ainin g emp has i zes specific fund amen tal skill s performed flawless ly. Compul so ry combination s and th en exercises are taught. The equipment is bui lt to fit the st udents, such as short pomme l horses and bucks, small er di ameter rai Is fo r the parallel bars, and lower small er diameter hi gh bar. Compet iti on on compul sory exercises begi ns at ages eight to ten. W hen gymnasts have th e abi lity and good preparation, opt ional skill s and exercises are added to th e program , ages te n to twe lve.

The junior prov inc ial team s co mpete in th e junior ati onal Champion ships w hich determ in es the makeup of the ju nior Na ti ona l Team, age fifteen and under. Gymn asts age sixteen and over co mpete at Provi nc ial and Na tion al meets for placement on th e Sen ior Na ti onal Team.

Boys age ten and over emph as ize " Body Bui lding Trainin g" dail y.

Exerc ises inc lud e: Many skill repetiti ons, fundam enta ls, strength and swin g.

Power trainin g w ith we igh ts.

Gymnastics .Strength Exerc ises: V-ups, hand stand pushups, ch in ups, d ips, crosses, leve rs, etc.

Sprin ts, 20-30-40 meters, for qui ck ness.

Flexib ility train in g, mostl y the progressive resistence type.

A li ght work load ranges 2'/ 2 to 3 hours. A hard workout da y run s 3-5 hours. Th e Chi nese believe that body types are simil ar as is techni que, bu t ability development is more related to trainin g and ph ys ica l developme nt.

Th e Chinese coac hes, gymn asts and officials are hi ghl y moti va ted and dedi cated to th e developmenta l and co mpetiti ve progra ms. Th eir culture in still s much res pect and di sc ipline to all program pha ses . The program appears hi g hl y o rga ni zed, es pec i all y w ith th e hu ge num ber s of participan ts. Th e coac hes and offic ials meet at the Nationa l Champion shi ps fo r a two to three month intern ship to stud y coach in g and techni ca l methods . They then meet w ith others at the provincia l level for t' .linin g.

There is a strong cooperati ve re lati onsh ip between coac hes, offic ials and gym nasts to work together in pract ice, resea rch, learning and in stru ct ion for better resu lts in tra inin g and co mpeti tion. " There is no substitute for hard work."

The trip to Peking was a fantast ic experi ence fo r th e entire delega ti on.

The Chin ese are one of the best tea ms in th e world of gymn astics. They train hard , are ex tremely ded ica ted , and enjo y fri end ly co mpetiti on. The cu ltural an d gymn asti cs exchanges were enli ghtenin g and enjo ya ble. â&#x20AC;˘

USGF GYMNASTICS

AUSTRIAN EXHIBIT/ON TOUR can t. from pg. 15 ones among us " had to " ca rry the ca mera gear, of co urse.)

Before arriv in g in Vo itsberg, the third and last of ou r Exhibiti on stops, we passed throu gh th e specta c ul ar mounta i n fo rm ati ons know n as the "G ESAEUSE," famo us for their excellent c limbin g opportunities. Man y memori es came to my mind as I had spent man y a weekend in th ese wa ll s of rock and the surroundin g ca bin s. It was the most awesome impress ion of min e. Silent tea rs fill ed my eyes w hen th e da ys of my adve ntures passed in front of me.

That evenin g we met " Hu bert" th e major of Vo itsberg and hi s ca binet of orga ni ze rs. I am sure he introd uced him se lf as Hubert becau se hi s last name is difficult to pronou nce correctly. By now ou r athletes were exhausted from sigh tsee in g, shopp ing, soc iali zin g, travelin g and trainin g in between.

So the id ea was born to put a little fu n into our presentation. The abso lute highlight was the duo-performa nce of M itch Gaylord who , comp lete w ith make-up and " ph ys ica l improvements", perform ed Sharon Shapiro's Floo r Exercise ro utine wi th Sharon doing th e tumbling.

We finished our demon strati ons w ith Ke ll y McCoy on Fl oor, w ho gave a most elec trifying performan ce, rad iatin g to the audi ence her exuberant joy of bein g abl e to perform for th em . Kell y wa lked off w ith tea rs in her eyes as the audi ence responded. It also might have been Kell y's las t performance for the USA team as she is consideri ng retirement. Th ank yo u Kell y for yo ur in sp iring example not on ly on the tour but throughout yo ur career.

My THANK YOU also goes to all members of our delegat ion w ho mad e thi s tour as enj oyable as it was.

To the GYM-K IN co rpora ti on and Rich Kenney w ho saw us off at Kenned y A irport after outfitti ng th e gymna sts and th e coac hes.

To Lynn Lederer's dad w ho wo rked behind the scenes (he works for TWA) to make our departure as pleasant as can be. However he ea rned hi s 10. 00 pts upon our return w hen he had to perform a mira cle as one of o ur â&#x20AC;˘ tea m members from Ca lifornia had mi splaced hi s ti cket.

PAGE 31

RELEASE Elite Sportswear, Ltd. opens as Newest Addition to Gymnastic Apparel Companies It is w ith great pl easure th at Gary Seibert, former pres ident of Gym-Kin , announces th e opening of his new company Elite Sportswear, Ltd. After 18 yea rs of affili ati on w ith gymn astics and 7 years of directin g a gymnastic apparel sa les co mpany, Gary has fo rmed a partnershi p wi th Sa ll ie Weaver, the ow ner of a chain of w omens hea lth sa lons home based in Hartford , Conn ., and opened Eli te Sportswear, Ltd. Their new co mpany is in th e process of bu yin g Gym-Kin and w ill con tinue to service th e gymn asti c market w ith stoc k and spec ial ord er apparel. A lthough produ cti on had bee n shut down for several month s during th e for mation of the new company, Elite Sportswea r, Ltd. is now up and runn ing full speed ahead and producing the fin est gymn asti c garm ents ever. Gary and Sa llie are co nfident th eir new organi za tion w ill provide styling, quality, se rvice and delive ry equal to a perfec t " 10" . By havin g manufac tur ing, wa rehousi ng, sa les, shi pp in g, and service all under one roof and by th e use of an in house co mputer and a so phisti ca ted toll free wa tt system , El ite Sportswea r, Ltd . w i ll revo lutioni ze the gymn asti cs appa rel bu siness . For any information on how to obtain Eli te/Gym-Kin products ca ll 1-800-345 -4087 .

Gary S eib ert

p hoto by Barrington

• • • • • • •

For Female and Male Gymnasts, ages 7 and over (all ability levels) For Coaches, (all experience levels) Conducted at Universities and Colleges throughout the United States Superior Facilities/Equipment/and Food at ALL NGI sites Personalized Instruction in all Olympic Gymnastic Events, and Dance Instructor to Student Ratio of No More Than 1-10 (usually 1-7) Experienced/Enthusiastic/and Qualified Instructors 1) Includes : a) International and National Coaches and Judges b) Former Olympians c) Former National Competitors • Technical Director and Advisor - MR. PAUL ZIERT 1) Head Coach University of Oklahoma Men's and Women 's Gymnastic Teams 2) NCAA Coach Of The Year 1977 and 1978 3) USGF Coach Of The Year 1979 and 1980 4) Assistant Coach of U.S. World Games Team - Strasbourg, France -1978 5) Coach of U.S. World Cup Team - Tokyo, Japan - 1979 6) ASSISTANT COACH for the WOMEN 'S OLYMPIC GYMNASTICS TEAM -1980

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION AND A FREE BROCHURE WRITE: MR . VAN POWER , NATIONAL GYMNASTICS INSTITUTE , P.O. BOX 30674, DALLAS , TEXAS 75230 OR CALL: 1·214-690-0808

PAGE 32

1981 NGI GYMNASTIC CLINICS Auburn University Auburn, Alabama

Jun 1l 1~19

(Tentative schedule)

LOUISIANA

OKLAHOMA

Northwestern State UniverSity Natchitoches , Louisiana Juty 13·17

Central State University Edmond . Oklahoma AuguSl3-7

ARKANSAS

MISSISSIPPI

PENNSYLVANIA

Arkansas State University Jonesboro. Arkansas Jun e 29·J uly3 (Sessi on I) July 6·10 (Session It) Southern Atkansas University Technical Branch Camden, Arkansas AUllust 3-7 GEORGI A

MissisSippi University lor Women Columbus , Mississippi June 22·26 University 01 Sout.hern Mississippi Haniesburg . MiSSissippi July 27-31

Indiana University of Pennsylvania Indiana. Pennsylvania July 20-24

~~~~~jZ~r~i~rgia

!~~~~ ~~:~~ \~:!!\~~ Ih

SOUTH CAROLINA

MISSOURI

Furman University Greenville, South Carolina July 6-10

RockhurstCollege

TENNESSEE

~~~a;2~~~' Missouri Southeast Missouri State University Cape Girardeau . Missouri AUllust10·14

University of Tennessee Knoxville, Tennessee July 19·23

~~i~r~~~~~e~~~~essee at Martin

ILLINOIS

NORTH CAROLINA

July 13·17

Western Illinois University Macomb,lIIinois July 20·24 Wheaton College Wheaton, lI linois June 29-July 2

Appalachian State University Boone. North Carolina Jun e 29-Jury 3 University 01 North Carolina at Charlotte Charlone. North Carolina Jury 20·24

TE XAS

INDIANA

Vinctnnes University Vinctnnes, lndiana July 27-31 KENTUCK Y

Eastern Kentucky University Richmond, Kentucky July 13-17

OHIO

University 01 Cincinnati Cillcinnati. Ohio August 10·14

The Hockaday School Dallas, Texas June 15·19 Southwest Texas State University San Marcos , Texas June 22-26 Texas Christian University FonWonh, Texas June 9-12 VIRGINIA

James Madison University

~~r':i~~~~1ur~'II~~I~i~if) AUIIUSI 3-7

~Sll sslon III

USGF GYMNASTICS

f J

USGF PROGRAM SOUVENIRS USSR Programs All three of these beautiful lOx 15 USGF Programs are to commemorate the USSR tours of '75, '77 and '79.

USSR '77 program also features an oversize co lor poster. All programs contain bios and color photography.

ROMANIAN PROGRAMS

USSR & ROMANIAN PROGRAMS

Romania 1977 conta in s extensive bios on Nadia Comaneci and Teodora Ungureanu as we ll as an oversize Nadia poster. Also enc losed is a pictorial and facts on the America n team .

Romania 1978 is the rare program on th e Romanian tour that was cance ll ed. Thi s is the first time it's avai lab le to the public and USGF regrets having a limited supply.

Contains a more comp lete bio on Comaneci as well as a bio on Emilia Eberle.

___ _ _*" ,V ...

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$2.00each SMALLER PROGRAMS

(priced as indicated) ENTIRE PROGRAM PACKAGE

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THE DIAL-AMERICAN CUP 1978 March 11-12, 1978

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS FINAL TRIALS September 21-23,1978

DIAL NATIONAlINVITATIONAL February 15-17, 1979

New York, New York

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Tucson, Arizona

20TH WORLD GYMNASTICS CHAMPIONSHIPS December 2-9, 1979

Fort Worth, Texas

1-------------------------------Make checks or money

orders payable to: POSTAGE: Add $1.00 for every I I USGF two issues ordered (Third Class) I I P.O. Box 7686 I Fort Worth, Texas 76111 I D USSR '75 $2.00 D Romania '77 $2.00 D Dial-Amer.

Cup $1.00 D Dial Nationals $1.00 I I D USSR '77 $2.00 D Romania '78 $2.00 D '79 Final Trials $1.00 D 20th World Champ. $2.00 I I D USSR '79 $2.00 I I D Entire Program package $10.00 Total Amount Enclosed _ _ __ _ _ _ __ I I Name _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ __ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ____ I Address _ _ _ _ __ _._______ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ___ I _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ State _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ __ Z ip _ _ _ _ __ _ _ City I I _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ a: I I

WOMEN'S ELITE PROGRAM REPORT

by Ed Zimm er

USGF AWAITS WORD ON GRANT··· The USGF Nat io nal Office has been in touch w ith il major co rporat io n th at is interested in prov idin g a gra nt to fund th e positi on of Nat iona l Program Direc tor for Women . The co rporation , w hi ch fund s a simil ar positi on in a men's O lympi c Sport , has no tifi ed the USG F th at if such a grant was approved b y th eir Board of D irectors fo r a Wo men's sport , th at spo rt wo uld be gymn asti cs. A dec ision sho uld be ava il ab le abo ut Febru ary I st.

USGF JUNIOR ELITE WOMEN 'S PROGRAM··· Plan s fo r the 1981 junior Eli te Program have bee n re leased by th e USGF. Th e purpose of th e j.E.P . is to deve lop, se lec t and help prepare fo r international co mpetition a USA Junior Elite Women 's C },mna stics Team.

Thi s program w ill parallel th e U SA Wo men' s Tea m system .

A thletes el igible fo r th e program are any elite leve l female gymna sts w ho ha ve not yet reac hed their 15th birthda y.

February·August, 1981 The se lecti on process is throu gh a se ri es of qu ali fy ing meets. For 198 1, a score of 68.8 (opti o nals and elite co mpul so ri es, eight events to tal) at a USG F Region al/Zo ne El ite Qua lifying Meet is necessa ry to qualify to th e 1st Eli te Na ti o nals (Oak land , 19-21 February) . Reg ional/Zo ne & Elite Na tiona ls w ill be held wi th th e Se ni o rs.

From Na ti o nals, the top 20 juni ors w ill qu alify to Junior Cham pi onshi ps of the USA, 12- 14 Marc h in A ll entown, PA. Thi s meet w ill be held the same days as Champion ships of th e USA , but at different tim es. Th e topl 2 pla ces from juni or Champion s w ill : 1) Qua l ify to the Na tional Sports Festi va l in Syracuse, Y, 19-2 4 jul y .

(Th ere may be a short trainin g ca mp for th ese in d iv idu als befo re the NSF. ) 2) Be el igibl e to be se lected to any juni o r InternJ ti o nal meets held betwee n Champion ships and junior Tea m Trial s in ea rl y fa ll.

Se lecti on w il l be ba sed o n rank order from juni o r Champ io nships.

3) Automatica ll y qualify to th e juni or \Nomen's Tea m Trial s.

August '81 - Champion ships USA '82 A ny juni or athl ete w ho ac hi eves a score of 68.8 at an Elite Reg io nal/Zone Meet 28-29 August, w ill qu alify to th e 2nd Eli te Na ti o nals, 10-1 2 Sep· tember, site open. From th ere, th e top 12 juni o rs, who ha ve not alrea d )1 qualified to the Junior Women 's Team Trials, w ill qu alify to th e jun ior

Wome n's Tea m Tri als.

USA juni or Wo men's Gymn asti cs Tea m Tri als w ill have 24 part ic ip<:lI1t s.

It w ill be held so metim e in Oc tober. Site is open. Th e top I 0 places frulll j.T .T. w i ll be nam ed to th e USA juni or Women's Gymn asti cs Tea m .

A major juni o r Intern ation al Competiti o n for boys and girl s will be held in • the USA in late Fall.

Th e report from the Elite D eve lopm ent Co mmittee and Elite Coac hes Assoc iati o n co nce rnin g th e 80-81 competition sc hed ul e was prese nted

by Bil l Strau ss. the fo ll ow in g sc hedul e has bee n accep ted by th e WTC. j an. 23 -24, 198 1 1st Zo ne Qualifica tion Meet Feb. 6-7, 1981 2nd Zo ne Qual ifi cati o n Meet Feb. 20-2 1, 198 1 1st Na tio nal EI ite Meet (30 gymn asts adva nce to th e Champio nships of USA) Ma rch 20-22, 198 1 American Cup Ma rch 12- 14 , 1981 Champion ships of the USA (Top 10 go to th e World Ch ampi onship Tri als 10/1 /81) A ugust 28 -29 , 198 1 3rd Zone Qua li fica tion Meet Sept. 11-1 2, 1981 2nd Na tiona l Elite Meet (Top 10 go to Wo rld Champi o nship Tr ials) Oc t. 1, 2, 3, 198 1 WO RLD CH AMP IONSH IP TR IALS (Top 10 fro m Champion ships of USA and to p 10 from 2nd Nationa l Elite M eet) Injury petiti ons rev iewed by FRC If one of the 10 of eith er gro up retires she w ill not be rep laced.

The FRC accepted the fol lowi ng co ncept for our Na ti onal Tea m se lec ted at the Champion ships of the U SA. Th e top 21 girl s w ill make up th e Na tion al Team.

1- 7 w ill be the 1st tea m 8- 14 the 2nd tea m 15-21 th e 3rd tea m Th e Champion ships of the USA w ill be a se lect ion meet through to th e Wo rld Champion ship Tri als Oct. 1, 2, 3, 1981. (3 /26-10/1 / 1981)

USGF CO NSTITUTION BY·LAW col1t. from pg. 5 Coun sil), an d the Exec uti ve Co mmittee, rega rding matters pert ainin g to th e intern ati o nal trainin g and com petiti ve progra ms as they relate to coac hes and gymna sts. Thi s in c ludes th e se lecti o n of ath letes for intern ationa l events, coac hes se lec ti o n, the form ation of trainin g camps, etc. As of November, 1980, the A thl ete's Assoc iat ion has one representati ve on eac h of the FRCs: Men jay Whelan 11 05 Mock ingbird Dr. Ralei gh, N.C. 27609

Women Linda Mu lvih ill 148 W. 12th Ave. Eugene, Oregon 9 7401

If an ath lete ha s a questi on o r o pinion co nce rnin g an intern ati ona l event, he/she shou ld con ta ct jay or Linda for clarification.

To protect the indi vidu al ri ghts of ath letes, the U.S. O lympi c Committee, establi shed the At hl etes Adv iso ry Counci l, (AAC) in 1973. Each amateur sport is represe nted by o ne votin g member. Th e AAC re v iews th e po li c ies of th e U.S. O lymp ic Committee, and ensures th e indi vidu al right s of eac h ath lete w ith rega rd s to O lympi c Committee eve nts such as the Ol ympi c Games, Pan·Am Gam es, and the Na ti o nal Sports Festi va l. The newly elected c hairm an of the AAC is; Chris Knepp 360 1 A ll en Parkway Apt. 495 H ouston , Texas 77019 The gymn ast ics rep resentati ve to th e AAC is Peter KOrln ann .

The new Exec uti ve D irecto r of the USGF , (Roger Counc il ). and th e USGF Board of Directors ha ve bee n in strum ental in ensurin g athl ete part ic ipati on at th e ad min istrati ve leve l . The athl ete rep rese ntati ves strong ly urge any ath lete w ith a suggestion or prob lem to con tact th em.

•

PAGE 34

USGF GYMNASTICS

Minutes of the U.S.G.F. Men's Foreign Relations Committee Fort Worth, TexasJanuary 2-3, 1981 ATTENDING THE MEE TING, at the head of the table, (foreground) R oger L. Counsil, (running clockw ise) Mas Watanabe, Ed Zimmer, Don Gutzler, Ed Burch, B ill R oe tzheim, L es Sasvary, Jay Whe lan, K en A llen, Fred p h ot o by R ich K enn ey R oe thlisb erger, Present : Les Sasva ry (Chairman), Ken Al len (Secreta ry), Ed Burch , Don Gutzler, Fred Roethli sberger, Bill Roetzheim and Jay Whelan. Also present for all or portions of the meeting were Roger Cou nsil , Ed Zimmer, Mas Wa tanabe and Ri ch Ken ney of the U.S.G.F. Office .

The meeting was ca lled to o rd er by Chairman Sasvar y at 7:25 P.M .

Cha irman Sasva ry we lcomed Jay W helan to his first meeting as the Athl ete's representati ve.

It was moved by Bill Roetzheim and seconded by Les Sasvary to accept the minutes of the October 5, 1980 meeting. Carried.

assured that their applications wi ll au tomati call y be co nsidered for the position of 198 1 U.S.A. Tea m Coac h. Second by Don Gu tzler. Ca rri ed.

Selection of 198 1 W orld Championship Coach It wa s moved by Ken All en and seconded by Bill Roetzheim to table the selection of the 198 1 World Cham pionship Coach. Ca rri ed.

Note: Rea soning is based on in suffi c ient adverti sin g time, low number of app l ica nts, des i re on th e part of some FR C members to res tru cture th e jo b responsibilities of such a coac hing positi on.

The concept of head coac h for the various intern ati onal team competition s was

Placi ng gymn asts on the Nat ional Team under special circumstances It was moved by Bi ll Roetzheim that the F.R.C. be allowed to add gymnasts to the National Team (at the bottom of the rankin g) under spec ial circumstances. Second b y Don Gut zler. Carried.

It was moved by Fred Roethli sberger that we add as man y gymnasts as we need to the National Team from the rank ings of th e 1980 Championshi ps of the U.s.A. Seco nd

by Jay W helan. Defeated .

It was moved by Les Sasvary that the Natio nal Program Director recomme nd specific gymnasts to be added to the National Team for ass ignment to thi s year's intern ati onal competiti ons. Second by Bill Roetzheim. Ca rri ed .

Note: Reason ing behi nd this recommendation is there are few gymna sts rem aining on the National Tea m w ho are avai lab le for upcom ing co mpetitions beca use of retirm ent, injury or the N.C.A.A. coll egiate season . Consi derat ion w ill be given to th e rankings at the 1980 Championships of the U.S.A. , the junior gymnasts of last year's

discussed at great length. As a result , a new concept and slight ly d iffere nt process has

JUlliur Natiun al Team \·v hu are nov" college freshment , an d the current readi ness of all

been developed as follows: A. The posit ion would be called " The 198 1 U.S.A. Team Coach" as opposed to the 1981 World Championship Coac h .

B. The length of service wou ld be from the date of selection (on or before April 15) unt il December 31, 1981.

C. Main responsibilities wou ld include serving as head coac h at all U.S.A. Team functions during term of serv ice (team competitions prior to , including and fo llow ing World Cha mpionships, Train ing Camps, exhibiti ons, etc. ).

D . Additional responsibilities would include: 1. Choosing ass istant coac h wi th approval of F.R.C. 2. O versee ing uniform and personal equipment se lecti on and fittin g.

3. Maintai ni ng regular contact w ith the ath letes in ord er to establi sh rapport and awareness of mental and physica l ,·vel l being.

4. Mai ntainin g regul ar contact w ith the at;o nal Program Director (Ma s Watanabe).

5. Enforcing U.S.G. F. rules and regul ations w ith regard to conduct of team members.

6. Making recommendations to the F.R.C. w ith regard to team selections fo r competiti ons for w hi ch specific tria ls we re not condu cted.

7. Mak ing recommendations to the F.R.C. and U.S.G.F. office w ith rega rd to team preparation and travel relative to compet iti ons and/or training camps w hi ch wou ld be desirable.

8. Preparing comprehensive reports of acti vities and ex periences of the U.S. Tea m during the coach's tenure.

E. In th e future, a U.S.A. Tea m Coac h w ill be selected eac h year from the follow ing app lica nts: 1. Coaches w ho applied th e previous yea r and w ish to be considered aga in .

2. New app li ca nts.

3. The head coac h from the previous yea r if he elects to reapply.

F. After selectio n of the U.S.A. Coac h for the curren t year, the time table for the se lection process for subsequent yea rs is as fo ll ows: 1. All app li ca tions must be received by December 1.

2. The reviewing process would be compl eted by December 31.

3. The U.S.A. tea m coach would be announced by January 15 and wo uld serve in th at ca pac ity un til December 31 of that yea r.

It was moved by Les Sasva ry that the position of 198 1 U.S.A. Team Coach be advertised in all U.S.G.F. publications w ith job description, re sponsibi liti es, term of service and procedure fo r appli cat ion. Seco nd by Bi ll Roetzheim. Carried.

Th e meeting recessed at 10:00 P.M. The meeti ng reco nvened at 9: 1S A.M. Saturday, January 3.

It was moved by Les Sasvary to have the U.S.G.F. office not ify di rectl y and as soon as possible the three appl ica nts for th e position of 198 1 World Cha mpi onship Coac h w ith rega rd to the actions taken by F.R.C. at thi s time. The appli can ts shou ld be

possibl e gymnasts.

USGF GYMNASTICS

Plan fo r 198 1 Worl d Championships A. Se lection process for th e Final Trials 1. Championships of U.S.A. w ill be semi -final trial. a. G ymna sts mu st sco re 11 1 points or more at a U.S.G. F. approved competiti on in order to qualify for the 198 1 Championships of the U.S.A. b . If 24 gymnasts do not ac hi eve a 111 score, the remainin g pos iti ons to total 24 for the championships of the U. S. A. will be fil led by gymnasts on the basis of rank ord er score at one of two U.S.G. F. regional meets held at the same time and dates on the weekend of April 24-26. c. F. I. G. Com petiti ons II I ru les wi ll be used in the competi tio n. d. The top 24 gymna sts w i ll be designated as the Senior Na tional Tea m.

2. It was moved by Bil l Roetzheim th at th e Sen ior Nati ona l Tea m as determin ed by the 1981 Championships of th e U. S. A. be advanced to the Final VVorid Championship Tri al s. Thi s includes all approved petition s as ,·vell. Second by Ken All en. Ca rri ed. a. The Final World Champi onshi p Tria ls w ill be held on O ctober 16-17, 198 1 at the Un iversity of California at Sa nta Barbara. b. The competi tion ,·v i ll be judged by F.I. G. Competition III rules (Motion by Allen, second by Sasva ry. Carried). c. The 198 1 World Cham pi onshi p Team wi ll be composed of the top six gymnasts based on the results of the compul sory and opti onal competition .

The seventh ranked gymnasts would be a non-competing member of the tea m. Ti es for the sixth or seventh posit ions ,·v ill be broken fi rst by the compul sory total recei ved in the fin al trials and second by the tota l AA score rece ived at the semi -fin al tri als (refer to minutes of May 26, 1980 meetin g).

(Motion by Sasva ry, second by Roetzheim. Ca rri ed).

B. Th e 198 1 U.S.A. Team Coach w ho w ill be coac h for th e 198 1 Wo rld Cha mpi onships w ill be ann ounced no later th an April 1S, 198 1.

C. It is recommended that the .G.J.A. assign twelve judges whom it considers the most capabl e judges to judge thi s competition w ith no concern for region al affi liation.

Negotiations between promoters of domesti c events and coaches and athletes of the U. S. G.F. program There was much di scussion about the proliferation of domestic gymnast ics events due to the marketabil ity of gymnastics to television audi ences. It was felt that there w as potenti al for confli cts of interests on the part of the athl etes between domestic even ts (privately sponsored) and international tours. There was al so the potenti al for jeopa rdi zi ng the amateur statu s of our athl etes . As a re sult of di scussion , the fo llow ing was recommended to the U.S.G . F. office and the athl etes and coac hes of the U.S.G. F. progra m in cludi ng the Junior and Seni or ational Team s: The F.R.C. recom mends

Cant. an nex t page PAGE 35

MEN'S FOREI GN RE LA n ONS cant. from pg. 35 th at the ath letes of the U.S.G.F. program and their coac hes do not negoti ate wi th priva te promoters of dom estic events. Rather, thi s type of conta ct should be report ed to the U .S.G .F. office and arra ngements and ass ignments for such domestic events be coordinated through the U.S.G. F office and the F.R .e.

Domest ic Events in 198 1 Sa nct ioned by the U.S.G.F. A. Scats Invitational: January 31-Febru ary 1, 198 1. Los Angeles, California.

B. American Cup: March 20- 22, 1981. Fort Worth , Texas.

The top two gymnasts from the rankin g of the Olympic Trial s and their coaches w i II be ass igned to our America n Cup. If they are una vailabl e for some reason we w ill proceed dow n the ran kin gs. Th e top tw o gymnasts are Bart Conner and Jim Hartung and their coac hes are Paul Ziert and Francis Allen . e. U.S.G.F. Qualifying Meets: April 24-26, 1981 . Si tes undetermined.

There w ill be two regional meets conducted on the sa me dates and the sa me times. O ne will be in the East or Mid-East and th e other in the West or Mid-West.

F.I.G . Competition I rules wi ll be used . The meet direc tor should contact th e N .G .J.A. Regional Technical Director for assignment of judges to the meet. The U.S.G.F. w il l pay for the judgin g expenses if loca l judges are used.

D . Champion shi ps of the U.S.A.: May 21-23, 1981. Site undetermin ed.

F.I.G. Competition I rules w ill be used . There wi ll be no tie brea kers used in this meet. The top eigh t in eac h event after compul sori es and optionals wi ll advance to the indi vidua l fina ls w here the scores w ill be carried. The top 24 gymnasts w ill be designated as the 198 1-82 Senior Nat ional Team .

competition at the time.

E. Golden Sa nd s Invitational: June 5-7 , 1981. Va rna , Bu lgaria.

It was dec ided not to send any male athletes to this compe tition.

F. World Uni versity Ga mes: August, 198 1. Bucharest, Romania.

Tabled until furth er detail s are fo rth coming from the U. S.e.S .e.

G. Juni or Intern ational Competiti ons: It was recommended that the U.S.G.F. explore th e poss ibiliti es of in vol vin g our junior gymnasts in a major internati onal compe tition w ith a Pan American as we ll as a Pac ifi c Allian ce group of co untries.

Th e next business meetin g of the Men 's F. R.e. w i II be at 9 :00 A. M., May 22, 198 1 at the site of the U.S.A. Championships. It is anticipated that there w ill also be a meeting sc heduled at II :00 A.M. on May 23, 198 1 wh ich would inclu de the new members of the 198 1-82 Senior Nat ional Team and their coaches .

The meet ing adjuurneu at 3:25 P.M. Respectfull y submitted, Ken A ll en, Sec retary

CLASSIFIEDS Classified rates are $10.00 minimum per column inch. (Ads are accepted at the discretion of the publisher.) Check or money order must accompany co py. Send orders to Classified Dept.

USGF Gymnastics Magazi ne, P.O. Box 7686, Fort Worth, T exas 76111.

CANADA: Gym coaches , head coaches and gymnastics counsellors wanted . Ontario 's top Sports & Arts Camp for boys & girls . 350 acres, country setting on gorgeous lake 150 miles north of Toronto . Experienced profeSSionals in sti mulating atmosphere. Send resume & photo . 821 Eglinton Ave . W..

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j ay Whelan-Athlete's Association representative to the Foreign R elations Co mm ittee_ photo by R ich Kenney E.

F.

Nati onal Sports Festi va l : Jul y 23-29 , 198 1. Syra cuse, New York .

There wil l be 24 gymnasts competing in thi s event. Twe lve of those gym nasts w ill be the top twe lve gymnasts from th e Junior N ation al Team . The remaining twelve w il l come , first, from among in vitati ons extended to the members of th e Seni or N ational Team by rank and then the Juni or Elite 'ational Team by the sa me process. There wi ll be four coaches. Two coaches w ill be chosen from among those recommended by the Junior ational Team coaching staff. Th e other two w ill be chosen by the F. R.e. from among the sen ior coaches of those athletes w ho chose to participate in National Sports Festi va l.

Final Trials for World Ch ampionships: October 16-17 , 198 1. Un iversity of Ca lifornia at Santa Barbara (refer to ea rl ier di sc uss ion for detail s) .

Intern ational Events A. New Zealand Invitational: January 22-February 1, 198 1.

We w ill send three male gymnasts. The National Program Director has already ex hau sted the Senior Nationa l Team members w ith on ly Brec k Gr igas ava ilable to go . Mas Wata nabe w i II be responsible for selecting two more athletes. At least one of those athletes w ill be a junior and hi s coach wi ll be given first pri orit y as the coach of thi s group. If he is unable to accept , Mr. Watanabe w ill attempt to sec ure a coach from among the junior rank s.

B. East German Invitational: April 10-1 2, 1981.

Two gymnasts w ill be selected from the rank order at the Final Tria ls beginning w ith th e 4th and 5th positions. The coac h of the hi ghest ranked gymnast w ill be given first priority to serve as coach of thi s group. e. Champions All: April 11-1 2, 198 1. London , England .

O ne gymnast, preferabl y our U.S.G.F. National A.A. Champ ion, w ill be sent.

Tha t would be Peter Vidmar. Next in order wo uld be Bart Conner, Jim Hartung and th en the rank order from the Final Trial s. The personal coac h of the gymna st w il l tra vel as coach.

D . Ennia Gold Cup: June 1-9 , 198 1. Holl and.

We w ill send the top two athl etes from th e ra nking of the 1981 Cham pionships of the U. S.A. w ho are not involved in a training camp or other international

PAGE 36

$20

'~iJ.~ FIG

~ Code of Points 1980-84

Send for your copy today to: USGF P.O. Box 7686 Fort Worth , Texas 76111 FOR AIRMAIL DELIVERY INCLUDE $2.50 POSTAGE. FOR r~ORMAL JRD CLASS DE LIVERY INCLUDE .85 CENTS POSTAGE.

USGF GYMNASTICS

USGF CALENDAR & NOTES U.S.C.F . 1981 Calendar of Domestic Events Firm as of 11125 /80 January

9 23-24 31 6-7 13- 14 20-21 12-14 20-22 24 2-4 3-4 10-11 24-25

Albuquerque Jou rn al Invitational, New Mex ico IM&W) 1st Elite Zone Meets, Va ri ous Sites IW) A ll Ameri ca n Classic , Ca liforni a IM&W) Febru ary 2nd Elite Zone Meets, Va riou s Si tes IW ) Caesar's Pa lace, Las Vegas, Nev. IW ) 1st Elite Nationals , Oakland , Ca li f.

IW ) March Champ ionship of the U.S.A .. A ll entow n. Pa . Itent) IW) American Cup, Fort Worth , Texas IM&W) M ixed Pairs, Jacksonvi lle, Fla. IM&W) Apri l N.C.A.A. Finals IDivis ion I) , Linco ln. Neb. 1M) Class I State Meets IW ) A. I. A.W. Finals (Di vision I), Sal t Lake City, Utah IW) U .S.G. F. Men 's Regiona ls 1M) U .S.G. F. Class I Reg ional Meets IW) 15- 16 Junior Eastern Secti onals, Ft. Lauderda le, Fla. IW) May Junior Western Secti onals , TBA IW) 21-23 Championship of the U .S.A., TB A 1M) Sen ior Eastern Sectionals, TBA IW) Senior Western Sectionals, TBA IW) 11-1 3 U.S.G.F. Juni or Olympic Nationa l Cham pionshi p IW ) June 26-27 Junior Nationa ls, Brigham Young U. , Provo, Utah 1M) 24-29 Nationa l Sports Festi va l, Syracuse , N. Y. IM&W) Jul y 28-29 3rd Elite Zone, Various Sites IW) August September 11-1 2 2nd Elite Nationals , TBA IW) 24-27 U .S. G.F. Co ngress, Fort Worth , Texas .

2-3 October Worl d Champ ionship Tria ls, Ft. Co llins. Co lo.

IW) 16- 17 World Champ ionship Tri als, Sa nta Barbara , Ca li f. 1M ) TBA USA Jun ior Team Tri als IM&W) A dua l meet w ith a foreig n country just prior to the World Championshi ps INovember 22-29) may be added in ear ly November.

EVENT SCHEDULE Friday, March 20, 198 1 Men's Individual Events 8:00 P.M. Saturday, March 21 , 1981 Women' s Individual Events 8:00 P.M. Sun day, March 22 , 198 1 Men's and Women's All Around Championships 2:30 p. m.

• Ti cket Cost ..... . $10-8-6-and 4.00 • Purchase Ti ckets: TlCKETRON PH : 8 17-265-0708 Arlington, Texas • Telephone O rders: May be charged by phone (VISA or MASTERCARD) PH: 8 17-265-0708 Mr. Edgar Knepper Named Director of the Interna tional Gymnastic Exhibition for the 7982 World's Fair

WASHINGTON , D.C. January 2, 198 1 appointment of Edgar M. Kn epper as Director of Intern ati onal Gymnastics Exhibition for th e 1982 World 's Fair has been announced by Charl es E. Fraser, United States Commi ss ion er Genera l for th e 1982 Knoxvi ll e International Energy Exposition.

Mr. Knepper is th e President of the United States Gymnastics Federati on and Executive Director of the United States Association of Independent Gymnastics Clubs. In addition to these responsibiliti es Mr. Knepper is an Execu ti ve Board member of the United States Olympic Comm ittee, member of the Nationa l Govern in g Board, and delegate to the Internationa l Gymnastics Federation.

Mr. Knepper se rved as a gymnasti cs adv iso r in the 1965 New York World 's Fair; EXPO '67 in Montrea l, Canad a; Hemi sfair '68 in Sa n A ntonio, Texas; and 1974 EXPO in Spokane, Was hington.

PAGE 38

Plans include dail y sc heduled gymnastics performances on th e Fa ir site in and around the U. S. Pav ili on.

Th e festi v ities begin on Ma y 1, 1982 as th e Knoxv ille Intern ati onal Energy Exposition officia ll y opens its ga tes to million s of visitors from all parts of th e wo rld . By th e time ni gh t fall s on October 31, 1982, a tota l of 184 exciting days w ill have prov ided entertainment and energy awareness for those attendin g the Fai r, as we ll as, for th ose around th e globe, w ho wi ll v isua ll y experience the Fair's activities via satel lite te levision • technology.

IMPORTANT NOTICE - - - - - - 1 December 1980 TO : A ll Exami nees of the NAGWS/ USGF FROM: Va rina Fren ch, Certifi ca ti on Coordinator RE: Exa m Scores If yo u w ish to use an expired 1980 rating to give yo u eli gibility to take an exa min ati on at an equa l or higher rat ing, the fo llow ing rul es appl y.

If you tested before January 1, 1981: In order to ha ve yo ur 1980 scores ca rryover, you mu st take on yo ur first 1981 test sess ion , the compulsory exam at th e highest level you are eli gib le for and w ish to attain in order to preserve your ri ght at that level.

If you already have tested at the h ighest co mpulsory level yo u are eli gible fo r and w ish to attain , yo ur scores are automaticall y ca rri ed forward into the system .

Yo u may at all times test downward after th e high est level test is attempted .

If yo u w ish to maintain at your current level yo u have that opti on.

However, w hen yo u dec ide to test up to the next leve l in the next • certifi ca tion yea r you mu st take all three parts of the exam .

" The 1981 U.S.A. Men's Team Coach" Th e length of service wou ld be fro m the date of se lection (o n or before April 15) until December 31, 198 1.

Main res pon sibilities would include se rv ing as head coac h at all USA team functions during term of service (team competitions prior to , including and fo ll owing World Champi ons hips, train ing ca mps, exhi bi ti ons, etc.).

Add itional responsibilities wo uld include: 1. Choos ing assistant coac h w ith approva l of FRC. 2. Oversee ing uniform and persona l equipment selection and fittin g.

3. Mai ntain ing regular contact w ith the ath letes in ord er to establi sh rapport and awareness of mental and ph ys ica l we ll being.

4 . Mainta inin g regu lar co ntact wi th the National Progra m Directo r (Mas Watanabe) .

5. Enforcing USGF ru les and regulations w ith regard to co nduct of team members.

6. M aking recomend ati ons to the FRC w ith regard to team se lection s for co mpetiti ons, for w hich specific trials were not co nducted.

7. Makin g reco mm endations to the FRC and USGF office w ith regard to team preparation and travel re lati ve to competition s and/or trai ning camps w hich wou ld be desi rable.

8. Preparing comprehensive reports of acti viti es and expe riences of the US tea m during the coac h's tenure.

In the future , a USA tea m coac h w ill be se lected each yea r from th e follo w in g appli ca nts: 1. Coaches w ho appli ed the previous yea r and w ish to be cons id ered aga in .

2. New applicants.

3. Th e head coac h from the prev ious yea r if he elec ts to reapply .

The time tabl e for the se lecti on process is as fo ll ows : 1. All applications must be received by March 15th.

2. Th e reviewing process wo uld be co mpl eted by A pril 15th .

3. Th e USA tea m coac h wou ld be announced by May 1st and wo uld se rve in that ca pac ity until Dec. 31 of that yea r.

USGF GYMNASTICS

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United States Gymnastics Federation P.O. Box 7686, Fort Worth, Texas 76111

Non-Profit Organization U.S. Postage

PAID Permit No. 2025 Fort Worth, Texas