HOW GYMNASTICS HELPS YOUR CHILD SUCCEED IN SCHOOL (BACKED BY HARVARD RESEARCH)

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Harvard School of Education released their findings on their latest research project; and, they could have simply titled it “Why Your Kid Should do Gymnastics if You Want Them to Develop the Kind of Character That Helps Them Succeed at School.”

Okay, it doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue…but it cuts to the core of what kids need to succeed in school and why gymnastics is the perfect place to develop it.

You see, the good folks at Harvard in conjunction with 4,000 UK teenagers undertook a study that examined the characteristics that best predicted a student’s future academic success and that characteristic is…

Grit.

Grit, which was defined as having determination, courage, persistence, a ‘growth mindset’ and the ability to maintain a balanced lifestyle, was a better predictor than intelligence in predicting which kids succeeded in the classroom.

Gymnastics develops determination.  Determination is that quality that makes you continue trying to do or achieve something that is difficult.  Simply watch a beginning gymnast learn a cartwheel or a pullover, and you are seeing determination in action.

Gymnastics cultivates courage.  Tumbling across a 4 inch wide beam?  Running full speed at a standing object and then jumping (or flipping!) over it?  Swinging on a bar 7 feet in the air?  Defying gravity on a regular basis?  Gymnasts routinely make the choice to confront discomfort, fear and to do the right thing even when it costs more than they want to pay.  All hallmarks of courage.

Gymnastics plans persistence.  Fall down seven times, get up eight is a Japanese proverb turned gymnasts’ motto.   Developing that quality that allows someone to continue doing something or trying to do something even though it is difficult…that is not only the definition of persistence but is practically the definition of gymnastics practice.

Gymnastics garners a growth mindset.  It’s practically impossible to not have a growth mindset, the belief that our most basic abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work, and be a gymnast.  Otherwise, why would a gymnast even bother with practice?  Turns out that a growth mindset helps create a love of learning and a resilience essential to great accomplishments.  Ever met a gymnast who didn’t love to learn new things or who accomplished something without having to rise in the face of difficulty or after a set back?  Me neither.

Gymnastics demands a balanced lifestyle.  Dr Christina Hinton, a neuroscientist and faculty member at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, said: “Our results suggest that grit does not require pushing yourself at all costs, but rather cultivating healthy emotional regulation skills and effective learning strategies.”  Gymnasts understand this.  The importance of getting sufficient sleep, nutrition, making time for gymnastics, school, family, faith and other extracurriculars are all things even our youngest athletes learn.

Still not convinced?  Then consider this: an NCAA study was conducted that showed over 35% of gymnasts at the college level achieved a GPA of 3.5 or better. Over 90% of college students involved in NCAA gymnastics graduated, a much higher rate than students who didn’t participate in gymnastics. More academic awards were given to gymnasts than to any other college sport by as much as two to three times. Additionally, more gymnasts received NCAA post-grad scholarships in the past 5 years than any other female sport.

Like I said: “Why Your Kid Should do Gymnastics if You Want Them to Develop the Kind of Character That Helps Them Succeed at School.”

Mrs. Konstantza is MASTER OF THE SPORT by USA Gymnastics

Gymnastics World is proud to communicate to all of our members that our coach Konstantza has received the highest level of coaching certification by USA Gymnastics.

Mrs. Konstantza is now recognized MASTER OF THE SPORT.

This level of certification is given only to coaches who have demonstrated the ability to train athletes that represent the United States at the highest level of competition.

AEROBIC TEAM PAGE

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AEROBIC GYMNASTICS COMPETITION SCHEDULE:

SUZUKI WORLD CUP (April 19-23 - Tokyo, Japan)

Read here the directive for Suzuki World Cup.

This competition is intended for athletes of:

Age group 1 (12-14 years old)

Age group 2 (15-17 years old) and

Senior (18 years old and older)

The USA can take2 top athletes from each category (Ind. Man; Ind. Woman, Trio, etc...)

Please let us know by Jan 21 your intentions to attend the Suzuki World Cup. We encourage you and remind you that the more athletes we take the less will be the expense.

 

WORLD AGE GROUP COMPETITIONS 2018 (May 25-27 - Guimaraes, Portugal)

Directives for the World Championship will be posted soon

This competition is intended for athletes of:

Age group 1 (12-14 years old)

Age group 2 (15-17 years old) and

Senior (18 years old and older)

The athletes attending this competition must be the top 2 athletes from National Championship of 2017 in Arizona. In case one or both top 2 athletes decide not to go, the Federation will call the 3rd and subsequent athletes depending on the level of preparation of the respective athlete.

 

NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL AEROBIC COMPETITION (Jul 28-Aug 1 - Phoenix, AZ)

Read here the directives for the National and International Aerobic Championship 

Make sure to check every tab of this website as the organizers do bring information of hotel, detailed schedule, tickets purchase and more.

We anticipate all athlete (all categories and age divisions) will attend this competition as it is a very friendly competition under an extremely positive environment.

 

PROPOSED NATIONAL AEROBIC GYMNASTICS CAMP IN LAS VEGAS, NV

Konstantz and I are proposing a Camp to be organized by a third party organization in Las Vegas during the period of the end of April and beginning of May. The Camp will bring all USA teams together in one event and will provide education for all USA coaches regarding the rules and training methods besides bringing opportunity for athletes to work more extensively receive feedback and correction that will benefit them in the long run.The organization of this camp isn't finalized yet, but we will soon receive updates and confirmation from the organizers. The Camp will possibly be for a total of 15-16 hours 9one weekend) and have a showcase (competition like) to close.

Planned to be held in the last week of April and the first week of May.

 

NEW WARM-UPS (UNIFORMS)

Konstantza is working with a company in Canada for new warm-ups for our team. We do not have prices yet but will look really nice, professional and elegant for the athletes. We are sure the kids will love it. The color will be black, blue or red (TBD). Soon we will get the kids' sizes to proceed with the order. By that time we will have an estimate of price for all families.

 

COMPETITION LEOTARDS

It is very important for all parents to try the old leotard on their children and let us know if they can still compete with the ones they have from last year or if they will need a new one. Orders must be placed sooner this year. In case your child needs a new leotard, we will give you a variety of designs and you will pick and choose what you like the best. Price for a new leotard was around $160 last year and we do anticipate to be similar price this year. Please, avoid having your child competing with small leotard as this doesn't bring the best experience on them and can cause a lot of stress during competition. In case of question, approach Konstantza or myself in the gym. Let us know by January 30th if your child needs a new leotard for this year

 

FUNDRAISING

This year we have one the biggest teams in the entire history of GW Aerobic Gymnastics Program. We have lined up strong and high-level competitions. We are sure that if we work together and with help of our Parent Association we can develop ideas for at least 1 fundraising per month and maybe 1 crowdfunding website that each one of the families can share with families and friends for more money to be funded on daily bases:

Ideas for fundraising activities are:

  1. Selling Coffee and donats at Pentagon Parking lot in the morning
  2. Raffle of a basket (each family try to get some free item to be put in the basket)
  3. Garage Sale
  4. Car wash (in June and July)
  5. Ask for sponsorship to Dentist, Doctors and car dealerships in our Area, ...
  6. ...

The GWPA will have a meeting this coming Sunday 1/21 @ 12:30 pm in the Community Room at Chinn Park Library when they can talk a little deeper about fundraising and the distribution/allocation of the money, ... or at least how these things work.

Next week I will send another email inviting parents to come together to talk further about fundraising opportunities.

 

GW AEROBIC TEAM AGE CATEGORY

Below you can find a table with your child's age group in 2018 for FIG and for ANAC (National Federation). As I explained today, depending on your child's birthday their categories can be different for FIG competitions (official Competitions) and for ANAC competition (open and invitationals).

GW AEROBIC TEAM AGES & CATEGORIES

Team USA and Shannon Xiao – Pan American Champion

USA RHYTHMIC TEAM FINISHED FIRST DURING PAN AMERICAN CHAMPIONSHIP

We are proud to announce that Shannon Xiao is Silver Medalist on Ball and Bronze medalist on Hoop during the Pan American Championship 2017

Veronica Kuznetsov at OTC

Congratulations to Veronica Kuznetsov for been chosen to the USA Rhythmic Young Squad Camp.

Veronica and coach Konstantza arrived at the Olympic Training Center - Lake Placid, NY yesterday and the trainings for the Young Squad already started with full force. The camp will be lead by the best Rhythmic coaches and experts of USA and should resume on Saturday.

GW is proud of Veronica to be one more of Gymnastics World’s  athletes chosen for such selective camp.

Congratulations and good luck to Veronica and coach Konstantza this week.