Reminders

A few housekeeping reminders:

- The training camp on Monday December 19th will be held at Ottawa Gymnastics Center, located in Westboro at 294 Elmgrove Ave, from 4:30 to 9:00 for all provincial level athletes and pre-competitive athletes aged 8 years and older. Full details here: http://www.ogf.com/documents/event_file_11842.doc

- Due to the training camp Karine and David's groups will not be training on Tuesday December 20th.

- All pre-competitve athletes in Tyler's 9 hour group under the age of 8 will still have practice as usual on Monday night.

- The last day of training before the Holidays is Friday December 19th.

- Training will resume in the new year on Tuesday January 3rd.

Have a great Holiday break!

Provincial Qualifiers

The dates and locations for the three Provincial Qualifier Competitions have finally been released.

1st Ontario Cup: Ottawa Gymnastics Centre - February 4th to 5th

2nd Ontario Cup: Burlington BG's - March 2nd to March 4th

3rd Ontario Cup: Evolution Gymnastics Aurora - March 30th to April 1st

More information regarding the qualifiers is to come. The Google Calendar at the bottom of the page has been updated with information on all the planned competitions this seasons, and an updated calendar of events has been sent out via email to each family.

Provincial Training Camp

All provincial level 1 to 5 and 9 hour pre-competitive athletes over the age of 8 years old are invited to take part in a provincial training camp run by the Ontario Gymnastics Federation being hosted at the Ottawa Gymnastics Centre on Monday December 19th, from 4:30 pm to 9 pm.

All provincial level athletes are expected to attend. Training camps are a lot of fun and they're a great opportunity for athletes to meet and train with athletes from other programs, as well as to learn from other coaches and get some exposure to what is expected from them for performance during competitions. It is an especially beneficial experience for those boys who haven't competed yet.

Any 9 hour pre-comp athlete who either chooses not to attend or is not yet of age to attend the training camp will still be expected to attend their regularly scheduled training at Tumblers that Monday night.

The cost for attending the camp is $28 per athlete. Tumblers will cover the cost at registration and you will be invoiced at a later date.

Snacks will be provided by the gym so there will be no need to send a snack for break, however bringing a water bottle might be a good idea.

A sign-up sheet is posted on the MAG Competitive bulletin board next to the entrance to the gym, across from the boys' changing room. Please confirm your attendance by Monday December 5th.

Uniforms

By now every athlete should have received a clothing order form for this season. The athletes have already been sized for all of the apparel, so no further measurements should be necessary.

Please have all forms returned with payment to the gym by Thursday November 24th.

If your child has not yet given you a form to fill out please contact David or his coach as soon as possible.

Volunteer Opportunity

We are looking for parent volunteers to help in sizing the athletes in the MAG pre-comp and competitive groups for their uniforms this coming weekend (October 29th & 30th). We will need two volunteers on Saturday afternoon from 2:00 pm to 3:00 pm, and two volunteers on Sunday afternoon from 2:30 pm to 4:00pm.

If you are interested in helping out please contact David via email at dsmith@tumblers.ca.

Thanksgiving Long Weekend

Just a reminder that all MAG groups will NOT be training Sunday October 9th and Monday October 10th for the upcoming Thanksgiving long weekend.

Parent Information Meetings

All groups in the MAG program will be having a parent information night over the next couple of weeks to go over group expectations, program policies, and the calendar for the upcoming competitive season. This will also be an opportunity to talk to your coach and other parents and get any questions you might have regarding the upcoming year answered.

Please inform your coach well ahead of time if you think you will be unable to attend.

- MAG 6 Hour - Gabrielle: Tuesday October 4th @ 8:15 pm
- MAG 9 Hour - Tyler: Thursday October 6th @ 8:00 pm
- MAG 8 Hour - Abdou: Wednesday October 5th @ 9:00 pm
- MAG 12 Hour - Karine: Tuesday October 4th @ 8:15 pm
- MAG 12/16 Hour - David: Tuesday October 4th @ 8:15 pm
- MAG 15 Hour - Nick: Wednesday October 5th @ 9:00 pm

Minor Changes to Fall Schedule

To help our younger provincial athletes manage the balance of training with school the decision has been made to make some minor changes to Karine and David's groups' schedules.

To ensure that the boys can get home and to bed earlier on Tuesday evenings trainings have been shortened by half an hour to end at 8:30 (3.5 hours). To make up for the lost half hour Sunday trainings have been extended by one hour (4.5 hours).

Fall Schedule

Last day of summer training: Friday September 2nd

First day of regular season training: Friday September 9th

Thanksgiving - No training: Sunday October 9th & Monday October 10th

Long Weekend

The gym will be closed on Monday August 1, 2011 for the Ontario Civic Holiday. Classes on all other days are scheduled as usual.

Have a great. Long weekend.

Pediatricians: no energy drinks for kids

 Pediatricians: no energy drinks for kids; greatly limit use of sports drinks

 "Most children and adolescents do not need sports drinks according to a clinical report published in the journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). The report also finds that energy drinks are never appropriate for children or teenagers– water should be the primary beverage choice."

Furthermore, in a sport like gymnastics where the athletes aren't constantly running or going at high intensity for long periods of time (which is what the sports drinks were primarily designed for) electrolytes won't be diminished as quickly, so sports drinks won't be as effective as simply taking a short water break.

Summer Training Schedule

Last day of competitive training: Sunday June 26th

MAG Program Sleepover: Thursday June 30th

First day of summer training: Monday July 18th

Last day of summer training: Friday September 2nd

First day of regular season training: Friday September 9th

What's the secret to a steady recovery? R.I.C.E. of course...

Coaches often get asked this question after an athlete suffers an injury: "What's better? Ice or heat?"

Well here's your answer...

Ice, Ice baby...

It's Official...

Men's Gymnastics: The World's Toughest Sport
- Reprinted from Men's Fitness, March 1996, Page 105 

I think our athletes are proof of that as well. Nobody wants to mess with these kids. 

Tumblers Pre-Competitive 6 hour and 9 hour athletes at the Ottawa Gymnastics Centre's "Fun Meet", Sunday May 28th, 2011

Tumblers Athletes in Print

A couple of articles about some of Tumblers Boys' recent success at the Eastern Canadian Championships in Halifax.

Orleans Online

Orleans Star

Congratulations to Eric Gauthier, Brendan Lee and Tyler Glavind.

Another special congratulations goes out to Tyler for having the chance to compete at the Canadian National Championships this past week in PEI.

Keep up the good work boys!

May Long Weekend

There will be no competitive or pre-competitive training Sunday May 22nd or Monday May 23rd due to the Victoria Day holiday.

Competitive Uniform Order Form

For everyone who is still in need of a track-suit for the upcoming boys skills meets please fill out and return a copy of the Uniform Order Form to the front desk of the gym by Thursday May 19th at the latest. An email asking me to order you a uniform won't be enough as we need to have a paper trail to verify payments for our records.

Thanks

Tulip Classic Schedule and Pre-Comp Track Suits

The schedule for the pre-comp boys upcoming fun "skills meet" at Ottawa Gymnastics Centre has been released. The boys will be competing on the morning of Saturday May 28th, with registration at 7:30. Please see the full scheduile posted below.

Also, it has come to my attention that not all of the pre-competitve boys have bought their track suits. If this is the case for your son please contact me as soon as possible so that we can proceed with a track suit order in time for the Ottawa meet.

David

Provincial Championships and Skills Meets

First, I'd like to take this opportunity to congratulate our boys for a strong showing at the men's provincial championships, The Ontario Cup, held in Burlington on the weekend of April 16th. Tumblers had a number of athletes place in the top six in the all-around of their respective categories, as well as quite a few strong showings on the individual apparatus. Full results and scores can be found here.

Tumblers also qualified three athletes to the Eastern Canadian Championships to be held in Halifax May 5th through to May 8th. I would like to extend a special congratulations and wishes of good luck to Eric Gauthier, Brendan Lee, and Tyler Glavind - we know that the three of them will make Team Ontario and Tumblers proud.

With the competition season coming to an end for our provincial and national stream athletes, we in the MAG program are now in the process of gearing up for the "competitive season" for our pre-comp and kinder elite athletes. This year our pre-comp boys will be taking part in two non-competitive skills meets. This is a chance for them to show off all of the hard work they've put into training this year, as well as to experience the atmosphere of a real competition without the pressure of being scored and ranked. The first of these two events will take place over the weekend of May 28th and 29th at Ottawa Gymnastics Centre (exact time and date to be confirmed), and the second will be a grand finale event held at Tumblers on June 12th at 4 pm (more information will be sent home with the athletes as the event approaches). We look forward to seeing all our boys there and to take the opportunity to show what Tumblers' boys are made of.

March Break Training

A quick reminder that over the March break the training schedule is slightly modified. All pre-competitive and competitive groups will train as per usual during the week, but will have one of the two weekends off.

Pre-comps (Gabrielle, Abdou, and Karine's groups) will be off Sunday March 13th.

Competitive (Tara, David, and Nick's groups) will be off Sunday March 20th.

Please be sure to inform your son's coach of any planned absences, outside of the scheduled day off, over this week.

Thanks

Schedule for Second Provincial Qualifier

Second qualifer is this coming weekend right here in Ottawa at the Ottawa Gymnastics Centre (294 Elmgrove Ave, Westboro). Please take note of your flight times on the schedule.

Good luck to all Tumblers boys this weekend!

Family Day

Just a reminder that there will be no training Monday February 21st as the gym will be closed for Family Day.

Enjoy your long weekend!

Great First Qualifier!!!

Congratulations to all Tumblers boys on a great showing at the 1st Ontario Cup provincial qualifying meet.

Results are posted in lobby and can also be found on the OGF website.

A Call for Volunteers

Hi All! I'm looking for a few able bodied volunteers who are available to give around 3 hours of their time the evening of Saturday February 29th at 6 pm.  We will be installing a new set of rings over the pit, as well as taking care of a few smaller odd jobs that need doing around the gym. We'll need a minimum of 8 volunteers to get the rings up, and while I'm estimating 3 hours to get everything done for night more bodies do make for faster work.

If you are available and would like to get a couple of volunteer hours under your belt please put your name down on the sign-up sheet on the volunteer board in the lobby, or send an e-mail to dsmith@tumblers.ca to confirm your attendance.

Thanks!

Schedule for First Provincial Qualifier