Risk in Youth Sports

I was watching my 12 year old gymnast size son get pummeled repeatedly this morning at his basketball game. It made me wonder how many kids get injured in this sport. Turns out quite a few, as it made the number one spot on Loyola's:  "Top Ten Sports for Injuries in Kids." Now, my son prefers it this way, rough and tumble, slammed and sliding across the gym floor; bring it on. I realized it's not the sport, but the contact that causes injuries, and Chase-- although tossed a few times like a rag-doll-- knows how to fall to minimize injury.

Gymnastics was not even in the top ten. This did not surprise me. As a long time coach in the sport of gymnastics I can only count a handful of "bad enough" injuries to send kids to the hospital. Why does gymnastics get such a bad rap when in fact at the recreational level it is pretty tame? The answer lies with the few injuries from accelerated height, rotation and speed, that were severe enough to make the headlines. Our gym has never sustained an injury like this, in fact most gyms will never see an injury of this nature. Still, parents should inquire about the credentials of the instructors teaching any classes with flipping.

There are two classes that require extra close attention. Parkour and Trampoline.

Parkour, or free running involves using the physical environment as your springboard. Partakers vault, flip, and climb/jump over, under and off of anything and everything (cars, stairs, buildings etc.). Gyms are now offering classes in this "sport." For this class, and for trampoline, a USA Gymnastics Safety Certified instructor is a must. Both these classes are appealing to non-gymnasts who have little air awareness and even less upper body strength. A certified coach will know how to safely progress students in a systematic manner. The coach should also have excellent spotting skills. Potential red flags to watch out for:

• Students that are all doing the same thing instead of a progression, (or staged level) of the same skill. 

• Students that look out of control in the air
  
• Landings in positions that look or are contorted (landing sideways, falling off the mats). Most landings should strive for feet first.
  
• Teen or Junior coaches teaching these more advanced classes

Think twice about that home trampoline for Christmas. Trampolines are not toys. Most are used improperly in the home setting. Some homeowner policies require extra coverage for trampolines. A few parents have shared with me that they were canceled after submitting a claim due to a trampoline injury. One parent was successfully sued by a neighbor, when the neighbors child broke her arm on their trampoline ($30,000.00). Best to leave the safe jumping to the experts.

The great benefit kids receive from participating in a sport outweigh the small amount of risk. Parents can minimize their child's risk by becoming informed and educated about the activity their child chooses.

All of Top Flyte's senior staff are USA Gymnastics Safety Certified.

Thankful Times

Hi everyone,

I've been falling down on the job lately, victim to this crazy time of year we call the holidays. I was hoping to carve out some time to write about what this time of year reminds me of personally.

November and December bring family, friends and warm thoughts of good times we had during the year. It's a reflective time for a lot of us.This time of year reminds me how very lucky I have been to have such a wonderful business. A business that has afforded me the luxury of raising my kids at my side, or running around the gym, (so sorry Linda, [business partner])! A business that has taught, and still teaches me so much about life, relationships, loyalty, integrity, partnership, and leadership. 

It's not just gymnastics, and I know I have written before about the kind of legacy our business wants to leave with children; it's the relationships we have forged between coaches, gymnasts, and parents over the last 25 years. The parents we have been so privileged to serve, and know through the years that are now our friends. The staff that have become like our family.The former gymnasts who grow up and become staff. One of these staff members even met his wife in the gym, both were coaches (that was some summer!).

I am so thankful for the opportunities having a gymnastics school gives me to grow as a person, parent, teacher, business person, and student of life. While I have much to be thankful for, the most important thing to me right now, where I am in my life is relationships. So cheers to those past, present, and future relationships through Top Flyte. May the friendships you and your child make through this sport this coming year be as enriching as mine have been and continue to be!

Word from the Top: Gymnastics: An investment, who knew?

Word from the Top: Gymnastics: An investment, who knew?

Who are you again?

Not my usual post about gymnastics, however, this topic is near and dear to me in the world of business.

The thing is, we learn to compete at a very young age. Children compete for their parents attention, at school we compete for grades, sports, etc. I love competition, clearly, as a coach I believe in the healthy attributes competition can give an individual: drive, courage, and determination. Somewhere though, as we grow as people, and begin to work in a professional setting, competition can become counter productive.This is especially true when used incorrectly. Competing for advantage in the work place creates a sense of "me against you." Teams  and trust erode.

Who are we anyway to think we have something more important than someone else to contribute? So what if we've done this or that, won this or that, obtained this or that degree/s? So what.

When I was a young coach (many years ago!), and a student in school to become a licensed physical therapist assistant, I had this experience. One of my gymnasts jumped off the high beam and hyper-extended her knee upon landing. It looked bad, and being an almost new grad I was eager to inform her Dad what I thought had occurred, and use some newly learned technical terms to explain the injury. He was such a cool gym parent. He smiled, nodded, and as he scooped up his sobbing child, he thanked me and left. She returned a few weeks later no worse for the wear. Later that year, during my clinical internship at  major hospital, I was introduced to the Chief of Physiatry. Imagine my utter shock and instant humbling, when the chief was none other than my gym parent. That experience taught me everything I ever needed to know about superiority (or lack thereof).
In retrospect, he listened, and honestly respected my opinion. Me, the young, student of physical therapy. Everyone contributes, everyone has value, no one person is better than another. No amount of education or experience gives someone the green light to act superior.

In today's work setting, much like in gymnastics, it is all about the team. Learning to "team think" takes practice. Learning to eliminate hierarchical thinking and acting in a work setting takes a strong leader. Teaching our children the lesson to value their peers, teammates, and later co-workers is important. Consider everyone we interact with a teacher of something.

Teaching humility is priceless.

That Physician retired a couple of years ago. I had the opportunity to work with him again before he retired. I thanked him for my lesson. He just shook his head and smiled.

The Power of Positive

The last few weeks have been crazy busy. The gym has launched a new structure for programs and price, and marketing is underway to get the word out. On the home front, the West kid-lets are running their mother ragged with their constant extracurricular activity. I'm not complaining, (I love my life) but whew! I am tired. Today I literally tried to open my front door by pointing my car keys at the lock and clicking..not once, but twice.

During this super busy week I heard a great story about a work group who went from having a large amount of injuries and attendance issues to almost none. The difference was a new manager, and some changes in the work environment that resulted in a huge positive pay off for the organization. According to the workers, the atmosphere went from punitive to positive. Workers were given a voice, and listened to. Positivity, it would appear, pays.

I reflected on this story today as I was coaching the level four girls. These super cute kids are still relatively new to routines, repetition and repeated correction. I tried very hard to balance the verbal and tactile corrections needed to teach and perform the skill, with praise for honest effort and, the willingness to keep repeating the skill over and over until it was correct. I used a ton of positive reinforcement to drive my lesson. I noticed that whenever I acknowledged a gymnast, they would light up. That smile would last for a long time, and the work that followed was fast and furious with few corrections needed. The power of positive.

On the flip side (since this is a gymnastic blog after all), negative words can have far reaching, and not easily repairable damage; sometimes long term. Damage to relationships, self esteem, and trust. Unkind or hurtful words once spoken even if retracted immediately, leave a mark. Coaches need to be mindful of the words they choose when making corrections for skill work. Positives will go a long way for building foundational trust and relationships.

With coaching this is not hard to do. With life: work and home relationships, sometimes we forget how sharp our tongue can be. The co-worker who hums all day long, the employee who always has an issue. The constant need to accomplish more work with less resources. The temptation is to go to the place where you demand, direct and expect. Without any thanks because, after all, that is the what the job requires right? Results? Sure. Long term success with your employees, co-workers, family, and gymnasts. Good luck.

I choose positive.

Having fun in the gym

The gymnastics business is crazy stuff. Fun but crazy. Where else can you go to work and get paid to jump around on trampolines, tell young gymnasts that if they climb to the top of the rope, a little monkey may come out from the ceiling and ask for a peanut; and find yourself racing around the spring floor like a bear, bug, snake and whatever else you can think of to capture the attention and imagination of your charges. So much fun to be had!

Most people that own a gym or coach professionally have a tremendous passion for two things:

• Kids
• Gymnastics

The fun and games of early lessons need to continue through the competitive years for longevity. The sport becomes difficult, and few gymnasts make it past level seven. Sad. To change this, successful coaches and programs manage to keep it fun. Kids need to be allowed to debrief from the intense skill building competitive gymnastics requires. Built in games disguise speed, strength, and agility training.

I learned this lesson early from my husband. He has a way of making each lesson a game, a mini competition, a challenge, a dare, even a bribe! "I'll give you a quarter if you can cast to a handstand" -you cannot imagine what kids will do for a quarter! Once, he bet a competitive team gymnast: "I will kiss a pig if you can do that move." Guess what? He kissed a pig, in the gym with much fanfare. Compliments of a pig owner who happily supplied the poor victim for the kiss. We have pictures. The kids loved this!  Guess what again? His teams always placed in the top three at State championships. Fun, did not take away from skill.

If you have a child in gym, and they are interested in competition, look for signs the kids on team are happy and having fun. Training is hard work, however, a skilled coach will use drills and games in their training techniques. The kids should look like they enjoy being in the gym. If you do not see this, find a new gym. Save the survival of the fittest routine for the military, or reality TV. Childhood is brief; I say let the kids have fun!

Gymnastics: An investment, who knew?

Gymnastics: your child’s health, fitness and life skills foundation.

Okay, I know what you are thinking. Really Julie? Life skills? Let’s spend a few moments breaking it down.

First, I believe sports of any kind are critical for child development. Gymnastics however is special. Gymnastics engages both sides of the brain in crossover activity. No wonder many pediatricians recommend gymnastics to the parents of ADHD, ADD and Autistic children. Gymnastic coaches will tell you these children make noticeable improvements in attention span, interest, and social skills, with continued gymnastics training. Parents over the years have reported an association of improved grades when their child is involved with gym.

Health and Fitness: This one’s easy; gymnastics uses major muscle groups simultaneously. Even at the early levels children are balancing, strengthening and stretching at the same time. Curriculum is designed for constant motion. Weight bearing through the upper extremities is rare in other sports. Core strengthening is built in to the normal gymnastic movements such as: handstand progression, cartwheel, and somersaults. This foundational fitness develops muscles in a way few other sports can.

Life Skills: Okay here we go. We live in a society that promotes instant gratification. I want, I get. Gymnastics requires an amazing amount a repetition. This training in repetition teaches the concept of "earned by effort". Trust me when I say this is foreign concept to a large population of our society. I have experienced many, many, parents who pull their child from the sport because they were not progressing fast enough. One parent stands out having pulled his 5 year old, because she wasn’t demonstrating “any tricks” after three months of lessons. Another parent of a high school cheerleader asked me: “How much does it cost to give my daughter a back-handspring?” The cheerleader could not even do a handstand. When I explained the process of progressions needed for strength, and safety, the parent replied: “that sounds like it takes too long, she needs it by next week.” Work ethic. Gymnastics promotes a healthy respect for working at something (sometimes, over and over and over). Valuable life skill.

Total body development: Show me a competitive gymnast and I will show you an all around athlete. It is not uncommon to have a child leave gym at 14 or 15, and walk onto varsity level ball sports, track (pole vault especially) diving, cheer-leading and dance; having never participated in these sports before.

Gymnastics is an investment that will pay off for your child in many ways. Where else can you get superior physical development, brain development and life skills in a one hour class?

See you in the gym!

Winners Never Quit

First let me start out by assuring those who read this I asked permission from my son to use his story as an example for this blog topic. I want to discuss the quality of perseverance.

My son Jamie is a tennis player at his high school. He started playing just a few years ago, literally. He loves the sport, and dreams of playing at a very high level. He's good. He wants to be better. No, that's not strong enough, he wants to be the best. He played in a tournament this weekend and was beaten, twice. He was very frustrated with his own performance.

As a child he competed in gymnastics. He was beyond naturally gifted. Gymnastics was easy, he was a hard worker, and somewhat of a perfectionist. He holds seven consecutive Oregon State All Around first place titles, and five Regional titles. He had amazing lines for the sport. When he reached level 10 (collegiate) as an eleven year old he had a bad experience throwing a double back somersault off the high bar. Hit his shins and fell like a brick to the floor. He decided that was not an experience he cared to repeat, and in the sport at that level, well, repeating is not just likely its business as usual. He never really had a passion for the sport. So he moved on. Tried a few things and then found tennis.

He is not the best out there. He is, considering his short tenure in the sport, really good. So he has to be patient and develop the skills that the kids he is playing have honed for years. He has to learn to lose. With the losses come learning. Not everything will come easy. He does have some experience really valuable to guide him to his goals; he knows what it feels like to win, to be on top, and this drives him to work harder. He has a healthy respect for the phrase effort equals output. He's not a quitter. I have no doubt he will achieve.

Although I am happy he had the experience of winning early in life, I am even more grateful for the opportunity he is having to lose. Sounds crazy? This experience will shape him in a way a thousand gold medals could not.

Responsibility

I received a very disturbing phone call tonight about a couple of gym kids that have been with us since childhood. These kids have for the lack of a better term "royally screwed up" and were caught. Disappointing, yes. The thing is it could be anyone of our teens, let's face it they make some really bad choices sometimes. These choices are going to come at a price. Innocence lost, a job lost, and reputations tarnished. As a parent of four teens the moment is not lost on me that this can happen to the best of kids, the best of families. What separates the families that deal with these "moments in time" as "great families" will be the way they handle the consequences. The ones that hold their children accountable and allow natural consequences to occur are my hero. Not too much is more difficult than watching an almost adult momentarily self destruct and then stepping back and resisting the urge to rescue, downplay, and cover for the action.

Allow the fallout.

I have no doubt I will face this moment in some way, shape, or form (although I will pray for something minor). When I do, I can only hope I will make the right choice to allow my child to utterly fail, if only for a short time.  Because those are the lessons we remember the most.

Competitive Craziness

     I'm not sure what happens to some parents when they enroll their children into competitive sports. You see, it all starts out innocently enough, "We don't care if little Suzy wins or loses, we just want her to have fun." Oh sure, some parents are able to keep this attitude and core belief throughout the life of their child's athletic endeavors, but not all. What happened today is case in point. Soccer. Need I say more? The parents from the opposing team were awful today at my 12 year old son's game. Yelling obscenities at their kids, screaming "they didn't earn that!" when our team scored- ugly, ugly stuff. We tied, our boys celebrated by getting into a circle holding hands, falling and then rolling backward, kicking their feet into the air and squealing. Their boys- also in a circle receiving a verbal beating from coaches and parents alike. Sad.

Of course as a professional coach I have seen this behavior all to often in the gymnastics world. Admittedly a bit more dignified. Same thing, parents becoming livid when their child fails to perform or "deliver" the win. While it is easy to become caught up in competition, if parents can not separate the win or loss from the child, almost always the child will eventually stop the sport altogether.

  In 20 years of coaching and owning a club, a parent has left my gym from time to time because we didn't push the child hard enough. I get that. I also know the chances of seeing that child long term in the sport with a coach that pushes "as hard as the parent wants" are slim. Great athletes- champions are less developed than they are nurtured. The degree of greatness that separates amazing athletes isn't something coached, it's naturally occurring and it has little to do with talent (although this helps). It's drive. If they don't have it, you are not going to see those blue ribbons no matter how amazing the coach says they are, or how hard the child is  pushed. Ah! you say, you've seen this work, it is working right now for your child. Okay, come talk to me in five years and we will see what sport or activity your kid is in.This method of intense pressure, must win and even punitive atmosphere almost always fail to produce long term. Why? Kids get tired of the negativity and quit.


You want a champion? Make sure your child enjoys the sport, find a club or coach that is positive, sit back and relax, and remember this sentence: "Great job honey- you looked good out there- did you have fun, great! are you hungry? 

Kids and sports, it's a long road from childhood to college. It's a marathon not a sprint. Take it easy and enjoy the journey.