Gymnast coach extraordinaire :p
OK so yesterday I went to the gymnast centre for the juniors in the Eastern Melbourne district to have a look at what they had to offer. I mean so far I've had a prospective offer about a voluntary coaching position; so that sounds pretty ace.
I was a little shocked with some of the children. Most of them were part of an advanced team and didn't even know how to do a proper back handspring. It just made me wonder why they weren't taking things seriously. At the same time, however, I was an elite at the age of 8 and I tried my hardest to be the best. And sometimes kids just get forced into sports. So that could also be a deciding factor.
One of the boys, a 12 year old named Pete; he was really good. I walked in as he was vaulting - the kid had guts! I remember getting scared of running towards a stationary vault, and worry about hurting myself if I didn't jump at the right time. A broken nose proved that. And also a cracked wrist. No one ever said gymnastics was easy! But no, I was pleasantly surprised by this kid. He'd won the Eastern district competitions since the age of 9, and is currently training for qualification in the state competition. The kid has potential to win a national competition. I mean I won 1997 - 1999 in the under 12's and had no idea how. LOL.
Anyway this is sounding a bit arrogant on my behalf. But here's a funny part. Mister Pete decided to dare me to do a layout. I explained my condition with my hips but said OK. So I got on the big trampoline and gained a little momentum. Jumped up fairly high and began to tumble over but my hip stuck and I landed on my bum. Second time around I got it, though. I was pleased with myself. I pulled a muscle in my back though LMAO. Second thing he asked me to do was a layout, stepout, back handspring, stepout full twist. I thought "Fuck, the kid's a natural smartarse!" So I walk to the end of the tramp. The things are fucking huge and they're good for youngin's. I started running slowly, managed the layout alright; when it came to the first stepout, however, I turned around and fell on my ankle. LMAO. How embarrassing! I think Pete thinks I'm a bit of a joke now. But I helped him on high bar - didn't think many kids would tackle that in individual apparatus, but good on him. He didn't tuck in his stomach enough when pushing himself off to tumble and in a competition, that would've been bad as he wasn't moving himself straight and fell a few times. And you don't want to stand too close, as a coach; you could get your face kicked in. 'Least the kids are light; you can just jump on the ground and they can fall on your back.
Anyway, I got quite a mixed reaction, but I was pleased to have worked with Pete and a few others. If I decide to not volunteer my time, coaching, I'll definitely go and see the kids compete when the competitions start. Just seeing the kids training made me remember how much fun it was! :)
I was a little shocked with some of the children. Most of them were part of an advanced team and didn't even know how to do a proper back handspring. It just made me wonder why they weren't taking things seriously. At the same time, however, I was an elite at the age of 8 and I tried my hardest to be the best. And sometimes kids just get forced into sports. So that could also be a deciding factor.
One of the boys, a 12 year old named Pete; he was really good. I walked in as he was vaulting - the kid had guts! I remember getting scared of running towards a stationary vault, and worry about hurting myself if I didn't jump at the right time. A broken nose proved that. And also a cracked wrist. No one ever said gymnastics was easy! But no, I was pleasantly surprised by this kid. He'd won the Eastern district competitions since the age of 9, and is currently training for qualification in the state competition. The kid has potential to win a national competition. I mean I won 1997 - 1999 in the under 12's and had no idea how. LOL.
Anyway this is sounding a bit arrogant on my behalf. But here's a funny part. Mister Pete decided to dare me to do a layout. I explained my condition with my hips but said OK. So I got on the big trampoline and gained a little momentum. Jumped up fairly high and began to tumble over but my hip stuck and I landed on my bum. Second time around I got it, though. I was pleased with myself. I pulled a muscle in my back though LMAO. Second thing he asked me to do was a layout, stepout, back handspring, stepout full twist. I thought "Fuck, the kid's a natural smartarse!" So I walk to the end of the tramp. The things are fucking huge and they're good for youngin's. I started running slowly, managed the layout alright; when it came to the first stepout, however, I turned around and fell on my ankle. LMAO. How embarrassing! I think Pete thinks I'm a bit of a joke now. But I helped him on high bar - didn't think many kids would tackle that in individual apparatus, but good on him. He didn't tuck in his stomach enough when pushing himself off to tumble and in a competition, that would've been bad as he wasn't moving himself straight and fell a few times. And you don't want to stand too close, as a coach; you could get your face kicked in. 'Least the kids are light; you can just jump on the ground and they can fall on your back.
Anyway, I got quite a mixed reaction, but I was pleased to have worked with Pete and a few others. If I decide to not volunteer my time, coaching, I'll definitely go and see the kids compete when the competitions start. Just seeing the kids training made me remember how much fun it was! :)