ASI Gymnastics is proudly hosting our second Gymmie Kids Meet of the year this Sunday, November 8 at ASI Firewheel from 3:00-5:30pm. Our Gymmie Kids program is our fantastic adaptive gymnastics program specifically for students with special needs.
The event is going to be a blast and will celebrate all of our Gymmie Kids students’ accomplishments. They will be competing on events such as trampolines, bars, rings, beam, and floor. The theme of our meet is Practice Makes Perfect, and all of the students have been practicing incredibly hard to perfect their routines.
So come out, support our Gymmie Kids program, and cheer on our wonderfully talented students! For more information on our Gymmie Kids program, click here.
Mary Kate Hopkins is the Director of the Gymmie Kids Program. She has over five years experience in adaptive physical activity. Mary Kate has a BS in Child Development from the University of Texas at Dallas, is a certified Nonviolent Crisis Intervention instructor, and is currently working on a post-baccalaureate certification in Therapeutic Recreation.
ASI Gymnastics is committed to youth development. The commitment continues for many gymnasts as coaching becomes their first job. Often, your ASI Coach was a former ASI gymnast. The founders of ASI Gymnastics encourage a continued education, and many coaches continue to work for ASI Gymnastics as they attend college and earn a degree.
In June, 43 ASI employees received high school diplomas. Almost all will continue on to college. In many cases, they will continue to work for ASI Gymnastics. Thirty-two of the ASI high school graduates have qualified for the ASI High School Scholarship Award by earning more than $2,500 while working for ASI Gymnastics and attending high school. This is an outstanding achievement. The recipients earned an average of $718 in awards, with eight earning over $1,000. Those wishing to take advantage of the Scholarship are also eligible for the ASI Educational Assistance Plan and will be able to earn more money to pay for tuition, books, and related fees.
Ashley McAbee (left) and Kathryn James (right) from ASI Cypress graduated from Langham Creek High School. Pictured with Coach Molly from ASI Cypress.
The ASI Scholarship Fund features:
ASI established the reimbursement rules for all employees years ago. The founders strongly support continued education, youth development, and a strong work ethic. Eligibility for withdrawal does require an ongoing commitment to work. Most of the employees do that with a part-time or seasonal commitment. The highlights of the ASI High School Scholarship Fund Program:
Employee must earn at least $2,500 prior to graduation to qualify. In 2015, 32 of 43 graduates qualified.
After high school graduation, employee must work at least 11 hours per quarter, and a minimum of 200 hours per year to remain eligible.
Employee may file for up to 25% of eligible amount each year for four years.
Employee is also eligible for the Educational Assistance Plan, worth 12% of additional earnings. All ASI Gymnastics employees are eligible for this benefit.
Grace Nwegbo from ASI Lake Highlands graduated from Poteet High School.
Grace Nwegbo is a 2015 Poteet High School graduate from Mesquite, Texas. Grace has worked for ASI Gymnastics Lake Highlands since she was a sophomore and earned over $11,000. ASI is matching 12% of her earnings, or $1,430. The funds are available for her to use for college tuition and fees over the next four years. Grace plans to major in child development and pre-med. Click here to read more about Grace.
ASI Gymnastics Program Directors recently introduced the ASI Gold Standard, realigning all progressions and skills in the recreational levels with the 2013-2021 USA Gymnastics Girls Gymnastics Competitive standards.
In the summer of 2013, USA Gymnastics released the new Girls Compulsory program. USA Gymnastics makes updates to the levels every eight years. The change involved a renumbering of the levels, skills, and progressions. Most significantly Levels 1 and 2 were combined to create a NEW Level 1. The new level system will be in effect until 2021. During 2014, ASI worked hard to acclimate all team members and families to the new levels.
The Gold Standard now allows gymnasts to move through Bronze, Silver, and Gold recreational levels with all required skills to successfully enter Level 1 Team.
“Our current program was designed so that girls could advance to Level 1 Team after completion of Girls Silver. With the new ASI Gold Standard, girls will advance to Level 1 Team after Girls Gold. This will allow the girls to gain more confidence as they enter competition. That’s why I like the Gold Standard.” says David Holley, Chief Executive Officer of ASI Gymnastics.
Gymnastics as a sport is constantly evolving. USA Gymnastics realigned their program, which made the routines for Level 1 Team more advanced. The realignment allowed us to review our program, update skills, distinguish required progressions for mobility, and provide better training for all girls in our Bronze, Silver, and Gold classes.
ASI Gymnastics believes the best path for a young gymnast is to develop fundamental skills and then enter competition as soon as possible. Historically, many gyms started competition at Level 3 or Level 4, or even requiring time on Pre-Team. ASI Gymnastics pioneered Level 1 competition, allowing children to learn the joys of competing while growing to love the sport.
Many of the new features of the ASI Gold Standard have much more emphasis on tumbling progressions including proper front rolls, handstands, cartwheels, and shapes: a simpler structure to our Bronze, Silver, and Gold program. We will also introduce a new Gold Standard Power Tumbling program that is coordinated with the Girls Gymnastics Program. We strongly encourage everyone to take a Girls Gymnastics class and a Power Tumbling class to experience the best developmental path possible.
You will also see many more strength and conditioning stations as we begin to emphasize fitness. Students will receive new skill sheets and posters as we transition to the new ASI Gold Standard. We look forward to an exciting summer 2015. If you have any questions, please ask your coach or visit the front desk.
Meet season has officially ended, but that doesn’t go without giving these Level 3-4 State Champion gymnasts some love and praise! Congratulations to the following ASI Teams and gymnasts on your accomplishments at State!
Tiffany Jacqueline
Madison Supplee
Macie
Kate MaKayla
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Grace
Emily Cleveland
Elshadday
Anna Welch
Level 3 Team Awards:
ASI Arlington – 6th Place, Large Team
ASI Allen – 5th Place, Small Team
Level 4 Team Awards:
ASI Lake Highlands – 4th Place, Large Team
ASI Keller – 8th Place, Small Team
Vault State Champions:
Anna Welch – ASI Keller, Level 3
Madison Supplee – ASI Keller, Level 3
Grace Carroum – ASI Lake Highlands, Level 4
Bars State Champions:
Kate McMillan – ASI Arlington, Level 3
Emily Cleveland – ASI Allen, Level 3
Beam State Champions:
MaKayla Lopez – ASI Arlington, Level 3
Tiffany Trombetta – Firewheel, Level 3
Elshadday Emru – ASI Firewheel, Level 4
Macie Rogers – ASI Lake Highlands, Level 4
Floor State Champions:
Alina Martinsen – ASI Arlington, Level 3
Grace Carroum – ASI Lake Highlands, Level 4
All-Around State Champions:
Alina Martinsen – ASI Arlington, Level 3
Elshadday Emru – ASI Firewheel, Level 4
ASI Gymnastics has been in business for over 20 years, operating 10 facilities in Dallas and Houston, TX. We love sharing the sport of gymnastics with over 10,000 children, because we know what a positive impact it can have in a child’s life. Over the past few years, “trampoline parks” have been popping up in the same communities where we’ve been offering true gymnastics instruction for decades. These facilities provide a very different product, and we want to make sure that the differences are clear.
ASI Gymnastics promises to use our trampolines as tools to teach safe, technically correct gymnastics and tumbling progressions to children based on their individual abilities. Our coaches are never asked to supervise more than 6 trampolines at a time, and each child bounces independently on their own trampoline. We enforce these rules in our gymnastics classes and even in “free-play” settings like Open Gym or Parents’ Night Out. We also do not allow any adults on our trampolines, with the exception of highly trained and qualified ASI Staff members. After hundreds of millions of bounces, we are blessed to say that we have never experienced a severe spinal, neck, or head injury in one of our facilities. This doesn’t mean we’re lucky. It means we love our kids, and we’re committed to keeping them safe. Safety has always been the number one priority at ASI Gymnastics, and it always will be.
Most trampoline parks, on the other hand, only provide “free-play” scenarios with no instruction, and very little supervision. A typical ratio is one employee supervising up to 30 guests, of all different ages (adults included), bouncing in different directions and at different heights and speeds, across multiple trampolines, and collisions are essentially unavoidable. Trampolines were not designed to be used by more than one participant at a time, and injuries are too often the result of improper use.
As with any athletic activity, there is inherent risk in gymnastics, and trampolines are not a fail-safe instructional device. However, through rigorously developed and carefully implemented risk-management strategies, including low supervision ratios and common-sense rules, ASI Gymnastics and other facilities in the gymnastics industry have managed to significantly decrease these risks. We’ve spent years analyzing and improving our policies, having tough conversations and constantly striving for perfection, and we do it all to ensure that we’re doing everything in our power to keep our students safe. When it comes to keeping kids safe, healthy and happy, anything less than 100% effort is unacceptable, wildly unethical, and frankly, gross negligence.
We urge our gymnasts and their families to think twice about where you bounce on trampolines, and please do everything you can to stay safe. The stories we’re hearing from our own gymnasts and online and in the media about the frequency and severity of injuries at trampoline parks are deeply unsettling, and we want to make sure that every member of the ASI Family knows the risk. We love every child in our care, and we just want to keep them safe.
As always, we want to thank you for the privilege of working with your children. Their safety is so precious and important to us, and we appreciate the trust you’ve placed in us to look out for their best interests.
Mary Kate Hopkins is the Director of the Gymmie Kids Program. She has over five years experience in adaptive physical activity. Mary Kate has a BS in Child Development from the University of Texas at Dallas, is a certified Nonviolent Crisis Intervention instructor, and is currently working on a post-baccalaureate certification in Therapeutic Recreation.
Ashley McAbee (left) and Kathryn James (right) from ASI Cypress graduated from Langham Creek High School. Pictured with Coach Molly from ASI Cypress.
