ParKour
Thrill of learning something new
There is nothing better than watching a child learn. I am always quietly amazed every time my kids demonstrate something that I didn’t know that they knew. Kids are like sponges and they absorb everything, my youngest (just about to turn two) is little parrot boy. He repeats everything and sometimes we become oblivious to it and…
Read MoreSportsmanship displayed at, and with, my Alma Mater
I lifted this from Rick McCharles’ blog. It’s a great story but what struck me is that it happened at my High School. I graduated from Milwaukee Madison and in fact when I was there, we were the State Champion Basketball team. We had a great program then too and in fact the culture of…
Read MoreSaying Good-Bye to a pioneer: George Nissen 1914-2010
It was at a circus in Cedar Rapids Iowa that young George Nissen watched the trapeze artists drop to safety on a large net and wondered “what makes that work and why couldn’t I build one?” That was 1930 and young George was only 16 and a member of the gymnastics and diving teams at his…
Read MoreWhoa! What’s a beat?
I got this video link from a friend and it shows a great montage of gymnastics through the years. I didn’t plan on making it the topic of a post here, but while watching it in my office I started with just me, by the end there were about 6 people watching, we kept rewinding parts…
Read MoreBoo and the dinosaurs
It was a while back, but we were at a meet: Sometimes during competition our small team might be grouped with another small team; and we were. You don’t get to pick who you’re with, and that sometimes is uncomfortable. Now I’ve been with great groups, fun coaches, coaches who inspire and coaches I admire. I’ve also been…
Read MoreCoaches teaching Character; it should be a priority
I read an impressive blog from a coach in Missouri who was stating how important it was for us as coaches to instill integrity and honor in our athletes. I was happy to see that his suggestions were all part of the team program that we have operated since Gymfinity’s inception. I was even happier to…
Read MoreA guest blogger: Marie L.
The following is an essay written by Marie L., a 12 year old former gymnastics team member here at Gymfinity. She is also considering a return to the team and I think her essay helped her thought process. I was not Marie’s direct coach but I remember that the other coaches spoke highly of her…
Read MoreWhat you get for your investment
We will be in polite company, visiting, or with new friends at a party and someone will say it. The response usually gets my wife’s eyes to roll and the person asking to get an avalanche of “more than you wanted to know” soapbox speech from me. What do they say? Usually it starts with…
Read MorePride
Letter to my Level 7, 8 and 9 parents: For those of you who didn’t know, our Level 8 team: Lexi A, Briana S, Chelsea G, Kendra N. and Maddy M. won. At the St. Jude benefit meet they won the first place team award which rewarded them with an enormous trophy AND a $250…
Read MoreWhat the heck is PKFR anyway?
Over the last few weeks Gymfinity has rolled out, pardon the pun, it’s latest program: PKFR. We have opened the door to this new kind of program, an organized program that you can’t find anywhere else in Wisconsin. It’s ParKour/Free Running. But what is it? My easiest explanation is to say that if gymnastics and running…
Read More