Avery has, for the past two years, taken gymnastics. He loves it and we love the exercise that he gets from it. Last year, his coach made a point to let us know that he felt like he was "gifted" in the sport. I really don't see any reason that the coach would have told us that if he didn't believe it - it wasn't an awkward moment of silence that he needed to fill and I had paid our tuition six months in advance, so we were a sure thing until the end of the semester.
Don and I decided to let him stay with the current program that he's in and then, when he started kindergarten, we would see if he wanted to continue and if he did, then we'd go to a "real" gym.
The kids were invited to a gymnastics party at a "real" gym earlier in the summer. I was blown away at what I saw. I picked up a registration packet and we were all but signed up. When I called the gym, they suggested that Avery take a class free-of-charge, then at the end I can enroll him.
At kindergarten age, the kids are split into boys and girls. Each gender begins work on the apparatus that are relational to their gender. I was super-stoked that he would be learning rings, parallel bars, vault, and everything else.
We've been so excited about the Olympics and curious to what Avery would think when he saw what gymnastics is really all about. So far, he's loved it. Don said that he's already trying to imitate all that he sees.
I knew that Bela Karolyi lived in Houston, so I began to research him. I was a HUGE HUGE HUGE fan of the 1996 Women's Olympic team. Come to find out ... Bela and his wife, Marta, still run a camp in north Houston every year. For a five day session, it's a little over $400. A bargain in my opinion to train with the couple that has trained all the best Olympians that US gymnastics has known.
Now, I'm noticing that two of my favorite male gymnasts, Raj Bhavsar and Jonathan Horton are both from Houston. Come to find out, both trained at a gym that is only about 20 minutes from our house. Guess who I'll be calling tomorrow morning to check for openings this fall?
I figure that regardless of whether he makes it to the Olympics or he's just flipping around in the back yard, we owe it to Avery to get him the best training possible. Because you never know what his future holds ...
Mary Lou Retton goes to the same church as us ... if I could just run into her in the ladies room to get her opinion :)
3 comments:
that would so awesome if avery got into a camp like that. wow! I would definitely be rooting for him!
How cool! I remember the years of gymnastics practice trying so hard- we wanted to be just like Mary Lou! I'd love to just SEE Bela K's camp/gym. I always thought it was great that he stayed focused on just girls only for training.
Good luck with the gym close to you! That would be awesome!
Go Avery!!
I would love for Avery to be a great gymnast! I can't wait to see if he gets in! Let us know how it works out.
Sorry about lack of comments altely, I have difficulty logging into comment here, but I promise I read it all the time!
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