Communications from the 2020 September Parent Meeting

Congratulations to all the tumblers who were offered spots in the Oakville Gymnastics Club Tumbling Program for the 2020/2021 season. We do appreciate your dedication, commitment and loyalty towards the OGC tumbling program especially in light of the COVID outbreak and the challenges we have all faced this year.

Biographies:

Don Holmes – Senior Coach of the Tumbling Program & Interim Executive Director of the Club; Coaching Provincial 4 & National Tumbling Group with Nadia

Nadia Bruno – Coach of Provincial 4 & National Tumbling Group with Don, Tumbling Program Administrator, over two decades of coaching experience

Amanda McKenzie – Coaching the Developmental & Interclub Group with Helen, 10+ years coaching Tumbling

Patrycja Maszlejak – Coaching the Provincial 2&3 A, Provincial 2&3 B, Provincial 4/National Group

Teanna Paris – Coach Provincial 1&2, was a Provincial Level Tumbler, 4 years coaching experience

Chantel Preston-Kowdrysh – Coahing Provincial 2&3 B with Patrycja, WAG Judge

Emily Harrison – Coaching the Interclub & Provincial 1 Group, Senior National Level Tumbler

Helen Dong – Coaching the Developmental & Interclub Group with Amanda, Junior National Level Tumbler

The One Year Contract Policy:  The Tumbling program offers your child a space in the program for one year.  At the end of each season we do ask all of our athletes to “ReTryout”.  (Due to COVID we did not hold ReTryouts in 2020.  All who were interested in returning were given spots on the team).  By implementing the ‘Re-Tryout’ and ‘Tryout’ protocols we are not trying to be cruel or unsupportive of those athletes that we have been working with and developing over the past year (or years). Our program is a competitive program with a limited number of spaces. We are simply trying to ensure that those athletes who are the most deserving of a spot on the team are receiving those spots. If at some point we do ask your child to leave the program this may be thought of as a ‘good thing’ allowing the athlete the opportunity to explore other sports where he/she may be more suited physically, mentally or socially. Also, at that time we may invite them to try an alternative gymnastics discipline or program in the gym as we do believe that GYMNASTICS IS FOR ALL and we wish to keep everyone in the gym in some capacity.

Summer Attendance: During the summer session we allow 50% attendance as a minimum. We would prefer that your child attends 100% of their scheduled classes but we understand summer schedules are far more diverse and we would hope that kids take the time to enjoy summer camps, weeks at the cottage and time with family. Please send an e-mail to your athlete’s coach with the dates that your child will not be at tumbling. Low attendance in some groups on specific weeks may allow us to accommodate other athletes who have summer training conflicts and permit them to make the minimum number of training hours.  If you will be away for the entire summer, you may not be offered a spot in the tumbling program.
Fall/Winter/Spring Attendance: During the school year we expect 80% attendance as a minimum. Obviously the less your athlete trains the less they will progress and the less they will be prepared for competition. It is in your best interest to have your athlete at the gym as much as possible.

Violation of Attendance Minimums and Removal from the Program: We cannot hold spots for athletes who do not attend the program. If you have schedule conflicts that will prevent your athlete from reaching the minimum attendance requirement but wish to remain as part of the tumbling program, please e-mail Don outlining your situation.

Schedules: Summer Schedules and Fall/Winter/Spring schedules have been distributed. We understand the logistical difficulties that families encounter by receiving these schedules when you do.  We realize that summer camps and vacations need to be booked several months in advance. Please note that we create our schedule with careful consideration. We realize that there will be conflicts. We may be able to provide concessions for these conflicts.  Please contact your coach to address your specific situation.  Also note, that due to the ever evolving space usage of the gym we may find it necessary to change a scheduled class temporarily or permanently depending on the situation.  We cannot foresee these situations but we will try to provide you with as much notice as possible prior to changes.

COVID Uncertainty: These are uncertain times.  Schedules may change.  We sent you four different possible schedules.  Our preferred schedule is in the gym with the coaches full hours.  We may need to return to Online Training if there is another shut down.

If your child needs to go into quarantine we have a back up Online Training of two, one hour sessions that Coach Patrycja.  Please let us know if your Tumbler needs to access this online training.

Please keep us informed of any situation in which your child has been requested by Public Health or their school to self isolate and/or get a COVID-19 test.

Tumbling Program Weeks Off during the Summer: Note that we usually take two weeks off in the summer.  The weeks can change each year as the competition schedule also changes.  We will try to let you know well in advance so that you can plan vacations/camps/etc. We will post the definitive weeks off in April or May via the blog.  This year was different. We took one week now.  We are planning to take another week around the Christmas holiday.

COVID Health and Safety Protocols:  You can find these on the OGC website under the dropdown link “COMPETITIVE”.

Active Rest: During the rest periods we expect athletes to remain active. We give the tumblers a checklist of activities to do during their off time in order to keep them fit.

COVID Shutdown:  If we go back into a shutdown, we will send you a schedule for Online Training.

Nutrition: We will post some nutrition information on the blog at some point to assist you with meal planning for effective trainings and competitions so keep your eye on the blog.

Personal Belongings:  Still bring everything in a bin or bag.  All of your personal items must be labeled and absolutely no sharing.  This includes water bottles and chalk.

Viewing Area Closure: Due to COVID the viewing area is closed to spectators.  Regular time: During the summer months and on some holidays the viewing area may be closed in the evening.  On these days there will be no parent viewing. Your child will be let in at the sliding glass doors at the front of the club and be ushered out at the end of their session. When the viewing area is closed no one is permitted in the gym lobby for safety and liability reasons. Our apologies for the inconvenience that this might cause.  If there is an emergency and you need to contact us inside the gym, we ask that you bang on the back door of the gym to try and get our attention.  There is usually someone standing in that corner by the trampolines preparing to take a turn so we will here you knocking.

Inclement Weather: In case of inclement weather, cancelations of classes will be posted on the blog by 12:00noon on that day.  If the weather gets bad during the evening we will email or call you to inform you that we are finishing early.

Emergency Sign Out Procedure:  In the case of an emergency at the club Parents will be called to come to the gym to collect their athlete.  You will have to sign out your athlete so that we are aware that you have picked up your child and that they are safely in your care.

Holiday Training: Developmental and Interclub Tumbling groups only train once over the December holiday break.  All other groups will have an altered training schedule during the December holiday.  There is training over the March Break.  Let your coach know if you will be going away over the March Break.

Individual Parent Meetings: We offer individual parent meetings as we or you feel they are necessary. If you have individual questions that pertain to your specific situation, we ask that you not address these in a public forum but leave it to an e-mail or individual meeting.  We will be doing Progress reports with all Developmental and Interclub tumblers and their families in December and May (just around the ‘ReTryout’ time).  We are reviewing our Progress Reports this season.

Chain of Command:  Speak to your child’s coach(es) directly for anything you may have questions about.  Then you may speak to Nadia.  If she is not able to help you then you can speak to Don Holmes the Interim Executive Director of Oakville Gymnastics Club.  OGC has a Governance or Directional Volunteer Board of Directors.  You are welcome to reach out to them if you have questions.  Our Annual General Meeting is coming up this fall but a date is not yet set.  We are always looking for supportive parents who are willing help the club.  Usually the board meets once per month but over the past several months they have met every week or every couple of weeks.

If you have a question about an event/competition DO NOT contact Gymnastics Ontario or Gymnastics Canada directly.  DO NOT contact the host club of an event directly.  If you have a question address it through the coach(es) and we will ask GO, GymCan or the Event Host for you as your question is likely one that other’s have.

Sponsorship: Athletes are able to search for sponsors to offset the costs of training and competitions. The OGC has created a sponsorship package for all competitive athletes. Please enquire if you are interested in sponsorship.

Fundraisers: We do a few fundraisers that we try to keep easy and simple.  We will be sending out information on the Family Fun Night fundraiser that we plan to do this fall.  Details about other fundraisers will be posted as the events take place.  We are always looking for Fundraising Volunteers (note this volunteering for fundraising does not count as Commitment Hours for the club).

OGC Commitment Hours: Please read the information provided in the Parent Handbook for information on the Commitment Hours that you are required to complete.   You may send questions to commitmenthours@oakvillegym.com

Event and Competition Schedule:  See separate post on the blog.

Competitive Structure Provincial and National – See attachment, previous post.  Please note that moving up Competitive Tumbling levels is not like moving up grades.  Do not expect to move up a level every year.  As the level increases there are more skills to learn and some can be challenging depending on the athlete’s ability to learn new skills.  There will be seasons where a tumbler repeats a level.  Moving from Interclub to Provincial level is a big leap as there are additional club fees and Gymnastics Ontario fees.  Athletes in the Interclub Group or the Provincial 1 Group may switch from Interclub level midway through the season. Athletes must be 8 years to compete Interclub, 9 years to compete Provincial and 11 years to be in Level 6 (which is the eligibility level to be part of Team Canada for World Age Group Competitions.)

The Competitions.

Competition Schedules:  A tumbling competition usually last 2 days.  The athletes usually need to be there for only half a day as the awards for their flight tend to run within 1 to 3 hours of the tumbler’s final tumbling run.  The schedule for the weekend of competition usually comes out the week prior to a competition.  We will post the competition schedule on the blog as soon as we have received it and will provide the address of the event so that you can use your GPS to locate the competition venue.

National Tumblers: It is highly recommended that National level tumblers attend an international meet at some point before they qualify to the Canadian National Team.  We will speak directly to those who individuals who this pertains to.

Travel competitions:  It is possible that we may attend a competition outside of Ontario.  For any competitions that are not Gymnastics Ontario qualification competitions, Ontario Championships or Canadian Championships the costs for the coaches to attend will be “cost-shared” over the athletes that attend the competition.  Registration fees for Ontario qualifiers are included in your OGC fees.  Registration fees for all other competitions will need to be paid at the time of the competition.

OGC Code of Conduct:  We have created a specific code of conduct for our athletes.  This Code of Conduct document is mostly for athletes to adhere to when they are traveling with coaches separate from parents.  As we travel to competitions you will see this document and if you have any concerns with it at that time, we can address them then.

Gymnastics Ontario Policies: see the link ttps://www.gymnasticsontario.ca/policy/ A link to these policies will be posted on the blog.

Training Wear: All Tumblers in the Developmental, Interclub and Provincial level groups are required to wear: Girls: leotard and or shorts or leggings, Boys: Singlet and shorts.  A new red training leotard and singlet-shorts will be required to be purchased and worn to training by all tumblers in the tumbling program.  Your athlete will be measured for this new training attire in September.  Tumblers should not show up to train in t-shirts, tank-tops, or loose baggy shorts past the knees.

Competitive Wear:  We change our competitive singlet and shorts/leotard every two to three years.  In the 2018/2019 Season we started with a new design.  We will use this same design for the 2020/2021 season.   The order for the competitive leotard and singlet/shorts will take place in October.  Tracksuits change every 3 to 5 years.  2020/2021 will be our fifth season with the current tracksuit.  Provincial and National Tumblers must buy the full tracksuit.  Developmental and Interclub Tumblers the Tracksuit is optional as we do not use the tracksuit for “March In” or “Awards” ceremonies at competitions. There is a possibility for swapping or purchasing a lightly used tracksuit from another athlete.  Information will be distributed via e-mail regarding a Swap or Exchange Day.

OGC Tumbling T-shirts:  Are available on the clothing racks in the OGC lobby.

OGC Optional Apparel:  OGC hooded sweatshirts, sweatpants and other OGC apparel are available for purchase either by order or on the rack in the lobby.

Sport Psych:  We have a two Mental Training Coaches that offer their services here at OGC: Sarah Gallahger and Onika Greene.  Sarah was herself a power tumbler coached by Don.  Onika was a former high level dancer.  Both are available for one on one sessions.

Car Pooling:  If you are looking for Car Pooling options please create a simple classified advertisement and email it to Nadia.  Please include your Name, closest intersection or school for pick up location, your phone number or email address.  Nadia will then distribute this advertisement to the athletes in your child’s group or if you wish, to the greater competitive gymnastics community within the OGC.

Any Financial questions please direct to Agnes Jankura in the main office.

Check your e-mails regularly for OGC info.

READ THE BLOG REGULARLY: It is VERY IMPORTANT that YOU keep up-to-date on the blog. It is the online bulletin board for our program. Everything is posted at the following link:
http://www.oakvillegym.com