Xtreme Heights Gym Team Handbook
Rules & Policies
The information below is intended to give prospective and current team families a complete understanding of our expectations and guidelines as to how our team program operates. We strive to create a safe and supportive atmosphere for all our families through guidance, honesty, and communication. We are delighted to welcome you to the Xtreme Heights Gym Family!
TEAM PHILOSOPHY
Our mission is to develop happy, healthy, responsible, and fit kids. Many of the lessons your kids will learn at Xtreme Heights have less to do with gymnastics and more to do with building self-confidence, fostering a strong sense of self-worth, learning that they can face a challenge and succeed, developing the ability to overcome obstacles and realizing they are stronger, braver, and more capable than they ever imagined! Our goal is to provide a positive, supportive, and fun environment in which kids will flourish into strong leaders while learning the importance of being a member of a team.
We understand that gymnastics is an individual sport and each gymnast will be treated as an individual. The coach will give the gymnast appropriate guidance, not only to help the gymnast to succeed in this sport, but also in life. Self-confidence, positive self-image and critical thinking will be taught to improve the quality of performance. We will respect the balance between working out and taking care of our bodies and each gymnast is encouraged to strive for quality and excellence at her own pace. In this way, we hope the gymnasts will retain the love for the sport that originally motivated them to become gymnasts.
SAFETY
XHG strives to provide the safest environment possible for all gymnasts. The sport of gymnastics is rewarding as well as a bunch of fun. It's also a dangerous sport. This fact combined with high difficulty, only adds to the potential for injury. All parents must be fully aware of the risk involved in the sport of gymnastics. Speed, height, flipping, motion, and difficulty of skills, put our athletes in potentially life threatening situations on a daily basis. We are very aware of these potential dangers, and make every effort to achieve and maintain a safe environment for our athletes. We believe in strength, flexibility, and progression to keep our athletes as safe as possible.
TRAINING
In order to understand and appreciate what goes into the development of a competitive gymnast, one must understand exactly what it is we are trying to achieve during training. There are four fundamental areas of development, which need to be addressed during the training: (1) Strength, (2) Flexibility, (3) Skills, (4) Discipline.
(1) Strength Development – As with all sports one objective of the training is to make the difficult look easy. This is much easier to accomplish if the athlete has the strength required to master the skills. In most cases, the stronger the better. This is certainly true of gymnastics. It is also true that strength training can also play a role in fewer injuries. Strength development at the beginning or compulsory level focuses on building a base on which to build as the gymnast advances. Sit-ups, push-ups, pull-ups, running and more are used to achieve this goal. While it may appear that the gymnasts simply repeat these basic exercises over and over again through the course of the year, in fact there are subtle and at times no so subtle variations in the performance of these exercises. Technique may be changed or improved, the number of repetitions change, resistance is altered, the range of motion is increased, and the athlete is continually challenged to complete his/her assignment.
(2) Flexibility Development – Flexibility development is also critical to the long-term success of a gymnast. Superior flexibility adds to the aesthetic appeal of the performance, allows the athlete to master skills more easily, and plays a role in reducing the frequency and seriousness of injuries.
(3) Skill Development – Skill development falls into two distinct, but related categories: Basics and New Skills. Basics are like the ABC’s of gymnastics. The gymnast uses these ABC’s to compose their gymnastics sequences and routines. If any of these basic building blocks is missing or defective, the entire performance is weakened. These basic skills, the building blocks of the sport, must be continually refined in order to permit the gymnast and her coaches to continually improve performances. That is why we continually review and drill the basics.
(4) Discipline – Just like strength, flexibility and skill development, discipline plays an integral role when training. Training requires discipline from both the coaches and athletes. The coaches must be constantly keeping all athletes focused and training hard in order to allow them to continually improve their performance. Gymnasts must also keep themselves disciplined by forcing themselves to train harder when they get discouraged and keep focused when they get excited. Without discipline, the strength, flexibility and skills do not come.
DESCRIPTION OF TEAMS AND COMPETITIVE GYMNASTICS
Women’s gymnastics is comprised of four different events. Vault (V), Uneven Bars (UB), Balance Beam (BB) and Floor Exercise (FX). The sum of all the event scores makes the All-Around (AA) competition. Gymnastics is a developmental sport meaning that a beginner will learn basic positions, shapes and skills and progressively learn more difficult and complex skills. Competition teams follow the Development Program (DP) and Xcel Programs set by USA Gymnastics (USAG). USAG is the governing body that oversees all gymnastics competitions in the United States. Competitors must register and become members with USAG before being allowed to compete in a USAG sanctioned meet.
TEAM PLACEMENT AND MOBILITY
Our coaches determine the placement of athletes on Team based on their skill level. Placement is normally done at the end of the summer. The gymnast will stay at the same level for the school year. Mastery of a skill is determined by doing the skill without coach assistance on competition equipment. The mission of Xtreme Heights Gym is to develop healthy and confident gymnasts. One way in which we can help meet this goal is to place the gymnasts at the level where they can be most successful. This means that every gymnast must be able to perform the skills and routines required at a given level comfortably. The skills should not be beyond her ability level. Again, the coaches determine the placement of athletes on our team. It is very difficult for the gymnasts to move to the next level if attendance is not consistent. It is also a challenge if the gymnast does not attend the summer session.
ADVANCING TO HIGHER LEVELS
The gymnast must be physically and mentally ready to advance to the next level and have achieved a minimum all-around score of 36.000 at the preceding level. Other considerations include skill level, success at current level, individual desire, coachability, competitive experience, age, attendance, mental attitude, potential for success at the next level, individual confidence and courage, team orientation and spirit, work ethic, physical abilities, strength, flexibility, and parental support. All advancement decisions are at the discretion of the coach.
At the conclusion of the summer training season, team members will receive a letter indicating their placement and training schedule for the next season. Some athletes may require a parent conference with the coaching staff. These conferences will take place prior to letters being sent. Occasionally gymnasts will move up a level during the competitive season, but this is not common. These decisions will be discussed with parents on an individual basis.
Too frequently, gymnasts are advanced to higher levels at the bequest of their parents, but are not sufficiently prepared to be competitive with other gymnasts at the same level. The resulting frustration often leads to a general disenchantment with the sport and a premature end to an otherwise promising career. Throughout your gymnastics career you will notice that several clubs have varying philosophies with regard to this concept. Xtreme Heights Gymnastics may have different requirements than some clubs, and these requirements are not subject to negotiation.
Again, the team coaches will determine the appropriate placement level for each gymnast. Once placement is determined, that will not change during the competitive season.
TEAM COMMITMENT
Team is a one-year commitment spanning from July 1 through June 30, inclusively. If you are joining after July 1, your contract shall commence upon your signing and end on June 30. Each Team and Pre-Team member is expected to attend practice year-round in order to remain on Team. For prospective members on any team, there is a 7-day trial period. Reevaluations may be required for any gymnast missing 30 or more days of practice. You may cancel your commitment if your gymnast suffers an injury that makes it unsafe for them to compete, you move outside the Richmond area, or you have other extenuating circumstances, however, refunds for assessment fees and tuition already paid are totally non-refundable.
PRACTICE SCHEDULE
Our practice schedule is aligned to the Henrico County Public School calendar. We will accommodate any gymnasts who follow a different school calendar with makeups. Make ups must be done in the same month. Please note that scheduling makeups is the responsibility of the parents. The team training program allows for four to sixteen hours of training weekly, year round.
TEAM PHILOSOPHY
Our mission is to develop happy, healthy, responsible, and fit kids. Many of the lessons your kids will learn at Xtreme Heights have less to do with gymnastics and more to do with building self-confidence, fostering a strong sense of self-worth, learning that they can face a challenge and succeed, developing the ability to overcome obstacles and realizing they are stronger, braver, and more capable than they ever imagined! Our goal is to provide a positive, supportive, and fun environment in which kids will flourish into strong leaders while learning the importance of being a member of a team.
We understand that gymnastics is an individual sport and each gymnast will be treated as an individual. The coach will give the gymnast appropriate guidance, not only to help the gymnast to succeed in this sport, but also in life. Self-confidence, positive self-image and critical thinking will be taught to improve the quality of performance. We will respect the balance between working out and taking care of our bodies and each gymnast is encouraged to strive for quality and excellence at her own pace. In this way, we hope the gymnasts will retain the love for the sport that originally motivated them to become gymnasts.
SAFETY
XHG strives to provide the safest environment possible for all gymnasts. The sport of gymnastics is rewarding as well as a bunch of fun. It's also a dangerous sport. This fact combined with high difficulty, only adds to the potential for injury. All parents must be fully aware of the risk involved in the sport of gymnastics. Speed, height, flipping, motion, and difficulty of skills, put our athletes in potentially life threatening situations on a daily basis. We are very aware of these potential dangers, and make every effort to achieve and maintain a safe environment for our athletes. We believe in strength, flexibility, and progression to keep our athletes as safe as possible.
TRAINING
In order to understand and appreciate what goes into the development of a competitive gymnast, one must understand exactly what it is we are trying to achieve during training. There are four fundamental areas of development, which need to be addressed during the training: (1) Strength, (2) Flexibility, (3) Skills, (4) Discipline.
(1) Strength Development – As with all sports one objective of the training is to make the difficult look easy. This is much easier to accomplish if the athlete has the strength required to master the skills. In most cases, the stronger the better. This is certainly true of gymnastics. It is also true that strength training can also play a role in fewer injuries. Strength development at the beginning or compulsory level focuses on building a base on which to build as the gymnast advances. Sit-ups, push-ups, pull-ups, running and more are used to achieve this goal. While it may appear that the gymnasts simply repeat these basic exercises over and over again through the course of the year, in fact there are subtle and at times no so subtle variations in the performance of these exercises. Technique may be changed or improved, the number of repetitions change, resistance is altered, the range of motion is increased, and the athlete is continually challenged to complete his/her assignment.
(2) Flexibility Development – Flexibility development is also critical to the long-term success of a gymnast. Superior flexibility adds to the aesthetic appeal of the performance, allows the athlete to master skills more easily, and plays a role in reducing the frequency and seriousness of injuries.
(3) Skill Development – Skill development falls into two distinct, but related categories: Basics and New Skills. Basics are like the ABC’s of gymnastics. The gymnast uses these ABC’s to compose their gymnastics sequences and routines. If any of these basic building blocks is missing or defective, the entire performance is weakened. These basic skills, the building blocks of the sport, must be continually refined in order to permit the gymnast and her coaches to continually improve performances. That is why we continually review and drill the basics.
(4) Discipline – Just like strength, flexibility and skill development, discipline plays an integral role when training. Training requires discipline from both the coaches and athletes. The coaches must be constantly keeping all athletes focused and training hard in order to allow them to continually improve their performance. Gymnasts must also keep themselves disciplined by forcing themselves to train harder when they get discouraged and keep focused when they get excited. Without discipline, the strength, flexibility and skills do not come.
DESCRIPTION OF TEAMS AND COMPETITIVE GYMNASTICS
Women’s gymnastics is comprised of four different events. Vault (V), Uneven Bars (UB), Balance Beam (BB) and Floor Exercise (FX). The sum of all the event scores makes the All-Around (AA) competition. Gymnastics is a developmental sport meaning that a beginner will learn basic positions, shapes and skills and progressively learn more difficult and complex skills. Competition teams follow the Development Program (DP) and Xcel Programs set by USA Gymnastics (USAG). USAG is the governing body that oversees all gymnastics competitions in the United States. Competitors must register and become members with USAG before being allowed to compete in a USAG sanctioned meet.
- DP Level 1 Pre-Team
- DP Level 2 – 5 Compulsory Teams
- DP Level 6 – 10 Optional Teams
- Xcel Program
TEAM PLACEMENT AND MOBILITY
Our coaches determine the placement of athletes on Team based on their skill level. Placement is normally done at the end of the summer. The gymnast will stay at the same level for the school year. Mastery of a skill is determined by doing the skill without coach assistance on competition equipment. The mission of Xtreme Heights Gym is to develop healthy and confident gymnasts. One way in which we can help meet this goal is to place the gymnasts at the level where they can be most successful. This means that every gymnast must be able to perform the skills and routines required at a given level comfortably. The skills should not be beyond her ability level. Again, the coaches determine the placement of athletes on our team. It is very difficult for the gymnasts to move to the next level if attendance is not consistent. It is also a challenge if the gymnast does not attend the summer session.
ADVANCING TO HIGHER LEVELS
The gymnast must be physically and mentally ready to advance to the next level and have achieved a minimum all-around score of 36.000 at the preceding level. Other considerations include skill level, success at current level, individual desire, coachability, competitive experience, age, attendance, mental attitude, potential for success at the next level, individual confidence and courage, team orientation and spirit, work ethic, physical abilities, strength, flexibility, and parental support. All advancement decisions are at the discretion of the coach.
At the conclusion of the summer training season, team members will receive a letter indicating their placement and training schedule for the next season. Some athletes may require a parent conference with the coaching staff. These conferences will take place prior to letters being sent. Occasionally gymnasts will move up a level during the competitive season, but this is not common. These decisions will be discussed with parents on an individual basis.
Too frequently, gymnasts are advanced to higher levels at the bequest of their parents, but are not sufficiently prepared to be competitive with other gymnasts at the same level. The resulting frustration often leads to a general disenchantment with the sport and a premature end to an otherwise promising career. Throughout your gymnastics career you will notice that several clubs have varying philosophies with regard to this concept. Xtreme Heights Gymnastics may have different requirements than some clubs, and these requirements are not subject to negotiation.
Again, the team coaches will determine the appropriate placement level for each gymnast. Once placement is determined, that will not change during the competitive season.
TEAM COMMITMENT
Team is a one-year commitment spanning from July 1 through June 30, inclusively. If you are joining after July 1, your contract shall commence upon your signing and end on June 30. Each Team and Pre-Team member is expected to attend practice year-round in order to remain on Team. For prospective members on any team, there is a 7-day trial period. Reevaluations may be required for any gymnast missing 30 or more days of practice. You may cancel your commitment if your gymnast suffers an injury that makes it unsafe for them to compete, you move outside the Richmond area, or you have other extenuating circumstances, however, refunds for assessment fees and tuition already paid are totally non-refundable.
PRACTICE SCHEDULE
Our practice schedule is aligned to the Henrico County Public School calendar. We will accommodate any gymnasts who follow a different school calendar with makeups. Make ups must be done in the same month. Please note that scheduling makeups is the responsibility of the parents. The team training program allows for four to sixteen hours of training weekly, year round.
- The normal practice schedule, following the public school calendar of September to the following June, will be posted in the gym no later than mid-August before the start of the new school year.
- The summer practice schedule, following the public school calendar of mid-June through August, will be posted in the gym no later than mid-May of the current school year. Please note that the gym will be closed for one week near the end of the summer schedule for gym cleaning and preparation for the new season, usually the last week of August through Labor Day.
- In the event of inclement weather, school closings, power outages, or other circumstances, practice times may be changed. In such case, the gym will notify parents of the change, providing as much notice as possible.
- Inevitably, over the course of a year, there will be practice cancellations due to conflicts, most often meets or other team functions. We do our best to keep these at a minimum, but please expect them. Also, please note that team practice is sometimes curtailed or reduced a couple of weeks a year for various reasons. We will keep you informed.
- The gym will be closed for the following Holidays: New Year’s Eve, New Year’s Day, July 4, Memorial Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.