Tag Archives: gymnastics

Female ACL Injuries

Each year, the number of female athlete participation grows but, unfortunately, with that growth in participants, there has been an increased number of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries. ACL injuries in female athletes are a problem for women, coaches and the sports medicine community. ACL injuries usually occur without contact from another person and most often occur while the athlete is participating in sports like soccer, basketball, or gymnastics. Over two-thirds of non contact injuries are a result of one-step/stop deceleration, cutting movements, sudden change in direction and landing from a jump with inadequate knee and hip flexion. Female athletes have four to ten times more ACL injuries than male athletes. There are some theories that include differences in anatomy, knee alignment, ligament laxity, muscle strength and conditioning on why there is a higher percentage of injured in women rather than men.

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I personally, am a female soccer player and I have encountered so many girls with ACL tears. I have been in two games where a player tore her ACL and I have watched another girl tear her ACL. Many of these injuries result in surgery and about a year of recovery time before you are cleared to play again. Now that ACL tears have been frequently common, most coaches and athletic trainers focus on muscle strength in the knees to help prevent ACL injuries. I’ve seen girls ignore other knee injuries and continue to play which also can put pressure on your ACL and over time your ACL can tear under the pressure. Knowing and practicing healthy ways of preventing ACL tears will help you in the long run.

~Daniella

Should Cheshire High School Have a Gymnastics Team?

  Gymnastics is a sport that many people are involved in or want to be involved in. That is why many towns have a high school gymnastics team for girls to participate in. High school gymnastics teams are a good idea because it offers another opportunity for girls in high school to get involved. High school gymnastics teams have a couple practices after school each week and several gymnastics meets on weekends as well as week days. However the gymnastics practices do not interfere with academics. Anyone is allowed to come and cheer on the high school gymnasts at their meets and show their school spirit. These are only a few of the many benefits that come with having a high school gymnastics team.

You do have to have a few specific skills to make the team as you would for any other school sport. However the required skills are rather simple so it’s not too hard for most gymnasts to make the team. Girls on high school gymnastics teams enjoy it because they get to be with their friends, they learn how to work as a team, and high school gymnastics is more about getting into it and trying your hardest rather than winning. This helps because there is not as much pressure as there would be when you are on a normal competitive gymnastics team. It is also convenient for parents because the practices are right after school so they don’t have to leave work early to bring they daughter to practice and it is also free. Some girls don’t have the chance to do gymnastics because it can be very costly and their parents might not be able to drive them. I think Cheshire High School should have a gymnastics team because it teaches girls to work as a team, it’s convenient for students and parents, and it gives girls another opportunity to get involved.

~Gabby

Gymnastics: Is it a Sport?

Is gymnastics a sport? Gymnastics may be one of the most hardcore, toughest sports invented. No offense football players, but the concussions that you guys get, looks like a bruise compared to the injuries gymnasts go through. A football player has to hold a football that is 10-15 ounces, where as gymnasts need to flip their ENTIRE body weight. There are 4 events. Each event is made up of different skills. Floor is made up of power, grace, flexibility, and strength. Beam is made up of balance, grace, flexibility, and, most important of all, bravery. Bars is made up of strength, and concentration. Vault requires power, and strength. Gymnastics is also scored out of 10.000. You will get points off for falling, bad form, forgetting a routine, missing a step, etc. Every single step you take makes a difference. In football, baseball and soccer, the only points that count are what your ENTIRE team scores.

When people ask me what sports I participate in, I say: “Gymnastics.” What do they reply? “That’s not a sport.” One reason it is a sport is because it is in the Olympics. Do you think that gymnastics would be in the Olympics if it wasn’t a sport? Probably not. Too many people say it isn’t a sport because it doesn’t have offense and defense. But, who cares? People consider swimming and diving a sport, yet, last time I checked, they don’t have offense or defense either. Football players get concussions, bruises, and turf burn. Gymnasts get concussions, broken bones, and bloody rips on a daily basis. When you say to a coach, “I’m injured, or I’m in pain”, they reply with a simple, yet firm, “Suck it up”. A quote I really like is:  “After a day of football a gymnast would be sore. After a day of gymnastics a football player would be dead.” I’m not saying gymnastics is better than football, just that gymnastics is just as tough as football.

~Cali

“A New Olympic Sport?”

After the past 2012 Summer Olympics, rumors have been said that cheerleading would be in the 2016 Olympic Games. A lot of people are saying that it’s just another sport of the Olympics that doesn’t have to be added. But, some say it would be cool to see another sport similar to gymnastics in the summer games. With this sport added to the Olympics, the entire world will be able to see how competitive and tough this sport is. It is what all non-believers need to see before they judge something they know so little about.

I do believe that cheerleading should be added to the Olympic Games as of 2016. I agree that it will show the world how competitive cheerleading is. When I say cheerleading, don’t just mean chanting cheers at football and basketball games. I’m talking about traveling all of the country, even the world, and to wow the crowd. As a competitive cheerleader, the sport has gotten too many bad reviews saying how it is not a sport. If you can compete worldwide, meet all new people, win college scholarships, and not to mention, have fun, than it is a sport. Why people overlook those aspects? I don’t have an answer.

~Jocelyn Theriault

The Head Game

Imagine walking into the gym with the smell of chalk in the air as you start your warm up, you have to make sure all of you splits are down or you may pull a muscle and that would be crucial for your next meet. You get ready to go to your first event and ask your coaches where to go. In your head you are praying not to go to beam because you are scared to do your new flight series. Your coach looks around the gym and the most open event is beam. In the next ten minutes you are preparing you flight series on the floor. You know that if you wait too long your coach will get suspicious and might yell at you. You take in a deep breath as you approach the beam. In the back of your mind you are picturing yourself falling and getting hurt or rolling your ankle and being out for the rest of the season.

But instead you inhale positive thoughts and exhale the rest. Your body becomes calm, you mount the beam and count to three. One. Two. Three.

In the sport of elite gymnastics there is a huge fear factor involved. If you ask any Olympic gymnast they would say that gymnastics is 10% pain, 10% skill level, 15% strength, 15% love for the sport, and 50%, fear and mental toughness. Many people think of gymnastics as tumbling classes but really it is an art in the balance between grace, flexibility, strength, and mental toughness. Therefore you have to be educated as a coach and as a gymnast if you want to achieve your goals.

Many gymnasts don’t even think twice about training their mind as well as their body while they train. I disagree with that. I have never been the strongest person in the gym, in fact I struggle with my strength, but I have a great mind. I am able to do whatever I want because my mind and my fear isn’t stopping me. As my old coach used to tell me, “Your physical appearance is easy to change, but your mental, now thats a challenge.” Gymnasts need to acknowledge that and get help before their mind drives them out of the sport. Do you agree or disagree?

~Emily Glatt

Is Gymnastics A Sport?

 

Many people argue, saying that a true sport is football, or soccer, or even lacrosse. As soon as I bring up gymnastics  to the argument, people say “That’s not a sport.” Well, if it’s truly not a sport then why is it in the olympics?! Or it irritates me that in gymnastics everyone thinks we do absolutely nothing! Last time I checked a football weighs about  10-15 ounces. Us gymnasts are tough, we go AGAINST the force, to flip our ENTIRE body weight over. In my opinion, in football all you do is tackle guys to the ground, and fly after a ball.  In my case I think that gymnastics should be  considered  a sport.
Gymnastics is made up of four events: beam, uneven bars, floor, and vault. Each event acquires a different skill.   Beam requires balance, vault requires speed, floor requires strength and flexibility, and the uneven bars requires concentration and upper body strength. Football requires mostly speed, and strength. Also in gymnastics you get judged for how well you can complete your events. Judging is from  a 10.0 score, and you get deductions for missing a step, being out of form, falling, “messing up.” In football your only score is about how well your team plays to make a score. In addition men do gymnastics, and still can come out just as strong as football players. I think that it’s unfair to have a great sport such as gymnastics not even be called a sport. Gymnasts all around the world get offended, that what they are doing is just an activity, where as we also compete, just like football.
I know I’m picking on football, but usually my arguments come up with football players, because they think they are better. I’m not saying gymnastics is better, I’m just saying that gymnastics is also a dangerous sport, just like any other sport, and it isn’t a weak sport only because a lot of girls are into it.

~Jennifer Grubov

Are dancers going down?

Snap, crackle, pop, those words may be the catch phrase to your favorite cereal, but for dancers those sounds are all too frightening when they are in class or performing. Dance related injuries are no joke.  They can be either short term or long term depending on the severity of the injuries and the healing time of the person. The most common injuries are usually caused by over use, and the areas for dancers that are most prone to complications tend to be the foot, ankle, lower leg, lower back, and hip.

In the past I have had issues with my feet due to the fact that I have very high arches, this causes me to have excruciating pain and cramps all throughout my foot and calf. To prevent this from happening often I have to know my limits, and ice my foot as soon as I feel any kind of pain. I am very lucky as to not having to go through great lengths to prevent or heal my injury. But, others are not as lucky, my friend has had to go through many extremes just to bring down her pain level. She has gone through physical therapy, dropping her activity level, and having to wear a brace. Also, if a professional dancer becomes hurt their career is most likely over no matter what. Unfortunately these injuries are hard to get rid of but not as hard to prevent!

Luckily, dance experts have figured out ways to prevent injuries and have shared their tips! Some of the best tips are to stretch and warm up. Also, for new dancers they need to build their muscles and slowly work on flexibility, because if they are pushed to hard to soon it can be very harmful. Another common one is shin splints; they are severe pain in the front portion of the calf and are caused by jumping on hard surfaces, landing incorrectly and poor flexibility. These can be prevented by making sure you always land properly when jumping! Thank goodness for the people who figured out how to prevent serious dance related injuries!

~Sydney Korman

Go Fight Win!

Some people may say that cheerleading is not a sport. I definitely disagree. I mean us cheerleaders put so much effort into making a routine to cheer football players on and it is just so rude for them to go and say it’s not a sport. Also it’s not like its something so simple that everyone can do and it’s not even impressive to watch. I don’t think anyone can say that this picture isn’t impressive:

Plus, stunting is so dangerous. It’s probably more dangerous than football, so guys should give girls a lot of credit for dealing with injuries and all the practice.

In a stunt, there are four positions; front spot,back spot, base and flyer. Stunting isn’t the only thing you do in cheerleading though. It also involves tumbling. Some tumbling tricks are; round off, back handspring, front handspring, back walkover and many more! Along with tumbling and stunting cheerleaders also learn dozens of cheers making it difficult at times to memorize all the motions.Also included with the gymnastics and dancing is that cheerleaders are being exposed to a team atmosphere. In cheerleading you really need to trust your teammates and work together. If not, you can get seriously hurt and its just not as fun. Because you are doing all of this in cheerleading it doesn’t make sense why people will consider it not a sport! You could say other sports are not sports because your not working as a team while at a match or meet. But every time cheerleaders get together they are working together and that makes a team and a sport!

~Lauren Votto