Gymnastics Sports

Seven-year-old balances religious faith, gymnastics

2011-03-15T20:11:00.000-07:00

When 7-year-old Amalya Knapp took the beam at the New Jersey state gymnastics finals last month, her excellent performance symbolized a far more complicated balancing act.

Although she would have ranked fifth in her age group, eligible for a medal, her individual scores were discounted. She was unable to compete on a Saturday because of her Orthodox Jewish family's observance of the Sabbath.

Mel Evans/AP

"I was upset," said gymnast Amalya Knapp, age 7, "but my mother told me there are decisions you have to make."

"I was upset," Amalya said, "but my mother told me there are decisions you have to make."

USA Gymnastics made an effort to accommodate her and let her compete the next day, a Sunday, and permitted her scores to factor into her team's overall rankings.

But the national governing body held that because she hadn't competed at the same time as girls of her skill level and age group, her scores: 9.7 on vault, 9.575 floor, 9.5 beam and 8.75 bars — would not count toward individual medals or rankings.

The news disappointed the second-grader, who competes with the United States

Gymnastics Development Center in Leonia, N.J. She had placed first in the all-around category in five previous competitions.

"She tried so hard, and practiced for months, and really put in her all, but just couldn't get that final award for her efforts," said Chavie Knapp, Amalya's mother. Knapp emphasized that her family appreciated USA Gymnastics' efforts to discuss the issue with them and try to reach a compromise.

"I wasn't bitter, and wasn't angry and worked with the organization and tried to work within the system," Knapp said.

Knapp said she and her husband encourage Amalya to engage in the sports and activities she loves, including ice skating lessons and playing for a Jewish youth soccer league that never practices or competes on Saturdays. Amalya said she wants one day to be an Olympic gymnast.

If she had to choose again between competing or observing the Sabbath, she said, "I would do the religion things."

She isn't the only young athlete faced with reconciling her passion for sports with religious obligation. Experts say the issue arises in all faiths, in nearly every sport, and at all levels of competition.

Last month, a standout Iowa high school wrestler, Joel Northrup, refused to compete against a girl at a state tournament, citing his Pentecostal religious beliefs against contact sports between men and women. His position caused him to relinquish any championship hopes.

One of the most memorable instances of an athlete embracing religion over team duty was the refusal of Hall of Fame pitcher Sandy Koufax of the Los Angeles Dodgers to pitch the opening game of the 1965 World Series. Koufax was observing Yom Kippur, a day of fasting and atonement considered the holiest date of the Jewish calendar.

It was Koufax's story that Amalya's parents chose to explain to her that the Sabbath — for which observant Jews abstain from working from sundown Friday until sundown Saturday — would always take precedence over the sport she loves.

"My father told me stories of people who had to do this, and I felt better," Amalya said.

Chavie Knapp said Amalya, who attends school at the Rosenbaum Yeshiva of North Jersey, was disappointed to miss her first state finals competition in a sport she had loved since she was a toddler. She practices up to 12 hours a week and dreams of competing in the Olympics one day.

"We had to try to help her understand how we really feel strongly that she can be a great gymnast and still be a committed

Orthodox Jew," Knapp said. "We want her to be able to combine the love that she has for both of those things into an appreciation for both, and not a resentment of either."

“More than 400 girls compete in gymnastics meet in Salina” plus 1 more

2011-03-14T23:08:00.001-07:00

“More than 400 girls compete in gymnastics meet in Salina” plus 1 more

More than 400 girls compete in gymnastics meet in Salina

Posted: 14 Mar 2011 03:30 AM PDT

3/14/2011
By GARY DEMUTH Salina Journal

Raegan Mantz likes gymnastics because it helps her excel in other sports.

The 11-year-old from Sterling clutched her sixth-place trophy for all-around excellence in uneven bars, balance beam, vault and floor exercise in her division at Tumble in the Jungle 2011, a three-day gymnastics event that concluded Sunday at Kansas State University at Salina.

While Raegan loves gymnastics, she said it also helps make her a better competitor at volleyball, basketball, softball and track.

"It helps me be flexible," she said.

Raegan was one of about 445 girls from ages 4 to 17 from throughout Kansas and Blue Springs, Mo., that attended the weekend gymnastics meet, hosted by the Salina YMCA.

The Salina YMCA team, the Salina Gemstars, and the Extreme Gymnastics team through Salina Parks and Recreation, had about 75 competitors in the event.

Each girl competes according to age and ability, receiving individual event scores and an all-around score.

Salinan Dalisa Maxton coaches a team of girls ages 8 through 12 that took first place Saturday in overall excellence for her level five team, which she said was a middle-skill level.

"I'm really excited," she said. "The girls have been working hard, and it's nice when it pays off."

Jeff Harris, president of the Salina Gemstars Booster Club, has two daughters in gymnastics, one age 9 and a 6-year-old. He said he's impressed at the dedication it takes to excel in gymnastics.

"Besides the athletic part, it builds a good work ethic," he said. "You just can't do this once a week. It takes a lot of effort and determination."

This is the first year the Salina meet has been at Kansas State University at Salina, Harris said. Last year, it was at Salina Central High School.

"There's more floor space here," he said.

Trisha Fast, coach of the Flip Flop Shop, a gymnastics team from Newton, said she was impressed with the Salina meet.

"Events like this are what the girls work toward," she said.

Last year, Salina hosted the Missouri Valley District Championships at Salina Central High, said Bev Jones, gymnastics coordinator at the Salina YMCA and director of Tumble in the Jungle.

This year's state championship will be April 29 through May 1 in Wamego, she said.

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Utah Utes gymnastics notebook: Marsdens take blame for U. gymnast's score

Posted: 14 Mar 2011 10:32 PM PDT

Published: Monday, March 14, 2011 11:24 p.m. MDT

Utah gymnastics co-coaches Greg and Megan Marsden gave junior Stephanie McAllister permission to yell at them this week.

She didn't do it.

She didn't let the reason that gave her that rare permission bother her at all. As always.

"Stephanie? No," said Greg Marsden. "We were very apologetic to her, but that's not Steph, to lose sleep over that kind of thing."

McAllister, who was the nation's No. 5 all-arounder last week, received a 0.2 deduction in Saturday's 196.60-196.325 loss at No. 5 Oregon State in her floor exercise. The deduction was because the two judges at that meet noted that she did not have a proper combination of a leap off of one foot into a 180-degree split combined with another leap or jump.

The coaches thought her routine had met the requirement, and no other judges through Utah's first nine meets had deducted her for the skills the way she did them.

"These judges pointed out that this technically didn't meet the letter of the rule, and so they started her at a 9.8," said Greg Marsden.

"It's not going to be hard to fix at all," said Megan Marsden, "but it is the mistake of we coaches not understanding the rule perfectly. We can't interact with judges, so it's up to us in meets to have judges catch stuff like that, and nobody's told us anything on leaps until this."

Megan took the blame and said it's the coaches' jobs to know all the nuances of the rules.

Though the deduction wouldn't have changed the team outcome, Megan said she felt bad that the deduction hurt McAllister's all-around score by 0.2, and that's probably how she dropped a bit in this week's rankings.

"No. It was just a mistake," said McAllister with that cheerful smile that got her nicknamed "Happy." "We just had all made a mistake."

While she didn't know why her score was low but saw the coaches conferring with the officials about it, she said it didn't bother her on beam. "I would say it didn't affect my beam at all," she said. She scored 9.85 on that last event to go with a 9.85 on bars and 9.80 on vault. She got 9.60 with the -0.2 on floor, so she'd have totaled 39.30 without the deduction.

STILL CHAMPIONS: The Utes remain the overall NCAA women's sports attendance champions for the second straight year. They drew an average of 13,503 fans for their six home meets, and for the second straight year, that beat out Tennessee's vaunted women's basketball attendance of 13,078, as well as Alabama's gymnastics attendance of 12,730.

Utah went into its final home meet, March 4 with top-ranked Florida, only four ahead of Alabama for the gymnastics title, but the NCAA-record crowd of 15,558 that night left the Ute program uncatchable.

Last year, the Utes averaged 14,213 fans per meet, an NCAA gymnastics record.

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“3-day gymnastic competition held at Genesee Valley Sports Club” plus 1 more

2011-03-14T00:21:00.001-07:00

“3-day gymnastic competition held at Genesee Valley Sports Club” plus 1 more

3-day gymnastic competition held at Genesee Valley Sports Club

Posted: 13 Mar 2011 03:45 PM PDT

FLINT (WJRT) -- (03/13/11) -- A three-day gymnastics competition was held inside Genesee Valley Sports Club.

Athletes competed in the floor exercise, the balance beam and other events.

The athletes ranged in age from pre-teen to highest level right below the Olympics.

Only the athletes scoring high at this competition will move on to state rounds.

"I believe gymnastics is a great foundation. Some kids will stay with it all through high school and go on to college and others will use it as a basis for other sports. I just think that sports make a person well-rounded," said organizer Christie Schaller.

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H.S. Gymnastics: Section II fails to place at NYSPHSAA championships

Posted: 13 Mar 2011 01:18 AM PST

By STAN HUDY
Community News

LATHAM – It was a meeting of the best of the best across two seasons at Shaker High School for the New York State Public High School Athletic Association state gymnastics meet.

The Section II squad, made up of gymnasts competing during the winter season and most playing other sports or have additional interests, faced nine other sections with a fall schedule and work in conjunction with year-round club gymnastics businesses and coaches.

In the end, Section II was again the ideal host, Shaker again an ideal venue, but the maroon-clad gymnasts failed to secure a spot on the podium in any of the four events Saturday.

"We know physically, mentally, we're not there," Saratoga Springs coach Deb Smarro said. 'We kind of more come in with an attitude of "Let's do the best that we can possibly do, stick together as a team, perform to your best and try to get our highest team total.'

"We finished higher this year than we did last year, we accomplished that goal," Smarro said. "Our team total was higher than it was last year by two points so that was another accomplishment."

Section II finished in seventh-place overall in the Federation competition (including the PSAL entry) and NYSPHSAA division with 168.250 points. Section I (Dutchess, Putnam, Rockland and Westchester) repeated as state team champions with 182.975 points.

Saratoga Springs gymnast senior Tiffany Hogben was the top finisher on the Section II squad with a 9.10 score on the uneven bars for eighth-place and finished 11th overall in the all-around competition. She was the top local performer on the vault with a 9.00, tied for 12th with Shaker's Kara Garbarino.

Garbarino was the best local on the balance beam, earning an 8.95 and 14th-place overall and also was the top local gymnast on the floor, scoring an 8.95 for 10th overall.

"Bar was my high score, but I think vault was my personal best," Hogben said. "Instead of doing a tuck I did a pick and that's new. It was just nice to finish on a good vault, a new vault."

The scoring wasn't as generous at the state meet, forcing the gymnast to be even more exact in their routines and often bring in newer skills. Continued...

"Things went as good as they could be, scores are going to be low at the state meet," Hogben said. "There are two judges at each event versus one and there is a lot of competition. We had two weeks in between, so it was time to practice (the new skill)."

For Saratoga Springs sophomore Rachel VanEarden, competing in her third state meet, the new additional didn't work to her advantage.

"My vault I hit, I did everything I was supposed to in each routine, but it definitely could have been better," VanEarden said. "My last pass on the floor that I fell on, I would have liked to stand that up."

VanEarden had a high of 8.375 on the balance beam with a pair of 8.20 scores on the vault and the floor exercise.

While Hogben was the Section II winner for the annual sportsmanship award, if there was a courage award it would have been presented to Saratoga Springs sophomore Rema Bianco who finished the sectional meet in tears and extreme pain after coming down hard on an already tender ankle.

She returned two weeks later, Saturday, leaving it all on the equipment and not looking back.

"After sectionals I took a little break, just ice and rest and it came back," Bianco said. "I started to practice for states and it feels fine, like normal again.

"I was upset about sectionals, but this was another chance to redeem myself," Bianco said. "Although I couldn't do floor, I could make it up on the other events that I did today."

Bianco's high for the day was her 7.75 on the vault on just a single attempt and a 7.70 on the balance beam.

"Beam has been a little rocky lately, still was a little wobbly, but I stayed on," Bianco said. "I was disappointed on vault because something just got messed up and bars were also a little disappointing. I wanted to make my giant over, but I just didn't." Continued...

Each gymnast is allowed two vaults and the scores are averaged. After her first attempt, she stopped on her two subsequent approaches. The second stop negated her opportunity for a second vault.

The Section II squad improvement can be directly credited with the squad's success on the balance beam.

"You can't knock six beam routines out of six," Smarro said. "Six out six staying on that event can make or break you in a meet in our local sections, so that was an incredible accomplishment."

Smarro was also a proponent of the team pushing themselves at their final meet of the year.

"A lot of the little ones tried their new stuff today, some were successful, some were not so," Smarro said. "With it being brand new and trying it at the state meet for the first time you can't ask for more than that they actually tried it.

"Tiffany's bar routine was truly a high for me, she hit it from beginning to end with all of her bonus combinations and coming off the injury she had it was nice to see her finish her senior year on a high note," Smarro said. "Rachel on floor, she tried her front full on the last pass, she sat it down, but the fact that she did it in this meet also coming off injury was also an accomplishment. She's going to be a junior next year so she'll start the season with that skill and move on from there."