Congratulations on a great showing at Westerns and Nationals!

85 Medals at Westerns and 42 Medals at JO’s!!!!

Here are the Western Gold Medalists:

Nicole Wangler – TAGS South MN - Western Gold Medalist on Vault Junior 6 Age Division

Bailey Walker – TAGS South MN - Western Gold Medalist on Vault Junior 8 Age Division

Brittany DeZiel – TCT MN - Western Gold Medalist Vault Senior 7 Age Division

Here are the JO National Gold Medalists:

Brenna Dowell – GAGE MO – National Vault Champion Junior A and JO National Team Member

Katelyn Ohashi – GAGE MO – National Floor Champion Junior A and JO National Team Member

Sarah Demeo – Eagles – National Bar Champion Senior B

Region 4 was well represented and was complimented by other regions and the USAG office on the progress we have made! Keep up the good work. I have listed the medal winners and highlights from the meets on the National Qualifiers Site (http://r4qualifiers.wordpress.com/).

If I missed a medalist or you have some pictures or other information please let me know and I will update the page.

Bryon Hough
R4JOCC

Region 4 Training Camps

After several years of using two training camps and one high performance camp Region 4 will now be hosting two optional training camps this fall. One will be in the northern area of the region and one will be in the southern area. Bids will be taken immediately and are due by June 25th. The southern camp will be held September 26th and 27th. The northern camp will be held October 10th and 11th.

To bid on a camp click here for a bid form. Attach a layout of your gym and all stations you have available for the training camp. Also include hotel locations and distance from the gym. All bids need to be submitted to Bryon Hough. The camps will be awarded June 26th at the Region 4 board meeting at mini congress. The host club will be paid a $500.00 rental fee to help offset the cost of utilities, office staff etc. All other costs incurred for the camp are the responsibility of Region 4 and will not be billed to the host club. (Hospitality, clinicians, etc)

The camp format will be similar to the old “High Performance” camp. We will be brining in paid clinicians from outside and within the region. We will assign a master clinician to each event and coaches will rotate with their athletes to the stations. We do expect that coaches work with the plan established at the event by the master staff and are willing to aid the clinician in the implementation of the plan for that event. (Spotting the stations, running the kids through the reps etc.) You could get assigned to a station at that event but will rotate to the next event with your athletes. We will be having a coaches/clinicians round table and social event Saturday night. We will try to provide and activity for the athletes as well.

Qualification and entry information is on the qualifying page of the training camp website. (http://r4gymnastics.wordpress.com/)  Visit that to stay up to date on the current procedures to attend the training camps.

Clinicians are in the works. We are looking for a combination of NCAA, club and high level coaches from around the country. If you have suggestions feel free to email them to Bryon Hough.

Regionals/Westerns/Nationals

Congratulations to everyone for a great Regional Championships. All results are up at http://region4championships.wordpress.com/results/.

A big thanks to Midwest Twisters and CSA Kids for a great meet. For those of you qualified to Westerns or Nationals please visit the Qualifiers website frequently for updates. We will be updating workout rotations and apparel information and much more. The site is located at http://r4qualifiers.wordpress.com/. There are also links to the actual meet sites located there. Make this the official site you check for these meets.

If you have any questions on these meets contact Bryon Hough R4JOCC at bryonhough@gmail.com

Region 4 Fact Sheet

In cooperation with Region 4
Presents the

2009 Region 4 Regional Congress

DATE/SITE:

Region 4: June 26th - 28th, 2009 in Coralville, IA @ Coralville Marriott Hotel and Conference Center

PURPOSE OF REGIONAL CONGRESSES:
The purpose of regional congress is to provide education to the teachers, coaches, judges and gymnastics business owners of the region. Education and training enable everyone to effectively and professionally serve in the development of the young gymnasts across the country.

REGION 4 EDUCATION:

Over 75 Sessions covering the following areas:

• Coaches Education - Sessions covering popular topics for the developmental through elite gymnastics coach. Learn from leaders in the gymnastics community
• Recreational Education - A recreational track covering programs for tots through teens; be the best instructor in your gym!
• Business Education - Sessions covering marketing, managing your business, staff retention and more.
• Judges Education - Sessions covering compulsory, optional and elite judiging criteria, technique and more.
• Other - Men’s, Rhythmic, Sports Science and more.

Registration will begin on January 16th, 2009 Online Registration will be available for members and printable forms will be available for all others at www.usa-gymnastics.org

*This offer is only available to Professional, Jr. Pro and Instructor Members affiliated with a Member Club. Members of a Non-Member Club would pay full rate.

HOUSING:
A Block of rooms has been reserved. Call by June 10th, 2009.
Marriott Coralville Hotel & Conference Center
300 E. 9th Street
Coralville, IA 52241
319-688-4000- local information only.

National Travel Systems Sports Travel Team
6502 Slide Rd/Suite 404
Lubbock, TX 79424
Toll Free: 1-888-603-8747; Main Line: 806-794-3136
Email: sportsinfo@nationaltravelsystems.com and website: www.ntssportstravel.com
Single/Double Rate of $119.00
Any reservations after the cut-off date will be based strictly on availability.

Please check the USA Gymnastics website - www.usa-gymnastics.org - for a detailed daily schedule/speakers - coming soon.
Minimum age for Congress attendees is 16.

There is a $30.00 cancellation fee up until June 12th. No refunds after June 12th. (Substitution of particiapants will be allowed until June 12th if submitted in writing.)

Region IV Championships

Please go to the link below for the current information on Level 8 Regionals, Level 9 Westerns, and J.O. Nationals. Qualifying and formats for all 3 have changed. Make sure you are current on the rules and have read the changes on the website and in the Rules and Policies. If you have any questions contact your state chair or Bryon Hough (RJOCC) at bryonhough@gmail.com.

Region IV Championships Website

JO Competitive Format State through Nationals

JO National Hotels

National Travel Systems and USA Gymnastics have finalized room blocks for hotels for JO Nationals.  The room blocks will be opening on Feb 12^th for participants to start booking.  Please visit www.ntssportstravel.com to view hotels for this event starting Feb 12^th.  The cut-off for hotels is April 22^nd, but please keep in mind that hotels will sell out quickly, and it is best book rooms early and cancel later if you do not qualify.  If you have any questions please feel free to contact us at sportsinfo@nationaltravelsystems.com or 1-888-603-8747.

2010 and 2011 Regionals

The 2010 Region IV Championships will be in Kansas City, MO and the 2011 Region IV Championships will be in Des Moines, Iowa. Thanks to those two cities for hosting the competitions!

Dress Code For Meets

USAG has implemented a dress code for state meets and above. Some states have adopted this for regular season meets too. Please be familiar with it. For more info go though the full rules and policies available online at:

http://www.usa-gymnastics.org/Story.aspx?tabid=183&prog=w

Dress in appropriate attire that reflects the best image of gymnastics.
At State meets and above, the coaches’ dress code is as follows:
1. Closed toe athletic shoes;

2. Athletic warm-up pants or “Docker-syle” pants (No jeans).
Athletic or tailored shorts that are of a reasonable length (7” inseam). No holes, tears or short
shorts.
3. Collared shirts, business casual shirts or T-shirts with gym logo. (No spaghetti straps, low-cut tops
or midriff revealing shirts).\No hats or visors.

2009-2013 JO Code Preview

For a preview of the JO Code changes for the next quadrennium click here:

http://www.usa-gymnastics.org/Story.aspx?type=MemberUpdates&subtype=04+Women%27s+JO+Updates&tabid=123&ArticleID=2438

Junior Olympic Regional Committee Chair

Don Houlton has accepted a position as the assistant coach at Yale University. Congratulations to Don! We would like to thank him for his time and effort in serving as JOPCC for Region 4. His term will be finished by Bryon Hough who previously held the position before Don. He may be contacted at 952-953-5128 or bryonhough@gmail.com.