Welcome Back and Happy New Year! This is going to be a great season; we have such awesome athletes and fun new compulsory routines! It is really important to be at practice the next few months as we introduce and teach the new routine sequences, missing practice could really put you behind. There is a lot to learn and work on so get in the gym so we can get ready for the upcoming season. Welcome Back!

Monday & Thursday Clinics

Monday Night Clinics (7:45 – 8:30) and Thursday Clinics (4:30 – 5:30) are a great way to get some extra attention on specific skills. Clinics cost $5 per participant. With a smaller group ratio this extra time with a coach can really help your improvement.

MONDAY CLINICS

Jan 5^th – Bars: Kips and More

Jan 12^th – BHS: Tumbling Fun

Jan 19^th – NO Practice - MLK

Jan 26^th –Kips & BHS

Feb 2^nd – Beam – staying on!

Feb 9^th – Cartwheels (Bm) & BHS

Feb 16^th – No Practice

Feb 23^rd – Comp Beam Routines

Mar 2^nd – Kips & BHS

Mar 9^th – Comp Floor Routines

Mar 16^th – FHS & other Tumbling

Mar 23^rd – Bars and Tumbling

Mar 30^th – Vault & Bars

THURSDAY CLINICS

Jan 8^th – Back Handsprings (BHS)

Jan 15^th – Bars: Kips & FHC

Jan 22^nd – Vault & FHS

Jan 29^th –Routine Review

Feb 5^th – Floor Tumbling

Feb 12^th – Kips & FHC

Feb 19^th – Beam: Cartwheels, Turns & Handstands

Feb 26^th – Routine Review

In order to attend the Monday and Thursday clinics you must sign up and pay at the front desk more than 24 hrs before the clinic. Clinics fill fast so sign up early! You can NOT just stay for a clinic you have not signed up for. There are limited spaces so sign up in advance. To sign up, see or call the front desk at MDW.

CALL 303-326-8300 to sign up!

Gymnastics Fee Increase

Like everything else in life the cost of gymnastics is also going up! We have worked hard to keep our fees low and competitive while maintaining a high standard of coaching and equipment. Starting in Jan 2009 our fees will go up roughly $3 a month if you attend one night a week. We hope that you see the value of our program and that this small increase will not be too much of a hardship on any of you.

Tue Open Gym

We have a great Open Gym time that you might want to come and check out. Tuesdays from 4:30 – 5:30! The cost is $4 per drop in and a lot of fun to come and work on things with your friends. Beth is here and eager to help with a question about routines or a spot on a skill. Come try Tuesday Open Gym!

E-mail Update

We are updating our e-mail distribution list for the team. If you are interested in getting updates and e-newsletters please get on our list. Please send us and e-mail to be added to our list!

New Compulsory Routines!

We will have new compulsory routines for the 2009 season and the gymnastics committee (Chaired by our own Lisa Sparrow) just completed the choreography. We are very excited about the new routines, the progressions that they lead to and the challenges they present to the gymnasts. We hope to have info and video of the routines on the website by mid January for you to check them out and starting in January we will be introducing sequences of the routines to the gymnasts to prepare them for what is coming. If you want to add a night of practice the beginning part of the year is a great time to do it. The practices at this time will be very important and help give the girls a strong base when we put together the full routines! Congratulate Lisa for a job well done!

Butter Braids

Our team will be selling Butter Braids again this season to help you cover the cost of your gymnastics expenses. No one is required to participate in the Butter Braid sale but last year several girls covered all their team expenses by selling this delicious bake at home pastry.

How it works:

Order forms will be available Jan 10^th. Take orders for the various flavored Butter Braids and collect the $10 per braid ordered. Turn in the money and order form by Thursday, Feb 5^th to the gymnastics office at Meadowood. The order will be delivered on February 12^th and ready for pick up at the end of practice that evening (7:30pm).

ALL ORDERS MUST BE PICKED UP FEB 12^th.

This is a frozen product and we can not store items that are not picked up on Feb 12^th. Deliver your Butter Braids in time for your customers to warm their heart and stomach by Valentines Day!

We make $4 for each Butter Braid sold. $3 of that will be credited to your account and $1 will go to the team. We have had great success selling Butter Braids in the past and this profit can really add up quickly. Selling just 30 Butter Braids covers the cost of your league fee.

Pick up an order form and cut some of your team costs by selling Butter Braids.

ALL ORDERS MUST BE PICKED UP FEB 12^th.

Competition Fees and Expenses

With the competition season comes competition fees. As always we split the fees up and spread them over 4 months to make them easier for families to handle, we will also have a fund raiser selling Butter Braids that can help you with these expenses (look for Butter Braids in this newsletter). Here are the fees and the due dates for your calendar and financial planning.

COMPETITION FEES:

February 12 – Team Leotard Order due ($75 new). We have the same competition Leo as last season so please have your daughter try it on to see if it fits.

If you wish to sell your Leo from last year, e-mail me the size and cost along with your phone number and I will send it out to the team for you. Do NOT bring your used competition Leo in to the office unless you are donating it to the team.

March 12 – Parent Volunteer Fund Deposit ($50) to be held in deposit against 6 hour of volunteer work during the course of the season.

March 12 – Mandatory Parents Meeting and Team Exhibition. This is the night we have our yearly parents meeting distribute the new team handbook and go over the details of the upcoming season. It is held at Overland HS during our normal practice time and at least one parent for each gymnast is asked to attend. All gymnasts on team will work out at Overland this evening and then perform a short exhibition following the parents meeting. Please place this date on your calendar now so that you will be able to attend.

April 10 – League Fee Due ($90). The league fee covers participation in 4 regular season meets, Regionals and State if qualified for as well as part of our coaches’ pay for working meets.

May 2 – Final Date for all fees to be paid. This is the final deadline for all the above fees to be paid by if the original due dates were missed. A gymnast cannot start regular season competition until she has a competition Leo and the Parent Volunteer Fund and league fee has been paid.

Important Practice Time

We will spend the next few months teaching and working on the routines for competition. Since we introduce a small portion each week it is VERY important that you make every effort to be at practice each week. We do review but each week we introduce a new portion of the routine and spend quite a bit of time on it so the girls can do it correctly. In order to really get full instruction on the entire routine you don’t want to miss a week! If you want to add a night of practice this is a great time! Most girls come 2 nights a week and the extra workouts REALLY help the girls’ progress.