Information on Marine Creek & Ed Willkie Middle School Girls Gymnastics Programs for the 2021-22 School Year

Purpose and Objective of the Middle School Gymnastics Program

Our purpose is to introduce and develop fundamental gymnastics skills through advanced skills to all experience levels of athletes, that are interested in becoming future Varsity Team members of the Ranger Gymnastics Family. Our goal is to use the 2 years of middle school to train skills, to learn routines, develop strength and flexibility, and to develop relationships between coaches and athletes as well as relationships between middle school gymnasts and high school gymnasts that will lead to the success of the Varsity Gymnastics Team.

Sign Up for Gymnastics

My name is Jeff Garmon, and I am the Girls Varsity Gymnastics coach at Chisholm Trail High School. I also coach the middle school teams for Ed Willkie and Marine Creek middle schools. Normally, we would be holding gymnastics tryouts during the next two weeks in May for the upcoming school year, but this year is a little different. Every 8 years, the USA Gymnastics compulsory routines, that we use for competition, are changed. It so happens that this is the case for the upcoming season. Thus, instead of holding tryouts in May as we usually do, we will be allowing time for potential gymnasts to come to Summer practices (voluntary) and work on learning the new routines, prior to tryouts, which are planned for the 1st two weeks of the 2021-22 school year, August 16th – 27th. Anyone interested in doing gymnastics may sign up for gymnastics for the upcoming 2021-22 school year.

However, there are some important steps that every student needs to follow.

1. All students need to get a new physical dated on May 1, 2021, or later for the upcoming school year
   1. Please fill out all electronic forms online through Rank One Sports, including Medical History, Emergency Cards, Sports Participation Packet, etc.
2. Try and get the physicals completed and turned into Coach Garmon at CTHS before May 28.
   1. All physicals will then be submitted by Coach Garmon to the CTHS Athletic Trainers, who will review the physicals & medical history to determine who is cleared to participate in summer practices.
   2. If there is an issue regarding the physical or medical history, then either the coach or the athletic trainer will be in touch with the involved parties to discuss any concerns.

Contact Coach Garmon, girls’ gymnastics coach, for any questions or concerns regarding the middle school gymnastics teams. Cell: 940-367-4812; email: jgarmon@ems-isd.net

Summer Strength & Conditioning and Skill-Specific Training

Dates for Summer Workouts: June 7-10; June 21 – 24 ; June 28 – 30; July 1; July 12 – 15; July 19 – 21
Times: 8 – 11am
Tryouts: Weeks of August 16 – 27 at CTHS during 8th period in the gymnastics gym.

• All athletes must have a current physical on file with the district on Rank One (dated May 1, 2021, or after) and all online athletic forms completed and cleared on Rank One Sports.
• Must have a leotard to tryout and practice in
• Hair must be worn up and out of eyes
• No jewelry, except one pair of studs in the lower lobe of ear
• No other body piercings will be allowed; Students must remove any other piercings…NO EXCEPTIONS
• Make sure you only have “natural” fingernails; No “Acrylics”, no “press-ons”, no fake nails of any kind, as it is a safety issue.
• At the end of the 2-week tryouts, all gymnasts will be informed of their status as a member of the gymnastics team or not; Schedules will be adjusted accordingly.
• Grades will be viewed from the previous school year, as I consider them as great indicators of how “focused” and “disciplined” a student/athlete is.
• Attendance and discipline records will also be looked at from the previous year.

 Factors considered when determining rosters:

• Grades
• Ability to learn and retain the floor and beam routines… specifically the dance portion of the routines.
• If they know the routines and can perform them, then they better their chances of making team
• However, it is ok if they don’t have all the skills yet, but can perform the dance parts of the routine that includes any handstands, balance requirements, leaps, jumps, etc.

Please see attached skills listed for new routines (looking at Level 5 only)

• Attendance & Disciplinary Issues
• Coachability
• Effort during tryouts
• Strength & Flexibility
• Prior Experience
• Overall Attitude
• Contributions as a Team member

Frequently Asked Questions about the Gymnastics Teams/Programs

When is gymnastics season?

All year long – fall & spring. We will compete 3-4 meets, mostly in late fall and early spring.

Where and When are practices?

Every day during 8th period through 4:05pm at CTHS Gymnastics Gym.

What are the transportation arrangements for my child to get to practices daily?

Each day, a shuttle bus will pick up the gymnasts after 7th period and drive them to CTHS for practice. The location for bus pickup will be where the buses pick up and drop off for Ed Willkie and for Marine Creek. They will be picked up between 2:40pm and 2:55pm and will then be driven to Chisholm Trail High School for practice. Practice will begin by 3:15 pm and officially end at 4:05pm.

What experience is required?

None but it most certainly helps if you have done gymnastics before. For those that really want to improve in this sport and be very good, then I recommend you consider the following:

• Attend all summer practices if possible
• Consider joining a club gymnastics program to improve upon your skills. At the middle school and high school level you will be competing against athletes that have varying degrees of experience. But to make it to State, you will need to be very good and train extensively.

What levels do you compete for middle school and high school gymnastics? 

• While some middle schools train & Compete USA Gymnastics Level 2-6, I will be focused on teaching the skills needed for Levels 5 and Levels 8 as needed by the time you start your freshman year on the high school gymnastics team.
• At the high school level, THSGCA (the governing body of TX high school gymnastics) requires all gymnasts to compete Level 5 compulsory as well as modified Level 8 optional routines.
• For our team score, we are allowed to compete 6 gymnasts per event, with only the top 3 scores counting towards the team score.
• Individual Events, All-Around, and Team scores are calculated by combining both your compulsory score and optional scores together.
• Thus, it is necessary that all gymnasts train and compete both compulsory (Level 5) and optional routines (Level 8).

Can I be in more than one sport?

Trying to do multiple sports, or other extracurricular activities is very difficult as gymnastics is a year round sport. I will always try and work with all individuals that want to do more than just gymnastics, however, I am looking for those individuals that are truly dedicated to making gymnastics their sport for the remainder of their middle and high school years!