WHY COACH GYMNASTICS

After over 35 years as a career coach, I still ask that question. There are jobs that pay much better. A lot of volunteer time is expected.
So why coach?

Gymnastics is the most beneficial physical activity. Gymnasts are the most fit athletes. Gymnastics is never boring. I love being part of the best sport.
We must also ask why kids do gymnastics?

Surveys of gymnasts & parents result in lists like this:

Have FUN
Improve Skills
Friendships
Be GOOD at something
For EXCITEMENT
For FITNESS
To be part of the CLUB
For CHALLENGE
To LEARN new skills
To WIN

How can we best provide an experience to fulfill those goals? My philosophy I appropriated from Keith Russell, a principle author of the Canadian coaching manuals:
Fun
Fitness
Fundamentals
This is the checklist by which I plan practices;
Is it fun? Will fitness improve?
Are basic skills reinforced?
Fun is a great goal as it is one that EVERYONE in the gym can achieve.
So what is fun in the gym?
contests
games
variety in skills and drills
activities where the kids work together (e.g. relays) depending on one another
etc.
How do we improve fitness? It is easy. No other activity improves fitness as quickly and effortlessly as gymnastics. We only run into problems if the strength drills are too easy (no training effect) or too repetitive (the body adapts after 3-4 weeks and improvement slows).
The main principle for coaches is the overload principle. Training plans must progressively and insistently require more and more of the athlete, physically and technically.
If the kids are having fun in the gym, they (normally) wil be more motivated for conditioning. If they are motivated for conditioning, the skills come more easily. If the basics are sound, competitive performance will improve.
Any additions to, or questions on, my philosophy?I would appreciate feedback
By the way, my philosophy is the same for recreational once-a-week gymnasts as it is for high performance athletes. I observe, however, additional positive qualities of competitive gymnasts, including:
high social status
middle or high level socio-economic class
organized in their life- style
more socially adjusted
superior leadership qualities
emotionally controlled
self-confident yet humble
courageous
normal or slightly above normal academic achievement
tough-minded

“Trying to make a top gymnast out of a child with limited physical ability is like trying to play a sonata on a piano with only five keys.”
- John Atkinson, Great Britain

The primary objectives of the sport of Gymnastics is not to contest the ability of those fundamental elements in terms of time, distance and resistance, but to test your command of the total body in terms of artistic value.