WAG Senior Capstone

[dmbgymnast]

Hi all! I'm not sure if this is the right thread, feel free to move it need be.
I'm a junior in high school, and senior year is approaching quickly. Senior capstone is a graduation requirement at my school, and we need to choose our projects by the end of May. I'd love to do something related to gymnastics, I'm just not sure what.
Our capstone project has two major components: the paper and the pro

 

[dmbgymnast]

Accidentally hit post, I'll edit to finish

 

[dmbgymnast]

The time limit expired, so here's the rest of the post:
Our capstone project has two major components: the paper and the product. The paper is a short research paper (10 pages) on something relating to our product. For example, one student last year did her paper on breast cancer, and ran a seminar on self breast examination for juniors and seniors. This year, another student did her paper on cultural awareness, and ran a potluck dinner at our school where people brought in dishes from their home countries.
Now for something gymnastics related, I was thinking on doing a paper on childhood obesity, or eating disorders, or abuse in gymnastics. I'm not sure what my product should be. I do not have enough time to coach any sort of class (my school lets out after the last classes at my gym begin, and weekends aren't an option for me). One of my coaches suggested becoming a certified judge and judging a couple of sessions at one of the meets we host, which I like the idea of, but I'd like to hear other options too.
I'm really passionate about the xcel program, and making gymnastics a safe sport, (concerning eating disorders and sexual abuse) if that helps. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!

 

[raenndrops]

I like the Judging idea too, but here are 3 more ideas based on your suggested areas of interest:
1. Paper about WHAT the Xcel Program is and the different ways in which it is used and a comparison to the JO program. You could do a parent meeting for rec parents where you explain the benefits of competing Xcel as opposed to competing JO. You could also discuss the possibility of transitioning from Xcel to JO and JO to Xcel.
2. Eating disorders - Paper on different eating disorders. You could look into statistics relating to athletes and maybe find rates of eating disorders in various sports. You could talk to your team about eating disorders, what they are, how they can affect their health (and in extreme cases, their gymnastics), and what type of help is available in your community.
3. Abuse in Gymnastics - Paper on the changes USAG is implementing as a result of everything that has been uncovered in the last year or so. You could talk to PARENTS and gymnasts about the SafeSport recommendations - what they are, how your gym is implementing them, how they can actually be useful in other areas of life.

 

[coachmolly]

Raenndrops had some great ideas!
For eating disorders, maybe you could find a Registered Dietician who specializes in sports and youth to talk with about proper nutrition for growing athletes (and signs to watch out for) and create a resource guide for team athletes with your findings- what is most important for young athletes, timing of meals, types of foods best for before/after practice, info on eating during practice, maybe even some pre-, post-, and during practice snack ideas, and then a little on what to watch out for in terms of eating disorders and resources.
I'm not sure if this would count, as you would be mostly doing the organizing rather than the presenting, but creating a gymnast health series for team gymnasts might be neat. Find a few local professionals to come and do an info session with gymnasts and parents- dietician, physical therapist, sports psychologist, etc. It wouldn't all need to be done in one day (that would probably be too much for most), but maybe set aside 1 day/month for a few months. So you play a more active role than just organizing the event, you could take notes during the sessions and compile them into an info and resource packet for the gym.
For childhood obesity (or the general benefits of gymnastics), maybe you could help your gym organize and host an open house/open gym. Create some posters for around the gym talking about the benefits of gymnastics (physical, mental, social), maybe a brief, one-page printout to give to visitors, and then have a few stations set up on the floor for kids to try gymnastics.

 

[3rd_time_around]

The time limit expired, so here's the rest of the post:
Our capstone project has two major components: the paper and the product. The paper is a short research paper (10 pages) on something relating to our product. For example, one student last year did her paper on breast cancer, and ran a seminar on self breast examination for juniors and seniors. This year, another student did her paper on cultural awareness, and ran a potluck dinner at our school where people brought in dishes from their home countries.
Now for something gymnastics related, I was thinking on doing a paper on childhood obesity, or eating disorders, or abuse in gymnastics. I'm not sure what my product should be. I do not have enough time to coach any sort of class (my school lets out after the last classes at my gym begin, and weekends aren't an option for me). One of my coaches suggested becoming a certified judge and judging a couple of sessions at one of the meets we host, which I like the idea of, but I'd like to hear other options too.
I'm really passionate about the xcel program, and making gymnastics a safe sport, (concerning eating disorders and sexual abuse) if that helps. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!

To be a judge, you have to pass the test, and this year there will be no testing until August. You have to pay for the test ($50 for the lowest level) and pay for the USAG pro membership ($89) and pay for the NAWGJ membership ($60), be safety certified ($25), pass the SAFE Sport test, and pass a background check ($25). You also have to get the blue pants and a white shirt (no jacket the first year). I'm only telling you all this so that you can really consider whether you want to go that route. That's $250+ before you can set foot in a meet to judge. You also have to pass the test, and that doesn't always happen the first time, and practice judge 4 hours at a sanctioned meet. If you were thinking about just doing a couple sessions and that's it, it may not be worth it for you, and you may not have time. Plus, weekends are when judging happens, and you said weekends aren't an option. It's a great idea for your project, but the judging part might not work out for the product.

 

[raenndrops]

To be a judge, you have to pass the test, and this year there will be no testing until August. You have to pay for the test ($50 for the lowest level) and pay for the USAG pro membership ($89) and pay for the NAWGJ membership ($60), be safety certified ($25), pass the SAFE Sport test, and pass a background check ($25). You also have to get the blue pants and a white shirt (no jacket the first year). I'm only telling you all this so that you can really consider whether you want to go that route. That's $250+ before you can set foot in a meet to judge. You also have to pass the test, and that doesn't always happen the first time, and practice judge 4 hours at a sanctioned meet. If you were thinking about just doing a couple sessions and that's it, it may not be worth it for you, and you may not have time. Plus, weekends are when judging happens, and you said weekends aren't an option. It's a great idea for your project, but the judging part might not work out for the product.

It could be that weekends don't work because she competes on weekends. IF that is the case, she may be able to judge sessions she is available at YMCA meets (Levels 1-4 and lower Xcel, for example). That $250 could be earned back over the course of the season. Alternately, FOR HER PRODUCT, she could judge a MOCK MEET at her gym for the lower levels and Xcel... she could even TRY to judge higher levels at the mock meet.

 

[rjb123]

I think discussing abuse in the sport would be a great thing to do. You could contact USAG safe sport as well as some orgs like from darkness to light. You can interview specialists in the field. You could also attempt to get in touch with some of the most outspoken survivors to get their perspectives on the issues.

 

[coachmolly]

I think discussing abuse in the sport would be a great thing to do. You could contact USAG safe sport as well as some orgs like from darkness to light. You can interview specialists in the field. You could also attempt to get in touch with some of the most outspoken survivors to get their perspectives on the issues.

That's a great idea! From Darkness to Light offers a free online training (not sure if it's free to everyone or just USAG members?) you could take. And while not sport-specific, you could get more general info from local agencies that work to prevent child abuse. You could study up on the Safe Sport guidelines and work with your gym to create up a plan on how they will implement each safeguard. This could be a manual they hand out to all employees and have available for parents. Or you could do an oral presentation of the same information to gym coaches and/or parents.

 

[3rd_time_around]

It could be that weekends don't work because she competes on weekends. IF that is the case, she may be able to judge sessions she is available at YMCA meets (Levels 1-4 and lower Xcel, for example). That $250 could be earned back over the course of the season. Alternately, FOR HER PRODUCT, she could judge a MOCK MEET at her gym for the lower levels and Xcel... she could even TRY to judge higher levels at the mock meet.

I'm trying to understand why you're yelling at me? I was just giving the information she needs to help her make a decision. You don't have to get offended about it. She said judge a few sessions, she didn't say a mock meet, she said the meet her gym hosts which is not a mock meet. I didn't answer rudely, I laid out the facts, no need to get upset about it.

 

[raenndrops]

I'm trying to understand why you're yelling at me? I was just giving the information she needs to help her make a decision. You don't have to get offended about it. She said judge a few sessions, she didn't say a mock meet, she said the meet her gym hosts which is not a mock meet. I didn't answer rudely, I laid out the facts, no need to get upset about it.

I wasn't yelling. Sorry for the misunderstanding.
I was laying out possibilities that didnt seem considered in your post. You said that judges work weekends, pointing out that she said weekends were out... but she had also, as you pointed out here, suggested she might be able to judge a few sessions at the meet her gym hosts. This meet would (most likely) be on a weekend, so judging could still work for her when not competing.
Also, I know she didn't say mock meet. I said that alternatively, she could do a mock meet. It would be another option for a product related to judging.

 

[profmom]

This would be a big job, but if you are interested in eating disorders, you could do a real service to your school if you were to set up a good peer counseling program.

 

[dmbgymnast]

I'm loving all of the advice and ideas! I'll admit I haven't looked very far into judging, didn't realize it was so expensive!