Frank Bare former executive director of the USGF presented Master of Sport awards to Frank Cumiskey: USGF technical director and Gene Wellstone, Penn State University coach for their contributions to the sport of gymnastics.

1972 USGF Coaches Congress Denver, Colorado Reports & Photos by Glenn Sundby, Renee Hendershott & Dick Criley Coming as it did on the heels of the O lympic Games, the USGF Congress was we ll attend ed by everyone who wanted to get the " tr ue sto ry" of th e u.s . gymnastic performances at the Games. According ly a large portio n o f the genera l meetin g was spent on the women 's and men 's Ol ympic Repo rts. A seco nd area o f major co nce rn was the directio n of our nation al program in gymnastics in light of th e delerict ion of duty by the u.S. Olympic Committee. Th e Congress also afforded meeting o pportuni t ies for t he National Assoc iat ion of Co ll egia te Gymnastic Coaches(NACGCA), National H igh Sch oo l Gymnastic Coach es Association(NHSGCA), Nat iona l Gymnastic judges Association(NGjA), Women ' s and M en' s Technical Committees, Men 's and Women ' s Olympi c Committees, and th e independent gymnastics club s, Films o f th e Ol ympi cs were shown, courtesy of Frank Endo and Do n Clegg, an d h os pitality was ex tend ed by Walt Zw icke l, Gymnastic Supply Company, Nissen, Gym Master, and American . A special award ought to go to th e hostin g Colorado Gymnastics Association for t heir o rgan iza tion of the Congress and for providing shuttl e se rv ice to and from th e arrport. Fo r t he first time th e Co n gress sta rted o n a Friday afte rn oo n to permit the heavy load of committee and associat ion meetings to run their course. Highlights from th ese meetings fo ll ow. 10

Frank Cumiskey

MEN'S TKHNICAL COMMITTEE USGF Techn ica l Director, Frank Cumiskey, ca lled the meetin g to order and took a ro ll ca ll to find nearly half of the Sta t e Techni ca l Chairmen present. H e d escribed the main purpose of t he meeting as o rga ni zat ion al and to clarify th e recently publish ed " Men 's Rul es for Competitions." Th e basic purpose of the State Technical Chairmen is to stimulate gymn as ti cs at all leve ls w ithin their states in an effo rt to build a better nation al progra m from the grass-roots up. Th e cha irmen were urged to wo r k wi th estab li shed groups and w here none ex ist to take part in orga ni zi ng a state-w ide association. No cha irm an is ex pected to run the w hol e show in his state, but he should se t u p comm ittees in different sites (e nlistin g sc hoo ls, V' s, Turners, AAU, etc.) to handl e th e loca l situ at ions. USGF sa nctions for the men 's meets ma y be issued by the State Chairman if the compet iti ons are run accord in g to USGF standards. The main purpose of the sanct io n was noted to be that communicatio n take place as to the nature of t he com petition.

Discuss ion over proposed age-level programs brought a 3-pronged philosoph y : 1) tea ch good gymnastic habits from th e beginning, 2) make use of co mpul so ry exe rci ses, 3) get gymn astics sta rt ed ea rl y in a yo ungster's development. Compulsory exe rci ses h ave been publi shed fo r 3 developmental age group levels and for a junior and eli te nation al d iv isio n level. Th ese exerc ises w ill be t ried o ut for the next 2 yea rs and new ones set up for the 4 yea rs after 1974. Eventually, films wi ll be prepared o n these exe rcises. A system of achievement awa rds is being developed as ince ntive to progress. While 1-2 eve nts ma y be worked at the developmental level, the natio nal emph as is is to be on th e all-around. The junior Prog ram is n ew and ma y eve ntuall y h ave i ts ow n n ati o n al championship. At ,present, 'th ere is no possibility of working in w ith t he AAU junior Olympics and t hi s program and the AAU junior Nationals are to be co nsid ered as parall el programs rather than ri va ls. A new system for th e USGF Elite Champ ions h ips was announ ced. Four regional m eets, taking all co mers 1S yea rs or older, will qualify the top 6 AA and o ne alternate to t h e USA Championships. At the U SA Championships th e gym nasts wi ll compete as a tea m from their region . Th e reg ion al me ets will be run by a comm ittee of th e State Techni ca l Chairmen of that region , Some questioned the nee d fo'r suc h a meet saying that th e Chairmen i n that region could get toget her to ag ree on who th e top 6 gymnasts in th eir reg io n were , The coac h of th e regional team who wo uld accomp an y the gymna sts to th e r egio nal meet wou ld also be named by the Sta te Chairm en in that re gion. In 1973 the USA Championships will be held May 3-5 at Penn Sta te. This meet wi ll also serve as a qualifying round for the World Un ive rsit y Ga m es in Moscow and to se lect team memb ers for intern ationa l match compet ition s. Furth er info rm ati o n w ill b e fort hcoming from State and Reg iona l Technical Chai rm en and the National Technical Dir ector by March 1, 1973. A fin al note of clar ificat io n: W h ere possib le, state cha irm en w ill be named by th eir st ate (o r loca l) associatio n rath er th an by the USGF. Terms of office will thu s va ry and new face s wi ll appear. Th e important thing, new state cha irmen were told, is to get th e developmental programs sta rt ed. The " hot spots" of gymnastics must be enlar ged; li sts of com petitors, coac hes, and judges compi led: and the suggested USGF procedures followed to build a solid base in each state.

NATIONAL GYMNASTIC JUDGES ASSOCIA TlON As reported by Ted Mu czy ko , th e accomplishments of th e past year were: 1) A new set of rules interpretations for 1973. 2) Esta blishm ent of judges training programs at na tion al and internatio nal cl in ics. 3) First judges cou rs e offered for g radu ate c red it at Indiana State. 4) Development of standa rdi zed judgin g sheets for com pul so ry and f in al compet iti ons. 5) Publication in 1972 of Interp retatio ns of the FIG Code, its comp leme nt, and other FIG publication s, and new NCAA rul es affectin g judging, 6) Pub li cat io n of a 1973 set of interpretations. In progress: A hot lin e co ncept whereby regional experts may be ca ll ed (but not collect) for answers to difficult questions. Cassettes are being prepared as a part ial approach to