EDGE 3040
PROJECT OVERVIEW
For my project, I participated in the annual SUU gymnastics camp. My participation included chaperoning the campers in the dorms, coaching the gymnasts from about 9 am to 5 pm, choreographing a dance that I taught to a group of the gymnasts, and helping organize and supervise the activities done outside of the gym. My goal for this project was to gain leadership and organization skills, and to improve my ability to coach, mentor, and take care of younger athletes. I have been present at the SUU gymnastics camp for five years now, which made me feel qualified to help run it. I have been both a camper and a worker, so I now how athletes feel on both sides. My knowledge and experience helped me relate to the gymnasts better, and acquire a closer relationship with them, which hopefully helped them excel to their best ability during their week here at camp. I am super grateful I got the opportunity to work with younger gymnasts and influence their lives the way that older gymnasts influenced mine when I was young.
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INTRODUCTION
Hello, my name is Becky Rozsa and I am a student athlete at Southern Utah University. I am a nutrition major, but I hope to go into the nursing program and work in the NICU (neonatal intensive care unit), or any other branch of nursing related to kids. Having to do with experience for the nursing program, I have taken almost all of the prerequisite classes necessary to apply, and I have volunteered at the Stonehenge Nursing Home.
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Being a student athlete, it is awesome participating in volunteer work around the community. The gymnastics team looks for all the opportunities we can so that we can get involved and help out the people around us. I have been doing gymnastics since I was three years old, and being a collegiate athlete has always been one of my goals. I love working with younger gymnasts and helping them make their own goals that they can aspire to reach one day.
PROJECT DETAILS
As I had the opportunity to coach, help organize, and chaperone a dance for the young gymnasts in this camp, I had the chance to take pictures with the girls that I was able to influence to show how neat this experience was.
REFLECTION
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OPENING HOURS:
Mon - Fri: 7am - 10pm
​​Saturday: 8am - 10pm
​Sunday: 8am - 11pm
NEWSLETTER
Becky Rozsa
Meridian, Idaho
Nutrition Major
Leadership Track
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SUU Gymnastics Camp
Southern Utah University Gymnastics Camp is an annual event put on by former gymnastics coach Kari Louthan. The camp includes two sessions that are each four days long. Gymnasts from all around the country attend the camp and are coached by a variety of gymnastics coaches from different club gyms and colleges, along with the SUU gymnasts. This is a popular camp because it gives young and developing gymnasts the opportunity to learn in different ways than they have in the past. It is hard work to train for eight hours a day, four days in a row, but the benefits make the camp more than worth it.
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My role at the gymnastics camp included being a group leader, coaching, assisting the camp director, and choreographing a dance. As a group leader, I rotated with one group the whole week while keeping track of their progress on the goals they made at the beginning of the week, and jotting down corrections they received. While group leading, I was able to coach the gymnasts in my group as well as jotting down their goals. A couple of the days during camp, I followed Kari Louthan around and helped organize little tasks and transitions that needed to occur throughout the day to ensure that camp ran as smoothly as possible. I also took note of what aspects of the camp could be changed to improve camp the next year.
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When I was a young gymnast, I aspired to be like the older gymnasts on my team. My number one goal for as long as I can remember was to compete at a collegiate level in gymnastics. With this being my goal, I attended many gymnastics camps when I was younger. The experience and knowledge I received from attending these camps was irreplaceable. The way the coaches and college gymnasts interacted with me made my goal seem a little more realistic. Having these experiences in the past, pushed me to provide the same sense of involvement for younger gymnasts today. I reached my goal of becoming a collegiate gymnast, and I want to help other growing gymnasts know that with hard work, they can achieve their goals as well.
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During the gymnastics camp, the staff works long hours to provide the best experience for the campers. One thing I struggled with during this project was keeping an upbeat and enthusiastic attitude throughout the week. I was able to stay positive and be helpful to the camp director and gymnasts, but in order to give the gymnasts what they came for, I needed to have energy throughout the day as well. I never perceived it as difficult to stand around the gym all day coaching before I experienced it for myself. Although it is physically tiring to do gymnastics for eight hours a day, it is mentally and physically draining to coach, communicate, and energize people for eight hours a day. I had to use my energy to bring up the energy of the gymnasts to keep up the hard work. Keeping my energy levels up throughout the day was on of my biggest challenges during the two weeks of camp.
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While on the coaching side of things it seems to be exhausting, the gymnasts participating in the camp had one of the best weeks ever. They enjoy getting new corrections and having fun doing what they love all day. The campers benefited from the different types of corrections they would get on one skill from separate coaches because each correction gives them a new way to think about things. The young gymnasts were also able to make connections with the college gymnasts through the after practice activities every day. These activities ranged from laser tag, to swimming in the PE building, and even just hanging out in the dorms and decorating their doors. the relationships built between the college gymnasts and younger gymnasts made a huge impact on the campers' view of what college gymnastics is like.
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Overall, I learned many skills while participating in this camp. I learned what it takes to be a coach all day and putting all of my efforts into bettering these younger gymnasts, and I learned how important organization is. Watching the camp director delegate tasks and organize events during the week of camp put a realistic picture in my head of what it takes to put on a huge event such as this one. I also learned the effect of having a positive attitude and what it can do to the people around you and change their attitudes. Spreading positivity is an important skill to have in not only the work force, but in every day life. I enjoyed participating in this camp and I am grateful for the life lessons I was able to take out of the project.
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I asked one of the young campers in my group what her favorite part about camp was and she told me,
"Playing with the college gymnasts all day and doing gymnastics with the new coaches!"
