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Recent Newsletters

Thank you to the Booster Club and Team Parents for the Coaches Christmas Dinners! We are so thankful to have a wonderful group of parents. We’re looking forward to the Holidays with our Annual Team Christmas Party and Nerf War the 22nd. Elves vs. Reindeer in an old fashioned game of Capture the Flag! This time of year is always a small break between the compulsory season, which just ended, and the optional season coming up. Below are highlights from the 2017 State Championships for our Level 3-5 girls.
Ella Porter, Level 3 Bars State Champion
Level 3
The Level 3 NorCal South State Meet was held in Visalia, CA. Congratulations to Ella Porter, 2017 Bars State Champion! Brianna Raney had our highest AA score with a 36.825.
 
Ella Batt 9.225 on Vault, Ryan Bridgette 9.125 on Vault, Reese Brown 9.150 on Floor Ella Chapman  9.275 on BarsPhoebe Dramis 8.875 on Vault, Nevaeh Estrada 9.325 on Vault, Samaira Gupta 9.22 on Vault, Kalea Juliano 9.1 on Floor, Ella Porter 9.50 on Bars & State Champion!, Brianna Raney 9.325 on Vault, Grace Snider 9.125 on Beam, Maya Snyder 8.975 on Vault, Mia Sudek 9.0 on Vault, Ruby Swan9.10 on Bars, Kaia Wilkins 8.95 on Floor
Level 4s Celebrating the End of Season
Mei Nee, Level 4
Level 4
We had 100% of the Level 4s qualify to the State Championships in Roseville, CA. For the first time in quite a few years, the Level 4 Norcal State Meet combined both North and South Clubs. Out of 59 teams competing, our Level 4s came in 18th Place! Mei Nee had our highest AA score with a 37.325. Camila Dominguez 9.275 on Floor, Eila Eilfort 9.325 on Floor, Lenora Freeman 9.425 on Floor, Kaia Graham 9.050 on Floor, Lainey Holden 9.225 on Floor, Maile Holden 9.325 on Vault, Natalie Kamalani 9.4 on Vault, Natalie Lo 9.325 on Floor, Mei Nee 9.45 on Vault and Bars, Gwen Perry 9.175 on Vault, Elizabeth Snider 9.1 on Vault, Anna Walker-Edwards 9.5 on Vault, Maile Wilkins 9.225 on Floor
Level 5
Working through injuries, the Level 5s ended the season strong at their State Championships in Redwood City.
Marissa Timm 9.225 on Beam, Kenzie Gill 8.975 on Bars
 
Optionals at their Preseason Intrasquad

 

XCEL Team at Practice
The Optional and XCEL teams are gearing up for the start of their season. The girls will be in the gym working hard over break. The Level 7s begin their competition season at the Cow Palace in San Francisco, January 12-14 and will continue the season with a trip to Pasadena in February. XCEL will start their season January 27-28 in Pleasanton, CA. To see photos and videos of the girls working hard, getting new skills and having fun, follow us on instagram at scgc_team.
 
Highlights from UCLA's Meet the Bruins
Highlights from UCLA’s Meet the Bruins
College gymnastics season will also be getting started in January. If you have never been to a college meet, I highly recommend it. We’re lucky to live near a lot of great college gymnastics. To see Cal, San Jose State, Sacramento State and UC Davis all in one place, head to Stanford January 8th for the Norcal Classic. If you want to catch a great meet, Cal Berkeley hosts UCLA, February 10th. San Jose State hosts all their home meets at their Event Center which is a great and convenient location to see a meet. Click here for a calendar.

Begonia by the Beach

Begonia by the Beach
Thank you to all the parents and gymnasts that helped make our home meet a success this year! Seeing the Warriors Arena transform into a beautiful gymnastics facility in just a couple hours is the true meaning of TEAMWORK!
Compulsory Season
As we head into our Championship Season, I’d like to Congratulate all the gymnasts on a great season and for qualifying to the State Meet! Look below for highlights from the regular season..
Level 3
Ella Batt 3rd on Beam (8.725) at Begonia  Ryan Bridgette 3rd on Vault (8.85) at Monterey  Reese Brown 1st Place on Bars (9.25) Floor and AA at Begonia  Ella Chapman 1st Place on Bars (9.475) at Begonia, 1st Place on Beam (9.450) and AA (36.975) at Monterey Phoebe Dramis 2nd on Beam (8.6) at Monterey  Nevaeh Estrada 1st Place Beam (9.20) Floor (9.175) and AA (36.9) at the Pink Meet  Samaira Gupta 9.125 on Vault and 9.1 on Floor at the Pink Meet  Kalea Juliano 1st on Vault (9.25) at Emerald City, 3rd on Floor (9.050) at Monterey  Ella Porter 1st Place on Floor (9.3) and 3rd on Vault (9.275) at Begonia  Brianna Raney 1st Place on Bars (9.3) at Begonia, 2nd Place on Vault (9.275) at Monterey  Grace Snider 4th on Bars (9.125) at Begonia, 9.0 on Vault at Pink Meet  Maya Snyder 4th on Beam (9.0) at Monterey, 9.075 on Floor at Emerald City  Mia Sudek 1st on Bars at Monterey, 3rd on Bars (9.025) at the Pink Meet  Ruby Swan 2nd on Floor (9.3) at Monterey, 2nd on Beam (9.525) at Emerald City  Kaia Wilkins 1st Place on Beam and AA at Monterey, 2nd on Floor (9.075) at Begonia
Level 4
Camila Dominguez 2nd on Vault (9.075) and Beam (9.15) at Beach Blast, 9.25 on Beam at Emerald City Eila Eilfort 9.05 on Beam at Emerald City Lenora Freeman 1st Place on Beam (9.425) and 2nd AA (36.175) at the Pink Meet Kaia Graham 1st on Floor (9.525) at Begonia, 2nd on Bars at the Princess Meet Lainey Holden 2nd on Floor (9.575) and a 9.075 on Beam at Emerald City, Maile Holden 1st on All Events and AA (37.550) at the Pink Meet, Season Highs 9.5 on Bars, 9.45 on Beam and 9.6 on Floor Natalie Kamalani 1st on Vault (9.5) at Begonia, 1st on Beam (9.475) and Floor (9.425) at the Pink Meet Natalie Lo 1st on Floor at the Princess Meet, 1st on Bars (9.475) and AA (36.7) at the Pink Meet Mei Nee 1st on Vault (9.325) at Beach Blast 2nd on Bars (9.5) at the Pink Meet Gwen Parry 2nd on Vault (9.1) at Emerald City, 2nd on Floor (9.2) at the Pink Meet Elizabeth Snider 1st on Vault (9.25) at Begonia Anna Walker-Edwards 1st on Beam (9.65) Floor (9.5) and AA (37.45) at the Pink Meet Maile Wilkins 3rd Place on Vault (9.1) and Beam (9.0) at the Pink Meet
Level 5
Kenzie Gill 3rd on Bars (9.175) at Beach Blast Marissa Timm 9.275 on Vault and Beam, 9.225 on Floor at Begonia, 3rd Place AA at the Pink Meet
Girl's Team

Check Out Our New Team Photos in the Lobby

Begonia by the Beach
As summer wraps up, Compulsory Season gets underway. This year, we will once again be hosting one of the largest compulsory meets in Northern California. Begonia by the Beach will be taking place September 15-17th at the Kaiser Permanente Arena in Downtown Santa Cruz. Come support our local Santa Cruz Gymnastics gymnasts! The Level 3s compete at 5pm, Friday. Our Level 5s compete at 2:30pm, Sunday and our Level 4 Team competes at 5:30pm on Sunday. Parents, make sure you have scheduled a time to volunteer. This meet is our biggest fundraiser of the year and helps support our team program. Good luck to all the gymnasts competing this year!
USAG Congress
This year, we sent six coaches to USA Gymnastics National Congress in Anaheim, California. Congress is an opportunity for coaches to listen to different lectures and watch demonstrations given by Elite Coaches and National Team Staff. There are three days full of classes on technique, training, child development, nutrition and sports psychology from preschool level all the way to elite level gymnastics. National Congress was held in conjuction with National Championships and it was fun to see all the past, and future, Olympians up close.
Anne with Laurie Hernandez
Instagram!
Be sure to follow our new Instagram site at scgc_team! Watch as our team gymnasts show off new skills and prepare for competition. Tell your friends!

Instagram Video “Double-Time”

Grit.
Our mental training word of the month is “grit.” The video below was made by Senior Elite, Leah Clapper, who took quite a tumble in Day One of National Championships, but finished strong and came back with a solid beam routine on Day Two. She’s a perfect example of not giving up. Not only a great gymnast, but a great artist, Leah Clapper made this video for Allison Arnold, the USAG team psychologist.

Lessons From Doc Arnold by Leah Clapper

Team Staff
Our team staff is made up of a wide range of experienced coaches as well as veteran SCGC gymnasts. As we start Fall Season, I want to welcome new coaches, Colleen Ryan and Jaime Yamashita as well as welcome back coaches who have recently rejoined our team and show appreciation for other long time coaches. We will be sad to say goodbye to Coach Sarah as she starts a new chapter of her life at UC Riverside, but as you can see below, we have an incredibly talented staff working together to make sure your team gymnast has a positive, successful competition experience!
 
Sarah Brumblay: Sarah was a State Champion Santa Cruz Gymnastics gymnast who retired in 2010, but luckily came back a few years ago to help coach. She has been coaching the Level 2s, 3s and helping out with all the levels and different aspects of the team program! Sarah will be attending UC Riverside this Fall.
Adriana Eskelsen: “AD” is another “homegrown” SCGC coach. A graduate of UCSC and a newly licensed nurse, she is preparing for her wedding this September. AD has been coaching for the past ten years and has had many State Champion gymnasts. You’ll usually see her on bars, her favorite event.
 
Chris Gonzalez: Chris has been coaching at SCGC for 12 years as well as having been a gymnast at Santa Cruz Gymnastics. Prior to coaching here she coached at Jeanne’s Gymnastics in Felton for 17 years. As well as coaching team, you can see her working with our babies and developmental girls. Chris has a teenage daughter, Lily, who you may also see helping out in the gym and working camps!
Ben Jansen: Ben has recently rejoined us. He began here almost ten years ago helping spot the optionals, particularly on bars. He went on to coach at a club in Hawaii for a couple years and then settled back here and started a family. Ben has two young daughters who are both part of our preschool program.
 
Ari Kessler: Ari recently retired from competition and has been so helpful to come back and help coach! Having two younger sisters, she is great with kids and has been helping in our developmental and beginning competition levels.
 
Mara Milam: A Level 10 gymnast at All-Olympia Gymnastics Center in Southern California, Mara moved to Santa Cruz to attend UCSC. She has a degree in Political Science as well as a minor in Art. She works full time in Marketing for a company in Santa Cruz. Mara has an extensive dance background, dancing at UCSC and at Motion Pacific. You can see her helping the optionals with Beam, Floor, Dance and Choreography.
 
Nikki Roberson: Nikki was a team gymnast at SCGC for many years. She was on our first XCEL team as a gymnast and is currently in charge of our XCEL program. Nikki has been coaching with us for the past six years. She attends Cabrillo where she is studying Kinesiology and is taking prerequisites for the Nursing Program.
 
Colleen Ryan: Welcome Colleen! Colleen has been coaching gymnastics at the highest level for the past 20 years. She has coached numerous State, Regional and National Champions as well as National TOPS team members and current NCAA gymnasts. She was been the Southern California TOPS coordinator qualifying 100% of her TOPS athletes to National Testing for 7 consecutive years. Colleen qualified an athlete to the World Age Division Tumbling & Trampoline Championships in 2009 in Russia where she won two silver medals. Previously, she has coached at West Coast Elite in Southern California and Brestyan’s, Aly Raisman’s gym, in Boston. Recently, she has been asked to be a consultant for the Japanese Women’s National Team. Colleen has a Master’s Degree in Elementary Education from Boston College. She lives on a ranch in Santa Cruz with her husband, where they own and train horses for Equestrian Events.
 
Anne Wheaton: Anne has coached at Santa Cruz Gymnastics for close to 20 years, the last five as Team Director. She has coached from Preschool to Level 10 team gymnasts at State and Regional Competitions. A club gymnast in Atlanta, Anne moved to California to compete at San Jose State. She has a degree in Advertising and has done design work for local companies as well as having designed our team logo! She has two children, Mateo, 8, and Savannah, 6.
 
Logan Williams: Logan was a Level 10 gymnast at Redwood Empire in Northern California. A Level 9 Regionals and Westerns Vault Champion, Logan’s favorite event is Bars. Logan moved to Santa Cruz to attend Cabrillo and is currently studying Biology and is in the lottery for their Radiology Program.
 
Jamie Yamashita: Welcome Jamie! Our newest hire, Jamie was a Level 10 gymnast at SCEGA in Southern California where she was Level 10 Beam State Champion. She went on to compete in the NCAA at UC Davis. Jamie has a degree in Animal Biology and moved to Santa Cruz to intern at Long Marine Lab. Currently working at the Monterey Aquarium and at Long Marine Lab, Jamie has found the time to help us out in the gym. She is currently working with the XCEL program.

Anne Wheaton, Girls Team Director

This May, the Booster Club hosted our Annual Team Banquet at the Back Nine in Pasatiempo. This is a special day where we get to celebrate all the hard work, success and gains our gymnasts have made this year. It’s also a chance for the gymnasts to dress up and come together with their families. Thank you to all the parents who worked so hard to make it all come together.

This year, we got to congratulate two of our Seniors, gymnast Jasmine Casey and coach, Sarah Brumblay. They have been part of our gymnastics family for a very long time and it was a bittersweet celebration. Jasmine will be starting at Cal Berkeley this winter and Sarah will be at UC Riverside this fall. We are very proud of them both!

Danielle Cabral Recipient, Emma Bargetto, with Senior, Jasmine Casey
Each year the coaches nominate gymnasts they feel are deserving of extra recognition and one of those nominees is chosen by owner, Jim Kinney to receive the Danielle Cabral Award. The names of recipients are on a plaque next to the front door in the lobby. This year’s Daniel Cabral Award winner is Emma Bargetto. Emma has been in the gym almost as long as she has been walking and we can’t imagine SCGC without her. Not only was she XCEL Platinum Regional Champion, but she also choreographs all the XCEL floor routines and is a Rec coach. Emma is a pleasure to coach… a hard worker and a role model for the younger gymnasts.
This past weekend, we had 23 team gymnasts participate in the Region 1 Camp in Dublin, CA. This is a special opportunity for the girls to work with different coaches from around Region 1 and to meet gymnasts from other gyms.
Optionals From Around Region 1 Gather For a Picture at Camp

Compulsories Show Off Their Moves

Our Annual home meet, The Begonia Gymfest, will once again be held at the Kaiser Permanente Arena downtown. This year’s competition will be September 15-17th. Mark your calendars!