Panthers Gymnastics Club NewsletterFebruary 2002 Panthers recently fell victim to vandalism in this case it was Graffiti! Graffiti, done without the owner's permission is not "art", it's a CRIME. Itís very important that when you are a target of graffiti that you take steps to remove it immediately, within 24 hours if possible. This will prevent the offender from receiving the fame and recognition they desire when other taggers see their "tag". Tagging Graffiti: Individuals involved in this form of graffiti refer to themselves as "taggers". They gain fame and status from other taggers by painting their distinctive tags in as many places as possible. We were very fortunate to have products available which made the graffiti removal inexpensive and easy. - Graffiti Towels - 10" x 12" premoistened towels removes graffiti from almost any hard surface. - Spray - Graffiti removal " Fight Back" Both these items are available through the City of Winnipeg Public Works branch at 100 Main Street. Contact the T.A.G. TEAM 986-1234 for more information. If the removal requires painting over, then a $15.00 voucher to assist with the cost, can be provided by the Winnipeg Police Service Center, when you make your police report. On another note, some of you may have noticed the "boot fairy" visited while you were watching upstairs. Unfortunately we have to work with what we have, so please help keep our entranceway clean and clear of shoes, by placing them in the shoe cubbies. Thank you. Coaches Corner - Competitive - Robert Persechino and Helene Desmarais The competitive season is here! Still don't know if winter is here? Thank you to all the volunteers who helped our club to host the January meet. We appreciate it a lot. Most of our competitive members took part in the first provincial stream competition of the season. Congratulations to all! The meet was a laboratory competition for the Provincial stream gymnasts. It was a decisive meet for the Regional stream. The best gymnasts were selected to represent the Winnipeg region at the Manitoba Games. Alaina Edwards has made the cut to go to the Manitoba Games held in The Pas March 6-10. Congratulations! Thanks to all of the other gymnasts who participated! All of you are an inspiration to us. Keep up the good work. In terms of results, we can say that our competitive members fared quite well considering that they were entered in the right level that will keep them challenged and focused on developing themselves for the remainder of this season. Since we have a new system, some clubs opted to keep their gymnasts in a similar level to last year where we upgraded them to what we feel is an appropriate, fun but challenging level where learning and improving are the main goals. This is what gymnastics is all about! Look for: Aerials: Feb. 16-17 This weekend, most of our gymnasts will be competing at the Aerial Fun Meet. Good Luck to all. Be proud of yourselves!!! Gymnix, Montreal, March 7-11 Last years was quite successful trip as Claire Gillies won the National Meet, and our teams brought back some awards. This year, we are going there again with a strong delegation ready to take on the challenge. Good luck to all. Manitoba Open, March 23-24 Again, we are co-hosting this National Stream Provincial Championships. We will need a lot of volunteers to do the same impeccable job we did for our first meet in January. Now that most of you have done it once already this year, this one should be even easier! Make sure to sign in for that. We will keep you posted! Preliminary Competitive Calendar Feb 16-17 Aerials Invitational - Aerials Mar 6-10 MTS Manitoba Games - The Pas Mar 8-10 Gymnix International - Montreal Mar 23-24 Manitoba Open + Spring Invitational - Panthers Mar 28-31 Wild Roses Invitational - Edmonton Apr 18-21 Western Canadian Championships - Calgary May 4-5 Wendyís Invitational - Panthers Jun 1-2 Provincial Stream Championships -Winnettes Recreation - Desiree Loutit Welcome to all new 12-week members and the many new gymnasts in all classes. Coaches Michelle Dewyn and Krista Wallace are enjoying coaching these classes. We are excited that the trampoline sessions are going very well and the kids, aged 6 to 9 years, are learning at different levels and improving their skills. Congratulations to Alaina Edwards for making Team Winnipeg for the upcoming Manitoba Games in The Pas in early March. Colleen Ferris will join Alaina in The Pas, subbing for her regular coach, Victoria Robson. Alaina is part of an 11-member team from Winnipeg. Good Luck Alaina! Alaina made the team at the Regional Games held at Panthers January 26 and 27. It was great to see everyone out there doing their best. Thank you to all of the parents who volunteered their time with the set up, tear down and canteen. A big thank you goes to Jody who did a great job as usual. The next meet for Gym 4 girls will be Springers Invitational to be held on February 24. Cangym testing is ongoing for all Recreation Classes. The 12-week Kindergym programs are going great. Itís wonderful to see lots of new faces and future gymnasts. A big thank you to all the staff and coaches who help me everyday. I couldnít do this job alone. Want to contribute? Weíre looking for contributions to future newsletters. If you have a tip to forward to fellow parents, are interested in placing a classified ad (gym related and free), want to place an ad (not so free) or any other contribution, please contact Lucille Dufault at 257-2251 or email at arae5@shaw.ca. Tip Is your child learning handsprings? Do you need wristbands? Donít spend a day scouring the city. Just go to Diamond Athletic Medical Supplies Inc. at 1387 Grant Avenue. Classifieds I am looking for a used gym mat. Please call Al or Lucille at 257-2251 if you have one for sale or give-away. Fundraising Report - Amber Griffiths Our fundraising for the first half of the year has gone well, Hopefully 2002 will be even better. Mom's Pantry products grossed $3000 with Panthers retaining 40% or $1200 for the club. We were unable to get a hold of the Poinsettias final total for this report, hopefully by the next newsletter. The two on going fundraisers, Tupperware and Regal are doing well. We have raised $400 so far with Tupperware and just shy of $600 for Regal. The Rumors comedy night was fun and brought in over $700. Future fundraisers will be the Gym- a- thon being held the week of February 24- March 3, 2002. There will be prizes for the participants depending on the amount raised and 10% of the money raised will go towards the fundraising assessment. Pasta was a great seller last year, so we are back at it this year in mid- March. In the near future, we will be having another Rumors night (end of April) and Bedding Plants as a fundraiser (the month of May). Any suggestions for other types of fundraisers are greatly appreciated. Volunteer Report - Debbie Roy Panthers hosted their first competition of the 2001-2002 season. Thank you to our parents who volunteered over 160 hours of their time and skills to get the gym ready and make our first competition such a success. We will be hosting two more competitions this season: the Manitoba Open & Spring Invitational March 23 & 24 and the Wendy's Invitational May 4 & 5. For those families needing to work off more hours these 2 meets are a great opportunity for you. The gym will be closed for regular classes from Saturday, March 23 to Friday, March 29, inclusive for Spring Break. The gym will also be closed Easter Sunday, March 31. The gym will be open for regular classes on Saturday, March 30. And Speaking of Spring Break... The club is offering a Gymnastics Camp for the week of Spring Break. Oh, the feel of the sun, the anticipation of flowers, the snow melting and the kids tumbling. What could be better than a week of gymnastics, games and crafts? The camp will run Monday to Friday (March 25 to 29) from 8:30am to 5:00 pm. Early drop-off and late pick up is available at a cost of $5 per hour. Cost to members is a mere $85. Registration forms were handed out to the gymnasts, or pick them up at the club. We Need Money! Canadian Tire Money that is ! A big Thank You goes to the Cameron family for their donation of a shop vac. But keep the Canadian Tire money coming in. We will use it for maintenance supplies. Leave Your Paw Print at Panthers! It's time for Panthers' Club Builder Program. Your name on a paw print could be mounted for permanent display on the club builder wall for a tax-deductible, charitable donation of $100 (min.). Paw prints will be available for purchase on Wednesday, Feb. 20th from 6pm to 9pm, Thursday, Feb. 21, from 4:30pm to 6:30pm and on Saturday, Feb. 23 from 9am to 4pm in the main lobby. Why I Love Gymnastics! Thank You Panthers! Jíaime la gymnastique parce que je peux me mettre à l'épreuve tout en m'amusant. J'aime ça aussi parce que Krista est toujours souriante. I love gymnastics because I can challenge myself while having fun. I also love it because Krista is always smiling. Malika Ali-Morissette (Competitive) My name is Karen Rachel Glazier. I am eleven years old and will be turning twelve on February 9.* I have been doing gymnastics since I was four years old. I started gymnastics at Panthers two years ago. Besides gymnastics, I do piano, swimming and skating. Iím busy every day of he week except for Tuesday. Out of all the activities I do I like gymnastics the best. Karen Rachel Glazier (Recreational) *Happy Birthday Karen! I love this group because I learn lots of new stuff every day and I have a great coach to help me learn! I have lots of friends to help and encourage me. Everybody is friends and even though we work hard we still have fun! I love this group so much and there is nothing I don't like. A Happy Panther Cristelle Buissé (Competitive) My name is Amberlyn Nicole Anderson. This is my second year in gym. I do basketball and teach gym at my school. I love gym because I like to tumble. My favorite event is floor and vault. My best event is bars. On Jan 24 I went to a competition and won 4 ribbons and a 6th place ribbon all around. Amberlyn Nicole Anderson (Recreational) In December Panthers had two Open House days. Some students from Archwood School attended. Here are some of their responses. Last Wednesday I went to Panthers Gymnastics. I had lots of fun. It was neat when Leah did all of the tricks on the floor. I'd like to thank her for showing me how to do a trick on the bars. I liked Panthers Gymnastics. I think I want to go in Gymnastics. I might visit you sometime. Maybe even next week or maybe even later. I liked the sponge pit. It was lots of fun. I hope all the kids had fun. I whish we could come back sometime again. Kelsey T. On Wednesday we went to Panthers Gymnastics and we had lots of fun there. We got to play Ship to Shore and I had to do 10 jumping jacks. I also got to roll in a barrel as well as jump into a pit of sponge. We had to do 4 centres. At the first one you had to hang on a bar and drop in a hoop. At the second one you had to swing into a donut and then bear walk on two balance beams, jump through hoops, jump on something that looks like a tongue and walk on a balance beam. At the third one you had to jump on a trampoline ten times and jump into a pit of sponge. At the fourth one you had to jump on a mini trampoline, roll on a mal, jump into a pit of sponge, walk across a balance beam and do a somersault on a mat. Mitchell Malley-Krieg Our Trip to Panther Gymnastics I worked on trying to do flips in the air and I got it. I almost did the splits all the way down just a little bit more and Iíll get it, as they say practice makes perfect. I went backwards on the rope. Sometimes I fell but hey everyone does. Iím not the only one. I asked the girl if she could do a flip in the air. She said I donít know if I can do it any more. When she was going to try it we had to clean up. When we got back to school we didnít bother taking off our jacket. It was home time right away. When I got home I asked my mom if I can join Panthers. Amanda TOP  Panthers is sponsored in part by 
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