National Gymnastics Training Camp Blog

A hug congratulations goes out to our director Tony Retrosi for winning USA Gymnastics Educator of the Year. Tony was presented with his award at the Visa Championships and USA Gymnastics Congress in Hartford, CT

updated August 23, 2010 – PRESS RELEASE

Tony Retrosi, Owner and Head Coach of Atlantic Gymnastics Training Center in Portsmouth and Dover, NH, was named National Educator of the Year by USA Gymnastics at their annual convention and trade show which was held in Hartford, CT. This annual award is given to a professional member of USA Gymnastics who has excelled in the field of Coaches Education.

Retrosi, who teaches Safety and Risk Management for USA Gymnastics, is a very popular speaker at many Regional, National and International conferences where he lectures on gymnastics technique and coaching etiquette as well as staff and athlete motivation. He has many educational videos which are sold through a variety of companies.

Since Opening Atlantic in 1994, Tony has qualified hundreds of gymnasts to Level 10 National Championships and Level 9 Eastern Championships.  He has had a number of Elite level athletes and has coached internationally at Chunichi Cup in Japan (1997) and The Tourni Combs La Ville in France (2003, 2004 and 2006)  He has served as the Region 6 Elite Program Chairman and the Vice Chair of the National Elite Program Committee.  In 2008 he was named NH Junior Olympic Coach of the Year. He currently serves at the USA Gymnastics Elite Administrator for the East Coast.

Tony is also the Director of The National Gymnastics Training Center Summer Camp in Huguenot, NY.  “I had learned so much at summer camps when I was a gymnast and a “rookie” coach.  I feel it is now the time to pass it on.  I always look forward to the time I spend there and the information I gather. I will never be too old to learn.”

His latest venture is as a staff member for the Gymnastics Educational Workshop (GEW)  Under the direction of Cheryl Jarrett, GEW provides a one-day workshop for class instructors.  The mission is to offer an affordable workshop that provides tools and ideas to improve, educate and motivate gymnastics class instructors.

Most importantly, WE MISSED YOU!

All coaches agreed that 2010 was a magical year at camp. The level of gymnastics was only surpassed by the work ethic of the coaches. There were SO many new skills learned by every gymnast when the coaches were trying to decide who would get the award for “most improved” we must have had 20 names on the list.

Here is a list of our coaches that we had

• Addi Kiley, Portsmouth , NH
• Sasha Kourbatova,  Rochester, NY
• Erika Pfenigworth, Pittsburg, PA
• Brittany Otto, Brooklyn, CT
• Matt Yellis, Portsmouth, NH
• Daire Oceallag, Austin, TX
• Veronika Belamy, NY, NY
• Carly Meyer, Arlington, VA
• Kip Reed, Lebanon, CT
• John “JB” Busch, Cortland, NY
• Rob Murray, Winona, MN
• Doug Byrnes, ST. Paul, MN
• Vasko Vetzev, Phoenix, AZ
• Dale Grant, Concord, NH
• Jim Hayes, Boston, MA
• Brian Korman, Brooklyn, NY
• Emilio Cabrera, NY, NY
• Jodi Bedard, Warwick, RI
• Meg Norklum, Goffstown, NH
• Terry Rick, Staten Island, NY
• Melissa Doucette, Rochester, NH
• Kaitlyn O’Brien, Rochester, NH
• Jen Scott, Oneonta, NY
• Corrine Stiffler, Flemington, NJ
• Your assistant director- Noelle Scheuer, Huguenot, NY
• and of course your director and coach- Me, Tony Retrosi, Portsmouth, NH

 Whether it was raining and cold or sunny and unbelievably hot the kids and coaches worked hard and accomplished stuff every day.

 We had a number of different clubs and visiting coaches that came to camp this year. I am sure I will forget somebody - I apologize in advance!

• Oneonta YMCA, NY
• Glens Falls YMCA, NY
• Old Town Orono YMCA, ME
• Goffstown YMCA, NH
• CLC YMCA, ME
• Maine Academy of Gymnastics, ME
• Atlantic Gymnastics, NH
• Flipz Gymnastics, NH
• Spectrum Gymnastics, NH
• Phantom Gymnastics, NH
• Northern Lights Gymnastics, VT
• Roots Gymnastics, MA
• Arnolds Gymnastics, MA
• Deary’s Gymnastics, CT
• All Star Gymnastics, CT
• TNT Gymnastics, CT
• Gymnastics Revolution, CT
• Chelsea Piers Gymnastics, NY
• Kennet Gymnastics, NY
• Flip n Twist Gymnastics, NY
• JCC Richmond Gymnastics, NY
• Galaxy Gymnastics, NY
• Tots n Tumblers, Trinidad
• Revolutions, Kitchener, Ontario
• Duchess County Revolutions, NY
• Kidsport Gymnastics, MN
• Excel Gymnastics, PA
• Winthrop Gymnastics, MA

Countries represented:

• Trinidad and Tobago
• Germany
• Spain
• Canada

This year we had a 100% return rate from clubs that attended camp in 2009!

BEST RECREATION ACTIVITY

Thursday Card Board Boat Race. Look for pictures up on the web soon! This was a riot!

Rules- Each coach was assigned a room/ cabin. Each group was given 1 hour to make a card board boat using nothing but cardboard and duct tape.

The coaches then had to race these “boats” around the swimming area. On average each boat stayed afloat about 8 seconds! Then the coaches were left swimming with about 80 pounds of wet card board.

Coach Rob’s boat made it the whole way in one piece! The very fact that as I was swimming with an 80 pound anchor of cardboard as he paddled by me  SMILING was enough to make me want to kill him!

Skit Night each week was as funny as ever. Week 1 was hosted by myself and Daire. Week 2 was hosted by myself and Terence. Lots of great skits!

On Wednesday of the last week we had a special performance of our camp band “Coaches Rockin’ After Practice” out on the front steps of Kleinstuber. The band is:

Terence – Lead Guitar and Vocals
JB- Lead Acoustic and Vocals
Tony- Acoustic and Vocals
Jimbo- Bass Guitar
Dale – Drums

You can see it on YouTube at Rockin’ In The Free World

Week 2 was HOT and DRY at camp. We had to cancel the traditional Thursday night campfire. We held a dance party in the auditorium. It was a blast! So much fun. Thanks to the Trini girls for trying to teach us how to “soca”.

Now knowing what you missed- what can you expect for camp in 2011?

I have already gotten commitments from many of the coaches on returning next year.

• Tom Kovic will be back doing a college lecture again. Victory Consulting
• For the coaches- Doug and Rob will be giving staff lectures on SPOTTING
• Daire and I will be giving lectures on technique and progressions.
• For the campers- Be ready to have fun and really see how far you can take your gymnastics.

This year was sold out, Don’t wait too long to register for next year.
Tony

Describing his time with the Beatles, Paul McCartney once said, “The only thing that really mattered was chemistry”

There is no better quote to describe my coaches and counselors at camp. Although, I doubt that there could be a more talented staff anywhere, it was our chemistry that set us apart. Not only could we finish each others sentences (we did, and even made fun of that fact), we could easily finish a drill for a skill in open work out that another coach started during regular workout. I don’t know how many times I was getting ready to spot a new skill and was wishing for another coach to help spot or at least be a set of eyes and then BAMM- there someone was. It is a pretty amazing feeling knowing that I have been part of something special.

Last Friday the camp mom’s from Trinidad and Tobago made a special lunch or curry chicken and some curry vegetables. They were worried that they had made too much and that there would be left overs. In the end- there was plenty of left over PIZZA but not even a grain of rice from their dish! Find another camp that will do that!

I spent the last two days up at the lake house recovering and reconnecting with my family. When I turned on my computer and cell phone last night, I had so many e-mails, text messages, and messages on Facebook from coaches, kids and parents all saying basically the same thing- “Had a great time! Miss you! Wish it could have gone on forever.”

So, to everyone- I miss you too and I hope the rest of your summer goes well.

Here is a quick list of some of the things I will miss most about camp. Feel free to add your own and pass them on.

• The Dynamic Duo of DOUG and ROB.
• Doug’s Amazing energy (can someone figure out a way to bottle it and sell it?)
• Carly’s Beam workouts
• Emilio’s Hip Hop class (last Thursday’s dance party was awesome)
• All the counselors (even the ones who teased me because they were taller than me)
• “Limin’” with my Trini friends
• Playing guitar with JB and company
• Fresh baked goods in the dining hall (Love the chocolate chip banana bread)
• ALL THE TEAMS AND VISITING COACHES! What a great group of coaches and kids!

I hope everyone has a great summer,
Tony