The premise of the feature was to find out what the coaches, gymnasts and USA Gymnastics staff really think about the National Team Training camp. Of course, no one would say their true feelings if their names were released along with their opinions so each respondent was promised anonymity.
While I haven't finished compiling and formatting all of the responses, I wanted to give you all a sneak peek of one of my favorite responses.
The following is the opinion of one US Elite Gymnast:
"Well, I think that having two selection camps was probably not necessary. Maybe one would have been better. ...
But it was definitely interesting hearing Martha say that having the mock competitions at the camps helped decide whether or not to put Gabby Douglas on the team, and she clearly benefited from that. I mean I don't have an answer to what would be better, but I feel like there has to be other options. ... Most people tend to do better when they're enjoying what they're doing. Why not make them a little more fun and semi-enjoyable? It's still possible to work hard and get things accomplished in that setting. I mean, that may not be the answer either but that's just my take on it. At least that's my personal preference.
I will add though, that obviously something worked, since we just won Gold even after losing Alicia two days before and the other injuries and circumstances."
This is just one of the many responses that will be coming soon!
Join the International Gymnast Forum if you haven't yet. It's free and open to everyone!
Very interesting. Loving the blog so far, keep up the good work!
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