A preview of the 2006 U.S. Championships appears in the July / August issue of Inside Gymnastics magazine.
In 2004, Al and Armine Barutyan-Fong (GAGE “Dragon Gymnastics”) were the only coaches to place two athletes on the US women’s gymnastics team (Terin Humphrey and Courtney McCool). Now, they have their sights set on Beijing and the possibility of multiple Olympic berths is not out of the question. With a bevy of elite gymnasts, a brand new 28,000 square foot state-of-the-art facility just east of Kansas City, a passion for the sport and a dedicated focus, the unique husband and wife coaching duo doesn’t shy away from expressing their ambitious goals. “We’re training Olympians for this generation, and the next generation and the next generation,” Al told Inside Gymnastics this week. “With a great new space, a dedicated parents group and a community that is behind that movement, anything is possible.”
Yes, the possibilities are great with over 1,000 kids involved in the club’s sports programs, that range from gymnastics to dance, cheerleading and swimming. And with one of the strongest groups of young elite gymnasts in the country, GAGE gymnasts will likely be grabbing headlines for the foreseeable future. “I believe we are the only gym to qualify seven athletes to the Classic,” Fong says, referring to the US Classic which his gym will host (though the event takes place in a separate arena) July 27-30. GAGE athletes who will be represented at the event, which serves as a qualifier to the US Championships, include the long-touted rising stars Ivana Hong and Sara DeMeo, as well as Erica Smith, Jackie Mesh, McKenzie Fechter, Becca Clark and Rachel Updike.
Thirteen-year-old Hong and 14-year-old DeMeo placed eighth and twelfth, respectively, at last year’s US Championships in the junior division and are among the top contenders for the junior title this year. Each has been working new skills aggressively to break the new Code of Points and working on polishing form and perfecting movement to compliment the gym’s signature choreography, marked by unique composition and beautiful classical dance orchestrated by the renowned Barutyan-Fong. “Bigger, better, higher,” Fong also says of the philosophy in maximizing the visual appeal of skills. “We’re working on all of the things that will separate one gymnast from another, longer lines, taller presentation.”
Though some skills are slated for long range, others may be unveiled this year. Hong has been working Yurchenko doubles on vault as well as round-off, half-on, pike front off vaults (potentially to half-out later as well). On bars, the focus has been on working a fluid swing and some potential new releases. On beam, Hong is working multiple tumbling skills into a D dismount, which is highly valued in the new Code. Floor will see Hong tumbling whips through to her triple full and showcasing her one-two punch of solid double flipping elements and strong twisting ability.
For DeMeo, a good deal of the focus has come on bars where she’s polishing the Yezhova on bars and adding a full twist to her double layout dismount (full on the second layout). On beam, she’s working a hand-hand-double pike dismount.
One of the advantages of the new training center has been no waiting time for equipment, with stations throughout the facility that all have multiple sets of equipment. There are four full floors and a beam set-up that was designed by Barutyan-Fong, who spent nine years on the Armenian national team and eight years on the Russian national team, and was known for her innovation and difficulty, including a triple back bar dismount.
And though the gym is a world-class training facility, it also more than comfortably accommodates all of GAGE’s other programs, down to the team-building seminars and birthday parties.
As the Fong’s close out one era, which also sees the four senior Dragon Gymnastics team members head off to college on full scholarships (Sarah Shire, University of Utah; Courtney McCool, University of Georgia; Kayla Rogers, Louisiana State University, Liz Straatman, University of Missouri) and begin the next era, they approach it with typical optimist, yet guarded with the notion that hard work is the key. “We could hardly wait to get in this facility, and we’re as passionate as ever about what we’re doing,” Fong says. “The facility will set us up for the next couple of decades and now we focus on 2008. I’d say right now, we have some work to do, but we’re always [working toward] getting there every day.”
