President's Message
Kathy Scanlan
The FIG held its General Assembly May 23-24, 1998 in Vilamoura, Portugal. The four Technical Assemblies (Men's, Women's, General Gymnastics and Rhythmic) preceded the General Assembly.It was a very interesting gathering with 77 nations present. Thanks to support from the United States Olympic Committee and the Indiana Sports Corporation, 22 of the Pan American Gymnastics Union federations were able to be present. Key highlights from the Assembly include:
We have awarded our member insurance program contract to Benefit Design Associates (BDA) of North Carolina. This does not affect club insurance held by clubs with K & K, our current insurer provider, or with any other insurance carrier; only the insurance we offer to members at sanctioned competitions has been awarded to BDA. Our Team member insurance program, which is in effect at sanctioned events, is one of the best offered by a National Governing Body. It includes a $10 million catastrophic injury policy for Team Members as well as secondary participant accident for Team Members and general liability insurance for Team and Professional members. Please remember that for the insurance to be in effect, the event must be sanctioned and the sanctioning rules and guidelines adhered to. This is the reason that it is critical that you check the team and professional numbers of individuals participating in any event which you sanction.
- Indianapolis was awarded the 2003 World Championships. This is the qualifying World Championships for the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens and will be the most prestigious FIG event in the next quadrennium. Indianapolis did a great job with the 1991 Worlds and will host an equally stellar event in 2003.
- A USA proposal to modify the FIG eligibility rules to eliminate the antiquated amateur requirements was passed unanimously.
- Trampoline was admitted definitively to the FIG, as was Sport Acrobatics. The International Sport Acrobatic Federation and the International Trampoline Federation are expected to dissolve by year end. Since trampoline is an Olympic sport, unlike Sport Acrobatics, the USOC will require a merger between the US Trampoline and Tumbling Association and USA Gymnastics, which also should happen by year end. USA Gymnastics will offer memberships and a program in Tumbling and Trampoline.
- A new structure was passed which incorporates a 44-person Council to meet yearly and consolidates the current General Assembly and four Technical Assemblies into one Congress to be held every two years.
- A FIG Athletes Council was passed. This Council will include representatives from each of the FIG disciplines to be elected by the athletes at the Olympic Games or, for the non-Olympic disciplines of Sport Aerobics and Sport Acrobatics, at the World Championships.
The Rhythmic National Championships were held in Colorado Springs, at the Olympic Training Center. It was an excellent competition. I continue to be impressed with how competitive our coaches are in this program and how anxious and committed all are to improving our international performance. Rhythmic has such great potential, as we have seen recently with the introduction of group rhythmic as a high school sport in Florida. If you haven't already attended a Get It Going workshop, I would encourage you to think about it. The workshops are designed to provide assistance in starting up a rhythmic program. We only have about 200 clubs in the country offering rhythmic gymnastics, which is not enough to meet the demand. Every time rhythmic is shown on television we get calls that can't be satisfied wanting to know about rhythmic programs in areas where it isn't offered.
I hope many of you are planning to attend the USA Gymnastics Congress and John Hancock U.S. Gymnastics Championships this year in Indianapolis. Registration is underway and I think it will be a very well-attended and interesting Congress.
This article appears in the July 1998 issue of Technique, Vol. 18, No. 7.
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