STICK IT GYM MOVIE TO BE RELEASED ON DVD!

The hit gym movie Stick It will be released on DVD in the USA on September 19th by Buena Vista Entertainment and will cost $29.99        ( approximately £16.33).

The DVD stars Jeff Bridges as a Gym Coach who tries to tame Missy Peregrym who plays a rebellious elite competitive gymnast. Stick It is written and directed by ex elite gymnast Jessica Bendinger who wrote the excellent Cheerleading hit movie “Bring It On”, and features Nastia Liukin, Carly Patterson, Allana Slater, Isabelle Severino, China’s Yang Yun and Tania Gener from Spain. Many former Colliegate gymnasts also appear in the film.

“ Stick It” was released in US cinemas earlier this year to good reviews from the Critics. NBC described the movie as “A perfect 10” with KTLA describing the movie as “Stick It  -- Seen It -- Loved It!”. The film is rated PG-13 and lasts for 103 minutes.

We will include a link here on Gymnastics Online where you can pre-order copies of Stick It, but UK Visitors please note you will need a Multi Region DVD player to view the movie. These are available in the UK for as little as £30.

We will also bring you details of UK Cinema release dates for Stick It as soon as this is confirmed.

Meanwhile the hip-hop flavoured CD Soundtrack is already out.

CLICK HERE TO VISIT THE OFFICIAL STICK IT WEB SITE TO SEE TRAILERS FROM THE HIT MOVIE!

USA TUMBLING AND TRAMPOLINE CHAMPIONSHIPS 2006 ATTRACTS OVER 1600 GYMNASTS!  

More than 1,600 gymnasts who compete in trampoline and tumbling will compete in the 2006 Trampoline and Tumbling National Championships which takes place from July 8-14, at the Renaissance Convention Center in Schaumburg,. The seven-day event includes the U.S. Trampoline and Tumbling Championships, which is a junior and senior elite competition that determines the U.S. champion, on July 8-9 and the USA Gymnastics Junior Olympic Championships, which features competitions for Levels 5-10, on July 10-14.

This year’s event features competition in trampoline, double-mini trampoline, synchronized trampoline and tumbling for both men and women. Competition in the senior elite division is expected to be fierce on each event.

Women’s trampoline will feature Amanda Bailey of Levelland, Texas, and Brittany Dircks of Orland Park, who were team mates on the women’s team that earned the bronze medal at the 2005 World Championships. The 2005 U.S. champion Chris Estrada of Lafayette, La., hopes to successfully defend his title, but must hold off efforts from eight-time national champ Ryan Weston of Chubbuck, Idaho.

In double mini, Derek Stangel of Rockford, Iowa, and Daniel Walker of Lubbock, Texas, are among those to watch. The women’s field includes two members of the women’s team that earned the silver medal at the World Championships: Shelley Klochan of Whiting, Ind., and Megan Dacy of Waxahachie, Texas.

Tumbling’s action is expected to feature Chris Ford of Haymarket, Va., and Kalon Ludvigson of Plano, Texas, for the men and Yuliya Hall of Idaho Falls, Idaho, and Alexis Diaz of Ferndale, Mich., who were on the bronze medal team at the World Championships, vying for the women’s crown.

To compete in the event, athletes must meet the qualifying criteria and score requirements which vary by category and event. The junior and senior elite levels include athletes at the highest level of their event. Those in Levels 5-10 are ranked by their level of expertise, with 10 being the highest and just below elite.

The event competition schedule is: July 8 -- junior and senior preliminary rounds; July 9 – junior and senior preliminary finals; July 10 -- Levels 9-10 competition; July 11 -- Levels 9-10 competition and Level 10 finals; July 12 -- Levels 7-8 competition; July 13 -- Levels 7-8 and Levels 5-6 competition; and July 14 -- Levels 5-6 competition. Daily tickets are available at the door for $12 per person; children 6-years and under are admitted free.

2006 Trampoline and Tumbling National Championships Schedule

Renaissance Convention Center, Schaumburg, Ill.

U.S. Championships, July 8-9

July 8 10 a.m.- 6:45 p.m. Junior and senior elite preliminary rounds

July 9 3-5 p.m. Junior and senior elite finals*

Junior Olympic Championships, July 10-14

July 10 8:15 a.m.-12 p.m. Levels 9-10 Competition

1-6:30 p.m. Levels 9-10 Competition

July 11 2-4:30 p.m. Levels 9-10 Competition

5-6:45 p.m. Level 10 Finals*

July 12 2:20-4:40 p.m. Levels 7-8 Competition

6-8:45 p.m. Grand March/Regional All-Stars

July 13 8:30-10:45 a.m. Levels 5-6 Competition

11 a.m.-3 p.m. Levels 7-8 Competition

3:45-7:40 p.m. Levels 7-8 Competition*

July 14 8:30 a.m.-12 p.m. Levels 5-6 Competition

1-5:30 p.m. Levels 5-6 Competition*

*Indicates finals

DOMINIQUE MOCEANU RETURNS AT US CLASSIC!

FIRST COMPETITION FOR ALMOST 6 YEARS FOR OLYMPICS STAR

Fantastic news for all Dominique Moceanu fans as the USA Olympic Medalist has confirmed she will be competing at the US Classic on July 29th in Kansas City! One year after announcing her return to elite gymnastics, this will be Domi’s first competition in almost 6 years. Dominique is now 24 and attended a Training Camp with the US Team after an invitation from Marta Karolyi who saw a video of Dominique’s routines in March. Domi attended the Camp at the Karolyi ranch where she trained in the period leading up to those amazing Olympic Games Finals in Atlanta 1996!

Domi revealed that her stay at the ranch was an “ emotional homecoming” and that the USA girls loved hearing stories about the olden days, and that training camp is going really well.

Dominique became the youngest Senior National Champion in 1995 when she was only 13. She also finished fifth in the All Around and tied for the Silver Medal on Beam at the World Championships in Japan the same year. In 1996, Domi was the youngest member of the USA Team which won the Olympic Title on that magical night in the Georgia Dome. I can still picture Domi now performing her fantastic Floor routine to “The Devil Went Down to Georgia” and that amazing crowd chanting “ USA, USA” !

Now 10 years later Domi returns to competition where she hopes to qualify for the US Championships which will be held from August 14th - 17th in Minnesota. Dominique will marry on November 4th in Houston and may aim to compete in this year’s World Championships. "We are still waiting to see how the new Code of Points shakes out. The FIG could even change the rules after worlds! So we're keeping our options open, but I think that my present routines will score well under this set of rules if execution is truly one of the priorities of the Code”.

Good luck Domi at the US Classic, all your fans around the World will be cheering you all the way!  

CLICK HERE TO SEE MORE GREAT PHOTOS OF DOMINIQUE!   

FORMER ROMANIAN NATIONAL CHAMPION ANDREEA MUNTEANU RETIRES .

Andreea Munteanu has retired after a losing her battle to overcome leg and back injuries. She became the 2003 Romanian Women’s All Around Champion and was a Silver Medalist with the Romanian Team in the 2003 World Championships in Anaheim. Andreea also finished in fourth place in the World Championships Floor exercise when she quickly became a crowd favourite for her dynamic floor routine, and placed 15th in the All Around. 

Andreea shared a room at the National Training Centre in Deva with Catalina Ponor. She went on to win the Masillia Cup which had previously been won by other top Romanian stars including Lavinia Milosovici, Gina Gogean, Simona Amanar and Andreea Raducan.  Her dream was to compete in Athens and win an Olympic Team Gold and the All Around Olympic Title. But sadly Munteanu aged just 17, was forced to withdraw from the Romanian National Team just before the Athens 2004 Olympics after suffering from shin splints. She was replaced by Silvia Stroescu, who was a member of the gold medal winning Romanian Team at the 2001 World Championships, and the European Championships in 2004.

Andreea will be remembered for her excellent tumbling skills on Floor which included full in back out, whip to triple twist and two and a half twists, and she also competed double twisting Yurchenko’s.  Tiny Andreea is only 4 feet 5 inches tall and she bravely continued her bid to compete in further competitions, but unfortunately her injuries prevented this.

Now Andreea will retire from gymnastics, and on behalf of gym fans everywhere we wish Andreea all the very best in the future.

GREAT BRITAIN VERSUS ROMANIA AT CITY OF NEWCASTLE NEXT MONTH!

Romania have also confirmed they will travel to Great Britain to compete in Newcastle against Great Britain! The International will be at the City of Newcastle on August 26th and 27th, and more details will be here soon!   

Meanwhile Romanian women's head coach Nicolae Forminte told newspaper "Gazeta Sporturilor" that there are currently only five senior Romanian gymnasts training for the 2006 Worlds, which will take place in October in Aarhus, Denmark. However the Romanians are in a transitional period following the resignation of Octavian Belu, and we think that they could spring a surprise at World’s!

The Newcastle International will give British fans an opportunity to see some of the new Romanian team next month and you can could be there to cheer on the British gymnasts and Coaches as they go head to head against great quality opposition, just a few months before the World Championships begin! 

NEW £2 MILLION GYMNASTICS CENTRE OPENS IN SOUTH DURHAM!

A new £2 million state of the art Regional Gymnastics Centre has been officially opened at South Durham Gymnastics Club.

The Centre was built with a grant of £1.34 million from the Sports Lottery, and £150,000 from the private sector with a further £500,000 contribution from Sedgefield Borough Council. The Centre has taken four years to build and firmly places the North East as a region with world class training facilities. It is hoped that visiting teams will base themselves in Spennymoor as they prepare for the London 2012 Olympics.

South Durham are led by High Performance Coaches Nicola Preston and Rachael Wright, and were one of the first Clubs in Britain to be awarded Gym Mark status. Funding was also awarded for the third year from the Youth Sports Trust to enable South Durham to enable the Club to continue with the British Gymnastics project of talent identification.

The Centre is open seven days a week and specialises in Women’s Artistic Championships but also has classes for toddlers, boys and adults. The new gym boasts a working area which measures 40m by 25m and the upper floor provides spectator seating for 200 people. Since opening at Easter, South Durham now has over 1,000 members with 30 full-time, part-time and volunteer coaches.

Judith Rasmussen, the Regional Director of Sport of Sport England North East said “ Gymnastics is a very popular and growing sport in the region, and we have some exceptional talent emerging, especially in Sedgefield where we now h