Tag: goals

basic training, books, everyday gymnast, Fiction, gym rats, Gymnastics, Life Lessons

Gym Rats Toe Jam – All New Kindle Edition Launches on Sunday!

Mary Reiss Farias

This upcoming Sunday, November 1st is the day – we re-launch Gym Rats Toe Jam! I am so proud to offer this valuable and realistic book series that teaches important life lessons!

Here are some things going on leading up to and through Launch Week:

  • The matching Notebook for Toe Jam is available on Amazon. (Now there are two – one to match Basic Training, and one to match Toe Jam!) It’s a great way for gymnasts to share their motivation for the sport with their BFF in the gym. Of course, the Notebook can also be used to write down goals and quotes for any gymnast’s personal use!
  • Volume 1, Issue 4 of the Gym Rats Magazine will be out on Saturday! Get your annual subscription now!
  • I will be hosting a LIVE Facebook reading on Sunday!
  • There is a new program to help gyms earn some extra money. It’s so simple – just sign up on the website, and direct your parents to purchase the series here. IrisBlu Publishing takes care of the shipping and taxes. We will ship the copies to your gym, and all you have to do is hand them out! All orders in before December 1st will be there for Christmas!
  • Gym Rats Toe Jam will be FREE on Amazon to download the all-new Kindle edition starting on Sunday, November 1st! Be sure to download your copy and post an honest review!

I am so excited to be re-launching my book series. I truly believe that these books are great ways to help motivate your gymnast, help guide her, and help reinforce the important life lessons that our great sport of gymnastics has to offer!

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books, coaching, everyday gymnast, goals, gym rats, Gymnastics, Life Lessons, parents, success saturday

In Becoming a Better Coach

Mary Reiss Farias

Especially after everything that has happened, and is still happening within USAG, with coaches coming under scrutiny for child abuse – emotional and physical – and with the seemingly unending Covid-19 crisis, I find myself more than ever examining why it is that I coach, and what I want my gymnasts to get out of being under my tutelage.

I want to help them develop a strong sense of self-worth. I want them to be confident in their minds and in their abilities.

I want to help them develop a high self-esteem. I want them to know that their goals are possible.

I want to help them develop their individual character. I want them to be comfortable with who they are and to know that each of them matters, regardless of what anyone else says about them.

I want to help them develop a sense of control over their lives. I want them to be confident to know that they can make goals, set a path, and reach their goals.

I want to help them develop the belief that life is full of possibilities. I want them to believe that anything is possible with productive action.

I want to help them develop a belief that they are more than just gymnasts. I want them to know that I am a trusted advisor for life, not just for life in the gym.

I want to help them develop a love for gymnastics. I want them to look back on their days in the gym and believe that it was worth the time, the hard work, and dedication that they put in.

This is not an exhaustive list, but it is a good start. In order to do all of these important above things, I must be present with my coaching, and do everything I can to be consistent in trying to develop these goals in my gymnasts. I must draw on my experiences, remember what it was to be a gymnast, and apply what I have learned through that and my years as a coach. But more than that, I must continue to study and apply what I learn to help develop my gymnasts even further. I enjoy reading and applying what I read to daily practices and Success Saturday. I will continue to do so, and will also develop training tools for gymnasts, coaches, and parents to use to help them apply what I have learned to gymnastics training.

I will be building off the Gym Rats book series by creating a series of workbooks and workshops for gymnasts to learn and reinforce more of the valuable life lessons that gymnastics has to offer.

Gymnastics

Helping to Build Self-Esteem in Our Kids

Mary Reiss Farias

As a gymnast of 17 years and a gymnastics coach of 25 years, I have encountered many occasions where I and my gymnasts have suffered from low self-esteem. One of the questions that remains is why is it so common for some of the strongest girls on earth to suffer from low self-esteem?

In my research and experience, I believe that the answer lies in how we perceive self-esteem and what we believe it is.

Self-esteem is related to how we view ourselves, not to how others view us.

In order for us to best help develop a high sense of self-esteem in our children is for us to remind our kids how strong they are, how capable they are, and how, given the opportunity and dedication they put in to something, worthy and deserving of success they are.

When we tell them how proud of them we are, we need to remind them that they should be proud of themselves, too. Remind them that they are the ones who worked hard and accomplished something. This will teach them to believe that they are capable and worthy of success – learning to think this way takes time, consistency, and effort.

Part of this is helping our kids develop their own goals and their own paths to reach those goals.

We need to teach our kids that their goals are important; the work they put in is important, and the outcome is important. If we don’t teach them this now, then they will not learn to be self-sufficient, strong, and ambitious. Let’s help them by encouraging goal-setting, their work, and their success!

baseline, coaching, competition, goals, Gymnastics, new year, parents, season

New Year, New Opportunities

Mary Reiss Farias

With a new year comes the opportunity to try new things, be more daring, more adventurous, and more attuned.

I don’t believe we need a new year to turn a new leaf; we have a new day every 24 hours to start something new. But there is something about a new year that gives us pause, and grants us a reason to begin anew.

In gymnastics, the new year just so happens to mark the beginning of the competition season for many young gymnasts. This is a perfect time for gymnasts, coaches, and parents alike to examine their goals and be sure that they are all on track for the upcoming year.

A gymnast should ask herself what her goals are for the season. She should take an objective look at where she is at this point in time, and then ask herself what she is doing each day to help her reach her goals. The most important part of this is to be realistic about where she is and where she wants to go.

At this point in the season, coaches have many hopes and goals for their gymnasts. Just the same as their gymnasts, coaches should take inventory of where their gymnasts are at this point in the season. Most gyms have a critique meet to check in with a judge to see where their team is. This is a perfect time to establish a baseline for the season for each gymnast. Some gymnasts may surprise their coaches and be farther ahead or behind, be a stronger competitor, or even a more nervous one. All these things are considerations that must come into play when establishing training packets, lesson plans, and goals for the rest of the season.

Parents should take an objective look at where their gymnast is. They must remember that gymnastics is their daughter’s sport, and ensure that they are doing what they can to be their daughter’s biggest fan. Being a major part of a gymnast’s support system is to not to add to your gymnast’s stress, but to help to mitigate it. Parents should ask themselves what one thing they can do each day to help their daughter be more positive and objective about her gymnastics.

The new year is a perfect time to reconnect with reality, take inventory, and reconsider goals for the upcoming year. We should take a minute to check in with ourselves and make sure that we are on the right track.