Visit to Berlin by Representatives of British Gymnastics...

Jeremy Eddon, Hazel Coates
and Klaus-Peter Nowak

... and Movement for People with Disabilities
GMPD Chair, Hazel Coates and Technical Committee member, Jeremy Eddon (both from British Gymnastics) visited Berlin this week to explore the possibility of promoting the British Gymnastics programme for people with disabilities (GMPD) throughout central Europe. Mr. Klaus-Peter Nowak, Managing Director of the German Sports Centre welcomed them to Kienbaum and, after discussing the programme gave them a tour of the facility.
Mrs. Coates said: “We visited the training gym, sports halls, swimming pool, sauna and medical facilities as well as the conference rooms, restaurant and residential accommodation. ...

Top and world class conditions for British disabled sportsmen!
The German Gymnastics Federation (DTB) gives all its support and is willing to give permission for British disabled sportsmen to use the same conditions as the German top stars of artistic gymnastics!

German National Coach of AG men's team Andreas HIRSCH (left) talking with Jeremy EDDON and Hazel COATES.

" ... first Class for British Gymnastics in Kienbaum!"
Hazel COATES: "These were all first class, and I would be very keen to bring our gymnasts for a training camp and International workshop later in the year. I would like to bring 24 gymnasts with a wide range of disabilities from Britain, split evenly between men’s and women’s artistic gymnastics, rhythmic gymnastics and trampolining."
... and a European wide invitation for interested partners!
" I would love to be in a position to invite interested coaches and their gymnasts from throughout Europe to join and work with us to develop their own skills in coaching disabled performers.”
The British vision is to develop gymnastics for people with disabilities throughout Europe, raising skills to a level that would promote competitive opportunities both nationally and internationally..

<< "Global Thinking ...!"

The target of the British – who will organise the Gymnastics World Championships in London this year and are also the hosts of the Olympic Games in 2012 – is to make their programme international.
This programme is based on the basic principles of training and the assessment criteria of the World Gymnastics Federation (FIG).

It offers performance-oriented contents that are astoundingly similar to those for non-handicapped participants at all levels of gymnastics and acrobatics. The possibility of the future inclusion of appropriate competitions in the programmes of the “Special Olympics” or the “Paralympics” is not ruled out ...
... big ideas - most of which are new for Germany or other countries!

Jeremy EDDON and Hazel COATES explaining their ideas

Meeting and Discussion with German Experts
Today, February 19 the British delegation met with top representatives of the council of the German Gymnastics Federation (DTB) and with "Special Olympics Germany" (SOD) in the office of the German media production company "HEARTS-AND-MINDS", the new TV station, which will produce the upcoming World Cup in Artistic Gymnastics, the "Tournament of Masters" in Cottbus next month.

<< The British guests informed the German staff about the national programmes of training and competitions for disabled sportspeople and about their ideas for transferring such ideas and structures to international levels.

British coach Hazel COATES (right) in discussion with the Council member of DTB and President of Berlin's Gymnastics Federation, Mr. Frank EBEL (2.nd from left) and Mr. Wolfgang Schiemann from 'Special Olympics Germany'.

Olympic ChampionValeri Belenki (Mitte):
' ... what a wonderful project, I think the German federation will support it!!'

A Europe-wide invitation for cooperation!
“I would like as many interested coaches, trainers and gymnasts in other countries as possible to adopt our experiences so that we could use these together to work on the endless possibilities of gymnastics for people with disabilities of any kind”, says Hazel Coates from Ireland.

Hazel Coates works not only as a physiotherapist but also has 20 years of experience in coaching handicapped gymnasts which has led “British Gymnastics” to become the leader in their field.
The British system is cleverly based on the principles of training and assessment criteria of the gymnastics world federation (FIG). It offers performance oriented contents…which are astoundingly close to those for non-handicapped participants in gymnastics and acrobatics.

The future inclusion of appropriate competitions in the programmes of the “Special Olympics” or the “Paralympics” has not been ruled out!

The German Gymnastics Federation DTB signalised already before the meeting - through president Rainer Brechtgen, through vice president Sport Sibylle Richter and through the department head of Sports/general gymnastics Pia Pauly - their great interest and their willingness to cooperate.
Also sports director Wolfgang Willam spontaneously agreed on the use of Kienbaum for a training camp by the British after appropriate scheduling.
The camp is to take place in November. British Gymnastics , which has also been cultivating close cooperational ties with the youth for the past 20 years – British talents will be taking part in the "International Junior Team Cup 2009" next week in Berlin – will contact the Presidents of the DTB to seek support.

Real Olympic Partnership:
The British guests, hosts of the 2012 Olympic Summer Games, Jeremy Eddon and Hazel Coates in front of an Olympic board at the training camp in Kienbaum.

The "European Gymnastic Service GYMmedia INTERNATIONAL" as an initiator of this British visit to Berlin and observer of the last training camp in December 2008 in Gran Canaria, will do its best to promote and organise all the stages of these great British ideas.
... there is also special interest on the part of a German TV channel to report from the forthcoming training camp at Kienbaum in November.
** Report: Eckhard Herholz
(c) GYMmedia INTERNATIONAL

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