Practice on July 7 — Normally, the first Monday of the month we have a different practice schedule due to a staff meeting. Given that the Monday is surrounding a holiday and some of our coaches that wouldn’t ordinarily come in may still be on vacation, we are postponing the staff meeting for a week.

This Monday, July 7, we will have evening practice as scheduled with TOPs starting at 3:30 p.m. and the rest of the girls’ levels starting at 4:30 p.m. and continuing through 8:30 p.m. Boys will practice as schedule. Daytime practice will be unaffected.

We are moving the staff meeting to Monday, July 14. That day, we will have morning practice as scheduled and all boys’ and girls’ teams will end at 7:30 that night to accommodate the staff meeting.

Junior Olympics Hotel — Many of you are asking where the coaches are staying during the upcoming AAU Junior Olympics in Des Moines. Prices for the Des Moines hotels are outrageous, especially near the competition area. Please be advised that you will have to pay for parking at the Iowa Events Center.

The coaching staff is booked at the Ramada Tropics Resort and Conference Center approximately 9 miles away from the Iowa Events Center. The cost is $149 per night and the hotel has a small water park (if you plan on coming in early, Saturday night is $179). This is not a large scale indoor water park like Country Springs, but it mid size with a couple of slides, pools and hot tubs.This may not be the highest end hotel, but it is less expensive than any of the moderate or upscale hotels. There are lower end hotels available for less near the airport.

You can make a reservation at their website here:

http://www.ramadatropicsresort.com/

We have put in a request for a group rate and hopefully we will have a reduced rate by Monday. Additionally, AAU has indicated that the schedule will be out by Monday as well. It’s not one of the “approved” AAU hotels, however.

Junior Olympics Team Performance — All of our gymnasts are registered for the Team Performance event. We have two competing teams, one of Level 5s and up and West and another of Level 4s and under. We will need to have a couple of practice sessions to run through these to be ready for the event in a couple of weeks. Practice sessions for the Level 4s and under will be on Wednesdays during morning practice. Practice sessions for the Level 5s and up will be on Thursdays during morning practices. If your child is competing at AAU Junior Olympics in Iowa, please make sure they attend these practices to be ready for the team event.

We will also use these performances in our shows throughout the summer.