President's Remarks:

 

Welcome to the 4th annual GymACT National Championships.  It’s so exciting to be back in Daytona Beach, the site of the inaugural GymACT Nationals back in 2021, bringing the excitement of college gymnastics onto the same floor as the 2024 USAG JD Nationals. 

 

Many thanks to USA Gymnastics for partnering with GymACT to bring our National Championships to this meet. I truly believe the exposure GymACT receives here at JD Nationals has created an exponential growth in the number of kids who have found homes in one of our 15 current GymACT programs around the country. Some exciting GymACT news to announce today - our 16th and newest GymACT program becomes officially recognized after the National Championships. The Indy-Hio Hyenas will become the newest member of the GymACT family after spending a year in ‘impending status’ in an effort to display a level of organizational structure to assure a long and prosperous existence. Congratulations to head coach Keith Pettit and the rest of the Indy-Hio coaches and board members who have shown what it takes to create and operate a successful GymACT program.

 

This season we have registered over 200 GymACT athletes as members of the various teams across the map. That’s over 200 gymnasts who would not be here competing today without the vision of the founders of GymACT. Only in existence since 2018, the GymACT concept has been around for many many years. Because of the hard work, perseverance, and determination of the leaders of these programs, opportunities to continue competing in our great sport are plentiful. I hope that after watching our teams compete this evening you’ll be inspired and motivated to seek out a spot on one of our teams.

 

We’ll also be hosting our third annual GymACT College Bound Summer Camp in Lafayette, CO on July 19-21, 2024. I’ve been able to attend the first two camps and I can honestly say this is the best camp I’ve ever been a part of. Please consider attending as coaches from all 16 programs will be on hand to work with all the campers throughout the 3-day camp. Information on the camp can be found here: https://www.gymact.org/college. Register now to secure a spot in this summer camp. You won’t regret it for one minute

 

Tonight’s meet will have 14 teams competing in two separate divisions based on the results from the Conference Championships that were held two weeks ago. The top five teams from both the East and West Conference Meets will compete in the typical 5 up/4 count team competition format. These 10 teams will be vying for a spot on the podium as they battle for the GymACT National Team Title. The bottom two teams from each conference will be vying for the Commissioner’s Cup, utilizing a 3 up/3 count format. These four teams will be combined into two competition groups in an effort to assure we have no byes in the competition.

 

Tonight’s meet will be live streamed at no cost to the public because of another great partnership agreement between GymACT and USAG. You can watch all the action on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@GymACT. If you can’t make it to the meet in person, you can watch from the comfort of your own home!

 

A special shoutout to USAG's Lisa Mendel and Jason Woodnick for helping make this night a reality. Four years ago, we had our first GymACT Nationals in partnership with the USAG JD Nationals and the relationship continues to blossom and evolve. To showcase our team’s on a National Stage has been a real game-changer as our league of like-minded programs continues to expand and improve.  

 

Every GymACT Team is a self-funded organization that must meet certain requirements to become part of our league. One of those requirements is an operational budget with plans in place to finance it. Fundraising is the daily bread of every GymACT Team and it takes a lot of work for these teams to get to the final meet of the season. The support we receive from the gymnastics community is amazing as we continue to provide more opportunities for young aspiring gymnasts to have the awesome experience of being a part of a college team while pursuing a college education. Please consider adopting a team and helping GymACT as a whole to keep the great tradition of men's college gymnastics alive well into the future.  We are currently looking for sponsorship partners that would like to be a part of seeing GymACT grow stronger in providing more opportunities for student-athletes in the coming years.  If you are interested or know businesses/ corporations that are in a position to help, please contact me directly.  And be sure to stop by our GymACT table to say hi and meet some of our coaches. 

 

Now, sit back and enjoy the competition as they come together to vie for the National Team title. And cheer on your favorite gymnast and team.
 

 

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Mike Burns

President of GymACT

Mike@minnesotagymnastics.org