Gymnastics For All National Championships is underway

ORLANDO, Fla., June 20, 2014 – The USA Gymnastics for All National Championships is underway in Orlando, Fla., and runs through Sunday at various Walt Disney World locations. The four-day event showcases 418 athletes participating in Power TeamGym, Performance Gymnastics and Team Acro and Tumbling.

The national championships’ various events are held at three locations around Orlando, Fla., including Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort (Power TeamGym, Team Acro and Tumbling, Performance Gymnastics), Premier Theater in Disney’s Hollywood Studios® (Opening Ceremonies with Challenge and GymFest performances) and Downtown Disney (GymFest performances).

There are 10 performance gymnastics groups participating in the GFA Challenge – the equivalent of World Gymnaestrada, which is designed for the enjoyment of the participants and audience rather than competitive purposes. Based on performance, judges may award performance groups gold, silver or bronze status. Multiple teams can achieve each status.

Thirty-two teams are competing in Power TeamGym, which consists of team jump routines of tumbling, vaulting, mini-trampoline and team floor exercise. Levels 2-8, as well as ADSN (special needs), will be represented in Orlando. TeamGym is a competitive version of group gymnastics where squads of athletes perform together in two events – group floor exercise and group jump. Currently it has four graded difficulty levels.

This is the first year the national championships will feature the newly formed Team Acro and Tumbling, which is a head-to-head competition with athletes competing in compulsory pyramid, toss, acro, and tumbling, combined with a group team event. Team A&T is the developmental program for the varsity team sport and administered by university athletic departments through the National Collegiate Acrobatics and Tumbling Association (NCATA).

Gymnastics for All, which is open to both genders, also includes programs for athletes with disabilities and special needs. For more information on GfA and/or the newly added team acrobatics and tumbling, please go to usagym.org/gfa. For more information on NCATA, go to thencata.org.