Gymnastics News fall/2014

A LETTER FROM THE ASSOCIATION PRESIDENT

Dear Friends and Alumni of Yale Gymnastics,

It’s hard to believe that the 2015 season is a little over a month away. The current members of the team are working hard to prepare in a new-ly outfi tted space, including great design elements and reminders of the storied history of Yale Gymnastics.

The team will face lots of tough competition in the upcoming season and I hope that you are able to make it to a meet, either here in New Ha-ven or on the road. That’s what this association, the program’s alumni and friends, is all about. Support. There are a number of ways to do it: make a gift, cheer from the stands, become a mentor, stay involved.I hope you will choose to participate in all of those ways, but I write today specifi cally to encourage you to consider making a gift to the program to honor the legacy as well as the future of Yale Gymnastics.

This year, your gift could help Gymnastics program earn an additional $10,000 through the Drive for Elis challenge wherein the two associa-tions who post the highest increase in new donors and participation this year will earn additional $10,000 awards.

The work of this association provides critical support for Barbara, Ja-son, and directly for our gymnasts. Our goal of 15k for 2014-15 will help them maintain and propel the excellence of the program we all helped build and hope to continue moving forward. No gift is too small

to help the program achieve our goals. There are multiple ways to show your support, and while a gift is only one small component of giving back, it is critical to maintaining the legacy of Yale Gymnastics.

You may give in the following ways:• Write a check payable to Yale University and mail it to Yale Gymnastics Association, P.O. Box 1844, New Haven, CT 06508-1844. • Visit giving.yale.edu to pay by credit card and be sure to select ‘Athletics’ and ‘Gymnastics’ from the drop down menus. • You can also visit our association page for more information: www.yalebulldogs.com/information/alumni/associations/gymnastics.

Thank you in advance for supporting Yale Gymnastics. I hope to see many of you during the upcoming season and as always, please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions or to share stories, past and present, of what Yale Gymnastics means to you.

Happy holidays and again, thank you for your continued support!

Shoshanna Engel ‘03President, Gymnastics Association

2.

GYMNASTICS / FALL, 2014

COACH’S CORNER

HEAD COACH, BARBARA TONRY

Dear Alumnae and Friends,

We are now in the 43rd year of women’s gymnastics at Yale, undoubtedly a rich tradition. The men began in the 60’s and helped encourage and train the women when they were fi rst admitted. The male athletes have been a very im-portant part of the tradition of gymnastics at Yale, and I feel fortunate to have such strong support from all of you.

I am very excited about this coming competitive year. We have four freshmen in addition to our returning upper classmen. They have completed a practice

meet and did very well considering how early it is in the season. We are bringing gymnasts back earlier from Christmas break than we have before for practice on December 30th. We have a very serious and determined group. I am very pleased with the talent and commitment the members have shown. We should have a very good year and hope to give teams a run for their money for that Ivy Title.

We hope to see alumni at a meet in Chicago, Washington D.C. or one of our other away competitions. I especially want to see you at the Don Tonry Invitational the 31st of January. We are honoring Don by naming an annual invitational for Don and for all that he brought to both the men’s and women’s gymnastics teams at Yale University. This also will be our offi cial alumni get together. A reception will follow for all the alumni and friends. I hope you will be able to attend and share the day in Don’s honor. He was a very special person. It has been a wonderful experience these last few years to have met long lost alumni and to share their experiences after Yale Gymnastics. I hope we can continue to have you a part of the Yale Gymnastic alumni group. Without your input at the beginning of the sport at Yale and your continuing support we would not have been as successful as we have been in all the years since your time at the University.

The home of Yale Gymnastics has never shone brighter. The hall on the 8th fl oor and the 5th fl oor gym both now have beautiful art work. I hope that each of you will have the opportunity to see it for yourself when you come back to Yale on the 31st. You will be proud of these young women representing your sport and your University.

We will be hosting the ECAC competition on March 21st and hope we not only will see you at the Invitational in January but for the ECAC.

We are working on sending updates out to you every couple of weeks throughout the season. In the meantime you can stay in touch with us on Facebook or on our page at yalebulldogs.com.

Have a Happy Holiday,

Barbara Tonry

GYMNASTICS / FALL, 2014

3.

FACILITY UPDATE

The studio on the 8th fl oor is more beautiful than ever as the scaffolding on the outside of the PWG is now down after 7 years. Natural light now fl ows into the space through the newly pained rose windows. The room was repainted and equipment reor-ganized and graphics added to the lobby area. We were also the benefi ciary of a freaky accident to the 5th fl oor studio skylight

that had glass come down on a majority of the equipment. The University replaced all the mats, the vault runway, the tumble strip and the tumble tramp. The skylight was repaired and the room fully re-painted. Again, this a space has been reorganized and new graphics added to the walls.

GYMNASTICS SCHEDULE

YALE ATHLETICS COMPLIANCE CORNERAs a supporter of Yale athle cs, you may employ current Yale student-ath-letes provided:• The student-athlete is paid the going rate for similar experience;• The student-athlete is compensated for work actually performed; and • The student-athlete does not receive any preferen al treatment due to his/her status as a Yale student-athlete.Please contact the Yale Compliance Offi ce (203.436.8309) if you have any ques ons or concerns.Can I pick up a student-athlete and bring him/her to work each day?You may give a student-athlete a ride to or from work only if you provide the same ride to every employee in the same posi on. It is not permissible to provide special treatment to a student-athlete.The student-athlete I employ played a great game this week, can I take him/her out to lunch to celebrate?No. You may not provide a complimentary meal to a student-athlete be-cause of his/her status as a student-athlete. Unless the same benefi t is ex-tended to all employees under similar circumstances, you cannot take the student-athlete out for lunch.

The student-athlete’s team is doing really well this year and ge ng a lot of posi ve publicity. I have a big promo on coming up to sell one of my prod-ucts. Can I create an adver sement, in print and/or on the radio, emphasiz-ing that Yale student-athletes use and recommend my product? Can I use their names, pictures, or likenesses? It is not permissible for student-athletes to par cipate in any promo onal ac vi es on behalf of a commercial en ty. You cannot use a student-ath-lete’s picture to promote a commercial product. Therefore, student-athletes may not be used to promote your product because of their status or success.I am sponsoring a fundraiser at my restaurant for cancer research. When someone purchases a meal, all of the proceeds go toward cancer research. On the day of the event, can the student-athlete that works for me wear his/her Yale uniform and invite teammates to work as part of the fes vi es? They are very recognizable and I want as many people to donate me and money to this cause as possible.No. Student-Athletes may not par cipate in any promo onal ac vi es for a commercial enterprise, even if it is for charitable purposes. The employee’s status as an Yale student-athlete cannot be used to promote this event, even though it is for a charitable cause.

Jan 18, 2015 at New Hampshire Invita onal 1:00 PM

Jan 25, 2015 at Penn 1:00 PM

Jan 31, 2015 Don Tonry Bulldog Invita onal w/ Bridgeport, SCSU and Rhode Island College 1:00 PM

Feb 7, 2015 Springfi eld College 1:00 PM

Feb 13, 2015 at Navy Pier Quad Meet 7:30 PM

Feb 22, 2015 at Ivy Championship 1:00 PM Hosted by Penn Feb 27, 2015 at Towson w/ Michigan State and Rutgers 7:00 PM

Mar 8, 2015 at George Washington w/ Western Michigan 1:00 PM

Mar 15, 2015 at Brown 1:00 PM

Mar 21, 2015 ECAC Championships 12:00 PM Hosted by Yale Apr 9, 2015 at USAG Na onal Collegiate Championships TBA