Sports
'Toughest Sport In the World' Competes in St. Louis This Weekend
The "Meet Me in St. Louis" Open Invitational, sponsored by Webster Grove's St. Louis Gymnastics Centre, begins Jan. 7. Free admission is new this year.
The annual St. Louis Gymnastics Centre Open Invitational, 2012 Meet Me In St. Louis, kicks off Jan. 7 and 8. There is no admission fee for fans.
The high-powered gymnastic meet will be held in Chesterfield at The Club in the DoubleTree Hotel & Conference Center, which is located at 16625 Swingley Ridge Rd. It typically draws more than 5,000 fans, and gymnasts from eight Midwest states are scheduled to compete.
The host, (SLGC), is located in Webster Groves and is the oldest private gymnastic gym and training center in the Midwest. It is home to competing state, regional, national and international champions.
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See profile of Olympic Medalist who will be mingling at the two-day competition.
SLGC is an official member of USA Gymnastics (USAG) and annually hosts this largest, USAG-sanctioned, co-ed meets in the country. In the very competitive Region III Men’s and Region IV Women’s divisions, SLGC teams consistently rank at or near the top.
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Some of the best gymnasts coming out of the St. Louis Gymnastics Centre go on to train at the U.S. Olympic Training Centre and have competed at the Junior Olympics Nationals. SLGC coaches are members of the U.S. Elite Coaches Association and are USAG-certified.
Patch is one of the mega-event's sponsors. For additional information, visit the competition website.
For those in the know, here's what to expect from the weekend competition:
Competition Levels
USA Gymnastics Sanctioned:
Men’s Levels 4 - 10
Women’s Levels 3 - 10 & Prep Opt / Xcel
US Gymnastics Unsanctioned:
Boys’ Levels 4 - 10
Girls’ Levels 2 - 10 & Prep Opt / Xcel
Competition Format
Modified Capital Cup
Multiple Competition Gyms
Equipment Provided by UAI
Awards
Individual medals to top 60 percent of gymnasts
Participation gift for all gymnasts
Teams in the meet:
ACROS Evansville, IN
All American St. Louis, MO
Barron Gymnastics St. Louis, MO
Champaign County YMCA Champaign, IL
Champions Louisville, KY
DeVeau's Fishers, IN
Didion Athletics VanBuren, AR
Dynamics Gymnastics Springfield , MO
Edge Gymnastics Liberty, MO
Emerald City Gymnastics Overland Park, KS
Flip Side Gymnastics St. Charles, MO
GAGE Gymnastics Blue Springs, MO
G.T. Performance St. Charles, MO
Gym Quarters O'Fallon, MO
Heartland Gymnastics Cape Girardeau, MO
High Energy Chesterfield, MO
McCracken's Olathe, KS
MEGA Kansas City, MO
Meyer's Gymnastics Ellisville, MO
MidCounty YMCA St. Louis, MO
NGA Twisters O'Fallon, MO
Olympiad Chesterfield Chesterfield, MO
Olympiad Ellisville Ellisville, MO
Olympiad Festus Festus, MO
Olympiad MidRivers St. Peters, MO
Olympiad North Florissant, MO
Olympiad West Manchester, MO
Planet Gymnastics Union, MO
Rebound Blue Springs, MO
SLGC Webster Groves, MO
St. Louis Spirits St. Louis, MO
Show-Me Gymnastics Columbia, MO
Spectrum Cape Girardeau, MO
Springfield Gymnastics Springfield, MO
Southern Illinois Gymnastics Academy Marion, IL
Stacey's Gymnastics Wentzville, MO
Team Central Gymnastics Academy Maryland Heights, MO
Tiger Academy of Gymnastics Columbia, MO
TNT Gymnastics Hollister, MO
Tri-Star Nolensville, TN
World Class Belleville, IL
Xtreme Gymnastics Poplar Bluff, MO
YMCA of Edwardsville Edwardsville, IL
Webster Groves Editor Sheri Gassaway contributed information to this article.
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